2 Corinthians 3
Outline:
I. \\#2Corinthians 1:1-5:21\\ Paul’s Explanations
A. \\#2Corinthians 1:1-2\\ Paul’s Introduction
B. \\#2Corinthians 1:3-11\\ Paul’s Suffering
1. \\#1:3-7\\ Truths about All Suffering
2. \\#1:8-11\\ Truths about Paul’s Suffering
C. \\#2Corinthians 1:12-14\\ Paul’s Rejoicing
D. \\#2Corinthians 1:15-2:17\\ Paul’s Itinerary
1. \\#1:15-16\\ Paul’s Purpose
2. \\#2:17\\ The Corinthians’ Charge
3. \\#1:18-2:13\\ Paul’s Answers
4. \\#2:13-17\\ Paul’s Praise
E. \\#2Corinthians 3:1-5:21\\ Paul’s Ministry Facts
1. \\#3:1-5\\ Our Converts Are Our Credentials
2. \\#3:6-18\\ We Are Empowered through the Spirit
3. \\#4:1-18\\ We don’t quit.
4. \\#5:1-11\\ We have heavenly longings.
5. \\#5:12-21\\ We are driven by the love of Christ.
II. \\#2Corinthians 6:1-7:16\\ Paul’s Commands
A. \\#6:1-10\\ Don’t Waste God’s Grace
B. \\#6:11-18\\ Don’t Be Joined to the Lost
C. \\#7:1-16\\ Don’t Reject Us.
III. \\#2Corintihains 8:1-9:15\\ The Collection for the Saints
IV. \\#2Corinthians 10:1-13:14\\ Vindication of Paul’s Apostleship
Paul had shared with the Corinthians some of the suffering that he
and his party had endured to get the gospel to them and had explained
why he had not made it back to Corinth as quickly as he originally
planned. In this section, Paul shared some of what drove him in the
ministry. We will call this section:
Paul’s Ministry Facts
I. \\#3:1-5\\ Our Converts Are Our Credentials
A. \\#1\\ Paul asked the Corinthians two questions:
1. Do they need to commend (prove) themselves to the
Corinthians?
2. Do they need to get "letters of recommendation"?
B. \\#2-3\\ "Ye are our epistle"
1. \\#2\\ Paul told the Corinthians that they were their
letter of recommendation.
a. Paul was saying that the proof of his apostleship was
not what another man said or wrote.
b. It was the saved and changed life of his converts.
2. Paul added that what they wrote by their lives was written
not on paper but on his heart, another indication of how
Paul loved and agonized over the cities and churches he
labored within.
3. And last Paul said that their lives were not being read
by one or two, but "all men" read the effect that Paul
had in their lives.
4. \\#3\\ Paul called them "the epistle of Christ…
written… with the Spirit of the living God"
a. While the Corinthians were Paul’s letter of
recommendation, they and Paul alike bore record of a
far greater work than what Paul did.
b. They bore record of what Jesus and the Holy Ghost had
done.
c. Paul again stated this letter was "not in tables of
stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart."
d. The inner man is where the work of God takes place
for it is an eternal and internal work.
C. \\#4-5\\ Paul’s Confidence
1. \\#4\\ Paul had spoken of his confidence in the Corinthians
several times.
a. \\#2Cor 1:15, 2:3\\
b. It seems that he wanted to reassure the Corinthians
that he had not given up on them.
2. \\#5\\ Not… to think anything… of ourselves" - But
Paul knew that neither they nor he were sufficient to be
faithful to Christ on their own.
3. "our sufficiency is of God" - But God, through Jesus,
would give them abilities beyond their own.
II. \\#3:6-18\\ We Are Empowered through the Spirit
A. \\#6-11\\ Ours is a ministry of greater glory.
1. \\#6\\ "Who also hath made us able ministers"
a. The "who" is God that supplied their abilities.
b. He had also made the "able" ministers"
(1) Paul was indirectly addressing those who deemed
him inferior and doubted his apostleship.
(2) Paul never disputed the gainsayers claim that he
was an inferior apostle but neither did he ever
deny that God had called him.
c. "of the new testament" - This refers to the New
Covenant that God has made with Israel and all.
2. I see many differences between the New and Old Testaments.
a. These differences exist because the Old was but a
written covenant while the New is a living covenant
due to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
b. Some of the differences that come to my mind are:
(1) Instead of men doing the work as in the Old, God
has done the work.
(2) Instead of many sacrifices being offered, there
would be only One.
(3) Instead of sins being covered, they are
forgiven.
(4) Instead of an earthly high priest and temple,
ours is the heavenly.
(5) Instead of the Old’s servants being the Jews,
the New Covenant’s are the church.
3. \\#6-11\\ Paul mentioned some in the text as well, but the
overall thought is that the New Covenant is just better,
(i.e. more glorious).
a. \\#6\\ The old was "of the letter," the new is "of the
Spirit." The Old Testament was a book of laws which
were required to be obeyed but the New is guidance
given by the Holy Spirit and the Bible.
b. The old "killeth" but the new "giveth life." All the
Law could do was to condemn and kill because it
required perfection. The new gives forgiveness,
mercy, and life.
c. \\#7\\ The old had the glory of engraved stones but
the New "exceeded in glory \\#9\\.
(1) \\#Ex 34:27-34\\ After Moses had spent 40 days
with God on the mountain, his face shone with
the glory of God.
(2) \\#7\\ As Paul recounted, the people were afraid
to look at him. (\\#2Cor 3:13\\ tells us that
Moses wrapped a vail around his face.)
(3) "which glory was to be done away" - But the glory
did not last.
(a) In time, the glory faded from Moses face.
(b) Paul will use that thought to reveal another
truth in \\#12-15\\.
d. \\#8\\ "How shall not the ministration of the spirit
be rather glorious?" - But Paul’s first point from
this historical event is that if giving of the Law
produced a little glory, the coming of the Holy
Ghost must have produced A LOT of glory!
e. \\#9\\ Paul called the Old Covenant the "ministry of
condemnation" because the Law condemns, but the
New Covenant he called "the ministry of
righteousness" because through Jesus we are made
right with God.
f. \\#10\\ Paul was emphasizing that the differences
between the Old and the New are so great that the
New has a "glory that excelleth" the Old.
4. \\#11\\ "that which is done away" - Paul was stating that
the Old Testament was no longer in effect. That is not
his point in this text, but it is a plain statement of
fact concerning whether we are under its authority or
not.
B \\#12-16\\ We preach with plain words.
1. \\#12\\ "Seeing then that we have such hope" - The New
Testament is the hope that we now have.
2. "we use great plainness of speech"
a. Paul purposely used plain speech to help the people to
understand the opportunity and responsibility they
had.
b. One of the charges against Paul was his blunt speech,
considered by some rude.
2Cor 10:10 For his letters, say they, are
weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is
weak, and his speech contemptible.
c. Paul did not deny his speech was direct and blunt.
In fact, he spoke so purposely.
1Co 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not
with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
3. \\#13\\ "not as Moses"
a. Paul spoke again about the same historical event he
had mentioned in \\#2Cor 3:7\\. He did so to teach
another truth from the text.
b. Paul was not attempting to speak evil of Moses but
sees truths hidden in this historical event that have
never been plainly exposed.
4. "Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children
of Israel could not steadfast look to the end"
a. Paul said Moses put the vail on not just because the
glory frightened the people but because the Jews
"could not steadfastly look to the end," that is,
they could not tolerate seeing the glory fade.
b. Paul was saying that the glory fading was a picture
of what would eventually happen to the Old Covenant
(i.e. It would be "abolished").
c. He was also saying that the Jews could watch that
happen so Moses put the vail on to keep them from
seeing it.
5. So Paul was teaching that the vail was a picture of the
Jews not being able to see the glory fad from the Old
Covenant.
6. \\#14\\ "their minds were blinded" - Paul further said
the Jews are still wearing the vail and not seeing even
while they read "the old testament."
a. The Jews do not understand what they read because they
still cannot comprehend the glory fading from the Old
Covenant.
b. They are still blinded by the vail.
c. "which vail is done away in Christ" - But if they
would comprehend Jesus, the vail would be removed for
them as it had been for so many others.
7. \\#15\\ "But even unto this day" - At the time Paul wrote
this, the Jews were still blinded by the vail, their
unwillingness to see the glory fade from their covenant.
8. \\#16\\ "when it shall turn to the Lord"
a. But there is coming a different time and a different
situation, i.e. the Jews will turn to the Lord.
b. When that happens, "the vail shall be taken away."
C. \\#17-18\\ "Now the Lord is that Spirit" - It is the Holy
Spirit that makes the New Covenant so different from the Old.
1. \\#3:6\\ He is the One who guides us in the New Testament.
2. \\#3:16\\ He is also the Lord that will turn the Jews’
heart.
3. \\#3:17\\ He is the One who gives the saints their
"liberty," the opportunity to follow Him and not just
letter written in the Law.
4. \\#18\\ He is also the One who changes us.
a. As we see "the glory of the Lord," we "are changed…
from glory to glory."
(1) The more we see God’s glory under this New
Covenant, the more we are changed.
(2) Yet the change is not instantons but
incrementally for we are changed from one glory
to the next.
b. "by the Spirit of the Lord." This change is
accomplished by the ministry of the Lord’s Holy
Spirit.
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