2 Corinthians 3
Daily Bread 2 Corinthians 3
1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. 3You 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.
4Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6He 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.
Observation:
In Paul’s day one of the ways you established your authority was to have a letter of recommendation from someone who was a higher authority. Paul takes this view of the written authority of the Word and tells the church at Corinth, they are a “living letter”, written not on tablets of stone but with the pen of the Spirit.
As God, through the power of the Spirit, had more control of their lives they became a living testimony of the power of Christ to change human lives. Paul makes clear that this competence or authority does not come from us and therefore there is no reason for any of us to boast.
Finally, in the second part of chapter 3, Paul talks about the glory we have received as a result of a personal encounter with God’s Spirit. (We spend a whole day at our Alpha course talking about the person and work of the Holy Spirit in each believer’s life!) Paul reasons that if Moses and the Israelites had such powerful experiences of God’s glory as He revealed Himself in specific times and places to His chosen people, how much more joyful should we be that the veil which Moses wore has been taken away from us so that we participate in becoming like Jesus in an ever increasing measure. Listen to these last couple of verses once again its implications for us are immense!!!
“16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And 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.”
Application:
Are you participating in the glory of the Lord in increasing measure? Do you feel the Spirit of freedom flowing through you as you live out God’s calling in your life? Or do you feel the bondage of the old letter of Law that kills and doesn’t give life? As you turn to Jesus and accept the promises of God, the Spirit will fill you to become all that God wants you to be!
Prayer: God we want more of you! Help us to lay down parts of our life we are holding on to which keep us in bondage to our sinful nature. Come Holy Spirit and free us to be your people. Let your glory and light shine through us to a world which increasingly needs the light to overcome darkness! We look forward to the day when we will see your glory face to face! Come Lord Jesus! Amen.
1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. 3You 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.
4Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6He 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.
Observation:
In Paul’s day one of the ways you established your authority was to have a letter of recommendation from someone who was a higher authority. Paul takes this view of the written authority of the Word and tells the church at Corinth, they are a “living letter”, written not on tablets of stone but with the pen of the Spirit.
As God, through the power of the Spirit, had more control of their lives they became a living testimony of the power of Christ to change human lives. Paul makes clear that this competence or authority does not come from us and therefore there is no reason for any of us to boast.
Finally, in the second part of chapter 3, Paul talks about the glory we have received as a result of a personal encounter with God’s Spirit. (We spend a whole day at our Alpha course talking about the person and work of the Holy Spirit in each believer’s life!) Paul reasons that if Moses and the Israelites had such powerful experiences of God’s glory as He revealed Himself in specific times and places to His chosen people, how much more joyful should we be that the veil which Moses wore has been taken away from us so that we participate in becoming like Jesus in an ever increasing measure. Listen to these last couple of verses once again its implications for us are immense!!!
“16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And 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.”
Application:
Are you participating in the glory of the Lord in increasing measure? Do you feel the Spirit of freedom flowing through you as you live out God’s calling in your life? Or do you feel the bondage of the old letter of Law that kills and doesn’t give life? As you turn to Jesus and accept the promises of God, the Spirit will fill you to become all that God wants you to be!
Prayer: God we want more of you! Help us to lay down parts of our life we are holding on to which keep us in bondage to our sinful nature. Come Holy Spirit and free us to be your people. Let your glory and light shine through us to a world which increasingly needs the light to overcome darkness! We look forward to the day when we will see your glory face to face! Come Lord Jesus! Amen.
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