What did Paul actually mean by the dying of the Lord Jesus in 2 Corinthians 4:10?
Paul meant his own physical suffering and near-death experience, not merely a symbolic dying with Christ. Having recovered from a sickbed he thought was unto death, he bore in his body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus might be manifested in his body.
Les explains that on first reading most people think Paul is saying that as Christ died, we died, and that is true up to a point. But the setting shows Paul had just gotten up from a sickbed he thought was unto death. Therefore, the dying of the Lord Jesus refers to Paul's own dying even in the midst of his service for the Lord, so that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in his body. Les suggests this sickbed was up at Philippi. Even though Paul thought his ministry had ended, he was confident he had done as much as the Lord intended him to do. He later wrote to Timothy near the end of his ministry, in Second Timothy, before he was martyred.
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
More Questions
What is the common misunderstanding of 'bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus'?
Most people on first reading think 2 Corinthians 4:10 ('always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus') merely means that as Christ died, we died, and that reading is only right up to a point.