The Letter Or The Spirit?

II Corinthians 3: 1-6

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? 

Is Paul boasting to say that he preaches the Word of God sincerely, not corrupting it or dealing deceitfully with it? (2:17, the previous verse.)

Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? 

Aquila and Priscilla had heard Apollos preaching in Ephesus and mentored him in the Faith, and when he went to Achaia the brethren wrote him a commendation so that he would be accepted there, and he had a powerful ministry there (Acts 19:24-28). 

Paul is asking if he also needs this documentation. 

You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 

He's saying that his validation as a true teacher of God's Word is these believers who live in Corinth, who are living lives so different from how they used to live, that it's obvious they've been changed.

being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, 

Everyone can see that it is the power of Jesus Christ in them that has done this.

cared for by us, 

And Paul and company took care of them as a mother cares for her infant. 

written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 

This letter of commendation is not written outwardly on paper or parchment, or carved into stone as the Ten Commandments were, but engraved inwardly on our hearts.

Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. 

This is why we have confidence in you, in what Christ has done in you, that God has made known through you.

Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, 

We don't teach anything that is only our human idea, or our own reasoning.

but our adequacy is from God, 

God has given us His ideas, and enabled us to teach His Word accurately. To be divinely commissioned is to be divinely equipped.

who also made us adequate as servants of a New Covenant, 

This equipping extends to establishing a New Covenant, that supersedes the Old Covenant given to Moses.

not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives Life. 

The Old Covenant embodied in the Law was written in characters in stone and papyrus or parchment. This New Covenant is written in the characters of the people who are changed by being born again of God's Spirit. 

The Law brought death to whoever couldn't live up to it, which is all of us. The Spirit of God gives Life, eternal life, to all who believe. This is the New Covenant, written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-33). 

Now we make every judgment according to love: if it is the best for the person regardless of the cost. All the Law is based on Love: Jesus said so, see Matthew 22:36-40; Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? And He said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and Prophets. 

Now God has fulfilled the Jeremiah prophesy, and has written His Law on our hearts, now to determine each action and thought according to if it is loving, rather than if it is according to some written code. 

So this goes way beyond the bounds of the letter of the Law. And applies to every situation possible, without limit. 

O my Father, You are so wise, and so generous, and so Loving! You want us to be like Yourself, so You have saved us, given us Your Spirit to live in our spirits, and now He is guiding us into every path of righteousness. 

Now You are showing us the way of Love in every circumstance, whether it is responsive, proactive, or even interventional.  

Father, open our eyes to see Your ways; open our ears to hear Your quiet voice behind us, telling us, "This is the way, walk in it." Lead and guide us straight, not turning to the left or to the right, not running ahead or lagging behind, not wandering off or pulling away. Keep the thorny bushes lining the path to keep us straight, and the occasional bough of fruit to give us joy. 

Send us out, Father, into Your fields that are ripe and ready to harvest. Lead us to every lost lamb, to bring them into the safety of the One Fold with One Shepherd. 

 And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord of all and King over the Universe, to the glory of Almighty God the Father. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!