Are You Legit?

2 Corinthians 3:1–6 NASB95

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for 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. Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

INTRO: How many of you remember entering the workforce? When you applied for your first job as a accountant, engineer, mechanic, etc., you likely felt a bit of anxiety, right? Can I do this? I felt that way when the hospital sent us home with our first child… it almost feels wrong! But eventually you came to the place where you could say legitimately that you are an accountant or whatever.

There is a similar challenge when it comes to disciple-making or ministry.

It is helpful for us to remember that the apostle Paul faced some criticism from some in the Corinthian church. In fact, in his absence, there were others who came to Corinth claiming to be preachers of the Word, but many of them were actually false teachers.

With so many people claiming to be someone, how would you know who was legit? Many of the Judaizers and other teachers actually carried letters from other well-known and respected folks declaring their legitimacy. Their legitimacy was supposedly through the testimony of men.

That was one criticism against Paul. Since he offered such a coarse rebuke of the Corinthians, some were offended and began asking, “Who are you that we should listen to you? Do you have a letter from Peter or John?”

Paul’s writing reflects these criticisms- you see in v. 1 how he begins with some rhetorical questions. (READ v.1) This is to help set the stage for his reply- a reply which you and I can evaluate our own role as a disciple-maker.

Let me just preface this with another reminder, and that is that we, as followers of Christ are all called to the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:19–20 NASB95

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

In the book of James, we are instructed to

James 1:22 NASB95

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

So this morning, I invite you to make use of the sermon guide located in your bulletin as I walk us together through Paul’s response and challenge you to take a real honest look at your life as a follower of Jesus. Today we are asking the question, “Are You Legit?”

Let’s learn together. The first indicator is:

Legit Disciple-Makers Produce Fruit (2)

Lets read v. 2 again (READ)

I love this response- “You are our letter!”

In other words, Paul is telling these folks to look around! The Corinthians were once enslaved by their sins, but there is a notable difference! This is reflected in Paul’s first letter to the church- let me remind you of what Paul wrote in...

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 NASB95

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

The reality is that Paul’s legitimacy was not from a letter written by another man that he would carry with him, but rather was the letter of the Corinthian lives that were transformed and all who saw them could see the difference.

ILL: We had some plants come up this spring in our garden- I don’t know enough about plants to tell what they are by their leaves. But, as they grew, they started to produce little sunflowers. You know what? that fruit/ flower testified to the legitimacy of those sunflower plants.

So it is with us. You and I wear the title of disciple-maker because we have been called to it by God. The evidence that we are living it out is in the fruit that we produce.

Now, I want us to get real honest: where is our fruit? Is there evidence in your life that you are a legitimate disciple-maker?

As a church, are we sending our missionaries? Are we commissioning ministers?

As individuals, are we walking others into a closer relationship with Christ?

Can we look at our relationships and honestly say that we are producing authentic Christ-followers?

Parents, are your children walking closer to Jesus because of you?

For Paul, the Corinthians were his letter of commendation/ legitimacy. Who is yours?

Legit Disciple-Makers Produce Fruit- Are you Legit?

Discuss: Who is your letter of legitimacy as a disciple-maker?

The next indicator is:

Legit Disciple-Makers Emphasize Spiritual Change (3)

Look with me to v. 3 (READ)

Notice that Paul shows the Corinthians that they are not only his letter, but they are his letter written by Christ! IOW, the authority of any man cannot compare with what is evident in the life change of the Corinthians because of the Gospel, Christ’s own authority.

He makes another comparison with tablets of stone. That should draw us back to the tablets of stone which Moses delivered, authored by the same God.

However, the law cannot save, nor was it ever intended to.

Galatians 2:21 NASB95

“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Galatians 3:21 NASB95

Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.

In Paul’s day, there were those who insisted that salvation was Jesus + works, and their emphasis was on all the things we must do. Morality is important, but it cannot stand alone. Paul was explaining that we are changed not by a set of rules written down for us to try and keep.

Instead, he draws back to God’s promise in

Jeremiah 31:31 NASB95

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

Jeremiah 31:33 NASB95

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

This new covenant is one which works NOT from the outside in, but from the inside out. So, Paul emphasized a change life brought on by the power of the Holy Spirit. The external morality was a reflection of a spiritual redemption.

Philippians 1:6 NASB95

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

So, we must again look at our own disciple-making:

As a church, are we leading people to real life change by addressing their heart? Or do we focus only on the external?

As individuals, do we challenge people based upon their relationship with Jesus?… either He is Lord or He is not.

Discuss: What does it mean that God has written on our hearts? How does that change differ from simply being moral?

Legit Disciple-Makers produce fruit, and emphasize spiritual change. Finally, we see that

Legit Disciple-Makers Rely On God (4-6)

Here is where we see Paul address the notion of adequacy. If you remember in chapter 2, he asked “Who is adequate for these things?”

Let’s read 4-6 again (READ)

There are 2 realities that we must pick up on in this section:

We are not adequate in ourselves.

It does not matter how many letters you have from men, how many degrees you have on your wall, or how much practice you have speaking in front of people. Friends, we are all just a bunch of sinful, broken people who have been redeemed by the grace of God!

God’s Word tells us that there in none who is good. So in a sense, that feeling you have about not being good enough to make disciples has some level of validity. But that’s where this second reality is essential:

Our adequacy is from God!

We see here two ways we are made adequate- 1) We are made adequate to stand before God. It is by grace we are saved through faith not of works so that none should boast. 2) We are made adequate to carry out the work we’ve been called to.

Now, before you roll your eyes and mutter under your breath about how cliche that sounds, let me explain how this works.

First, I want to draw you back to Jesus’ words in the Great Commission. Most of the time, we start with the command to Go Make Disciples, but just before that we see:

Matthew 28:18 NASB95

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

[Therefore Go…]

ALL AUTHORITY. That means that there is no realm of life in which Jesus Christ does not have complete and perfect power.

Next, I want to point you to Jesus’ words regarding how He would give that power to us in order to accomplish the command.

Acts 1:8 NASB95

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Therefore, you and I, having surrendered our life to Christ, have received the power of Christ through the Holy Spirit which lives in us that enables and makes adequate you and I so that we can GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES.

Church, if we refuse to take up this mission- if we are convinced that we are simply not able to make disciples, then we are in absolute rebellion against God, calling Him either a liar or a wimp. It is His promise of His power that enables us to carry out the mission.

So, I’m going to once again ask for you to be honest with yourself:

Are we making disciples?

Are you legit?

As we pray in a moment, if you cannot honestly answer that you are a legitimate disciple-maker, I am asking you to repent. To confess your apathy, your selfishness, your rebellion to God this morning. Perhaps the reason you are not making disciples is because you have never truly surrendered your own life to Christ. I encourage you to do that this morning.

I’ll be down front and would love to pray with you- or you can catch me or Pastor James after service.

[Pray]

Discuss: How do you know God will make you adequate for the calling on your life?