ll CORINTHIANS LESSON 4
We will begin this lesson in II Corinthians 3:1 "Do we begin
again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some [others], epistles of
commendation to you, or [letters] of commendation from you?"
Paul is almost shaming them, in this chapter, that it is
necessary for him to prove himself to them. He says, do I have to brag
on my own accomplishments, or have someone else who you respect
recommend me? They had accepted the message that he brought to them
originally, why have they begun to doubt?
II Corinthians 3:2 "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts,
known and read of all men:"
He is saying to them, look around and see all the people who
received Christ as their Saviour under my ministering. Let the
Christian converts there be my recommendation. All men can look and
see the Christians in the church at Corinth. That should speak to all
men who I am.
II Corinthians 3:3 "[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; not in tables of stone, but in
fleshy tables of the heart."
You, yourselves, are the document that you ask for. Let the
results speak for themselves. Paul is saying, that the Spirit of God
had written the law of God on the fleshly part of their hearts. Does
not your heart, washed in the blood of the Lamb, and filled with the
Spirit, not witness for me? Paul is saying, that the place they are
now in, with Christ, is the result of him ministering Christ to them.
He says the Christ within you is because you listened to the message
Christ had given Paul for them.
II Corinthians 3:4 "And such trust have we through Christ to God-
ward:"
Paul had placed his confidence in Christ. It actually had been
Christ in Paul ministering to them. The outcome was to draw them God-
ward.
II Corinthians 3:5 "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to
think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency [is] of God;"
Paul realized this more than all of them, because when he had
depended on his head knowledge, he knew not Christ. Christ stopped
Paul and called him to His service on the road to Damascus. Paul went
into the desert and was taught of the Holy Spirit of God. World
training is not sufficient to serve God in the way pleasing unto Him.
We must allow Christ to minister through us. We are to be a willing
vessel. The Lord Jesus Christ will do the rest. Paul knew of his lack
of sufficiency within himself. He knew that his sufficiency is of God.
II Corinthians 3:6 "Who also hath made us able ministers of the
new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter
killeth, but the spirit giveth life."
Romans 7:6 " But now we are delivered from the law, that being
dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit,
and not [in] the oldness of the letter." Testament means contract or
covenant. The New Testament means the new covenant that God has made
with mankind. Paul is speaking to many who knew the law of Moses. He
is explaining, that in Jesus Christ, the Lord has provided a new
agreement. This new covenant is not by the works of the law, but by
the grace of God man is saved. The new covenant was sealed with the
shedding of the precious blood of the Lamb. All of them knew the
impossibility of flawlessly keeping the law. The law brought death to
those who did not keep it. John 3:6 "That which is born of the flesh
is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." To keep
the law was an act of the flesh of man. Jesus Christ is the quickening
Spirit which brings everlasting life. I Corinthians 15:45 "And so it
is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam
[was made] a quickening spirit." The law brought death, the Spirit
brought life.
II Corinthians 3:7 "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:"
This is speaking of the fact that Moses' head shone so brightly
from being in the presence of God {The Light}, that the people could
not look upon him. This great Light was so bright that Moses had to
cover his head with a veil to keep them from being blinded. Paul is
saying, if that Light was so great in Moses, who brought the law; why
do you not understand that the Light revealed in the New Testament is
so much greater? The law brought death. The covenant sealed in Jesus
blood brings everlasting life.
II Corinthians 3:8 "How shall not the ministration of the spirit
be rather glorious?"
What a glorious awakening, when the Spirit ministers to man.
II Corinthians 3:9 "For if the ministration of condemnation [be]
glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in
glory."
By the law, all men have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. We are all condemned by the law. Being in right standing with God
comes from being washed in the blood of the Lamb {Jesus Christ}. The
difference is, that where the law condemns man, the grace in Christ
brings hope of everlasting life. Ephesians 2:5 "Even when we were dead
in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are
saved;)" Romans 5:9 "Much more then, being now justified by his blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through him." Remember, that "justified'
means just as if I had never sinned. The law was good, but grace is
better. 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." Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:"
II Corinthians 3:10 "For even that which was made glorious had no
glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth."
This glory, spoken of here, possibly, is speaking of Moses' head
shining. The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, far excelled the glory of
Moses.
II Corinthians 3:11 "For if that which is done away [was]
glorious, much more that which remaineth [is] glorious."
There is nothing wrong with Moses or the law. The weakness was in
man keeping the law. Galatians 3:21 "[Is] the law then against the
promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which
could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the
law." John 1:17 "For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and
truth came by Jesus Christ." The law of Moses was glorious, but man
could not live up to that law and was lost. The grace of God, in Jesus
Christ, brings life.
II Corinthians 3:12 "Seeing then that we have such hope, we use
great plainness of speech:"
The Old Testament, itself, was veiled and hard to understand,
until the curtain was torn between the holy place and the holy of
holies. When Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the Christians, He was
their Teacher and Guide. The Holy Spirit opens up our understanding to
all Scriptures {Old and New Testament}. Jesus' teachings on the earth
were all very simple. The gospel message is very simple. This
plainness of speech was so that everyone could understand.
II Corinthians 3:13 "And not as Moses, [which] put a veil over
his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the
end of that which is abolished:"
The children of Israel could not look beyond the veil in the
temple, or at Moses either. The way to God was veiled to them.
II Corinthians 3:14 "But their minds were blinded: for until this
day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old
testament; which [veil] is done away in Christ."
A person who reads just the Old Testament cannot truly
understand, until you put it with the New Testament and realize the
fulfillment in Jesus. The Old Testament cannot be understood by
physically reading it. It is understood through the revealing by the
Holy Spirit of God.
II Corinthians 3:15 "But even unto this day, when Moses is read,
the veil is upon their heart."
This is speaking of the Old Testament being read in the temple,
or synagogue. Without the Holy Spirit revealing the Word, it cannot be
understood.
II Corinthians 3:16 "Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord,
the veil shall be taken away."
The main thing to understand, in this, is the simple message of
Salvation in the gospels. God is revealed to man in His Son Jesus
Christ. We see so clearly, God being revealed in Jesus Christ, in the
following Scripture. John 14:9 "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so
long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that
hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us
the Father?"
II Corinthians 3:17 "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the
Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty."
John 4:24 "God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must
worship [him] in spirit and in truth." "Spirit" in verse 17 above, is
the God Spirit. I John 5:7 "For there are three that bear record in
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are
one." One, in this verse, is speaking of their Spirit nature. Romans
8:9 "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the
Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his." The Spirit of the Risen Christ within me
brings me liberty. I have liberty, because I am living in the perfect
will of God. Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless
I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,
and gave himself for me." There is liberty in Christ.
II Corinthians 3:18 "But we all, with open face beholding as in a
glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from
glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord."
The more of Jesus in me, the less of me in me. When I become so
full of Christ that others can see Christ in me, then the Scripture
above becomes more true in my life. Christians are becoming more like
Jesus every day, or they are going back into the world. We never stand
still. True Christianity is becoming more Christ-like every day.
Christ in me, the hope of glory. Romans 8:2 "For the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death." I John 3:2 "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth
not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."
ll Corinthians 4 Questions
1. What is Paul shaming them of in verse 1?
2. What was the best recommendation for Paul?
3. What was the document that they had asked for?
4. Where was the law of God written for these new converts to
Christianity?
5. Paul had placed his confidence in _______.
6. When Paul had depended upon his own __________, he rejected
Christ.
7. Who taught Paul the Christian way?
8. Paul's sufficiency was of ____.
9. If Paul was not to minister the letter, what was he to minister?
10. The ________ killeth, but the _________ giveth life.
11. What does "Testament" mean?
12. The new covenant was sealed with what?
13. Quote John chapter 3 verse 6.
14. Quote 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 45.
15. Why had Moses' head shone?
16. What did Moses have to do to keep from blinding the people?
17. By the ____, all men have sinned and come short of the glory of
God.
18. What brings righteousness to the Christian?
19. Quote Ephesians chapter 2 verse 5.
20. What does "justified" mean?
21. For by the law is the ____________ of sin.
22. Quote Ephesians Chapter 2 verse 8.
23. If there is nothing wrong with Moses and the law, what was wrong?
24. Quote Galations chapter 3 verse 21.
25. Grace and truth came by _______ _______.
26. What was good about the plainness of speech of Paul?
27. The veil on the Old Testament was done away in _________.
28. Who must reveal the meaning of the Scriptures?
29. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is ________.
30. Quote John chapter 4 verse 24.
31. The Spirit of the ________ ________ within me brings me liberty.
32. Quote 1 John chapter 3 verse 2.
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