Here and there on Paul’s body there were doubtless many scars that bore mute testimony to his sufferings for Christ.

 Literally, “the death.” For Paul this was a perpetual, daily dying, made real by his own constant exposure to death (Rom. 8:36; 1 Cor. 15:31; 2 Tim. 2:11). By this figure of speech Paul expresses his intimate fellowship with Christ in the sufferings he is continually called upon to endure. This constituted a vital testimony to the world concerning the power of the gospel. The Judaizers, who escaped persecution by preaching a lifeless, legal gospel, could offer no such evidence (see Gal. 6:12).

 As his scars testified of how close Paul had come to death, the fact that he still lived bore eloquent testimony to the power of Christ to deliver him from death. Also, Paul’s life testified to the power of Christ to deliver men from sin and to transform them into His likeness (see Gal. 2:20).