You are a letter of Christ

2 Corinthians 3 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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 men; ³ being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for 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 confidence we have through Christ toward God. ⁵ Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming 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, in letters engraved 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 abound 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 are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently 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 heart; ¹⁶ but whenever a person 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 liberty. ¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

Paul begins today’s text saying: Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for 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.   That should be the commendation of every church and every pastor, not that they have the most members, not that they have great music or good fellowship, not even that they have the best preaching, all those things are good, but what really matters is that there are people whose lives have been changed. As individual believers, are lives should be those letters written on human hearts. In Acts 1:8 Jesus says: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”   Being a witness for Christ is not only telling others what Jesus did for them, dying on the cross for their sin. As witnesses for Christ we should tell others what Christ has done for us and those who know us should be able to simply read the letter of the transformation of our lives.

People tend to think that their testimony is the story of how they came to Christ. If the only testimony of Christ that I have to share is something that happened thirty years ago, what encouragement or exhortation is that to others. Lamentations 3:22-24 says:  Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”  Our testimony should be new and changing. Each day should be a new page written about what Christ has done, about the faithfulness of God. Far too often we are like the television news. We report all our problems and our complaints to others. Rarely do we focus on all the good that there is in our lives and the lives of others.

As Acts 1:8 says, we are to be witnesses for Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit. In today’s text Paul compares the witness of the Law, the commandments, to the witness of our lives filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. He says:    For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory… Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. 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. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.   It’s not that the Ten Commandments are not important or that we as believers should not esteem and hold to them. But if that is our only witness and testimony to the world, we can expect that the minds and hearts of many will be hardened, not changed. People are aware of right and wrong, good and evil, darkness and light. Most people have already decided how they will respond to the commandments of God. In John 3:19 Jesus says:  “Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”    Pointing out and railing at the darkness will not cause others to see and glorify God. Jesus says: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)   It is the evidence of the light of Christ in our own lives, the ongoing letter of our lives which is the greatest testimony and witness for Christ. When others see what Christ has done and is doing in our lives the veil and the hardness are removed from their eyes and hearts.

Paul concludes:  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.  The liberty we have in the Lord, through the Spirit, is not a freedom to participate in the evil and darkness of the world. In Matthew 5:19-20 Jesus Himself says:  “Whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”  We have freedom, liberty in Christ because we are continuing to be transformed in and by His glory. Romans 8:28-29 says:  We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.    It is all the things that happen in our lives, both the good and the difficult, used by God to transform us from glory to glory, conformed to Christ, which is the most powerful witness and testimony of and for Christ.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, may my life indeed be like a letter written each day by Your hand. May I live as light, may my witness, my testimony and my life reveal Your glory. May I never stop being transformed from glory to glory as You work all things daily for my good.  Amen.