August 13th
2 Corinthians, 3
(Ministry
of Christ)
Do
l need to be introduced?
1: Do we begin again to commend
ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or
letters of commendation from you? 2: Ye are our epistle written in our hearts,
known and read of all men: 3: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the
epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit
of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
4: And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: 5: Not that we are
sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency
is of God; 6: Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of
the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth
life. 7: But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was
glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face
of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8:
How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? 9: For if the
ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of
righteousness exceed in glory. 10: For even that which was made glorious had no
glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 11: For if that
which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
12: Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: 13:
And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel
could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 14: But their
minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in
the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15: But
even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16:
Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17:
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty. 18: But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of
the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the
Spirit of the Lord.
Paul asks the question - Are we
going to introduce ourselves to you again? Maybe we need letters of
introduction and recommendation to you? Maybe you could write a letter of
recommendation for us? Does the evangelist need a letter of commendation from
his convert? No of course not. Paul points out that you – believers are our
letters of recommendation. You are read and known by everyone. Because you are
our letter of recommendation which was not written with pen and ink but with
the Spirit of the living God. And not on slabs of stone but written of the
fleshly tablet of your hearts. And we have faith in your conversion by God. We
do not think that we are clever or able to do things for God but our trust is
in the almighty power of God who is able to do everything. And he has made us
competent servants of the New Covenant. Not in the letter only but in the
enabling of the Spirit. (because the letter destroys but the Holy Spirit is the
life giver). If the Mosaic Law which brought separation from God and which was
written on stones was a wonderful thing a revelation of the glory of God, So
that when Moses came down from Sinai the children of Israel were unable to look
in his face because of the glory of God which shone from his face. This glory
was to be a fading glory. The Glory of God seen in our ministry is much more
glorious. Because if the Mosaic Law which brought condemnation on sinners was
glorious, how much, much more will the glory of God be seen in the Gospel which
brings righteousness to the sinner. Even the Glory of the Mosaic Law pales into
insignificance in comparison to the Glory of the Gospel. The Mosaic Law which
is done away was glorious but the Gospel which we have now is much, more
glorious. Because our ministry in the Gospel is such a wonderful hope for
mankind we use very simple language. We are not like Moses who put a cloth over
his face so that the children of Israel might not be blinded by the
glory of the Mosaic Law which is now abolished. But their minds are to this day
blind because even today the same cloth remains when they read the Old
Testament. This cloth is done away in Christ. Right up until today, when the
Mosaic Law is read in the Synagogues the cloth covers their eyes to the truth
of God. But when they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ the blindness is taken
away. The Spirit of the Lord takes away the blindness of Law keeping and brings
freedom to see everything that God is able to do in the life of the sinner that
believes in him. And we who see the glory of the Lord like a man looking seeing
his own image in a dusty mirror and in doing so we are changed from the glory
of the Law to the glory of the Gospel and all this is accomplished by the
Spirit of God.
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