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Verse By Verse Devotional On 2 Corinthians By Pastor Jack #65

July 20, 2016 | by: Jack Lash | 0 comments

Posted in: 2 Corinthians

Letters of Commendation

3:1-3 "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."

In 2Cor.2:17 Paul said that unlike some who used (and abused) the word of God to their own advantage, he spoke the word of God with sincerity. Now he moves to answer the question of how this claim can be substantiated. Does he have legitimacy as an apostle simply because he says so (because he "commends" himself)? Is his legitimacy verified by some letters of commendation that he carries from well-known leaders or groups in the church? (Apparently the false apostles Paul is scorning here based their legitimacy on some such letters that they had brought to the Corinthians.)

No, Paul says. His letter of commendation was the Corinthians themselves. And here it becomes difficult. There are some ancient manuscripts which have the Greek word for “your” here, that is, “You are our letter, written on your hearts.” Most ancient manuscripts, however, have “our.” If the correct (i.e. original) reading is “your” then the meaning here seems to be that the work which the Holy Spirit had done in their hearts through the ministry of Paul was the proof that his ministry was from God and therefore authentic (which is basically what he goes on to say in v.3).

But the manuscript evidence weighs heavily on the side of the “our,” as the ESV, NIV, KJV and NASB translate it. Assuming that this is the proper reading then, we must find a way to understand what it means that the Corinthians are Paul’s letter in light of the two phrases that follow:

1- written on our hearts
2- known and read by all men

The first makes us think that he is referring to the work the Holy Spirit had done in writing the Corinthians on the heart of Paul (i.e. in filling Paul’s heart with love for the Corinthians), which was the proof that his ministry is from God and therefore authentic. In other words, it is Paul’s love for the Corinthians which is the proof of his authenticity. But it is hard to think that it is Paul’s heart that is known and read by all men, especially in light of the fact that the Corinthians are the ones who are referred to as the letter. They are clearly the ones being known and read by all men.

This leads us to think that the fact that the Corinthians are written on Paul’s heart is not meant to focus the proof on Paul’s heart but rather is his way of saying that they are dearly loved by him.

On the surface, it seems like for the sake of consistency it would be necessary to interpret “written ...on tablets of human hearts" in v.3 and “written in our hearts” in v.2 in light of each other (this is why many commentators chose to go with the “your” reading in v.2, and it is probably why some ancient scribe, thinking Paul could not mean “our,” changed it to “your”). But when the passage is closely examined it seems that there is no good way to do so. The Corinthians are a letter written on Paul’s heart, but this letter of Christ is in another sense written on their hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit. When he says the letter is written on “our hearts” he means that this letter (i.e. the Corinthians) is very dear to us (much like when the Bible says God will write His law upon human hearts He means that He will make it very dear to them). But when he says it is “written on tablets of human hearts" he is actually referring to the location of the writing: God has written His letter on the lives and hearts of the Corinthian Christians for all the world to see.

Once we come through this maze of trying to interpret Paul here, we conclude then that Paul is basically saying this: The proof of the genuineness of our ministry is the work God through His Spirit has done in you through us.

One important way to evaluate a man is by the fruit he produces from his life. What are his children like (cf. Titus 1:5-6)? What is his wife like? What impact has he had upon people? How has God used him to touch the lives of others for Christ? These are his letters of commendation to you from Christ.

These are also good questions to ask of ourselves. What are my letters of commendation from Christ? What has He done through my ministry and love that shows He has taken me as His tool? How has my life affected others for Christ?

Dear Father, as I think over my life, I see so many letters of discommendation mixed in with the letters of commendation. Thank You that You have graciously chosen me for service in Your kingdom. Thank You for the good things You have done through me, imperfect though my efforts have been. Forgive me for all my failures to radiate the love of Christ. Lord, I want to be used even more than I have been. I want to make a difference in Your kingdom. I want to be an effective tool in Your mighty hands. Please help me die to myself; fill me with Your Spirit and with the love of Christ that I might be ready for greater use.

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