In The Word
Read: 2 Corinthians 3:1-4:6
Ministers of a New Covenant
3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? 2 You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all people, 3 revealing yourselves, that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4 Such is the confidence we have toward God through Christ. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves so as to consider anything as having come from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7 But if the ministry of death, engraved in letters on stones, came with glory so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness excel in glory. 10 For indeed what had glory in this case has no glory, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
12 Therefore, having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, 13 and we are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not stare at the end of what was fading away. 14 But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. 15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts; 16 but whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
Paul’s Apostolic Ministry
4 Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, 2 but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in trickery nor distorting the word of God, but by the open proclamation of the truth commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they will not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants on account of Jesus. 6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
In this passage of the Scripture the apostle Paul voiced out the joy he had about how the church in Corinth favored him and always loved his letters. He called the believers “a letter of Christ that is read by all men” (2 Corinthians 3:3). People are always observing how we conduct ourselves with other believers. John 13:35 says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Someone once said, “I would rather see a sermon that hear one.” This means that our actions are what show people that we are Christians, not just our words.
Everything we do must be of and from the Lord and His Spirit. We don’t do as we please but as Yeshua pleases. We have to learn to speak the Word of God plainly so that people are able to hear us. When we come to the Lord, our sins are washed away and our past is gone; we become a new creation in Him. Christ has set us free from the bondage of sin. The apostle Paul tells us that, in order for us to be effective when we preach the Word of God, we must live holy lives and fear the Lord at all times. If we do so, then we will find favor in the sight of Yahweh and men.
This is a perfect time for you to let the Lord search and know your heart and see if there is any hurt in you. Let Him lead you in the everlasting way.