_LIVING EPISTLES_ ‘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.’ 2 Corinthians 3:3 It is impossible to study such a statement as this without grave s... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY_ ‘Our sufficieney is of God.’ 2 Corinthians 3:5 The subjects of this chapter are, first, the reality, and secondly, the objects and the dignity of the Christian ministry. I say Christian ministry rather than Christian priesthood, because it is not merely the particular off... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE ‘ABLE’ OR ‘SUFFICIENT’ MINISTER_ ‘Able ministers of the new testament.’ 2 Corinthians 3:6 The Revised Version renders this, ‘Sufficient as ministers of a new covenant.’ The ‘ministers’ are those who proclaim and represent and commend the covenant. There is required a certain ‘sufficiency’ on... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL_ ‘The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.’ 2 Corinthians 3:6 This short sentence is frequently misinterpreted; certainly it is frequently misapplied. Beyond doubt the imagery present to the Apostle’s mind was not the contrast between a book and its ‘spirit,’ but th... [ Continue Reading ]
_LAW AND GOSPEL COMPARED_ ‘But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, … much more that which remaineth is glorious.’ 2 Corinthians 3:7 In these verses we have a comparison between the old and the new dispensations in defence of St. Paul’s ministry: a compariso... [ Continue Reading ]
_OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES_ ‘But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament; which vail is done away in Christ.’ 2 Corinthians 3:14 The Bible is best and most reasonably regarded, according to the express statement of the E... [ Continue Reading ]
_CHRISTIAN LIBERTY_ ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.’ 2 Corinthians 3:17 If we allow our thoughts to dwell on the subject of ‘liberty,’ we find it to be indeed a subject worthy of contemplation. I. IT ATTRACTS THE MIND WITH A SPECIAL FASCINATION. (_a_) _ There is, first, the... [ Continue Reading ]
_REFLECTING CHRIST_ ‘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.’ 2 Corinthians 3:18 It is the law of human nature that whatever we habitually, intelligently, and lovingly contemp... [ Continue Reading ]