This is a sober, if not profound, meditation on aspects of a virtuous life. Note the structure: a series of pairs, each pair containing a metaphor and its application:
| Metaphor | Application |
| Shake a sieve to separate husks | Listen to someone's speech to discern his faults |
| The furnace tests the pot | Tribulation tests the just |
| A tree's fruit shows the care it has had | One's speech shows his state of mind |
Express this structure in your proclamation, with pauses and variations in your tone of voice. An attentive listener, by the time you start the third pair, should be expecting another metaphor/application pair.
If you do, this passage will stand out as the powerful, dramatic summary. It deserves a powerful, dramatic proclamation. Of all the things ever taught about human life, here is where Christianity distinguishes itself finally. We assert this startling answer to life's most vexing question, "Is that all there is?" and to today's most cynical slogan, "Yada yada yada, then you die." To these we shout a resounding NO! When you quote Paul's quote of Hosea, you should sound like you're taunting death itself.
What is this which is corruptible and about to clothe itself in incorruptibility? The previous verse shows that it is the human body. What does Paul mean when he says "the power of sin is the law?" This refers to his favorite distinction between the law of Moses, as it had come to be understood and practiced by Paul's time, and the gospel. Paul said elsewhere, in effect, that the law just set a standard which no one could meet. And if only the law stands between us and God's righteousness, we're hopelessly condemned. But God's grace, which we accept by faith in Jesus, gives us an undeserved but real share in God's righteousness, so that we're really saved.