Three Works of the Spirit
Three Accomplishments of the Spirit
2 Corinthians 3:1-11
Introduction:
We have seen Paul giving comfort to the suffering by pointing to the Lord who is able to give comfort in all situations
We have seen Paul defending himself against unfair/unfounded criticism
We saw last week Paul’s great desire to go through God’s open doors and preach the Gospel of Christ
In the passage today I believe that we see Paul encouraging the Corinthian believers by sharing with them what he has seen in them as the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In it we see three things that the Holy Spirit accomplishes in the lives of Christians.
1. The Holy Spirit changes the way we live
2. The Holy Spirit helps us to mature in Christ
3. The Holy Spirit enables us to experience the glory of God
I. The Holy Spirit changes the way that we live our lives vv. 1-3
1. Paul did not need from them a letter of commendation
Often as ministers, or others, traveled from town to town they took with them letter of commendation. Letters that shared their genuineness or authenticity to others. Like getting a letter of recommendation today.
Often the weakness of these letters is that anyone can write them and often the ones asked to do the writing are close friends who would give positive recommendation anyway. There were many false teachers in Paul’s day teaching many false doctrines.
Paul’s comment, in response to the change that took place in these believers was, “I do not need such a letter, your changed life is all that is needed!!”
2. Paul’s power was not in his letter of recommendation or in his ability to speak and persuade men, it was in the message itself.
The evidence of that was written by the Spirit in the lives of those in Corinth, their lives were changed for the world to see.
Paul had confronted them as we talked earlier about
ð Division and fighting in the Church
ð Lack of spiritual growth
ð Sexual immorality that was in the Church
ð Taking one another to court
ð Trouble with marriages
ð Not taking care of their widows
ð Idolatry
ð Fighting over spiritual gifts: Especially uplifting tongues
ð Trouble with their interactions with each other: Some looking down on.
Now evidently the Spirit had convicted them of these things and change had taken place.
Character of their change:
1) It set them apart as true believers in Christ v. 3a
A changed life is something that should set apart every true child of God as a follower of Jesus Christ.
Luke 3:8-14 John the Baptist taught the need of changed life
Matthew 9:13 “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Jesus is here saying that He is not looking for religious activity (sacrifice) but a changed life (repentance).
John 8:11-12 The Scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman they had caught in the act of adultery. Jesus responded that the one without sin should cast the first stone. None did, so Jesus responded by saying, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
The one who follows me will walk in light as opposed to darkness!!
I have a real problem today with many who name the name of Christ and faithfully attend Church every week and yet whose lives are no different that those around them.
What is different in our lives because we have the Spirit living in us?
2) It was obvious for the world to see v. 2
It was read by all men
It was so obvious that Paul did not need a letter of authenticity
Is it obvious from our lives that the Spirit is working?
3) It was caused by the ministry of the Holy Spirit v. 3
This was not just a group of people who decided to clean up their lives. This was a group of people changed by the Holy Spirit.
Many good people decide that there are things in their lives that need to change, and they make those changes. That does not make them a child of God. A true child of God is changed by the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit inside of us that convicts us of wrong and gives us both the desire and the ability to become a new person.
II. The Holy Spirit helps us to mature in Christ vv. 3-6
1. Paul says that his sufficiency comes from God, and not from himself
Sufficiency = competency = maturity
Paul is mature because of the Spirit’s work to give him maturity and life
2. Many had the idea that maturity came from following the right set of rules
Following the letter
“If you follow the right set of rules then you are right spiritually
Pastor Joel Curry – “A big part of the difficulties in Corinth had been what we might call a rules-only faith . . . a legalistic approach to God. The people argued about what was right and what was wrong to do, and people seemed to judge each other’s spiritual health based on what rules they followed and what rules they did not. They (often) argued and judged each other on inconsequential issues….”
Pharisees in the Gospels were good at coming up with rules that “made someone mature.”
Example of the Sabbath rest
In Exodus the Lord told Moses that the Sabbath was to be a day of rest, no work was to be done that day.
Pharisees came up with their own list of rules as to what that meant
How far you could walk
How much food could be prepared
Even accused Jesus of not being spiritual for breaking their rules
3. Do we do the same thing today? Yes
We need to be very careful how we define maturity in Christ.
Fellow used to tell me often how spiritual his own kids were because they were in Church every Sunday.
What he did not know was that I knew his kids before I knew him
They may have been in Church every Sunday, but they were far from being where the Lord wanted them to be (in my opinion).
He had made up a rule and determined someone’s spiritual status by how they adhered to that rule.
Certainly how we act and what we do says a lot about where we are spiritually, but unfortunately we often look more at minor issues that major issues.
In Corinth it was which minister they followed
How much food they brought to agape
Dinners
How do we do that today?
I am fearful to give examples
One that comes to mind is dress
Anyone who wears _______ to Church
We are not made mature by following a manmade set of rules, we are mature when we walk with the Spirit of God and cooperate with His ministry in our lives. Jesus was mature and broke many of the spiritual leader’s rules of right and wrong. Yet before the Lord their was not a more spiritually mature man.
III. The Spirit enables us to experience the glory of God vv. 7-11
1. What is the “glory?”
Moses: Refers to the time that Moses received the Law from God on the tablets of stone
*When Moses came down off of the mountain it refers to the “glory of his countenance.” Moses’ face shown from being in the presence of God
*Yet this glory was a passing glory: He veiled his face for a short time and then it passed away
Us: It then refers to the ministry of the Spirit being more glorious that the giving of the Law. What I see in this passage is the fact that if the time of receiving the Law caused God’s glory to be seen in Moses how much more should God’s glory be seen in us now that we have the Spirit of God which is not passing away.
When we see the Spirit of God:
Changing our lives
Maturing us: helping us to grow up in Him
That is going to be seen in our lives in much the same way Moses time with the Lord was seen.
What people need to see in us is that God is alive and well and doing a work in our lives that no one or nothing else can do!!