Reflections on 2 Corinthians 3 - Part 1

2 Corinthians 3 is a crucial chapter in the understanding of the relationship between the old and the

new covenant. Paul is engaged, for a good proportion of the letter, in defending his being recognised as a true Apostle. It would appear that there were those who had come to the church at Corinth, or who had arisen from their midst, who were claiming themselves to be 'the' authoritative leaders to whom these believers should listen and who they should follow. Paul makes no secret of the fact that he is not interested in a battle of egos. Personality is not to be the grounds on which the issue is decided. So what is? Paul is abundantly clear. It is the nature and character of the 'ministry' the Apostle delivers.

Who is the 'we'?

I recently had the privilege of attending a 'Pastor's Study Day' on the subject of 'the Christian and the Law of God', run by Dr Garry William's. I am grateful to him for his careful examination of this passage, alongside Exodus 34, from which Paul draws a dynamic parallel. It is this that has prompted these further thoughts.

Paul makes statements such as:

"Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end." (2 Corinthians 3:12-13 ESV )

It occurs to me that it is essential to understand exactly who it is that Paul is speaking of. This will help us understand the thrust of the passage. It is easy to just assume that he means 'believers' - members within the new covenant as contrasted with those who were in the old covenant. If so, he is making a general point about our accessibility to God, made possible by Christ. But I think we will see that that does not make the best sense of the flow of his argument at all. That it is better to see this as a distinguishing authentication of his call to be an Apostle. True, later in his discourse on chapter 3, he widens to include 'we all', and speaks of the effects of various factors on the individual's hearts. But he doesn't begin there.

Will the Real Apostles Please Stand Up?

Paul begins chapter 3 by dismissing the need for a kind of spiritual cv in order to be recognised as a true Apostle. Is it to be about 'letters of recommendation'? Such human mechanisms would be wide open to abuse, their acceptance or rejection a matter of mere subjective analysis on the part of the recipients. Who would be in a position to write such a thing? Who could truly know? Endless argument and bickering would ensue. No, Paul says, this matter is down to God, not man:

"Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Corinthians 3:4-6 ESV)

'Claims' are not enough. The only grounds for 'sufficiency' comes from God, not from human means at all.

What he is saying, in essence, is that what distinguishes an Apostle, what makes him what he is, is not the man himself. Rather, it is his ministry. So the question to decide is this. Is this 'candidate' for consideration as Apostle ad-ministering from God?

The 'Men Commendments' of the New Covenant

What Paul does here is to demonstrate that the new covenant is eminently superior to the old covenant. And that this is his ministry, which he serves. His 'letter of recommendation' is not a written document at all, rather, it is the actual church at Corinth. And here is his first contrast. Remarkably, significantly, it is here that he begins to place the two covenants side by side.

"And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered 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." (2 Corinthians 3:3 ESV)

When Moses descends from Mount Sinai, the authentication of his leadership in the eyes of the Israelites is that God has given him the tablets of stone engraved with the Ten Commandments. This is ‘the result of his ministry’. Indeed, way back at the burning bush, God had indicated that the proof to Moses himself that it was God who had sent him was to be that he, and all Israel with him, would worship God 'on this mountain' (Exodus 3/4).

In the new covenant, there is to be a critical difference. Paul's 'licence' to be an Apostle is seen by everyone and anyone as:

• The living entity which is the church at Corinth, not cold stone tablets 
• Written on the beating, loving heart of the Apostle, not engraved in stone tablets, carried in hands 
• Written with God's 'Spirit-ink', not mere words and letters 

Moses could be called 'the Apostle of the old covenant. Paul's intention here is to compare the covenant callings to their respective ministries. And thus he will illustrate that the new covenant vastly surpasses the old. Initially, he demonstrates that Moses' passes through to Israel the relationship with God which is governed by the Law. Whereas that of the new Israel is governed by the Spirit of God Himself. Moses brings the Ten Commandments. Paul's Apostleship embeds the concerns of those who are saved into his very heart, engraved there by the inner work of this Spirit. This is ‘the result of his ministry’.

Confidence and Competence

Paul is not diffident about this. He states that his confidence is rooted in Christ, and stand up in the very presence of God. It is a robust confidence, and it leads to competence in this new ministry of the life-giving Spirit, contrasted with the old ministry of the letter, which, he says, kills. If any of his so-called competitors are peddling a kind of rehashed Mosaic law, in any respect, they are dealers of death, not life.

We need to note that the Apostle is referencing something quite specific here. He is not saying that it is the ‘written-ness’ of God’s communication which causes death – after all, he is actually writing a letter himself! He is explicitly speaking about the old covenant, within which the effect of God’s given law, on those two stone tablets, was to bring about condemnation and death. And, quite obviously, it was not the words themselves, but rather the sombre fact that no-one could perfectly live up to what was being commanded.

Bold Behaviour

Thus, Paul says, because of the nature and character of the new ministry, as compared to the old, this results in different behaviour on the part of those who exercise it – bold behaviour.

“Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.” (vs 12)

The ‘we’ speaks of the way those who have received, first-hand, from the Lord what they now pass on in their gospel conduct themselves before their hearers. Not like Moses, who obstructed the view the Israelites had of his encounter, face to face, with God (albeit at their request). No, rather, the Apostles of Christ show forth, in their lives and in their preaching, all of the fullness of what they have witnessed, with no veiling. The Apostle John says:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1 vs 14)

And Peter attests:

“For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.” (2 Peter 1 vs 16 – 18)

Elsewhere, in 1 Corinthians, Paul states ‘what I received from the Lord, I passed on to you’.

Of all that has been revealed to these men, chosen by Christ Himself to bear witness, nothing is hidden from their hearers. And this is the witness which we see and read when we open our New Testaments. Bold, Spirit-written, words of life. For us, this means that what we have in the Apostolic word, in our Bibles, is not only reliable, it is complete. Nothing is withheld from us that we need for the fullest understanding of who Christ is and what He has made us in Himself.

More about this chapter in the next article.