A Question with Eternity at Stake
“You are our Epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men. Forasmuch as you 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 freshly tables of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:3)
The Apostle Paul is pointing to Christ as the writer of the “Epistle” which were those in Corinth who had been saved through the Gospel Paul preached. This speaks of the Gospel the Lord had given Paul to preach. He is saying that this Gospel comes from Christ and is the way, the only way, to Salvation. Souls will be saved from sin and their fallen nature by their trust in the Grace that Christ provided by His sacrificial death on the Cross. This Epistle of Christ analogy Paul used here was a testimony to the changed hearts that were the result of the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those in Corinth who accepted the Gospel.
“Who has made us able Ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6).
The Apostle Paul is again pointing to Christ in this verse. The New Covenant is Christ and Him crucified which Paul preached boldly. We are able Ministers only as we preach the Gospel of Grace. Obedience to the Law will not save us. It is only as we come in repentance and faith in Christ and Him crucified that we enter this New Covenant. Spiritual Life comes by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit. We walk out this “newness of life” by faith alone.
The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 6 shows us how this “life” comes to us. He writes that spiritually we have died with Christ at the Cross, we have been buried with Him, and we have been raised with Him to Newness of Life. This is all done by the Lord’s Mercy and Grace afforded to us through, and only through, the Cross. The Lord’s work in us is an internal work. It results in a changed heart and the ability to walk in obedience to the Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit as we place our faith daily in Christ and Him crucified.
Religion is man trying to serve God by what he does. It can only lead to self-righteousness and will end with a soul spending an eternity in Hell. This is an external effort by man to please the Lord. Man cannot please Him outside of an internal changed heart which only the Lord can bring about. So, our initial question with eternity at stake is answered unequivocally in the “Epistle of Christ” written on our hearts. The Lord loves us and has provided this great Salvation at great cost. The Holy Spirit draws us and we walk in the liberty the Spirit affords us.
Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17).
There is liberty in walking in the Spirit because it is the Holy Spirit Who works in our lives to bring victory. It is an internal work of God in our lives. If we try to follow the Law ourselves in our approach to God, we are trusting in externals and we will ultimately fail. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior and we must come to Him to have Life – His Life in us. By having faith in His sacrificial death on the Cross, it allows us to walk in “Newness of Life.” Our closing verse speaks of Christ as the true light of the world and the Giver of Life to whosoever will come to Him.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In Him was life; and the Life was the Light of men” (John 1:1,4).
Always Remember,
God Loves You!
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