John Calvin Commentary 2 Corinthians 4:16

"Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day." — 2 Corinthians 4:16 (ASV)

For which cause we faint not. He now, having made his point, rises to a higher confidence than before. "There is no cause," says he, "why we should lose heart or sink down under the burden of the cross, the outcome of which is not merely so desirable to me, but is also beneficial to others." Thus he exhorts the Corinthians to fortitude by his own example, if they should happen at any time to be similarly afflicted. Furthermore, he rebukes that insolence, in which they greatly erred, since under the influence of ambition, they held a person in higher esteem, the farther he was from the cross of Christ.

Though our outward man. The outward man, some improperly and ignorantly confuse with the old man, for the old man, of which we have spoken in Romans 4:6, is widely different from this. Chrysostom, too, and others restrict it entirely to the body; but it is a mistake, for the Apostle intended to include under this term everything that relates to the present life.

As he here sets before us two men, so you must consider two kinds of life—the earthly and the heavenly. The outward man is the maintenance of the earthly life, which consists not merely in the flower of one’s age (1 Corinthians 7:36) and in good health, but also in riches, honors, friendships, and other resources.

Hence, as we suffer a reduction or loss of these blessings, which are necessary for maintaining the condition of the present life, our outward man is corrupted in that proportion. For as we are too much absorbed in the present life, so long as everything goes as we wish, the Lord, on that account, by taking away from us, little by little, the things that we are absorbed by, calls us back to meditate on a better life.

Therefore, it is necessary that the condition of the present life should decay, so that the inward man may be flourishing; because, as the earthly life declines, the heavenly life advances, at least in believers. For in the reprobate, too, the outward man decays, but without anything to compensate for it.

In the sons of God, on the other hand, a decay of this nature is the beginning and, as it were, the means of growth. He says that this takes place daily, because God continually stirs us up to such meditation. If only this were deeply seated in our minds, so that we might continuously make progress amidst the decay of the outward man!