Being an Effective Christian

2 Corinthians 3:1-11

- This morning we’re continuing Our journey through 2 Corinthians with

CLICK

- “Being an Effective Christian”

READ & PRAY

Last week Bro. Jason taught on “when you are deeply hurt”

We know that Paul had experienced some type of hurt from someone,

or more likely several people.

A person or people that had refuted his authority as an apostle.

And as Paul continues to defend his apostolic authority,

he knows whatever he writes is going to be perverted,

by the false teachers who had come into the church at Corinth.

He also knows he needs to defend himself because,

he is the apostle God used to establish the church,

and teach them the truth of the Gospel.

And If the false teachers succeed in discrediting him,

the church would lose sight of,

- God’s truth and will wind up following those false teachers, and

- fall into the doctrines of deception fromm the devil.

- How true Is this in our society today?!

- Everyone… whether “religious” or not,

- is fighting for all they are worth, to

- discredit the local church, the Bible, and God.

- And unfortunately they are really good at it.

- Naysayers and people against the Bible are really good at what they do.

- and good Christians can fall victim to false teaching,

- don’t ever think you are above it!!

- We need to keep our hearts and minds,

- tuned to God and His word, and

- tuned to one another.

- We need to love each other enough to stand up for what is right, Biblically.

- And we need to be effective in doing so.

- Just like Paul loved the Corinthians enough to defend himself, and

- and not let those opposing him, the man of God,

- get in and corrupt the Corinthian church.

- So in this passage, Paul gives us three principles for being an effective Christian.

- The first….

CLICK

“Realize your life is an "open book" (vs1-3)

- The author of our lesson starts out with the statement,

- “Godly teachers don't need recommendations for people who know them well.”

- And that is very true…..

- Pastor as an example.

- To the members of WBC,

- He doesn’t need a letter of recommendation every time he preaches to us.

- We know him well, and where he stands Biblically.

- He started this church and we know he still has a passion/ love for it.

- Well, Paul along with his associates,

- Silas and Timothy, established the church at Corinth.

- It came into existence because,

- of Paul's Spirit filled and empowered preaching and teaching.

- Thats why, Paul writes in v1,

“Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? “

- He’s asking (almost sarcastically), “Do we really need a letter recommendation for you”

- Just like in modern times people use resumés to

- introduce themselves to prospective employers.

- In Paul's day, traveling preachers, teachers, and Christian workers

- would use letters of commendation / recommendation

- from other churches or recognized church leaders.

- We have a great example of this at the beginning of Romans 16

"I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also."  (Romans 16:1-2)

- But, Paul doesn't need such a recommendation…

- He says why in v2

“Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men”

- He’s saying that the people themselves are his epistle.

- “You are my epistle, real living example”

- The Corinthian people’s changed lives were

- his letter of commendation for his apostleship.

- The believers there in Corinth knew Paul well.

- (Q) What do we know about his ministry in Corinth from Acts 18:11?

Acts 18:11 “And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.”

CLICK

- (A) “Paul lived among the Corinthians and taught them for a year and a half.”

- Paul had spent much time with them, they knew him and his heart, and

- he didn’t need a physical letter of commendation to present to them.

- He says, the letters of commendation, are

- written in our hearts. (v2)

- Paul and his associates loved Corinthians dearly, and

- they kept them on their hearts, and

- everyone knew about them.

- Paul continues the thought in first part of v3,

“Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God (3:3a).

CLICK

- Thats your next blank

(A) “Not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God”

- He’s saying the epistle was not written ink, it was

- the changed hearts and lives of the Corinthian people.

- The Spirit of the living God produced

- this epistle of Christ in these believers.

- And in the last part of v3,

- Paul is referring to the Ten Commandments, when he writes,

“not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.”

- He’s making the point that,

- the manifestation/ evidence of the work of

- the Holly Spirit through a person’s life,

- is far greater than any letter of commendation that could be written.

- God used Ezekiel to prophecy about a heart changed by the Holy Spirit.

- (Q) What is prophesied in Ezekiel 36:26?

Ezekiel 36:26 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you an heart of flesh.”

CLICK

- (A) and I will take the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you an heart of flesh.

- Clarke puts it like this,

A heart “that can feel, and that can enjoy; that can feel love to God and to all men, and be a proper habitation for the living God.“

- The changed hearts of the Corinthians by the Holy Spirit,

- was evidence that Pauls work was of God.

- Paul's life was an "open book" for the Corinthians and to everyone who knew him.

- And So are our lives today.

- The author give a poem in our lesson that is something we need to think about.

“You are writing a gospel, a chapter each day,

By the deeds that you do and the words that you say.

Men read what you write… distorted or true;

What is the gospel according to you?"

- We may be (our lives may be) the only gospel that some people will ever read.

- We need to live according to God’s will for our life,

- follow His leading,

- live holy lives.

- Our lives are an “open book” and we need to live as such.

- So to be an effective Christian,

- realize your life is an "open book"

- and second

CLICK

“Utilize God's power” (3:4-6)

- In (v4) Paul states his ‘trust’ comes from God ‘through Christ’.

- isn’t it good to know that we can always trust God!!

- And to emphasize that he is not boasting, Paul writes in v5 (read)

- He’s saying he is not sufficient within himself to maintain anything!

- His sufficiency is from God alone.

- I love Pauls humility.

- I know in my own life I need to learn from Paul’s example here.

- None of us are sufficient in ourselves to be effective Christians,

- much less effective teachers or preachers.

- I’m reminded of this every time I try to do something,

- my way or

- by my own strength!!

- Any and all sufficiency comes from God working in and through us.

- (Q) To this note, what does Paul write in Philippians 2:13?

Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

CLICK

- (A) “God works in me to will and to work for His pleasure”

- When we try to do something our way, by our own strength..

- the last thing it brings, is

- pleasure to God.

- Paul's confidence was not based on his human abilities but on God's power.

- And we should base our confidence the same way,

- On God’s power!

- He continues v6a-b that God has made,

- him able to be a minister of,

- the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit.

- The wonderful news of the new testament, or covenant, the gospel, is

- that we don't have to come to God through Judaism (OT Law).

- The new covenant is based solely on Christ's death and resurrection.

- As Jesus transforms the Passover into the Lord's Supper, He says the new testament is in His blood (Luke 22:20b).

Luke 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

- The new testament is not based on the letter of the Law,

- but on the blood of Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit.

- AMEN!!!

- I know couldn’t keep it, no of us could!

- If it wasn’t for the blood we would all go to hell!

- That's why Paul writes in v6c, for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

- The Law of Moses was never designed to provide eternal life,

- but false teachers in the early church were teaching this falsehood.

- Just like false teachers and religions today teach,

- work or man based salvation.

- Trusting in the Law (or the letter) kills,

- which means it leads to eternal death.

- However, the spirit giveth life (v6).

- In other words, the conviction and POWER of the Holy Spirit is the only way to eternal life.

- (Q) What does Paul write in Galatians 6:8 concerning the work of God?

Galatians 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

CLICK

- (A) “If I sow to my own flesh, I will reap corruption, but if I sow to the Spirit, I will reap eternal life from the Spirit.”

- Our first utilization of Gods power in our life, is

- to accept Jesus as our savior.

- Realizing that He is the only one capable of saving us!

- Then, we need to use that as an example for the rest of our lives,

- our only hope in doing anything right,

- is through the utilization of God’s power,

- for HIS glory.

- So , to be an effective Christian,

- realize your life is an open book,

- utilize God's power,

- and third

CLICK

“Emphasize the glory of the new covenant” (3:7-11)

- Now, Paul is elaborating on the difference between the old and new covenants.

- He writes in vs7-8,

But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious.

- Paul is using the giving of the Ten Commandments again,

- to contrast the difference between the old and new covenants.

- After Moses received the Ten Commandments from God,

- he came down from Mount Sinai with the stone tablets on which they are written.

- And Moses was unaware of it, but his face was shining, or radiant,

- because he has been talking to God.

- And because of that Aaron and the Israelites were afraid to approach Moses.

Exodus 34:29-30 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.

- See the Law came with glory v7.

- The word translated glory here (DOXA, dox'-ah)

- is the word from which we get our word "doxology."

- And the word "doxology'" means "Glory words."

- The word glory refers to

- the indescribable power and presence of God.

- It does involve a literal brightness or radiance,

- but Paul is referencing,

- the manifestation of the majesty, splendor,

- and awesomeness of God.

- (Q) How does Jesus describe this glory in John 17:5?

John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

CLICK

- (A) “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”

- He was praying that the glory of the Father would shine through Him again, and

- that He would have the glory of the father,

- that he had before he came to earth.

- Paul's point, in vs 7-8,

- is that God's glory was revealed when He gave the Ten Commandments,

- which lead to death if they are trusted for salvation.

- So if that was the case….

- Then how much more glory does God receive,

- in His plan to give life through,

- the blood of Jesus and

- the power of the Spirit!

- Paul continues in v9,

- For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

- The Law doesn't forgive sin; it reveals our sin.

- It doesn’t save the sinner, it condemns them.

- (Q) How does Paul state this truth in Romans 3:20?

Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

CLICK

- (A) “In God’s sight, no one is ‘justified’ by works of the law because our ‘knowledge of sin’ comes through the law.”

- The OT covenant brings knowledge of sin,

- but through the new covenant, we are justified,

- we’re saved, which means all our sins are forgiven.

- The old covenant brings God's judgment and condemnation.

- But, the new covenant brings God's righteousness,

- which is why Paul calls it the “ministration of righteousness.”

- So, which deserves the most glory?

- What reveals our sin or

- what takes away our sin?

- That's why Paul is writing in reference to the coming of the Law, (v10)

- For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

- Paul is not discounting the glory of the old covenant.

- He is saying it has no glory when compared to the new covenant.

- Then, he writes, For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious (3:11).

- Again, how much more glorious is the new convent!!!

- The old covenant came with more glory than just Moses' shining face.

- When Moses was receiving the Law on Mount Sinai,

- we read the mountain was covered with smoke,

- because the Lord had descended on it in fire.

- The smoke rose up from it like a furnace (Ex 19:18a-c).

- (Q) What else do we read in Exodus 19:18d?

Exodus 19:18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.

CLICK

- (A) “The entire mountain ‘quaked greatly’”

- It’s hard to imagine the magnitude of this scene.

- I’m sure the people were terrified.

- But as wonderful and glorious as the events on Mount Sinai were,

- the changed lives of new believers are far more glorious than

- miraculous fire, smoke, and a trembling mountain.

- The glory of the new covenant (salvation/ the gospel) far exceeds that of the old.

- The author gives this example,

- Think of how the light of the sun makes the light of a candle or flashlight useless.

- It’s the same with the light of God's Son.

- The glory of the new covenant so eclipses the glory,

- of the old covenant that it has no glory.

- I think a lot of todays Christians take advantage of salvation,

- We forget just how magnificent and glorious it really is.

- I believe if we got as excited about as we should,

- we would be more effective in reaching the lost.

- So, to be an effective Christian,

- CLICK

- realize your life is an "open book,"

- utilize God's power, and

- emphasize the glory of the new covenant.

- CLICK