THE GLORY OF THE GOSPEL.
2 Corinthians 3:4-9.
Paul is confident that the Corinthians ARE his letters of recommendation (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:2). This trust towards God is mediated through Christ Himself (2 CORINTHIANS 3:4). There is a denial of self-sufficiency, and an acknowledgement of the all-sufficiency of God (2 CORINTHIANS 3:5).
Paul and his companions knew this sufficiency of God on a personal level. The Apostle could say, as we might all say, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ (cf. Philippians 4:13). In our present passage he spoke of God’s enabling for the ministry (2 CORINTHIANS 3:6).
Paul was also confident in the Lord for the development of the congregations put in his care (cf. Philippians 1:6). Christian people can be sure of the sufficiency of God when we seek to live a life of holiness in the midst of an unsympathetic world. The same God who says – ‘Be ye holy; for I am holy’ (cf. 1 Peter 1:16) - also empowers us to fulfil the commandment.
The mention of the new covenant presupposes that the earlier writings have become old (2 CORINTHIANS 3:6). This is not to deny that the Old Testament had a certain “glory” (2 CORINTHIANS 3:9), but rather to emphasise that the New Testament has a greater glory. The ‘letter of the law’ only served to condemn us, as it revealed our total inability to keep the law - “the letter kills” (cf. 2 CORINTHIANS 3:6): but the giving of the New Testament is accompanied by the engrafting of God’s word upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:3) - and “the Spirit gives life” (2 CORINTHIANS 3:6).
"We are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves;" says Paul in 2 CORINTHIANS 3:5, "but our sufficiency is of God."
Paul then goes on to contrast the ministry of the New Testament with that of the Old; the glory that shone in Moses’ face with the glory of the Spirit (2 CORINTHIANS 3:7-8).
The law ushered in death, but the Spirit brings righteousness and life (2 CORINTHIANS 3:9).
Before the gospel liberates us, we are like the deaf man who was brought to Jesus in Mark 7:32, who also had an impediment in his speech. Until Jesus touches us, we cannot hear or comprehend the message of salvation: but after He has opened our ears, and loosed our tongues, then we not only understand and embrace the Gospel for ourselves, but are also motivated and empowered to proclaim it to others.
