Episode 169: 2 Corinthians 2-3

Today's meditation is on 2 Corinthians Chapters 2 & 3

God makes his grace visible in Christ, who includes me as a partner of his endless triumph. Through my yielded life, he spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere I go. Like a sweet perfume, my life is a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. And I have become the unmistakable aroma of the victory of Christ. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, I am a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, I am a life-giving aroma that leads to abundant life. 

And who is adequate for such a task as this? How can I rise to this challenge? I am not like a huckster who preaches for personal profit, watering down the message of salvation. I preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority and in union with him, knowing that God is watching me.

 

I do not praise myself, or bring letters of recommendation or ask others to write such letters on my behalf. The only letter of recommendation I need is the Word of God permanently engraved on my heart and displayed in my life and in the lives of those I have touched. Everyone can read it and recognize my good works. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but is a living letter written by the Spirit of the living God on tablets of tender hearts. 

I carry this confidence in my heart because of my union with Christ and my great trust in God the Father. It is not that I think I am qualified to do anything in my own strength. My competence flows from God's empowering presence. He alone has enabled me to be a minister of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of Spirit. The letter of the law kills, but the Spirit pours out life.

The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ glowing face because of the radiant splendor of God shining from his countenance -- even though the brightness was already fading away. Yet, how much more radiant is this new and glorious ministry of the Spirit that shines from me. If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes me right with God. In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!

So then, with this amazing hope living in me, I step out in freedom and boldness to speak the truth. I can be very bold. I am not like Moses, who used a veil to hide the glory to keep the Israelites from staring at him as it faded away. The people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers people's minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Before I believed, my heart was covered with that veil, and I didn't understand.

But when I turned to the Lord, the veil was taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So, now that I have had that veil removed, I can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes me more and more like him as I am changed into his glorious image.

Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing.

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