Category: The Word (Page 12 of 34)

Occasionally we read a text and wonder why in the world is this in the Bible?  2 Corinthians 7:2-16 is one.

Paul begins with a plea, effectively setting the tone for the whole text . . .

“Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy” (7:2-4).

The Greek simply says, “Make room for us” or “Welcome us.”  ” . . . in your hearts” is supplied by the translators.

Paul denies what the itinerant “super apostles” charge and the Corinthians accept.  But he is not condemning them, though he has reason to. They are in his heart in death or in life.  He boldly tells them how proud of them he is and how he overflows with joy for them.  Here’s why Paul rejoices . . .

“For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn–fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it–though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while” (7:5-8).

Paul had left Troas and crossed the Aegean, hoping to meet up with Titus, whom he had sent to Corinth.  Earlier, Paul himself had made a brief, unannounced visit.  It had gone badly.  The Corinthians’ relationship with him had hit a new low.  After a quick exit, he’d written a hard letter hoping they would repent.  Now he anxiously sought Titus’ report about the results of the letter.

It was encouraging.  The church had treated Titus well and looked forward to Paul’s return.  Paul admits he had regretted writing such a grievous letter, but no more, for the letter grieved the Corinthians too—and had its desired result.

More than Paul’s relationship with the church is at stake.  The gospel for the Corinthians is.  If they believe these visiting “super apostles”, they may be led astray from Christ.  Things remain tenuous.  He begs, “Make room for us” while rejoicing that at least they’ve turned the right direction.

“As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.  For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter” (7:9-11, ESV).

“The New Living Translation” conveys well the sense of Paul’s words . . .

“Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to have remorse and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. For God can use sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek salvation. We will never regret that kind of sorrow. But sorrow without repentance is the kind that results in death. Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish the wrongdoer. You showed that you have done everything you could to make things right” (7:9-11).

What is “godly grief” (ESV).  It’s “the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have”, the kind that “produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret” (ESV).  Or, as the NLT has it, the kind of sorrow “God can use . . . to help us turn away from sin and seek salvation.”

The Corinthians, misled by “super apostles”, had not only turned against Paul, they had turned from the way of salvation by grace through faith in Christ.  Paul’s letter had hurt them, because they realized what they had done.  And they repented.

Paul shows us that repentance is more than confessing sin, more even than grieving over sin.  It is also changing how one acts.  Godly grief produced in them an “eagerness to clear [themselves]” of wrong-doing.  It produced “indignation . . . fear . . . longing . . . punishment” for those who had misled them.  “You showed that you have done everything you could to make things right.”

“So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. I rejoice, because I have perfect confidence in you” (7:12-16).

Paul explains that he wrote the “grievous” letter so the Corinthians might realize how indebted to and how loyal their love for him really is.  And now Paul fairly gushes.  He’s comforted.  He rejoices at Titus’ joy.  He’s happy his boasting about the Corinthians to Titus proved true.  His affection for them has grown.  Did he mention he rejoices?  And he has “perfect confidence” in them.  The alienation with the apostle has been healed.  And the Corinthians are back on the gospel path.

So, why is 7:2-16 in the Bible?

Several reasons, I think.  First, because it tells us more of what the apostle had to endure so we might have the gospel.  Corinth was an especially problem church.  Yet, from it we see Paul’s loving, pastoral heart.  And from it, we have two letters full of rich gospel truths.

Second, this text is in the Bible, because it shows us that relationship problems and doctrinal controversies in the church have existed in the church from the start. That doesn’t make troubles in our church pleasant.  But it implies they are normal–and from them God works great good.

Third, so we might make room for Godly grief that produces repentance.  To say it another way, so we might welcome the Godly grief our sin evokes and welcome the apostolic word when it rebukes our sin and demands our repentance.

Here’s an example.  I read Hebrews 12:10b–“God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.”  I decide my illness is God’s discipline.  I want to believe it’s for my good, but I can’t make the connection between my PLS and sharing God’s holiness.  So I reject the whole idea and blame God for my suffering.  Then I read a blog that reminds me that God allows suffering, but he’s never the author of it.  At that point, I stand at a crossroads.  I can either delete the blog or meditate on it, letting its message sink in.

Soon I’m feeling sorry for rejecting Hebrews 12:10.  Another crossroads.  I can sweep away the sorrow or I can let it sink into my soul.  I choose the latter.  And that “grief” from God produces a mind- and heart-change.  I confess my sin of unbelief and choose to believe the word is true.

Godly grief produces repentance.  And both are good when we’re prone to make light of our sin and grieve the Spirit of our God.

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers” (6:14a).

Thus our Sunday school teacher warned us teenagers:  “Don’t marry someone not a Christian!” (Not a problem. My eyes were already laser-set on Lois.)

But was Paul thinking of marriage?

The yoke-concept comes from ancient Israelite farm life.  The law said, “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together” (Deuteronomy 22:10)—a prohibition that reflected God creating everything “according to its kind” (Genesis 1:25) and that reminded Israelites God had separated them from other people to be holy (Deuteronomy 14:1,2).

The latter is Paul’s thought here.  Corinthians were not to be “yoked with unbelievers” by engaging  with prostitutes in pagan temples (1 Corinthians 6:12-20; 8:1-11:1).  They were not to be “yoked with unbelievers” by taking their disputes to an unbelieving court (1 Corinthians 6:1-11) or by eating idol-meat in an unbeliever’s home (1 Corinthians 10:27-29).  And widows must not marry unbelievers (1 Corinthians 7:39).

“Do not be unequally yoked together” is a powerful image—more powerful than Paul’s first-letter warning against engaging with temple prostitutes (“Flee—run away—from sexual immorality” –1 Corinthians 6:18).
Here the warning isn’t “Run away!”  It’s “Don’t get yoked!”

Paul now asks a series of rhetorical questions that provide grounds for his prohibition . . .

“For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial (a name representing Satan)? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (6:14b-16).

The obvious answer to all is “None.” The foundation for “Do not be unequally yoked” is firm.

“For” specifically explains why God’s temple has no agreement with idols.  Paul has already called the Corinthian church “God’s temple” because “God’s Spirit lives in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16).  He repeats it here, perhaps thinking of what the Old Testament revealed only in part.

Leviticus 26:11–“I will set my tabernacle among you . . . and I will walk among you, and will be your God and you shall be my people”.  Ezekiel 37:26,27–“I will make a covenant of people with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them . . . and I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore; my tabernacle also shall be with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them”. 

But God’s fulfilled presence in believers calls for purity . . .

 “Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty” (6:17,18).

These are the Lord’s words which Paul probably took from  Isaiah 52:8b-11—“When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes. Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.  Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the LORD.”

In Christ, the Lord has returned to Zion.  He has bared his holy arm to work his salvation.  Now his saved and set-apart people must separate from unclean unbelievers. That Paul doesn’t mean have no association with unclean believers is clear from 1 Corinthians 5:9,10—“I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people–not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.”

“I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters to me . . . “ is taken from 1 Samuel 7:8-14a . . .

“Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth.  And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. “‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you:  When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.  He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.  I will be his father, and he will be my son.”

This was, of course, the Lord’s promise to David’s son, Solomon, and thus ultimately to Christ.  Paul extends “I will be his father” to those who are Christ’s.

“Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (7:1).

Paul applies “these promises” to the Corinthians,from his pastoral heart despite their rejecting him,  calling them “beloved”—“very much loved ones”!

“ . . . let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit” is another way of saying “Do not be unequally yoked together.”  This imperative harmonizes with the temple of God metaphor.

“ . . . [thus] bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”  If the Corinthians cleanse themselves, separating themselves from unclean things, they will complete in their conduct the holiness they have in Christ.  This they must do with an eye to “the fear of God”—that is, their welcome as the Father’s children depends on their self-cleansing.

* * *

I’m struck by the antitheses.  Not just opposites, but opposition.  Righteousness and lawlessness have no partnership.  They stand against one another.  Light and darkness have no fellowship.  One must overcome the other.  Christ and Satan have no accord.  There is antagonism between them.  God’s temple vehemently contends with idols.

Therefore, when we “yoke” with unbelievers, we join the opposition.  And we bring God the Holy Spirit to the “dark side.”  We do it when we engage in illicit (by God’s standards) sex, when we take our disputes to a courtroom of unbelievers, when we “worship” with non-Christians, when we marry unbelievers.

This isn’t moral legalism; this is living out in practice our transfer to the righteousness-side.  We are the temple of the living God.  Shall we join the Holy Spirit to the profane?

But when we live among unbelievers, do business with them, and enjoy friendships with them, how shall we know we’ve “yoked” them?  Sam Storms (pastor of Bridgeway Church, Oklahoma City) offers a wise guide:  “enter into no relationship or bond or partnership or endeavor that will compromise your Christian integrity or weaken your will for holiness or cast a shadow on your reputation.”

We are the temple of the living God.  His presence makes his temple holy.  Therefore, we are forbidden to be “yoked” to what is not. He is holy . . .

Is it possible to “receive the grace of God in vain“?

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (6:1,2).

Paul sees himself as “working together” with God who “For our sake made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (6:21).  Therefore, he appeals to the Corinthians “not to receive the grace of God in vain.”  The Greek word is kenos—used of things which lack effectiveness, “empty, futile, without result”.

The Corinthians had received God’s grace:  “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace that was given you in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:4).  Now, Paul appeals to them not to receive it without result.

How might they do that?  If they were “led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” from “someone who comes and proclaims another Jesus” (11:3,4).

Paul quotes from Isaiah 49:8—“Thus says the LORD:  ‘In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you’”.  Here Isaiah prophesies about the Lord eschatological (last days, messianic age) salvation.  The quote injects urgency to his appeal.  This is it—the consummation of God’s saving work in the world through Messiah.  The Corinthians must not turn from the grace they’ve received!

Now is the time!  Now is the day!

Why might the Corinthians turn from the gospel of grace Paul preached?  Because the “super apostles” have discredited Paul.  And by discrediting him, they discredit his gospel.

The message and the messenger are inextricably bound.  This is why the preacher must live what he preaches.  And it’s why Paul commends himself in the following verses . . .

We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything (6:3-10).

In 5:12 Paul wrote, “We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.”  Here, however, he admits, “ . . . as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way . . . ”  He commends himself as a servant!  And his self-commendation is an unusual mixture of sufferings which show his weakness and virtues which show his strength.  And, through it all, it shows God’s power and Paul’s Christ-likeness.

“ . . .by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger” describe external circumstances of the apostle’s life.

“ . . . by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left, through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise” describe the moral marks of the apostle’s conduct and the mixed response his ministry meets.  His mention of “the Holy Spirit” and “the power of God” (curiously injected in the list of moral marks) implies the moral power arises, not from himself, but from the Lord.

“ . . .through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything” describe the paradoxes of the apostle’s experience.

These “bounce-back” experiences (“dying and we live, punished and yet not killed, sorrowful yet always rejoicing, poor yet making many rich, having nothing yet possessing everything”) remind me of our children’s childhood with their plastic clown punching bag.  Weighted in the bottom, no matter how hard they knocked it down, it popped back up.

That’s Paul empowered by the Spirit of God.  That’s the apostle’s path. And by these—Paul’s external sufferings (like Christ), Paul’s moral marks and ability to “bounce back” (in “the Holy Spirit” and with “the power of God”)—Paul commends himself to the Corinthians, so they might not find fault with his ministry and message.

We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections.  In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also (6:11-13).

Literally, “Our mouth has been open to you . . . our heart is broadened”.  In other words, “We have spoken openly from our affection-filled heart”.  The New Living Translation captures Paul’s next thought: “If there is a problem between us, it is not because of a lack of love on our part, but because you have withheld your love from us.”  And then Paul pleads, “I am talking now as I would to my own children. Open your hearts to us!” (NLT).

Paul’s concern runs deeper than their personal relationship.  If they reject him, they reject the gospel he preaches.  And, if they reject his gospel, they will have received God’s grace in vain.

 * * *

For our take-away a big question looms:  What did Paul mean by “to receive God’s grace in vain”?  Can he possibly have meant to turn away from Jesus and forfeit salvation?  Paul himself contradicted that when he wrote of his confidence “that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

Yet, to these Corinthians Paul wrote . . .

“I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.  But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.  For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.  But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those ‘super-apostles'” (11:2-5).

Clearly, Paul is concerned that the Corinthians might “be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ” because they “put up with . . . a different gospel from the one you accepted.”  That sounds a lot like forfeiting salvation in Christ to me!

Time and space won’t permit all the commentators’ competing comments (none of which I found satisfying).   Nor do I think it helps to just pick Philippians 1:6 over 2 Corinthians 6:1 and 11:2-5.  Frankly, I think we have a conundrum.  And so we just have to say, “I don’t know how to reconcile this apparent contradiction.”

What we must not do is “water down” 2 Corinthians 6:1.  We’ve should take it “straight.”  Which means to alertly reject anything that sounds like “another Jesus” or “another gospel.”  The consummation of grace in us depends on perseverance in the faith.

O God, I can’t reconcile these Scriptures.  Help me to be less concerned with my systematic theology and more concerned with allowing your grace to have its full effect in my life.  Give me ears to hear the apostle’s heart.  Give me a conviction to trust him as your true servant.  And move me NOW–and in every “now”–to welcome all that  your saving grace wants to work in me.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“What we are is transparent to God, and I hope it is also transparent to your conscience” (2 Corinthians 5:11b, the apostle Paul, my translation).

What exactly is transparency?  It is “removing the mask and revealing who you really are; it is getting beyond the surface to what is really going on in your heart”  (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/533184043361623961/).

When Paul “goes transparent” he reveals heart-qualities for which we all should strive.  Take a look.

FEAR OF THE LORD

 “Since then we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men” (5:11a).

Paul trembles, not at being judged for his sins, but for how he lives as a Christian. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due for what he has done in the       body . . . ” (5:10a).

Such accountability drove his behavior: “ . . . we try to persuade men” to believe the gospel.

We’ve so emphasized a “personal relationship with Jesus” that fear sounds foreign.  But knowing we will stand “before the judgment seat of Christ” to account for how we’ve lived as believers should cause some trembling.  If it doesn’t, perhaps we should pray for it.

NO SELF-ENDORSEMENT

“What we are is plain to God and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart” (5:11b,12).

Paul knew the Corinthians could easily misinterpret his remarks as self-applauding.  He merely wants to set the church straight, “so that you can answer those who take pride in outward appearance rather than what the heart contains” (my translation).

Years ago a young man visited our church.  He was a good guitarist, who wanted to join our worship team—and he wasn’t hesitant to cite his accomplishments!  I decided then and there that, no matter how talented a musician, his pride would be a problem.  Humility, not pride, should ”ooze” from our hearts.

LOVE-COMPELLING

“If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (5:13-15).

Commentators divide on exactly what Paul meant by his “out of your mind/right mind” statements.  But there’s no question what drove Paul to endure suffering for preaching the gospel:  “For Christ’s love compels us”.

His love was far more than a warm feeling:  Christ “died for all”.  His death was a sacrifice for the benefit of others.  And it meant more than sins-forgiving.  It meant “all died”.  John Calvin explained:  “He died for us that we might die to ourselves”.  That was Paul’s explanation—and more:  “ . . . he dies for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him . . . “

We celebrate Christ’s love, as we should.  But his “cross-love” in our hearts should drive us, not just to “feel” love, but to live for him.  It hasn’t influenced us sufficiently until it does.  “Jesus, make your love a powerful force in my life that drives me to live, not for me, but for you.”

A NEW CREATION VIEW

 “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (5:16,17).

Paul doesn’t see people as just people, and he certainly doesn’t see them for what he can get out of them.  That’s “a worldly point of view”.  Rather he sees them as sinners who, by grace through faith, can become literally “a new creation” from which the old, sin-dominated order has gone and to which the new righteousness-dominated order has come.  Or to say it another way, “a new creation” from which a craving for this fallen world has gone and to which a taste of the new holy world order has come.

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors” (C.S. Lewis).

Of course, this view, then, should move us to pray for, love, and find ways to share the gospel with others so they might become the new creation they can be in Christ.  That’s how it moved Paul.

RECONCILIATION

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (5:18-21).

God, says Paul, is the source of “All this . . .”  And “All this” starts with God reconciling us rebels to himself through Christ.  Consequently comes “the ministry . . . [of] the message of reconciliation”.  True, this is the apostle’s ministry and message.  But, to a lesser degree, it’s also ours.  It begins with a heart that’s been reconciled to God, that knows the joy and peace of “war over”.   And it continues with a sense of responsibility:  “he has committed to us the message of reconciliation”.

I’ve heard preachers claim we have people in our lives only we can reach with the gospel.  I doubt it.  But I do believe we know people with whom we can have a key role in bringing to faith.  “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”

A rather heady claim that—to identify ourselves as Christ’s ambassadors.  Who’s sufficient for such a thing?  But note that “ambassador” means God is making his appeal through us.  He’s wooing through our feeble efforts.

And note, too, that the message is reconciliation, not one of heavy evangelism-“salesmanship” or deep theological doctrine.  Reconciliation.  Quit fighting God.  Surrender to Jesus.  Trust him to make you his friend.  And so here’s the gospel to be told:  “God made [Christ] who had no sin to be [guilty of] sin for us, so that in [faith-relationship with] him we might become [recipients of] the righteousness of God.”

* * *

You and I are transparent to God.  What we really are inside, he sees.  Do we hope, as Paul did, that we’re transparent to others’ consciences?  Do we want them to see our heart?

We’re not apostles, but do we share some of the same heart-qualities as did Paul?  Do others’ consciences tell them we’re trying to persuade them for Christ, because we know we’re answerable to Christ?  That we live for Christ because we know we’re loved by Christ?  That we see them potentially as wonderful new creations in Christ, not just another fault-filled face in the crowd?  That we really believe God is appealing to them for reconciliation through us?

Some big matters for us to pray about . . .

Okay.  Our “light and momentary afflictions are preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (4:17).  Got it.  But what about my body?  It’s “wasting away” (4:16), and it’s the only one I’ve got.  Am I just going to turn into a spirit and float on clouds forever singing praise songs to Jesus?

In today’s text Paul explains why he has “good courage” about the future (5:6), even if his body is destroyed . . .

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Why does Paul aim to please the Lord?  In his own words–“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ”.  In other words, the Lord will hold us accountable; a day of reckoning awaits.

Christ’s judgment seat, however, doesn’t determine salvation or damnation.  It determines rewards.  Paul wrote in his first letter to Corinth . . .

If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.  If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.  If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

* * *

I’m struck by how huge is what we’re called here to believe.  Yes, we met it before in 1 Corinthians 15–new imperishable, immortal bodies.   There, however, it was a matter of doctrine, a key part of the gospel.  Here it’s supposed to build our confidence in the face of danger and testing.  ” . . . if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God . . . So we are always of good courage . . . Yes, we are of good courage . . . “

To have the promise of a new by-and-from-God body that creates courage and costly obedience in this life calls for BIG BELIEF.  I can’t work it up.  Can’t demand my self to trust.  The leap from this body to that wider than I can make (even before PLS).

I have only two possible sources.  One (here I go again), God’s Word.  I have to fill my mind with it so I can walk, not by this body that I see, but by faith in the Lord’s promise for the body that will be.  (I’m incomplete–Paul’s word is “naked”–without my body.)

Two, God’s Spirit.  He must create in me an awareness of his presence in me.  And his presence must assure me that he’s got me “in process” toward that Day.  And, he must give me a “holy scare” that I’ll stand before Christ in judgment–a “holy scare” strong enough that I make it my aim to please him in every thing I do in this old body.

Father, through your Word and by your Spirit, please nurture in me that BIG BELIEF.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

As a young preacher, I determined not to become a fat one.  I’d seen too many.  So, I jogged, played racquetball, biked, swam, lifted some weights.  Not until my late 60’s did I realize now fragile my body really is.

Odd, then, that our Lord chose to make these frail bodies the “chest” to hold his treasure.

What treasure?   Paul explained earlier . . .

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).

That’s the treasure.  The Creator’s light shining in our hearts “to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in Christ’s face.”  Not only so: this glory inwardly transforms us into his likeness by the Spirit.

Plutarch ( late 1^st & early 2^nd century Roman biographer) tells of the 167 B.C. Roman victory when 3,000 men celebrated by carting spoil of silver coins in 750 earthen vessels (The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, Philip Hughes).

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay . . . ” (2 Corinthians 4:7a).

So the Lord put the treasure of his glory in the fragile human bodies.  Why?  “  . . . to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7b).

What “all-surpassing power”?  “ . . . the life of Jesus . . . “ (4:10,11).  The Lord’s glory (4:6,18). The power to remain uncrushed by hard pressure, to not despair when perplexed, to not feel abandoned when persecuted, to get up undestroyed when struck down (4:8).  All this is the power.   So Paul boldly declares . . .

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body (2 Corinthians 4:8-11).

“Hard pressed” as by a violent mob.  “Perplexed” as to be completely overwhelmed by some hardship.  “Persecuted” as being pursued with hostility.  “Struck down” as to be beaten down.  In every case God’s  power protects Paul from being crushed, in despair, abandoned or destroyed.

“We” refers to Paul and his team.  Paul is commending himself and his gospel to the Corinthians, who, fueled by the “super apostles” out to discredit Paul, mutter, “In person Paul is unimpressive and on a 1-10 scale in speaking gets a zero” (10:10).  On the contrary, Paul says,  “You don’t understand God’s gospel ways.  He intentionally chooses unimpressive apostles so Jesus is seen in them. “For we . . . are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body” (4:11).

Who is being revealed is key.  Tell me.  Who is revealed in the following short video?  Jesus or the preacher?

The genuine apostle, then, suffers for Jesus’ sake.  He’s “crushed, perplexed, persecuted, struck down”.  And it’s all “for Jesus’ sake”–that is, so unbelievers and believers alike may see Jesus’ power in the non-crushed, non-despairing, non-abandoned, non-destroyed  apostle.

So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.  It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,  because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.  All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God (4:12-15).

Paul describes his sufferings as “death . . . at work”, so that “life [may be) . . . at work [in the Corinthians].” The Corinthians receive “life . . . at work in [themselves]” as a result of the “death . . . at work in [the apostles]”. 

Quoting from Psalm 116, a thanksgiving hymn for deliverance from death, Paul echoes David’s words.  He speaks because he believes that God “who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.”  The end of the apostle’s bodily suffering, isn’t death, but bodily resurrection.

And here for the first time we see that what the apostle writes of himself in all of chapter 4 pertains, not just to himself, but to the Corinthians (“and present us with you in his presence”).  Paul takes his “It is written” quote from Psalm 116, a hymn of thanksgiving for deliverance from death . . .

Yet the apostle’s suffering lies beyond that of the Corinthians.   It’s “for your benefit” and has a sweeping purpose to include increasing numbers of people and ultimately glorify God:  “so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.”  As John Piper has written, “The purpose of missions is worship.”

All this provokes Paul to keep pushing on . . .

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (4:16-18).

In 4:1 having this ministry “through God’s mercy” kept Paul from losing heart.  Here it’s ” . . . an eternal glory that far outweighs [our light and momentary troubles]”.

Paul writes graphically of what’s happening to him: “ . . . wasting away”.  It translates the Greek diaphtheiro, used of moth-consumed clothing.  Just as powerful his inward condition:  ” . . . yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”  This daily renewing is the Spirit’s work, who is transforming us “from one degree of glory to another” (3:18).

Remarkably, Paul calls his troubles “light and momentary”–not because he’s being stoical, but because he’s seeing troubles from eternity’s view.  John Piper has wonderfully said, “Eighty years of pain, then–glory!” 

Just as remarkable, Paul claims our troubles “are achieving for us” an eternal weight of glory.  The Greek is katergazomai–“accomplish, produce, bring about.”  He counters his critics who claim troubles disqualify him as an apostle, by claiming, “Sure, I’ve got earthly troubles in a wasting away body.  But not only am I being inwardly renewed day by day, these troubles are actually producing an eternal weight of glory for me.”  In other words,  the more troubles now the weightier glory then.

Therefore, what does Paul fix his eyes on?  ” . . . not on what is seen (temporary troubles, his wasting-away body) “but on what is unseen” (daily inward renewal and eternal glory).

* * *

Our take-away here covers the entire passage, because what Paul applied to himself in some measure applies also to us.  So a suggestion:  reread my comments and substitute your name where you find Paul’s.

Frankly, I loathe the “wasting away” part.  If I were God, I would have done things differently.  But I try to content myself that God is far wiser and loving than I.  So I have to trustingly accept these “light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”  Clay pots glorified!  Meanwhile, I have to pray that Jesus’ life will be revealed in my fragile, mortal body.

One question remains:  How can we fix our eyes on what we can’t see?

Answer:  By prayerfully, worshipfully filling our minds with the words of those who saw the unseen glory revealed . . .

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1) . . . “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched– this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (1 John 1:1).

Are you aware that a miracle’s been worked in us who believe?  Paul will picture it, but in the context of commending his ministry to the doubting Corinthians . . .

“Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart” (4:1).

What’s “therefore” there for?  It explains Paul’s attitude based on what he’s just written—“And we all (all who have “turned to the Lord”—3:16) with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.  For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

For that reason, writes Paul, and “since through God’s mercy we have this ministry” (of this Spirit-transforming, glory-of-the-Lord-beholding) we do not lose heart.”

Did Paul have reason to lose heart?  Listen to 4:16a—“ . . . outwardly we are wasting away”.  Persecution from unbelievers, travel-dangers, even aging all took its toll on Paul’s body.  Outwardly he was “wasting away”.  But perhaps the most formidable cause of  losing heart is unbelievers who hear his gospel, then reject it.  That, however, doesn’t change his teaching or tactics . . .

“Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.  And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing” (4:2,3).

An apostle discouraged by poor ministry results might resort to shady techniques.  Not Paul.

“ . . . secret and shameful ways . . . deception . . . distort God’s word”—those are the ways of the “false apostles” troubling the church and belittling Paul.  (“Deception” here–Greek, panourgia–means “ready to do anything” or “will stop at nothing.”  “Distort”–Greek, dolo-o–means to change something to cause it to be false, “adulterate, falsify”).   Paul refuses to go there. Instead, he is “setting forth the truth plainly”.  Thereby, “we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”  And he will free every person to judge “the truth” according to his own conscience.

Paul appeals to a person’s capacity to judge between right and wrong.  ” . . . in the sight of God” tells us Paul knows God is always watching and weighing how he delivers the gospel.

But not all believe.  Paul admits that.  Still, he’ll not use any deceptive method that distorts God’s word, even to gain “believers.”  The gospel-veiled ones are “ . . .those who are perishing” have minds “veiled” to the gospel.  Therefore, on their way to the darkness of hell’s death, they don’t perceive the light of truth as truth.

Does unbelievers’  gospel-rejection invalidate its truth claim?  Does it dull some of the gospel “shine”?  John Calvin answered:  “The blindness of unbelievers in no way detracts from the clearness of the gospel, for the sun is no less resplendent because the blind do not perceive its light.”   Unbelievers are victims of evil spiritual powers . . .

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (4:4-6).

“The god of this age”–Satan.  Jesus calls him “the prince of this world” (John 12:31).  The apostle John calls him “the evil one” under whose power the whole world lies (1 John 5:19).  Because he has blinded unbelievers’ minds “they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” 4:4). 

The Corinthian “super-apostles” might but Paul declares, ” . . . we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord . . . ”   

To the Jewish believer, “Lord” recalls “Yahweh” of the Old Testament.  Jesus is Yahweh—“I Am That I Am”, the covenant-keeping Sovereign.  To the Gentile believer, “Lord” is Caesar’s self-proclaimed title–“Lord” of the Roman Empire,  man to be honored above all, the one who embodies deity, the absolute ruler to be humbly obeyed and served. To claim “Jesus is Lord”  is political treason, and invites retribution.

Since Paul preaches “Jesus Christ as Lord”, he preaches “ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”  The great apostle sees himself as a servant of the Corinthians, many of whom disdain him.  And his servanthood has a holy purpose:  “for Jesus’ sake”.  He serves them on behalf of Jesus.  He lives among them as Jesus would.  So Jesus might be trusted and praised.

What  transformed that proud Pharisee Paul, the once-rising-star rabbi, into a servant of coarse Gentiles?  Paul takes us back to the beginning.  There, in pre-creation darkness, God said, “Let light shine out of darkness.”

“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light” (Genesis 1:2,3).

The photo doesn’t do justice to God’s creative act.  How can we even imagine God-spoken light suddenly penetrating absolute darkness?  How breathtaking, then, Paul’s statement!  That Creator-God who said, “‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”  To our mind and heart blinded by the god of this age, God said, “Let there be light.”  In that instant “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” burst forth.  And, captured by God’s glory in Christ, we believed. 

This is why Paul doesn’t use deception, but sets forth the truth plainly.  This is why he proclaims, “Jesus is Lord”.  This is why he doesn’t lose heart despite suffering.  He’s seen the glory.

* * *

This is the miracle that’s been worked in us.

We were born blind to “the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Whatever our pre-Christ life, however long it was, we could hear a sermon or read a Bible verse, and we didn’t see it.  But, then, the same God who, in the beginning, caused light to shine out of darkness shined his light in our heart.  He opened our “eyes” to catch glimpses of his glory in Christ.

As Paul writes later, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (5:17).  Something to be grateful for when we’re about to lose heart.

A grandson shows me a cool-looking plastic car.  “But watch!”, he says, eyes wide with excitement.  Like a magician, he unfolds car parts here and there.  Suddenly the car transforms into a robot superhero.

“Transformers,” boasts its web-site (yes, they have an official site, plus hundreds of different robots, plus a half-dozen or so movies), “are living, human-like robots with the unique ability to turn into vehicles or beasts. The stories of their lives, their hopes, their struggles, and their triumphs are chronicled in epic sagas that span an immersive and exciting universe where everything is More Than Meets the Eye. ”

Wow!  Well, enough.  Let’s see what Paul wrote about the “Transformer” . . .

2 Corinthians 3:7-18 is Paul’s elaboration on 3:6b–“For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.  For starters Paul contrasts the New Covenant (“the Spirit gives life”) with the Old (“the letter kills”).  The Old is the Old Testament Law, the core of which is the Ten Commandments.  The New is the New Testament, the core of which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ

CONTRASTING COVENANTS

Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with  the surpassing glory.And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!(3:7-11).

The contrasts are stark.  But, even though the New is superior, both “came with glory” (from God).  Let’s clarify the term–“glory”.  Sam Storms (author and pastor of Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City) defines it well:  “The term ‘glory’ refers to the visible splendor or moral beauty of God’s manifold perfections. The ‘glory’ of God is the exhibition of his inherent excellence; it is the external manifestation of his internal majesty.”  Again, both covenants express God’s glory, but . . . .

The Old Covenant brought death to sinful Israel;  the New provides the Spirit who gives life.  The Old condemned sinners in their sin; the New offers right standing with God by their faith.  The glory of the Old faded from Moses’ face; the glory of the New lasts forever.  In other words, God’s splendor is more spectacular in the New, his moral beauty seen as more beautiful, his inherent excellence exhibited more profoundly and his internal majesty externally manifested more magnificently.

 To summarize:  under the New Covenant the Spirit gives life to the believer, who is declared by grace through faith in Christ to be in right relationship with God and begins to experience the unending glory of God.  (That’s us! if we’ve put faith in Christ!)

Having contrasted the covenants and declared the New to have superior glory, Paul turns to the . . .

Consequence of the New Covenant

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away (3:12,13).

What’s Paul bold about?  His weaknesses. Crazy confession, right?   We try to hide weaknesses.  At least I do.  I don’t want you seeing me in my disability.  But Paul began this letter explicitly revealing to the Corinthians “the hardships we suffered , the great pressure . . .far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life . . . in our hearts we felt the sentence of death” (1:8,9a).  Why reveal frailty?  ” . . . this happened that we might . . . rely . . . on God, who raises the dead” (1:9b).  In other words, Paul was bold about his weaknesses to give honor to God by relying on him.  And he could be bold, because his standing didn’t depend on his strength, but on God’s.  That’s how the New Covenant works–“the Spirit gives life.”

Gentiles comprised the majority of the Corinthian church, though some Jews belonged.  And it’s likely some of the itinerant “false apostles” stirring up trouble there for Paul were Jews.  It’s to those Jews Paul refers next . . .

“But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (3:14-16).

Generations earlier, they rejected God, despite his love.  So he dulled their minds.  Now when they take their seats in their synagogues to hear the words of Moses read, they don’t understand.  It’s as if  a veil hangs over their minds and hearts.  Only Christ can take it away, so they might enjoy the consequences of the New Covenant.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all behold the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (3:17,18).

The first consequence of the New Covenant isn’t boldness (though Paul’s already mentioned it) but freedom–freedom from the veil of ignorance, freedom to “behold the Lord’s glory”.  To “behold” is more than just “see”; it’s to “look at with contemplation”.  We see a hole in the ground; we behold the Grand Canyon.

But how can we behold the Lord’s glory?  In the Scripture as the Spirit gives aid.  This must be more than a cursory glance.  When we behold something glorious, we want to stay, and we return often.  So it is with the Lord’s glory in Scripture.  It’s to be lingered over and beheld time and time again.

Now here’s a really stunning consequence of the New Covenant:  we can be transformed.  Not like a plastic car’s parts unfolding into a robot.  But like sinners-saved-by-grace “being transformed into [the Lord’s] likeness with ever-increasing glory.”  That, Paul proclaims, is what happens as we behold the Lord’s glory:  the Spirit progressively transform us into the Lord’s likeness.

I remember my grandson’s excitement about his transformer.  And the Transformer (the Holy Spirit) presents us with exciting possibilities.  Now before we go gettin’ all triumphant, remember the guy who wrote this was beset by weakness.  The transforming process often occurs in suffering settings.  That’s when it’s especially challenging to “behold the Lord’s glory” in the Word.  But we must.

Which brings me to my final thought.  Since the Spirit is transforming us by ever-increasing glory, you’d think older Christians would be most like Jesus.  I’ve known some who are; but many are just older (and some, grumpier).  I understand that.  But it tells me that time for transformation isn’t the distinguishing factor.  Beholding the Lord’s glory is.  Day after day.  Year after year.  Beholding his glory in his Word helped by his Spirit.

We’ve been graced with a grand sight:  the glory of the Lord in his Word.  Let’s not let passing-away, trivial sights tempt our eyes away from the glory.  In it, the Transformer changes us.

Say your pastor is moving on to a new church. Should the pastoral search committee of that church review his educational achievements?  His years of experience?  Should they hear him preach?  Certainly.  But how about a look at the congregations he’s pastored?  In other words, should they examine the results of his ministry?

This is what Paul tells the Corinthians . . .

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again?  Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody                    (2 Corinthians 3:1,2).

Paul just wrote some pretty heady stuff about himself and his team.  Like, “through us [God] spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him” and “we are the aroma of Christ”.

But Paul denies he’s commending himself.  He doesn’t need letters of recommendation. The Paul-belittling, heresy-preaching itinerant “apostles”, who’ve appeared in Corinth, have them.  And the Corinthians are impressed.  Why doesn’t Paul need them?  Because the Corinthian believers themselves are his letter.

This is the church that gets enmeshed in sin, reverts to pagan ways, turns against Paul.  Yet Paul claims this church commends him as Christ’s apostle. Remarkable.  How can they be Paul’s recommendation letter?

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3).

The adversarial “apostles” carry letters probably from Jerusalem.  The Corinthians are a letter from Christ.  The “apostles” carry letters written with ink.  The Corinthians are a letter written with the Spirit of the living God. 

The tablets contrast brings to mind the New Covenant.  Through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord had promised a coming time “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Jacob . . . I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:31,33b).  The Old Covenant, given through Moses, was written on tablets of stone; the new, established through Christ, is written on “tablets of human hearts.”  The Holy Spirit gathers up Old Covenant moral commands and inscribes them on believers’ minds and hearts.

Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant– not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life  (2 Corinthians 3:4-6).

Paul’s assurance isn’t self-centered arrogance:  in humility he confesses it comes “through Christ” and only this gift makes him confident “before God.”  Therefore, he can freely admit he has no competence for ministry in himself; God alone is his competence-source.

Specifically, God makes Paul competent as a minister of a new covenant–not a covenant of “the letter”, but a covenant of “the Spirit”.  For “the letter kills . . . ” This suggests that some of Paul’s adversaries may be buying into Old Covenant law-keeping.  Whether true or not, is Paul criticizing the Old Covenant as a killer?  No, as an external covenant which demanded obedience but provided no internal power to obey.

Take, for example, “Do not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14).  It prohibits the act, but offers no power to combat lusts and corrupt thinking.

But the covenant which Paul ministers is “of the Spirit [who] . . . gives life.”  According to the New Covenant he “gives life” means he empowers the believer to practice what God’s law commands.

It’s this covenant of which God has made Paul a competent minister.  And it’s the life-giving Spirit of this covenant that has made the Corinthian church (with all its big-time “warts”) his recommendation  letter.

* * *

One take-away is for pastoral search committees:  investigate not just a prospective pastor’s education for ministry and experience in ministry.  Investigate the results of his ministry.  Since this pertains to few of us and requires much more writing, I’ll not elaborate, but move on to a take-away that hopefully does.

You and I–we’re living miracles.  I’m not talking about an external miracle, like physical healing.  I’m talking about an internal miraculous act of God the Holy Spirit.   The Spirit of the living God has written on our hearts.  That makes us a communication from Christ.

What are we communicating?  Do we display the holiness, righteousness and goodness of God’s law (Rom 7:12)?  Even through our stumbling and bumbling and slowness to live out what the Spirit has written in, is the grace of God in Christ visible?

O God, in my prayers for a physical miracle, I’ve treated  my heart miracle as a little thing.  Please forgive me. Continue to impress on me the desires of the Spirit.  Make me sensitive to his longings.  May I be a letter that glorifies you.  And, please, fulfill to the uttermost the purpose of your “heart writing” in me.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.