Do we begin again to
commend ourselves?
Or do we need, as
some others,
epistles of
commendation to you or
letters of
commendation from you?
You are our epistle
written in our hearts,
known and read by all
men; 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.
2 Corinthians 3: 1 --
3
Before I
move forward I must remind the reader that when words are supplied they are
written in italics for when we translate we can do it 100% literally or we
can also add what is most important so that we will read it and that is writing
in an artistic manner so we can read and understand. Also, here in this letter in Chapter 3 is the word
"all" men and to give us some assistance in our understanding we
again must look at the Greek words and their literal translation. The Greek words that are translated as "known"
and as "read" are participles, therefore, it is better to say that men are coming
to know, or that which is able for them to see that is that which was inscribed
upon the hearts of Christians are being known and being read and even being
manifested and to whom? Well to all
men! Here again the Greek word, πάντων,
is a genitive "of", plural therefore speaking of multiple people and in this case "men"
cannot be applied to every person or man on the face of the earth, rather to
those certain ones who are being manifested and are coming to the being of
knowing and are the ones being the ones reading. What are they reading, and what are they knowing, and what is
being manifested to them? The very fact
that they, you, and in this letter the Corinthian Christians, are an epistle of Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit of the living
God, God has written on their, yours, hearts, that is, on tablets of flesh. Therefore, as the ministers of God, His
ambassadors, the Christian life must not only be worked out in our daily living
and habit; there must be an outgoing, or manifestation. Everyone who sees your life and your manner
of living and whether or not that is in accordance to what you say you believe,
must be an outgoing manifestation of that which God has written upon your
heart, and obedience and service. Paul
is reminding the Corinthian Christians that there is no need that they be
commended again, nor is he trying to commend himself. There was no need for this for they were the result of his
preaching and teaching, and an epistle that was written in their hearts and as an
epistle of Jesus Christ what they say they believe is simply from the very fact
that they are living manifestations as though God who wrote His will upon their
hearts. Every Christian in one way or
another is called to be a missionary.
How that is worked out is individual for some are called by God to be
set apart in special work for Him.
Others are called to be a missionary in their daily lives, and their secular work,
in their home, and as they teach their children. The scene of the action is secondary for the main concern is
obedience to His command. God calls not
by your nature, rather by His nature and where we go in obedience to His call
is dependent entirely on the providential circumstances that God
engineers. Paul was called by God to be
a missionary to the Grecian, or non-Jews, and this he did and carried out even
though the circumstances were often harsh.
Sometimes Christians are just waiting upon the call of God. And they are expecting to be called to a
particular service. We must set this
aside and understand that we may have come to realize our desire to do for God
what we can do, but what is more important is that we must then remember that this
service of the call is the echo of your identification with God. The question then are you truly identified
with God, His Son, and allowed the Holy Spirit to lead you in all circumstances
of life and leave all the consequences of those circumstances to Him? As Paul further instructed the Corinthian
Christians: "and we have such trust
through Christ toward God. Not that we
are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but
our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the
new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but
the Spirit gives life" (2 Corinthians 3: 4 -- 6). The question that must be answered by each
one of us is: do I know Jesus Christ, or do I just know about Him? We may be able to tell about the various
events of Jesus Christ's life from his childhood to his death, and we read the
Bible every day, which is important, and we may even pray to God, which is
important, but do you really know Jesus Christ? Are you truly identified with God? If so, then you will be doing what the Bible tells us to do and
we will not be doing that which the Bible tells us not to do. Christianity is simple! It is we who make it hard! Are you just following doctrine, the
doctrines of the Church, which may have good scriptural warrant for such
doctrines, or are you actually becoming one who loves and knows Jesus Christ
personally? Is God, His Son, and the
Holy Spirit sufficient for you? Or are
you allowing your nature, which is sinful, to be that which is sufficient for
you? God never outfits according to
anything other than what is fitted to your nature, and if you are truly
identified to Jesus Christ, then you are outfitted to His nature. Therefore, unless you have been identified,
have come to know Jesus Christ and not simply to know about Him you will never
hear His call until you receive His nature.
Are you preparing now to hear the call of God, do you have the
willingness for the divine preparation of God Who seeks those that He
is preparing to be the manifesting people for Him? Have you become "broken bread and poured out wine?" Jesus Christ has served you: are you now
willing to serve him?"
"Now, therefore," says the LORD,
"Turn
to Me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning."
So rend
your heart, and not your garments;
return to the LORD your God, for He gracious and merciful,
slow to
anger, and a great kindness,
and He relents from doing harm.
Joel
2: 12 -- 13
Be zealous for God our sufficiency
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