1 Corinthians Three

2 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary e. Letters of Recommendation (3:1–3)

But why does Paul raise the question of a letter of recommendation at all? We have to assume that the fact that he did not bring such a letter with him to Corinth had been used as a basis of criticism by someone in the church. Quite likely it was the offender (the one who caused pain, 2:5; who did wrong, 7:12) who, in mounting his personal attack against Paul, criticized the apostle’s lack of such a letter. In so doing the offender probably received moral support at least from the ‘false apostles’ who had already infiltrated the church and were themselves to oppose Paul so vehemently later on (as reflected in chs. 10–13).

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again?

Paul doesn’t appreciate having to get into self-commendation. He already addressed it in chapter 1

2 Corinthians 1:12–14 NIV

Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace. For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.

2 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary e. Letters of Recommendation (3:1–3)

Others had come to Corinth with letters (e.g. Apollos, cf. Acts 18:24–28) because they needed them. It is absurd that anyone should require Paul to bring such letters to the Corinthian church when he was its founding apostle.

You yourselves are our letter of recommendation

The very existence of that church testified to the authenticity of Paul’s ministry.

2 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary e. Letters of Recommendation (3:1–3)

If the Corinthians are Paul’s letter of recommendation, the author of that letter is Christ. Thus Paul claims that no-one less than the exalted Lord has produced this letter for him. But while Christ is the author of the letter, Paul says it was delivered by us. The word delivered is a translation of diakonētheisa, which literally means ‘ministered’ or ‘serviced’. Within a metaphor of letter writing (as here) where an author and a scribe are envisaged, a better rendering would be ‘enscribed’. So Paul sees the Corinthians as a ‘living letter’ dictated by Christ, but ‘enscribed’ by Paul through the apostolic ministry of gospel proclamation.

“Not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God”

MINISTERS OF THE NEW COVENANT (4-6)

2 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary f. Ministers of the New Covenant (3:4–6)

Paul further describes his confidence by saying that it is God who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant. The expression new covenant is found in only one other place in Paul’s writings, i.e. in 1 Corinthians 11:25, where it forms part of the Lord’s Supper tradition which Paul says he received (‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood’). This use of the term by Paul makes it plain that he, like the writer to the Hebrews (cf. Heb. 9:15–28), saw the death of Christ as that which established the new covenant. However, what Paul stresses in the present context is that the ministry of the new covenant is one which is not in a written code but in the Spirit (lit. ‘not of letter but of Spirit’).

“For the written code kills, but the Spirit gives life”

How is this possible? The written code kills when it is used improperly (set of rules to be followed to make oneself righteous).

2 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary f. Ministers of the New Covenant (3:4–6)

However, the ministry of the Spirit is quite different. It is a ministry of the new covenant under which sins are forgiven and remembered no more, and people are motivated and enabled by the Spirit to do what the improper application of the law could never achieve (cf. Jer. 31:31–34; Ezek. 36:25–27; Rom. 8:3–4).

2 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary g. Two Ministries Compared and Contrasted (3:7–18)

In 3:7–18 the apostle, by means of an exposition of Exodus 34:29–32 and then of 34:33–35, further compares and contrasts the ministries of the new and old covenants so as to demonstrate the superiority of the former. Paul’s primary purpose in so doing is to highlight the glorious character of the ministry with which he has been entrusted and so explain why, despite so many difficulties, he does not lose heart (cf. 4:1).

(7-11) deals with :

Exodus 34:29–32 NIV

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.

2 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary g. Two Ministries Compared and Contrasted (3:7–18)

The superiority of new covenant is argued on three counts: (a) the ministry of the Spirit is more splendid than the ministry of death, (b) the ministry of righteousness is more splendid than that of condemnation, and (c) the permanent ministry is more splendid than that which fades away.

(12-18) deals with:

Exodus 34:33–35 NIV

When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

2 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary g. Two Ministries Compared and Contrasted (3:7–18)

He also sees in the veiling of Moses’ face something analogous to the ‘veil’ which lay over the minds of many of his Jewish contemporaries who could not properly understand the law of Moses when it was read in their synagogues. Believers, by contrast, are those who with unveiled faces behold the glory of the Lord.