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  2^nd March 2025

SundayReflection

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David Guzik

   David's material first appeared
   on the Blue Letter Bible

The Glory of the New Covenant

    2 Corinthians 3 v2-3

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Does Paul need a letter of recommendation?
He has one - the Corinthian Christians themselves.

Epistles of commendation, or letters, were common and necessary in the early church.
A false prophet or apostle could travel from city to city and easily say,
"Paul sent me, so you should support me."

To help guard against problems like this, letters of recommendation were often sent with Christians as they travelled.

Paul himself sent letters of commendation on many occasions.
Now Paul will describe his letter of recommendation.

Paul has a letter of recommendation, but it isn't written on paper.
Paul says the letter is written in our hearts, and it is known and read by all men.

There was nothing wrong with a letter of commendation written on paper, but how much better to have a living letter of commendation!

The Christians at Corinth, along with groups of Christians wherever Paul had worked, were Paul's "living letter" to validate his ministry.

The best analogy in today's world might be a certificate of ordination.
Many people think that a certificate of ordination means that you have the credentials of ministry.

While there is an important purpose in a public ordination to ministry, a piece of paper in itself never is a proper credential.
The true credentials of the ministry are changed lives, living epistles.
We might almost say, keep your paper to yourself and show us the changed lives from your ministry.

Many think the main reason God granted the miraculous signs and wonders among the apostles in the Book of Acts to serve as a "letter of commendation" to their apostolic ministry.

If this was the case, it makes sense that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit would cease when the apostles passed from the scene, because there would no longer be an apostolic ministry to authenticate.

However, it is significant that Paul does not say, "miracles are our epistle of commendation."

Paul apparently did not believe his primary "letter of recommendation" was found in miraculous signs but found in miraculously changed lives.

Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

Paul's letter of recommendation has an author, Jesus Christ.
The Corinthian Christians were indeed Paul's letter of recommendation, yet he realized that he did not write that letter - Jesus did.

Paul is not trying to say, "I made you the Christians you are," but he is saying, "God used me to make you the Christians you are."

Paul's letter of recommendation was written with a "pen" and the "pen" was Paul himself.
He "wrote into" the lives of the people he served.

Paul's letter of recommendation was written with "ink," and the "ink" was the Holy Spirit.

Paul's letter of recommendation was written on "paper" or tablets, and the "paper" was the hearts of the Corinthian Christians.

The Old Testament prophets looked forward to the New Covenant, when the law of God would be written in our hearts, and said God would grant hearts of flesh to replace hearts of stone

This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request

David Guzik
'Enduring Word' exists to promote the work of Christian discipleship and evangelism worldwide,
mainly through the publication and dissemination of the Bible teaching work of David Guzik and likeminded people.

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