2 Corinthians 3:1-11, Letters of Recommendation

1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from 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 that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

Comments:

Understanding chapter 3 of 2 Corinthians requires reading between the lines and a willingness to go with the flow of Paul’s mixed metaphors. Paul begins by saying he does not need to produce a letter of introduction because the Corinthians themselves are his letter, his proof of apostleship. Letters of introduction were exceedingly common in antiquity. Philemon and 3 John are New Testament examples. What exactly does Paul mean by saying the Corinthians are his letter and Christ’s letter of recommendation? Their changed lives are the evidence of his gospel work among them. The major point is that Christ, through Paul, is the ultimate author of this letter. It has been Christ all along who has put his Spirit in their hearts.

Paul knows his adequacy comes from God. Therefore, he seeks no credit. What is Paul thinking about when he says, “the letter”? He is probably referring to the Ten Commandments. Break one of them and the punishment is death. Paul’s message is not the Ten Commandments. Rather, he is a minister who both proclaims and dispenses the Holy Spirit. The ministry of the letter, that is the Law, kills fallen people. The ministry of the Spirit gives them life. Paul’s point is that the time of the Old Covenant has passed and its glory has been surpassed by the exceeding and superseding glory of the New Covenant.

When Paul refers to the Ten Commandments, which represent the Law, as “the ministry of death,” he is making the case that the Commandments could not give the people of God the power to keep them. The Israelites were and remained a “stiff-necked” people under the guidance of the Law. The Holy Spirit changes everything. No longer is God’s word external but becomes internal through the indwelling Spirit. While the Old Covenant came to an end, the New Covenant will be everlasting with a “permanent glory.”

Reflection:

May we all live in the peace that comes from you. May we journey towards your city, sailing through the waters of sin untouched by the waves, borne serenely along by the Holy Spirit. Night and day may we give you praise and thanks, because you have shown us that all things belong to you, and all blessings are gifts from you. To you, the essence of wisdom, the foundation of truth, be glory for evermore.

-- Clement of Alexandria, c.150-c.215