外面的人在毁坏
这节说了四章一节同样的话：“我们不丧胆。”所发生的许多事，原会使保罗和他的同工失望或灰心丧胆。然而，因为他们是在复活里，他们就不丧胆。事实上，需要有死亡、灰心、失望，复活才得以彰显出来。没有死亡，复活的生命怎能得着彰显？死叫复活得以彰显出来。
保罗在十六节说，我们外面的人在毁坏。外面的人是我们的身体和我们的魂，以我们的身体为其器官，以我们的魂为其生命和人位。里面的人是我们重生的灵同着我们更新的魂，以我们重生的灵为其生命和人位，以我们更新的魂为其器官。魂的生命必须被否认（太十六24～25），但魂的功用－心思、意志、情感，必须藉着被征服（林后十4～5），得着更新并提高，而为灵所用；灵乃是里面之人的人位。
圣经教师对于“外面的人”一辞有不同的解释和说明。根据林后四章的上下文看，外面的人主要是指十节的身体和十一节必死的肉身。十六节所说外面的人，必定是指这堕落的身体，必死的肉身。然而，说外面的人仅仅是指身体，是不够的，因为身体本身还不能算是一个人，不能算是一个人位。身体只不过是一个器官。在林前十五章四十四节保罗说到属魂的身体，那是由魂使其有生命的天然身体，是魂在其中掌权的身体。因此，外面的人是以身体为其器官，以魂为其生命和人位。因此，外面的人包括身体和魂。身体不是人位；人位乃是魂，身体是器官。身体不是生命，外面之人的生命乃是魂。魂是外面之人的人位和生命。
毁坏原意或作，销毁，消耗，磨损。藉着不断的杀死－死的工作，我们外面的人，就是我们物质的身体，以及使其有生命的魂（林前十五44），就渐渐销毁磨损。
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Our Outer Man Is Decaying – 2 Cor. 4:16
This verse echoes what is said in 2 Corinthians 4:1: “We do not lose heart.” Many of the things that happened could have caused Paul and his co-workers to become disappointed or discouraged. However, because they lived in resurrection, they did not lose heart. In fact, it is through death, discouragement and disappointment that resurrection can be manifested. Without death, how can the life of resurrection be revealed? It is death that gives resurrection its opportunity to be manifested.
In verse 16, Paul says that our outer man is decaying. The “outer man” refers to our body and our soul — our body as its vessel and our soul as its life and person. The “inner man” refers to our regenerated spirit along with our renewed soul — our regenerated spirit as its life and person, and our renewed soul as its vessel. The soul’s life must be denied (Matt. 16:24–25), but the soul’s faculties — mind, will, and emotion — must be conquered (2 Cor. 10:4–5), renewed and uplifted for the use of the spirit; for it is the spirit that is the person of the inner man.
Bible teachers have various interpretations of the phrase “outer man.” Based on the context of 2 Corinthians 4, the “outer man” primarily refers to the body in verse 10 and the mortal flesh in verse 11. So in verse 16, the outer man must include this fallen body, the mortal flesh. However, it is not adequate to say that the outer man refers only to the body, because the body by itself cannot be considered a person or a self. The body is only an organ. In 1 Corinthians 15:44, Paul speaks of the soulish body — a natural body that derives its life from the soul and in which the soul reigns. Therefore, the outer man includes the body as its vessel and the soul as its life and person. The body is not the person — the soul is. The body is not the life — the life of the outer man is the soul. The soul is the person and the life of the outer man.
The word “decaying” also means being destroyed, consumed or worn away. Through the continual killing — the work of death — our outer man, that is, our physical body along with the soul that gives it life (1 Cor. 15:44), is gradually being destroyed and worn away.