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2 Corinthians 3:5-7
The Voice
2 Corinthians 3:5-7
The Voice
5 Don’t be mistaken; in and of ourselves we know we have little to offer, but any competence or value we have comes from God. 6 Now God has equipped us to be capable servants of the new covenant, not by authority of the written law which only brings death, but by the Spirit who brings life.
Apparently Paul is responding to repeated questions from the church in Corinth requiring him to justify his actions and explain his words. But instead of addressing each separately, Paul suggests a new course of action: let my record be based on the fruit in your lives. The Corinthians had experienced the promised effects of the new covenant—transformed hearts through the Spirit—as prophesied by Jeremiah (31) and Ezekiel (36–37). If the Corinthians agree the Spirit is working in them, then they have to agree that Paul’s ministry to them is productive.
How do we stand up to the same test? If our lives were judged based on the fruit of the seeds we have planted and nurtured in the lives of others, would we be proud or mortified?
7 Now consider this: if the ministry of death, which was chiseled in stone, came with so much glory that the Israelites could not bear to look at Moses’ face even as that glory was fading,
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2 Corinthians 3:5-7
New International Version
2 Corinthians 3:5-7
New International Version
5 Not that we are competent in ourselves(A) to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.(B) 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant(C)—not of the letter(D) but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.(E)
The Greater Glory of the New Covenant
7 Now if the ministry that brought death,(F) which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory,(G) transitory though it was,
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