2 CORINTHIANS - CHAPTER 3
Verses 1-3
v1 But we are not trying to recommend ourselves. And we do not need letters to recommend us, like some people. v2 You are like our letter. It is as if our recommendation is on us for everyone to know and to read. v3 Your lives are like a letter from Christ. This is the result of our ministry. He did not write his letter with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. He did not write it on stone but deep inside living human people.
Commentary
Paul did not have anything from outside to prove that he was an apostle. He was not one of the 12 disciples. The Christians at Jerusalem had not written a letter about him. He could only say that God had called him to be an apostle. Then it seemed as if he was recommending himself. In fact, he was not.
The false teachers had letters from other churches. These letters said how good they were. They wanted the Christians at Corinth to write similar letters to recommend them. Then the false teachers could go on to other places. Paul had no letter. But the church at Corinth was better than a letter. Many of the Christians at Corinth had lived bad lives before they became Christians. However, their lives had changed. Now they were different. Other people could see the results. A church leader did not achieve these results. Christ himself did. It was as if the Spirit of God had written the letter. People could see the truth of this because of the new lives of the believers. The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) were on blocks of stone. The Spirit wrote this letter inside human people.
Verses 4-6
v4 We can say this because we trust in God by Christ. v5 We cannot say that we are able to do any of this work by ourselves. It is God who helps us to do it. v6 He made us able to be servants of the new agreement. We do not just do what the law says. We depend on the Spirit. The law causes death, but the Spirit gives life.
Commentary
Paul now explains why he was so confident. God had changed peoples’ lives at Corinth. So Paul was sure that God had chosen him. Paul had not changed their lives. God had done this by Christ. Paul was now God’s servant of the new agreement. Jesus made this new agreement between God and people when he died for us. The old agreement said that people must obey God’s laws. People were not strong enough to do this. The new agreement gave the Spirit. The Spirit helps people to obey God’s laws. The old agreement caused death because people could not obey the laws. God did not forgive them when they did not obey the laws. But now the Spirit helps us to obey God’s laws and so he brings life.
Verses 7-11
v7 The ministry which brought death came with glory. God cut the words of the law in letters out of stone. The Israelites could not look at the glory in the face of Moses. They could not do this although it was fading. v8 The ministry of the Spirit will be even more glorious. v9 The law which brings death was glorious. The ministry that brings a right relationship between God and people is even more glorious. v10 What was glorious in the past seems to have no glory now. There is a much greater glory now. v11 What was disappearing came with glory. That which will last always has much greater glory.
Commentary
Paul talks about the difference between the old agreement and the new agreement. People opposed him. They talked about the old agreement by Moses. They said that it was the same as, or even better than, the agreement by Jesus. Perhaps the Christian Jews at Corinth still wanted Christians to obey the old law. They did not want them to follow the new agreement. Paul said that the old agreement was glorious. However, God only intended it to last for a short time. The new agreement of the Spirit was even more glorious. The old agreement could only bring death. It told people what to do. It could not help them to do it. As a result, God would condemn them. The new agreement would bring life. The Spirit gave people power to do what God wanted. The new agreement in Jesus was more glorious than the old one. They could not go back to the past.
Verses 12-18
v12 Because we have this hope, we are very bold. v13 We are not like Moses. Moses had to cover his face so that people would not see the glory. They could not look at the glory although it was fading. v14 They did not understand. Even today, that cover is still over their minds. This happens when they read the books of the old agreement. The cover is still there. God only takes it away when someone trusts Christ. v15 When they read the books of Moses today, the cover is still over their minds. v16 But when someone turns to the Lord, the cover disappears. v17 Now the Lord is the Spirit. Where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. v18 There is no cover over our faces. So we see God’s glory clearly. That glory changes us. We become more and more like Him. This glory comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Commentary
Paul said that he had every right to be bold. The reason was that he had this hope of glory. Moses covered his face so that people would not see God’s glory. The people were not able to look at God’s glory, although that glory was fading. The old agreement was only for a short time. The Jews did not understand the books of Moses when they read them. It was really as if they had covers over their minds. God only removed the cover when they trusted Christ. Then they found that Jesus gave them his goodness. This was what the law ordered. What Moses wrote was true and great, but it was not complete. When Jesus came, He gave us God’s complete truth.
The old agreement is like a step to glory. The new agreement is the complete glory. ‘The Lord is the Spirit’ means this: The God of the Old Testament has shown himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When the Spirit works in a person’s life, they serve God. They do not do this because they have to. They do it because they want to. Their attitude is different. They see God’s glory clearly in Christ. They find that the glory changes them. They become more and more like Jesus as the Holy Spirit works in their lives.
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