The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Corinthians 3:1b-3,
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"Do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."
A wonderful, mystical reality is exposed in Paul's comment here about the believers in Corinth – a reality that remains in place today for all believers. He rejects the notion that he and his apostolic band need any kind of letter of recommendation, any type of certification or verification of authenticity regarding their work in ministry. The reason? The changed lives of the Corinthian believers is all the proof anyone could need that Paul was sent by God because the work of God is manifest in the lives of the believers he has worked with! He says, "You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God."
Often it is heard that the believers in Corinth were "worldly" and "carnal" Christians. Indeed, Paul wrote to them saying, "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?" 1 Corinthian 3:1-3. But, that is not all Paul had to say about them. As many things in life there is more to the story.
Paul also said to these same believers, "I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed." 1 Corinthians 1:4-7. Also, "I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds." 2 Corinthians 7:4. In Paul's discussion of the believers in Corinth with Titus, he says, "I had boasted to him [Titus] about you [the believers in Corinth], and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well. And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling. I am glad I can have complete confidence in you." 2 Corinthians 7:4-16.
The believers in Corinth were changed people! That change revealed the work of the Spirit of the living God in their hearts. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" And so it is today as well! Our God changes us from within when we embrace him in faith. This is Lord's claim in the New Covenant! "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." Ezekiel 31:33.
Here is the wonderful mystical reality of the work of God in each of our lives! Our Lord is changing us all from within, even now, even today!
A wonderful, mystical reality is exposed in Paul's comment here about the believers in Corinth – a reality that remains in place today for all believers. He rejects the notion that he and his apostolic band need any kind of letter of recommendation, any type of certification or verification of authenticity regarding their work in ministry. The reason? The changed lives of the Corinthian believers is all the proof anyone could need that Paul was sent by God because the work of God is manifest in the lives of the believers he has worked with! He says, "You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God."
Often it is heard that the believers in Corinth were "worldly" and "carnal" Christians. Indeed, Paul wrote to them saying, "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?" 1 Corinthian 3:1-3. But, that is not all Paul had to say about them. As many things in life there is more to the story.
Paul also said to these same believers, "I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed." 1 Corinthians 1:4-7. Also, "I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds." 2 Corinthians 7:4. In Paul's discussion of the believers in Corinth with Titus, he says, "I had boasted to him [Titus] about you [the believers in Corinth], and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well. And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling. I am glad I can have complete confidence in you." 2 Corinthians 7:4-16.
The believers in Corinth were changed people! That change revealed the work of the Spirit of the living God in their hearts. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" And so it is today as well! Our God changes us from within when we embrace him in faith. This is Lord's claim in the New Covenant! "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." Ezekiel 31:33.
Here is the wonderful mystical reality of the work of God in each of our lives! Our Lord is changing us all from within, even now, even today!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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