1. 2 CORITHIAS 3 COMMETARYEDITED BY GLE PEASEIntroduction1. CLARKE, The apostle shows, in opposition to his detractors, that the faith andsalvation of the Corinthians were sufficient testimony of his Divine mission; that heneeded no letters of recommendation, the Christian converts at Corinth being amanifest proof that he was an apostle of Christ, 2 Corinthians 3:1-3. He extols theChristian ministry, as being infinitely more excellent than that of Moses, 2Corinthians 3:4-12. Compares the different modes of announcing the truth underthe law and under the Gospel: in the former it was obscurely delivered; and the veilof darkness, typified by the veil which Moses wore, is still on the hearts of the Jews;but when they turn to Christ this veil shall be taken away, 2 Corinthians 3:13-16.On the contrary, the Gospel dispensation is spiritual; leads to the nearest views ofheavenly things; and those who receive it are changed into the glorious likeness ofGod by the agency of his Spirit, 2 Corinthians 3:17, 2 Corinthians 3:18.2. BARES, THIS chapter is closely connected in its design with the preceding.Paul had said in that chapter, (@@Co 2:14,) that he had always occasion totriumph in the success which, he had, and that God always blessed his labours; andespecially had spoken, in the close of the previous chapter, (2 Corinthians 2:17,) ofhis sincerity as contrasted with the conduct of some who corrupted the word of God.This might appear to some as if he designed to commend himself to them, or that hehad said this for the purpose of securing their favour. It is probable, also, that thefalse teachers at Corinth had been introduced there by letters of recommendation,perhaps from Judea. In reply to this, Paul intimates (2 Corinthians 3:1) that thiswas not his design; 2 Corinthians 3:2 that he had no need of letters ofrecommendation to them, since (2 Corinthians 3:2,3) they were his commendatoryepistle; they were themselves the best evidence of his zeal, fidelity, and success in hislabours. He could appeal to them as the best proof that he was qualified for theapostolic office. His success among them, he says, (2 Corinthians 3:4,) was a groundof his trusting in God, an evidence of his acceptance. Yet, as if he should seem to relyon his own strength, and to boast of what he had done, he says (2 Corinthians 3:5)that his success was not owing to any strength which he had, or to any skill of hisown, but entirely to the aid which he had received from God. It was God, he says, (2Corinthians 3:6,) who had qualified him to preach, and had given him grace to bean able minister of the ew Testament.It is not improbable that the false teachers, being of Jewish origin, in Corinth, hadcommended the laws and institutions of Moses as being of superior clearness, andeven as excelling the gospel of Christ. Paul takes occasion, therefore, (2 Corinthians3:7-11,) to show that the laws and institutions of Moses were far inferior, in thisrespect, to the gospel. His was a ministration of death, (2 Corinthians 3:7;) though

2. glorious, it was to be done away, (2 Corinthians 3:7;) the ministration of the Spiritwas therefore to be presumed to be far more glorious, (2 Corinthians 3:8;) the onewas a ministration to condemnation, the other of righteousness, (2 Corinthians 3:9;)the one had comparatively no glory, being so much surpassed by the other, (2Corinthians 3:10;) and the former was to be done away, while the latter was toremain, and was therefore far more glorious, 2 Corinthians 3:11.This statement of the important difference between the laws of Moses and the gospelis further illustrated, by showing the effect which the institutions of Moses had hadon the Jews themselves, (2 Corinthians 3:12-15.) That effect was to blind them.Moses had put a veil over his face, (2 Corinthians 3:13;) and the effect had been thatthe nation was blinded in reading the Old Testament, and had no just views of thetrue meaning of their own Scriptures, 2 Corinthians 3:14,15.Yet, Paul says, that that veil should be taken away, 2 Corinthians 3:16-18. It was theintention of God that it should be removed. When that people should turn again tothe Lord, it should be taken away, 2 Corinthians 3:16. It was done where the Spiritof the Lord was, 2 Corinthians 3:17. It was done, in fact, in regard to all trueChristians, 2 Corinthians 3:18. They were permitted to behold the glory of the Lordas in a glass, and they were changed into the same manner. The same subject iscontinued in 2 Corinthians 4, where Paul illustrates the effect of this clear revelationof the gospel, as compared with the institutions of Moses, on the Christian ministry.3. GILL, In this chapter the apostle clears himself from the charge of arroganceand self-commendation, and ascribes both the virtue and efficacy of his ministry,and his qualifications for it, to the Lord; and forms a comparison between theministration of the Gospel, and the ministration of the law, showing thepreferableness of the one to the other; and consequently how much more happy andcomfortable the state and condition of the saints under the Gospel dispensation is,than under the legal one: on account of what the apostle had said in the latter partof the preceding chapter, concerning the excellency, usefulness, and success of theGospel ministry, he foresaw an objection would arise; that he and his fellowministers were proud and arrogant, and commended themselves, which wasunseemly, and not agreeably to the character they bore; which objection heobviates, 2 Corinthians 3:1, by putting some questions, signifying that they were notguilty of vain boasting; nor did they need any commendations of their own, orothers, nor any letters to recommend them, either from Corinth to other places, orthither: a practice which, he suggests, the false teachers made use of; and in 2Corinthians 3:2 he gives the reason why they did not stand in need of such letters,because the members of the church at Corinth were their epistle or letter, declaringto all men the efficacy and success of their ministry among men; but lest he shouldbe charged with arrogating to himself and others, he declares, 2 Corinthians 3:3that though the Corinthians were their epistle, yet not so much theirs as Christ's;Christ was the author and subject, they only were instruments; the writing was nothuman, but the writing of the Spirit of God; and that not upon outward tables, suchas the law was written upon, but upon the tables of men's hearts, which only Godcan reach; however, that they had been useful, successful, and instrumental in the 3. conversion of souls, through the ministry of the word, that he was confident of, 2Corinthians 3:4 though the sufficiency and ability to think, study, and preach, werenot of themselves, and still less to make the word effectual for conversion andcomfort, but of God, 2 Corinthians 3:5 wherefore he ascribes all fitness, worthiness,and ability to preach the Gospel, to the grace and power of God, by which they weremade ministers of it; and hence he takes occasion to commend the excellency of theGospel ministry above that of the law, which he does by observing their differentnames and effects; the Gospel is the ew Testament or covenant, or an exhibition ofthe covenant of grace in a new form; the law is the Old Testament, or covenant,which is vanished away; which, though not expressed here, is in 2 Corinthians 3:14the Gospel is spirit, the law the letter; the one gives life, and the other kills, 2Corinthians 3:6 wherefore the apostle argues from the one to the other, that if therewas a glory in the one which was only a ministration of death, as the law was, 2Corinthians 3:7 then the Gospel, which was a ministration of spiritual things, and ofthe Spirit of God himself, must be more glorious, 2 Corinthians 3:8 and if that wasglorious which was a ministration of condemnation, as the law was to guilty sinners;much more glorious must be the Gospel, which is a ministration of the righteousnessof Christ, for the justification of them, 2 Corinthians 3:9 yea, such is the surpassingglory of the Gospel to the law, that even the glory of the law is quite lost in that ofthe Gospel, and appears to have none in comparison of that, 2 Corinthians 3:10 towhich he adds another argument, taken from the abolition of the one, and thecontinuance of the other; that if there was a glory in that which is abolished, theremust be a greater in that which continues, 2 Corinthians 3:11 and from hence theapostle proceeds to take notice of another difference between the law and theGospel, the clearness of the one, and the obscurity of the other; the former issignified by the plainness of speech used by the preachers of it, 2 Corinthians 3:12and the latter by the veil which was over Moses's face, when he delivered the law tothe children of Israel; the end of which they could not look to, and which is a furtherproof of the obscurity of it, 2 Corinthians 3:13 as well as of the darkness of theirminds; which still continues with the Jews in reading the law, and will do until it istaken away by Christ, 2 Corinthians 3:14 and that there is such a veil of darknessupon the hearts of the Jews, when reading the law of Moses; and that this continuesto this day, is again asserted, 2 Corinthians 3:15 and an intimation given that therewill be a conversion of them to the Lord, and then it will be removed from them, 2Corinthians 3:16 and who that Lord is to whom they shall be turned, and by whomthey shall have freedom from darkness and bondage, is declared, 2 Corinthians 3:17and the happy condition of the saints under the Gospel dispensation, through thebright and clear light of it, is observed, 2 Corinthians 3:18 in which the Gospel iscompared to a glass; the saints are represented as without a veil looking into it;through which an object is beheld, the glory of the Lord; the effect of which is atransformation of them into the same image by degrees; the author of which grace isthe Spirit of the Lord. 4. 1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again?Or do we need, like some people, letters ofrecommendation to you or from you?1. BARES, Do we begin again. This is designed evidently to meet an objection. Hehad been speaking of his triumph in the ministry, (2 Corinthians 2:14,) and of hissincerity and honesty as contrasted with the conduct of many who corrupted theword of God, 2 Corinthians 2:17. It might be objected that he was magnifyinghimself in these statements, and designed to commend himself in this manner to theCorinthians. To this he replies in the following verses.To commend ourselves? To recommend ourselves; do we speak this in our ownpraise, in order to obtain your favour?Or need we, as some others. Probably some who had brought letters ofrecommendation to them from Judea. The false teachers at Corinth had beenoriginally introduced there by commendatory letters from abroad. These wereletters of introduction, and were common among the Greeks, the Romans, and theJews, as they are now. They were usually given to persons who were about to travel,as there were no inns, and as travellers were dependent on the hospitality of thoseamong whom they travelled.Of commendation from you? To other churches. It is implied here by Paul, that hesought no such letters; that he travelled without them; and that he depended on hiszeal, and self-denial, and success to make him known, and to give him the affectionsof those to whom he ministered --a much better recommendation than mereintroductory letters. Such letters were, however, sometimes given by Christians, andare by no means improper, Acts 18:27. Yet they do not appear to have been soughtor used by the apostles generally. They depended on their miraculous endowments,and on the attending grace of God to make them known,2. CLARKE, Do we begin again to commend ourselves - By speaking thus of oursincerity, Divine mission, etc., is it with a design to conciliate your esteem, oringratiate ourselves in your affections? By no means.Or need we - epistles of commendation - Are we so destitute of ministerial abilitiesand Divine influence that we need, in order to be received in different Churches, tohave letters of recommendation? Certainly not. God causes us to triumph throughChrist in every place; and your conversion is such an evident seal to our ministry asleaves no doubt that God is with us.Letters of commendation - Were frequent in the primitive Church; and were also inuse in the apostolic Church, as we learn from this place. But these were, in all 5. probability, not used by the apostles; their helpers, successors, and those who hadnot the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, needed such letters and they were necessary toprevent the Churches from being imposed on by false teachers. But when apostlescame, they brought their own testimonials, the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit.3. GILL, Do we begin again to commend ourselves?.... The apostle having assertedthat he and his fellow ministers always triumphed in Christ, and made manifest thesavour of his knowledge in every place; were a sweet savour of Christ to God, didnot corrupt the word of God, as some did, but sincerely and faithfully preachedChrist; some might insinuate from hence, that he was guilty of arrogance and vainglory; wherefore to remove such a charge, or prevent its being brought, he asks, dowe begin again to commend ourselves? we do not; what we say, we say honestly,sincerely, in the simplicity of our hearts, without any view to our own glory andapplause among men, or for any worldly profit and advantage, or to ingratiateourselves into your affections; we have no such views: some read these wordswithout an interrogation, we do begin again to commend ourselves; as we havedone already, in this and the former epistles; and as it is but just and right that weshould vindicate our characters, support our good name and reputation, and secureand maintain our credit, which some would maliciously deprive us of:though we have no need, as some others, of epistles of commendation to you, orletters of commendation from you; our persons, characters, and usefulness are toowell known, to require commendatory letters front others to you, or from you toothers. The false apostles are here struck at, whose practice it was to get letters ofcommendation from place to place; which they carried about and made use of fortheir temporal advantage, having nothing truly good and excellent in them torecommend them to others. The apostle does not hereby condemn letters ofrecommendation, which in proper cases may be very lawfully given, and a good usebe made of them; only that he and other Gospel ministers were so well known, as tostand in no need of them.4. HERY, Verses 1-5In these verses,I. The apostle makes an apology for seeming to commend himself. He thought itconvenient to protest his sincerity to them, because there were some at Corinth whoendeavoured to blast his reputation; yet he was not desirous of vain-glory. And hetells them, 1. That he neither needed nor desired any verbal commendation to them,nor letters testimonial from them, as some others did, meaning the false apostles orteachers, 2 Corinthians 3:1. His ministry among them had, without controversy,been truly great and honourable, how little soever his person was in reality, or howcontemptible soever some would have him thought to be. 2. The Corinthiansthemselves were his real commendation, and a good testimonial for him, that Godwas with him of a truth, that he was sent of God: You are our epistle, 2 Corinthians3:2. This was the testimonial he most delighted in, and what was most dear to him -they were written in his heart; and this he could appeal to upon occasion, for it was,or might be, known and read of all men. ote, There is nothing more delightful to 6. faithful ministers, nor more to their commendation, than the success of theirministry, evidenced in the hearts and lives of those among whom they labour.II. The apostle is careful not to assume too much to himself, but to ascribe all thepraise to God. Therefore, 1. He says they were the epistle of Christ, 2 Corinthians3:3. The apostle and others were but instruments, Christ was the author of all thegood that was in them. The law of Christ was written in their hearts, and the love ofChrist shed abroad in their hearts. This epistle was not written with ink, but withthe Spirit of the living God; nor was it written in tables of stone, as the law of Godgiven to Moses, but on the heart; and that heart not a stony one, but a heart of flesh,upon the fleshy (not fleshly, as fleshliness denotes sensuality) tables of the heart, thatis, upon hearts that are softened and renewed by divine grace, according to thatgracious promise, I will take away the stony heart, and I will give you a heart offlesh, Ezekiel 36:26. This was the good hope the apostle had concerning theseCorinthians (2 Corinthians 3:4) that their hearts were like the ark of the covenant,containing the tables of the law and the gospel, written with the finger, that is, bythe Spirit, of the living God. 2. He utterly disclaims the taking of any praise tothemselves, and ascribes all the glory to God: ldblquote We are not sufficient ofourselves, 2 Corinthians 3:5. We could never have made such good impressions onyour hearts, nor upon our own. Such are our weakness and inability that we cannotof ourselves think a good thought, much less raise any good thoughts or affections inother men. All our sufficiency is of God; to him therefore are owing all the praiseand glory of that good which is done, and from him we must receive grace andstrength to do more. dblquote This is true concerning ministers and all Christians;the best are no more than what the grace of God makes them. Our hands are notsufficient for us, but our sufficiency is of God; and his grace is sufficient for us, tofurnish us for every good word and work5. JAMISO, 2 Corinthians 3:1-18. The sole commendation he needs to prove Gods sanction of his ministry he has in his Corinthian converts: His ministry excels theMosaic, as the gospel of life and liberty excels the law of condemnation.Are we beginning again to recommend ourselves (2 Corinthians 5:12) (as some ofthem might say he had done in his first Epistle; or, a reproof to some who hadbegun doing so)!commendation recommendation. (Compare 2 Corinthians 10:18). The somerefers to particular persons of the many (2 Corinthians 2:17) teachers whoopposed him, and who came to Corinth with letters of recommendation from otherchurches; and when leaving that city obtained similar letters from the Corinthiansto other churches. The thirteenth canon of the Council of Chalcedon (a.d. 451)ordained that clergymen coming to a city where they were unknown, should not beallowed to officiate without letters commendatory from their own bishop. Thehistory (Acts 18:27) confirms the existence of the custom here alluded to in theEpistle: When Apollos was disposed to pass into Achaia [Corinth], the brethren [ofEphesus] wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him. This was about two yearsbefore the Epistle, and is probably one of the instances to which Paul refers, as 7. many at Corinth boasted of their being followers of Apollos (1 Corinthians 1:12).6. CALVI, Do we begin It appears that this objection also was brought forwardagainst him that he was excessively fond of publishing his own exploits, andbrought against him, too, by those who were grieved to find that the fame, whichthey were eagerly desirous to obtain, was effectually obstructed in consequence ofhis superior excellence. They had already, in my opinion, found fault with theformer Epistle, on this ground, that he indulged immoderately in commendations ofhimself. To commend here means to boast foolishly and beyond measure, or at leastto recount ones own praises in a spirit of ambition. Pauls calumniators had aplausible pretext that it is a disgusting 359 and odious thing in itself for one to bethe trumpeter of his own praises. Paul, however, had an excuse on the ground ofnecessity, inasmuch as he gloried, only because he was shut up to it. His design alsoraised him above all calumny, as he had nothing in view but that the honor of hisapostleship might remain unimpaired for the edification of the Church; for had notChrists honor been infringed upon, he would readily have allowed to passunnoticed what tended to detract from his own reputation. Besides, he saw that itwas very much against the Corinthians, that his authority was lessened among them.In the first place, therefore, he brings forward their calumny, letting them knowthat he is not altogether ignorant as to the kind of talk, that was current amongthem.Have we need? The answer is suited (to use a common expression) to the personrather than to the thing, though we shall find him afterwards saying as much as wasrequired in reference to the thing itself. At present, however, he reproves theirmalignity, inasmuch as they were displeased, if he at any time reluctantly, nay evenwhen they themselves constrained him, made mention of the grace that God hadbestowed upon him, while they were themselves begging in all quarters for epistles,that were stuffed entirely with flattering commendations. He says that he has noneed of commendation in words, while he is abundantly commended by his deeds.On the other hand, he convicts them of a greedy desire for glory, inasmuch as theyendeavored to acquire favor through the suffrages of men. 360 In this manner, hegracefully and appropriately repels their calumny. We must not, however, inferfrom this, that it is absolutely and in itself wrong to receive recommendations, 361provided you make use of them for a good purpose. For Paul himself recommendsmany; and this he would not have done had it been unlawful. Two things, however,are required here first, that it be not a recommendation that is elicited byflattery, but an altogether unbiassed testimony; 362 and secondly, that it be notgiven for the purpose of procuring advancement for the individual, but simply thatit may be the means of promoting the advancement of Christs kingdom. For thisreason, I have observed, that Paul has an eye to those who had assailed him withcalumnies.7. PULPIT COMMETARY, Do we begin again to commend ourselves? The lastverse of the last chapter might be seized upon by St. Paul's opponents to renew theirchargethat he was always praising himself. He anticipates the malignant andmeaning smiles with which they would hear such words. The word again implies 8. that this charge had already been brought against him, perhaps in consequence ofsuch passages as 1 Corinthians 2:16; 1 Corinthians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 4:11-14; 1Corinthians 9:15-23; 1 Corinthians 14:18, etc. Such passages might be called self-laudatoryand egotistical, were it not that (as St. Paul here explains) they arose onlyfrom a sense of the grandeur of his office, of which he was the almost involuntaryagent, used by God as it seemed best to him. Hence he says later on (2 Corinthians7:1-16 :18) that self-praise is no commendation, and that the true test of a man isGod's commendation. The verb I commend, technically used in the same sense asour commendatory letters, occurs also in Romans 16:1. Or need we, etc.? Thereading, , thus translated, is better supported than , unless, which wouldhave a somewhat ironical force. The in the reading implies, Can youpossibly think that we need, etc.? Generally, when a stranger came to some Churchto which he was not personally known, he carried with him some credentials in theform of letters from accredited authorities. St. Paul treats it as absurd to supposethat he or Timothy should need such letters, either from the Corinthians or to them.As some. He will not name them, but he refers to the Judaists, who vaunted of theircredentials in order to disparage St. Paul, who was too great to need and tooindependent to use them. We can hardly, perhaps, realize the depth and bitternessof antagonism concealed under that word some in 1 Corinthians 4:18, Galatians1:7; Galatians 2:12. It is not meant that there was anything discreditable in usingsuch letters (for Apollos had used them, Acts 18:27), but the disgraceful thing wasthat St. Paul should be disparaged for not bringing them. Epistles of commendation.The phrase, introductory letterswas familiar in laterGreek. In days when there were few public hostels, and when it was both a duty anda necessity for small and persecuted communities like those of the Jews andChristians to practise hospitality (Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:2. etc.), it wascustomary both for synagogues and Churches to provide their friends andemissaries with authentic testimonials. Otherwise they might have been deceived bywandering impostors, as, in fact, the Christians were deceived by the vagabondquack Peregrinus. We can easily see how the custom of using such letters might beabused by idle, restless, and intriguing persons, who have never found it verydifficult to procure them. We find traces of their honest use by Phoebe, by Silas andJude, by Apollos, by Mark, and by Zenas, in Romans 16:1; Acts 18:27; Acts 15:25;Colossians 4:10; Titus 3:13; and of their unfair use by certain Judaists, in Galatians1:7 and Galatians 2:12. othing can more forcibly illustrate the necessity for St.Paul's protest against the idle vaunt of possessing such letters, than the fact that,more than a century afterwards, we find malignant innuendoes aimed at St. Paul inthe pseudo-Clementines, under the name of the enemy and Simon Magus anda deceiver. He is there spoken of as using letters from the high priest (which,indeed, St. Paul had done as Saul of Tarsus, Acts 9:1, Acts 9:2); and the Churchesare warned never to receive any one who cannot bring credentials from James; sodeep-rooted among the Judaists was the antagonism to the independent apostolateand daring originality of the apostle of the Gentiles! Dr. Plumptre quotes Sozomen('H.E.', James 5:16) for the curious fact that the Emperor Julian tried to introducethe system of commendatory letters into his revived paganism. Or letters ofcommendation from you. The substitution of letters for epistles is an instanceof the almost childish fondness for unnecessary synonyms, which is one of the 9. defects of the Authorized Version. The true reading probably is to you or fromyou ( , A, B, C). The word commendatory (sustatikon) is omitted in A, B, C. Orfrom you. It was worse than absurd to suppose that St. Paul should need thoseliterae formatae to a Church of which he was the thunder; and nothing but theboundless inflation which characterized the Corinthians could have led them toimagine that he needed letters from them to other Churches, as though, forsooth,they were the primary Church or the only church (1 Corinthians 14:36 ).2 You yourselves are our letter, written on ourhearts, known and read by everyone.1. BARES, Ye are our epistle. Comp. 1 Corinthians 9:2. This is a most beautifuland happy turn given to the whole subject. The sense is plain. It is, that theconversion of the Corinthians, under the faithful labours of the apostle, was a bettertestimonial of his character and fidelity than any letters could be. To see the force ofthis, it must be remembered,.(1.) that Corinth was an exceedingly dissolute and abandoned place, (see theIntroduction to the first epistle;)(2.) that a large number of them had been converted, and a church organized;(3.) that their conversion, and the organization of a church in such a city, wereevents that would be known abroad; and(4.) that it had been accomplished entirely under the labour of Paul and hiscompanions. To their knowledge of him, therefore, and to his success there, he couldconfidently appeal as a testimonial of his character. The characteristics of thiscommendatory epistle he proceeds immediately to state. The general sense is, thatthey were the letter of recommendation which God had given to him; and that theirconversion under his ministry was the public testimonial of his character, which allmight see and read.Written in our hearts. A few Mss. and versions read thus,your hearts; andDoddridge has adopted this reading, and supposes that it means that the changeproduced not only in their external conduct, but in their inward temper, was sogreat, that all must see that it was an unanswerable attestation to his ministry. Butthere is not sufficient authority for changing the text; nor is it necessary. The senseis, probably, that this letter was, as it were, written on his heart. It was not merelythat Paul had a tender affection for them, as Clarke supposes; nor was it that heregarded them as a copy of the letter of recommendation from Christ written in his 10. heart, according to the fanciful conceit of Macknight; but Paul's idea seems to havebeen this: He is speaking of the testimonial which he had from God. Thattestimonial consisted in the conversion of the Corinthians. This he says was writtenon his heart. It was not a cold letter of introduction, but it was such as, while it lefthim no room to doubt that God had sent him, also affected his feelings, and wasengraven on his soul. It was to him, therefore, far more valuable than any mereletter of commendation or of introduction could be. It was a direct testimonial fromGod to his own heart of his approbation, and of his having appointed him to theapostolic office. All the difficulty, therefore, which has been felt by commentators onthis passage, may be obviated by supposing that Paul here speaks of this testimonialor epistle as addressed to himself, and as satisfactory to him. In the othercharacteristics which he enumerates, he speaks of it as fitted to be a lettercommendatory of himself to others.Known and read of all men. Corinth was a large, splendid, and dissipated city.Their conversion, therefore, would be known afar. All men would hear of it; andtheir reformation, their subsequent life under the instruction of Paul, and theattestation which God had given among them to his labours, was a sufficienttestimonial to the world at large, that God had called him to the apostolic office.2. CLARKE, Ye are our epistle - I bear the most ardent love to you. I have no needto be put in remembrance of you by any epistles or other means; ye are written inmy heart - I have the most affectionate remembrance of you.Known and read of all men - For wherever I go I mention you; speak of yourvarious gifts and graces; and praise your knowledge in the Gospel.3. GILL, Ye are our epistle,.... Here a reason is given why they stood in no need ofletters of commendation, to or from the church at Corinth, because that church wastheir living epistle, and which was much preferable to any written one. The apostlecalls them their epistle in the same sense, as they are said to be his work in theLord, and the seal of his apostleship, 1 Corinthians 9:1 they were so as personsregenerated by the Spirit and grace of God, in whose conversion he was aninstrument; now it was the work of conversion in them, which was the epistle said tobewritten in our hearts; some think it should be read, in your hearts; and so theEthiopic version reads it; and it looks as if it should be so read, from the followingverse, and from the nature of the thing itself; for the conversion of the Corinthianswas not written in the heart of the apostle, but in their own; and this was so verynotorious and remarkable, that it wasknown and read of all men; everyone could read, and was obliged to acknowledgethe handwriting; it was so clear a case, what hand the apostle, as an instrument, hadin the turning of these persons from idols to serve the living God; and which was sofull a proof of the divinity, efficacy, truth, and sincerity of his doctrine, that heneeded no letters from any to recommend him. 11. 4. PULPIT COMMETARY, Ye are our epistle. Their very existence as a Churchwas the most absolute commendatory letter of St. Paul, both from them and tothem. Written in our hearts. The expression has no connection with the fact that thehigh priest bore the names of Israel graven on the jewelled Urim, which he woreupon his breast. St. Paul means that others may bring their letters ofcommendation'' in their hands. His letter of commendation is the very name andexistence of the Church of Corinth written on his heart. Known and read of all men.The metaphor is subordinated to the fact. All men may recognize the autograph,and in it were read the history of the Corinthian converts, which was written on theapostle's heart, and which therefore rendered the notion of any other letter ofcommendation to or from them superfluous and even absurd. The play on words(epigignosko and anagignosko) is similar to that in 2 Corinthians 1:13.5. JAMISO, our epistle of recommendation.in our hearts not letters borne merely in the hands. Your conversion through myinstrumentality, and your faith which is known of all men by widespread report(1 Corinthians 1:4-7), and which is written by memory and affection on my inmostheart and is borne about wherever I go, is my letter of recommendation (1Corinthians 9:2).known and read words akin in root, sound, and sense (so 2 Corinthians 1:13).Ye are known to be my converts by general knowledge: then ye are known moreparticularly by your reflecting my doctrine in your Christian life. The handwritingis first known, then the Epistle is read [Grotius] (2 Corinthians 4:2; 1Corinthians 14:25). There is not so powerful a sermon in the world, as a consistentChristian life. The eye of the world takes in more than the ear. Christians lives arethe only religious books the world reads. Ignatius [Epistle to the Ephesians, 10]writes, Give unbelievers the chance of believing through you. Consider yourselvesemployed by God; your lives the form of language in which He addresses them. Bemild when they are angry, humble when they are haughty; to their blasphemyoppose prayer without ceasing; to their inconsistency, a steadfast adherence to yourfaith.6. CALVI, Ye are our Epistle. There is no little ingenuity in his making his ownglory hinge upon the welfare of the Corinthians. So long as you shall remainChristians, I shall have recommendation enough. For your faith speaks my praise,as being the seal of my apostleship. (1 Corinthians 9:2.)When he says written in our hearts, this may be understood in reference toSilvanus and Timotheus, and in that case the meaning will be: We are notcontented with this praise, that we derive from the thing itself. Therecommendations, that others have, fly about before the eyes of men, but this, thatwe have, has its seat in mens consciences. It may also be viewed as referring inpart to the Corinthians, in this sense: Those that obtain recommendations by dintof entreaty, have not in the conscience what they carry about written upon paper,and those that recommend others often do so rather by way of favor than from 12. judgment. We, on the other hand, have the testimony of our apostleship, on this sideand on that, engraven on mens hearts.Which is known and read It might also be read Which is known andacknowledged, owing to the ambiguity of the word , 363 and I donot know but that the latter might be more suitable. I was unwilling, however, todepart from the common rendering, when not constrained to do so. Only let thereader have this brought before his view, that he may consider which of the tworenderings is the preferable one. If we render it acknowledged, there will be animplied contrast between an epistle that is sure and of unquestionable authority,and such as are counterfeit. 364 And, unquestionably, what immediately follows, israther on the side of the latter rendering, for he brings forward the Epistle ofChrist, in contrast with those that are forged and pretended.3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, theresult of our ministry, written not with ink butwith the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets ofstone but on tablets of human hearts.1. BARES, Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared. You are made manifest asthe epistle of Christ; or you, being made manifest, are the epistle, etc. They had beenmade manifest to be such by their conversion. The sense is, It is plain, or evident,that ye are the epistle of Christ.To be the epistle of Christ. That which Christ has sent to be our testimonial, he hasgiven this letter of recommendation. He has converted you by our ministry, and thatis the best evidence which we can have that we have been sent by him, and that ourlabour is accepted by him. Your conversion is his work, and it is his publicattestation to our fidelity in his cause.Ministered by us. The idea here is, that Christ had employed their ministry inaccomplishing this. They were Christ's letter, but it had been prepared by theinstrumentality of the apostles. It had not been prepared by him independently oftheir labours, but in connexion with, and as the result of, those labours. Christ, inwriting this epistle, so to speak, has used our aid; or employed us as amanuenses.Written not with ink. Paul continues and varies the image in regard to thisepistle, so that he may make the testimony borne to his fidelity and success morestriking and emphatic, he says, therefore, that it was not written as letters of 13. introduction are, with ink--by traces drawn on a lifeless substance, and in lines thateasily fade, or that may become easily illegible, or that can be read only by a few, orthat may be soon destroyed.But with the Spirit of the living God. In strong contrast thus with letters writtenwith ink. By the Spirit of God moving on the heart, and producing that variety ofgraces which constitute so striking and so beautiful an evidence of your conversion.If written by the Spirit of the living God, it was far more valuable, and precious,and permanent, than any record which could be made by ink. Every trace of theSpirit's influences on the heart was an undoubted proof that God had sent theapostles; and was a proof which they would much more sensibly and tenderly feelthan they could any letter of recommendation written in ink.ot in tables of stone. It is generally admitted that Paul here refers to the evidencesof the Divine mission of Moses which was given by the law engraven on tablets ofstone. Comp. 2 Corinthians 3:7. Probably those who were false teachers among theCorinthians were Jews, and had insisted much on the Divine origin and permanencyof the Mosaic institutions. The law had been engraven on stone by the hand of Godhimself; and had thus the strongest proofs of Divine origin, and the Divineattestation to its pure and holy nature. To this fact the friends of the law, and theadvocates for the permanency of the Jewish institutions, would appeal. Paul says, onthe other hand, that the testimonials of the Divine favour through him were not ontablets of stone. They were frail, and easily broken. There was no life in them,(comp. 2 Corinthians 3:6,7;) and valuable and important as they were, yet theycould not be compared with the testimonials which God had given to those whosuccessfully preached the gospel.But in fleshy tables of the heart. In truths engraven on the heart. This testimonialwas of more value than an inscription on stone, because(1.) no hand but that of God could reach the heart, and inscribe these truths there.(2.) Because it would be attended with a life-giving and living influence. It was not amere dead letter.(3.) Because it would be permanent. Stones, even where laws were engraven by thefinger of God, would moulder and decay, and the inscription made there would bedestroyed. But not so with that which was made on the heart. It would live for ever.It would abide in other worlds. It would send its influence into all the relations oflife; into all future scenes in this world; and that influence would be seen and felt: inthe world that shall never end. By all these considerations, therefore, thetestimonials which Paul had of the Divine approbation were more valuable than anymere letters of introduction or human commendation could have been; and morevaluable even than the attestation which was given to the divine mission of Moseshimself.2. CLARKE, Manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ - Ye are in our hearts, 14. and Christ has written you there; but yourselves are the epistle of Christ; thechange produced in your hearts and lives, and the salvation which you havereceived, are as truly the work of Christ as a letter dictated and written by a man inhis work.Ministered by us - Ye are the writing, but Christ used me as the pen; Christdictated, and I wrote; and the Divine characters are not made with ink, but by theSpirit of the living God; for the gifts and graces that constitute the mind that was inChrist are produced in you by the Holy Ghost.ot in tables of stone - Where men engrave contracts, or record events; but infleshly tables of the heart - the work of salvation taking place in all your affections,appetites, and desires; working that change within that is so signally manifestedwithout. See the parts of this figurative speech:Jesus Christ dictates.The apostle writes.The hearts of the Corinthians are the substance on which the writing is made. And,The Holy Spirit produces that influence by which the traces are made, and the markbecomes evident.Here is not only an allusion to making inscriptions on stones, where one dictates thematter, and another cuts the letters; (and probably there were certain cases wheresome colouring matter was used to make the inscription the more legible; and whenthe stone was engraved, it was set up in some public place, as monuments,inscriptions, and contracts were, that they might be seen, known, and read of allmen); but the apostle may here refer to the ten commandments, written by thefinger of God upon two tables of stone; which writing was an evidence of the Divinemission of Moses, as the conversion of the Corinthians was an evidence of themission of St. Paul. But it may be as well to take the words in a general sense, as theexpression is not unfrequent either in the Old Testament, or in the rabbinicalwriters. See Schoettgen.3. GILL, Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared,.... But lest it should be thoughtthat the apostle attributed too much to himself, by saying that the Corinthians wereour epistle; here he says, they were manifestly declaredto be the epistle of Christ ministered by us; so that the apostles and ministers of theword were only amanuenses, Christ was the author and dictator; yea, he himself isthe very matter, sum, substance, and subject of the epistle; he is formed in the heartsof his people in conversion, his image is stamped, his grace is implanted, his word,his Gospel dwells richly, his laws and ordinances are written here; he also is theexemplar, believers are but copies of him, in grace and duty, in sufferings, in thelikeness of his death and resurrection: and they are manifestly declared to be so,by the impresses of Christ's grace upon them; by the fairness of the copy; by thestyle and language of the epistle; by their likeness to Christ; by their having not theform only, but the power of godliness; and by their lives and conversations: now inwriting these epistles, the ministers of the Gospel are only instruments, ministered 15. by us. They are made use of to show the sinner the black characters which arewritten upon him, and that what is written in him, and to be read by him, by thelight of nature is not sufficient for salvation; they are employed as instruments indrawing the rough draught of grace in conversion, and in writing the copy overagain, fairer and fairer; being the happy means blessed by God, for the building upof souls in faith and holiness, in spiritual knowledge and comfort. These epistles arenot written with ink; of nature's power, or of rhetorical eloquence and moralpersuasion;but with the Spirit of the living God: every grace that is implanted in the soul iswrought there by the Spirit of God; or he it is that draws every line, and writesevery word and letter; he begins, he carries on and finishes the work of grace on thesoul; and that as the Spirit of the living God: hence saints become the livingepistles of Christ; and every letter and stroke of his making, is a living disposition ofthe soul in likeness to him; and such are written among the living in Jerusalem, andshall live and abide for ever as the epistles of Christ: again, the subjects of theseepistles, or that on which they are written, arenot tables of stone; such as the law was written upon, on Mount Sinai: of thesetables there were the first and second; the first were the work of God himself, thelatter were hewed by Moses, at the command of God, Exodus 32:16 the formerbeing broken when he came down from the mount, which by the Jewish writers aresaid to be miraculously made, and not by the means and artifice of menF12; yea,that they were made before the creation of the worldF13, and which, they commonlysay, were made of sapphire; See Gill on 2 Corinthians 3:7 these, as the latter, weretwo stones, which, Jarchi saysF14, were of an equal size; and were, as AbarbinelsaysF15, in the form of small tables, such as children are taught to write upon, andtherefore are so called: some pretend to give the dimensions of them, and sayF16,that they were six hands long, and as many broad, and three thick; nay, even theweight of them, which is saidF17 to be the weight of forty seahs, and look upon itas a miracle that Moses should be able to carry them; on these stones were writtenthe ten commands; and the common opinion of the Jewish writers is, that five werewritten on one table, and five on the other; this is the opinion of JosephusF18,PhiloF19, and the Talmudic writersF20; and the tables are said to be written onboth sides, Exodus 32:15. Some think that the engraving of the letters perforatedand went through the tables, so that, in a miraculous manner, the letters werelegible on both sides; others think, only the right and left hand of the tables aremeant, on which the laws were written, five on a side, and which folded up like thetables or pages of a book; though others are of opinion, that they were written upon,both behind and before, and that the law was written twice, both upon the fore partand back part of the tables, yea, others say four times; and some think the phraseonly intends the literal and mystical, the external and internal sense of the law:however, certain it is, as the apostle here suggests, that the law was written on tablesof stone, which may denote the firmness and stability of the law; not as in the handsof Moses, from whence the tables fell and were broken, but as in the hands ofChrist, by whom they are fulfilled; or else the hardness of man's heart, his stupidity, 16. ignorance of, and not subject to the law of God:but fleshly tables of the heart: alluding to Ezekiel 36:26 and designs not carnalhearts, but such as are made soft and tender by the Spirit of God. The table of theheart is a phrase to be met with in the books of the Old Testament; see Proverbs 3:3and very frequently in the writings of the Jews4. PULPIT COMMETARY, Manifestly declared. The fame and centrality ofCorinth gave peculiar prominence to the fact of their conversion. The epistle ofChrist ministered by us. The Corinthians are the epistle; it is written on the heartsof St. Paul and his companions; Christ was its Composer; they were its amanuensesand its conveyers. The development of the metaphor as a metaphor would besomewhat clumsy and intricate, but St. Paul only cares to shadow forth the essentialfact which he wishes them to recognize. ot with ink, but with the Spirit of theliving God; i.e. not with visible or perishable materials, but spiritual in its originand character. The notion of the finger of God naturally recalled the notion ofthe Spirit of God (comp. Matthew 12:28 with Luke 11:20). ot in tables of stone.God's writing by means of the Spirit on the heart reminds him of another writing ofGod on the stone tablets of the Law, which he therefore introduces with no specialregard to the congruity of the metaphor about an epistle. But in fleshy tables ofthe heart. The overwhelming preponderance of manuscript authority supports thereading but in fleshen tabletshearts. St. Paul is thinking of Jeremiah 31:33, Iwill put my Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and Ezekiel11:22, I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart offlesh. The tablets were not hard and fragile, but susceptible and receptive. Ourletters of introduction are inward not outward, spiritual not material, permanentnot perishable, legible to all not only by a few, written by Christ not by man.5. JAMISO, declared The letter is written so legibly that it can be read by allmen (2 Corinthians 3:2). Translate, Being manifestly shown to be an Epistle ofChrist; a letter coming manifestly from Christ, and ministered by us, that is,carried about and presented by us as its (ministering) bearers to those (the world)for whom it is intended: Christ is the Writer and the Recommender, ye are the letterrecommending us.written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God Paul was theministering pen or other instrument of writing, as well as the ministering bearer andpresenter of the letter. ot with ink stands in contrast to the letters ofcommendation which some at Corinth (2 Corinthians 3:1) used. Ink is also usedhere to include all outward materials for writing, such as the Sinaitic tables of stonewere. These, however, were not written with ink, but graven by the finger ofGod (Exodus 31:18; Exodus 32:16). Christs Epistle (His believing membersconverted by Paul) is better still: it is written not merely with the finger, but withthe Spirit of the living God; it is not the ministration of death as the law, but ofthe living Spirit that giveth life (2 Corinthians 3:6-8).not in not on tables (tablets) of stone, as the ten commandments were written (2 17. Corinthians 3:7).in fleshy tables of the heart ALL the best manuscripts read, On [your] hearts[which are] tables of flesh. Once your hearts were spiritually what the tables of thelaw were physically, tables of stone, but God has taken away the stony heart out ofyour flesh, given you a heart of flesh (fleshy, not fleshly, that is, carnal; hence it iswritten, out of your flesh that is, your carnal nature), Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel36:26. Compare 2 Corinthians 3:2, As ye are our Epistle written in our hearts, soChrist has in the first instance made you His Epistle written with the Spirit in (on)your hearts. I bear on my heart, as a testimony to all men, that which Christ has byHis Spirit written in your heart [Alford]. (Compare Proverbs 3:3; Proverbs 7:3;Jeremiah 31:31-34). This passage is quoted by Paley [Horae Paulinae] as illustratingone peculiarity of Pauls style, namely, his going off at a word into a parentheticreflection: here it is on the word Epistle. So savor, 2 Corinthians 2:14-17.6. CALVI, Ye are the Epistle of Christ Pursuing the metaphor, he says that theEpistle of which he speaks was written by Christ, inasmuch as the faith of theCorinthians was his work. He says that it was ministered by him, as if meaning bythis, that he had been in the place of ink and pen. In fine, he makes Christ theauthor and himself the instrument, that calumniators may understand, that it iswith Christ that they have to do, if they continue to speak against him 365 withmalignity. What follows is intended to increase the authority of that Epistle. Thesecond clause, 366 however, has already a reference to the comparison that isafterwards drawn between the law and the gospel. For he takes occasion from thisshortly afterwards, as we shall see, to enter upon a comparison of this nature. Theantitheses here employed ink and Spirit, stones and heart give no small degreeof weight to his statements, by way of amplification. For in drawing a contrastbetween ink and the Spirit of God, and between stones and heart, he expresses morethan if he had simply made mention of the Spirit and the heart, without drawingany comparison.ot on tables of stone He alludes to the promise that is recorded in Jeremiah 31:31,and Ezekiel 37:26, concerning the grace of the ew Testament.I will make, says he, a new covenant with them, not such as I had made with theirfathers; but I will write my laws upon their hearts, and engrave them on theirinward parts. Farther, I will take away the stony heart from the midst of thee, andwill give thee a heart of flesh, that thou mayest walk in my precepts.(Ezekiel 36:26, 27.)Paul says, that this blessing was accomplished through means of his preaching.Hence it abundantly appears, that he is a faithful minister of the ew Covenant which is a legitimate testimony in favor of his apostleship. The epithet fleshly is nottaken here in a bad sense, but means soft and flexible, 367 as it is contrasted withstony, that is, hard and stubborn, as is the heart of man by nature, until it has beensubdued by the Spirit of God. 18. 4 Such confidence we have through Christ beforeGod.1. BARES, And such trust have we. Such confidence have we that we areappointed by God, and that he accepts our work. Such evidence have we in thesuccess of our labours--such irrefragable proof that God blesses us--that we havetrust, or confidence, that we are sent by God, and are owned by him in our ministry.His confidence did not rest on letters of introduction from men, but in the evidenceof the Divine Presence, and the Divine acceptance of his work.Through Christ. By the agency of Christ. Paul had no success which he did not traceto him; he had no joy of which he was not the source; he had no confidence, or trustin God, of which Christ was not the author; he had no hope of success in hisministry which did not depend on him.To Godward. Toward God; in regard to God. ~prov ton yeon~. Our confidencerelates to God. It is confidence that he has appointed us, and sent us forth; andconfidence that he will still continue to own and to bless us.2. CLARKE, Such trust have we - We have the fullest conviction that God has thusaccredited our ministry; and that ye are thus converted unto him, and aremonuments of his mercy, and proofs of the truth of our ministry.3. GILL, And such trust have we,.... This refers to what he had said in the latterend of the foregoing chapter, and the beginning of this; as that they made manifestthe savoury knowledge of God and Christ everywhere, and were the sweet savour ofChrist to many souls; were sufficient in some measure, through the grace of Christ,to preach the Gospel sincerely and faithfully, and were attended with success, hadmany seals of their ministry, and particularly the Corinthians were so many livingepistles of commendations of the power and efficacy of their ministry; suchconfidence and firm persuasion of the truth of grace on your souls, and of our beingthe happy instruments of it, we havethrough Christ, the grace of Christ,to God-ward: who is the object of our confidence and hope, and the ground thereof.4. PULPIT COMMETARY, Such trust. The confidence, namely, that we need noother recommendation to or from you. Through Christ. Who alone can inspire suchconfidence in myself and my mission (1 Corinthians 15:10). To God-ward; i.e. inrelation to God; towards whom the whole Being of Christ is directed (John 1:1), andtherefore all the work of his servants (Romans 5:1). 19. 5. JAMISO, And Greek, But. Such confidence, however (namely, of oursufficiency, 2 Corinthians 3:5, 2 Corinthians 3:6; 2 Corinthians 2:16 - to which hereverts after the parenthesis - as ministers of the ew Testament, not hinting, 2Corinthians 4:1), we have through Christ (not through ourselves, compare 2Corinthians 3:18) toward God (that is, in our relation to God and His work, theministry committed by Him to us, for which we must render an account to Him).Confidence toward God is solid and real, as looking to Him for the strength needednow, and also for the reward of grace to be given hereafter. Compare Acts 24:15,hope toward God. Human confidence is unreal in that it looks to man for its helpand its reward.6. CALVI, And such confidence As it was a magnificent commendation, that Paulhad pronounced to the honor of himself and his Apostleship, lest he should seem tospeak of himself more confidently than was befitting, he transfers the entire glory toGod, from whom he acknowledges that he has received everything that he has. Bythis boasting, says he, I extol God rather than myself, by whose grace I am what Iam. (1 Corinthians 15:10.) He adds, as he is accustomed to do by Christ, because heis, as it were, the channel, through which all Gods benefits flow forth to us.5 ot that we are competent in ourselves to claimanything for ourselves, but our competence comesfrom God.1. BARES, ot that we are sufficient of ourselves. This is evidently designed toguard against the appearance of boasting, or of self-confidence. He had spoken ofhis confidence; of his triumph; of his success; of his undoubted evidence that Godhad sent him. He here says, that he did not mean to be understood as affirming thatany of his success came from himself, or that he was able by his own strength toaccomplish the great things which had,. been effected by his ministry. He well knewthat he had no such self-sufficiency; and he would, not insinuate, in the slightestmanner, that he believed himself to be invested with any such power. See BarnesJohn 15:5.To think any thing. ~logisasyai ti~. The word here used means, properly, to reason,think, consider; and then to reckon, count to, or impute to any one. It is the wordwhich is commonly rendered impute. See it explained more fully See BarnesRomans 4:1. Robinson (Lexicon) renders it in this place, To reason out, to thinkout, to find out by thinking. Doddridge renders it, To reckon upon anything asfrom ourselves. Whitby renders it, To reason; as if the apostle had said, We areunable by any reasoning of our own to bring men to conversion. Macknight gives a 20. similar sense. Locke renders it, ot as if I were sufficient of myself, to reckon uponanything as from myself; and explains it to mean that Paul was not sufficient ofhimself, by any strength of natural parts, to attain the knowledge of the gospeltruths which he preached. The word may be rendered here, to reckon, reason, think,etc.; but it should be confined to the immediate subject under consideration. It doesnot refer to thinking in general; or to the power of thought on any, and on allsubjects--however true it may be in itself; but to the preaching the gospel. And theexpression may be regarded as referring to the following points, which areimmediately under discussion:(1.) Paul did not feel that he was sufficient of himself to have reasoned or thoughtout the truths of the gospel. They were communicated by God.(2.) He had no power by reasoning to convince or convert sinners. That was all ofGod.(3.) He had no right to reckon on success by any strength of his own. All success wasto be traced to God. It is, however, also true, that all our powers of thinking andreasoning are from God; and that we have no ability to think clearly, to reasoncalmly, closely, and correctly, unless he shall preside over our minds and give usclearness of thought. How easy is it for God to disarrange all our faculties, andproduce insanity! How easy to suffer our minds to become unsettled, bewildered,and distracted with a multiplicity of thoughts! How easy to cause everything toappear cloudy, and dark, and misty! How easy to affect our bodies with weakness,languor, disease, and through them to destroy all power of close and consecutivethought! o one who considers on how many things the power of dose thinkingdepends, can doubt that all our sufficiency in this is from God; and that we owe tohim every clear idea on the subjects of common life, and on scientific subjects, noless certainly than we do in the truths of religion. Comp. the case of Bezaleel andAholiab in common arts, Exodus 31:1-6; Job 32:8.2. CLARKE, ot that we are sufficient of ourselves - We do not arrogate toourselves any power to enlighten the mind or change the heart, we are onlyinstruments in the hand of God. or was it possible for us apostles to think, toinvent, such a scheme of salvation as is the Gospel; and if we even had been equal tothe invention, how could we have fulfilled such promises as this scheme of salvationabounds with? God alone could fulfill these promises, and he fulfils only thosewhich he makes himself. All these promises have been amen-ratified and fulfilled toyou who have believed on Christ Jesus according to our preaching; therefore, ye areGod's workmanship and it is only by God's sufficiency that we have been able to doany thing. This I believe to be the apostle's meaning in this place, and that he speakshere merely of the Gospel scheme, and the inability of human wisdom to invent it;and the words , which we translate to think any thing, signify,properly, to find any thing out by reasoning; and as the Gospel scheme of salvationis the subject in hand, to that subject the words are to be referred and limited. Thewords, however, contain also a general truth; we can neither think, act, nor be,without God. From him we have received all our powers, whether of body or of 21. mind, and without him we can do nothing. But we may abuse both our power ofthinking and acting; for the power to think, and the power to act, are widelydifferent from the act of thinking, and the act of doing. God gives us the power orcapacity to think and act, but he neither thinks nor acts for us. It is on this groundthat we may abuse our powers, and think evil, and act wickedly; and it is on thisground that we are accountable for our thoughts, words, and deeds.3. GILL, ot that we are sufficient of ourselves,.... Though we are sufficient forthis work to which God has called us, and have such trust and confidence that hehas blessed and owned us, and done such great things by us; yet we do not ascribeanything to ourselves, to any power of ours, to any self-sufficiency in us: for we arenot sufficient of ourselves neither for the work of the ministry, nor for theconversion of sinners, nor for faith and hope in God, nor for any spiritual workwhatever; not even to think anything as of ourselves; any good thing, either for ourown use and benefit, or for the advantage of others; we are not able of ourselves tomeditate with judgment and affection upon the word of God, to study theScriptures, to collect from them things fit for the ministry; and much less withfreedom and boldness to speak of them to edification; and still less able to impressthem upon the heart: for though you who are the epistle of Christ are ministered byus, yet not by any power and self-sufficiency of ours;but our sufficiency is of God; to think, to speak, and to act for his glory.4. PULPIT COMMETARY, ot that we are sufficient of ourselves. He herereverts to the question asked in 2 Corinthians 2:16. He cannot bear the implicationthat any confidence on his part rests on anything short of the overwhelming sensethat he is but an agent, or rather nothing but an instrument, in the hands of God. Tothink anything as of ourselves. He has, indeed, the capacity to form adequatejudgments about his work, but it does not come from his own resources ( ) or his own independent origination ( ); comp. 1 Corinthians15:10. But our sufficiency. amely, to form any true or right judgment, andtherefore to express the confidence which I have expressed. Is of God. We are butfellow workers with him (1 Corinthians 3:19).5. JAMISO, The Greek is, ot that we are (even yet after so long experience asministers) sufficient to think anything OF ourselves as (coming) FROM ourselves;but our sufficiency is (derived) FROM God. From more definitely refers to thesource out of which a thing comes; of is more general.to think Greek, to reason out or devise; to attain to sound preaching by ourreasonings [Theodoret]. The we refers here to ministers (2 Peter 1:21).anything even the least. We cannot expect too little from man, or too much fromGod.6. CALVI, ot that we are competent. 370 When he thus disclaims all merit, it isnot as if he abased himself in merely pretended modesty, but instead of this, he 22. speaks what he truly thinks. ow we see, that he leaves man nothing. For thesmallest part, in a manner, of a good work is thought. In other words, 371 it hasneither the first part of the praise, nor the second; and yet he does not allow us eventhis. As it is less to think than to will, how foolish a part do those act, who arrogateto themselves a right will, when Paul does not leave them so much as the power ofthinking aught! 372 Papists have been misled by the term sufficiency, that is madeuse of by the Old Interpreter. 373 For they think to get off by acknowledging thatman is not qualified to form good purposes, while in the mean time they ascribe tohim a right apprehension of the mind, which, with some assistance from God, mayeffect something of itself. Paul, on the other hand, declares that man is in want, notmerely of sufficiency of himself, (,) but also of competency (,)374 which would be equivalent to idoneitas (fitness), if such a term were in useamong the Latins. He could not, therefore, more effectually strip man bare of everything good.6 He has made us competent as ministers of a newcovenantnot of the letter but of the Spirit; forthe letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.1. BARES, Who also hath made us able ministers, etc. This translation does notquite meet the force of the original. It would seem to imply that Paul regardedhimself and his fellow-labourers as men of talents, and of signal ability; and that hewas inclined to boast of it. But this is not the meaning. It refers properly to his senseof the responsibility and difficulty of the work of the ministry, and to the fact thathe did not esteem himself to be sufficient for this work in his own strength, (2Corinthians 2:16; 3:5;) and he here says that God had made him sufficient--not able,talented, learned, but sufficient, (~ikanwsen hmav~;) he has supplied ourdeficiency; he has rendered us competent, or fit: if a word may be coined after themanner of the Greek here, he has sufficienced us for this work.' There is noassertion therefore, here, that they were men of talents or peculiar ability, but onlythat God had qualified them for their work, and made them by his grace sufficientto meet the toils and responsibilities of this arduous office.Of the new testament. Of the new covenant, See Barnes Matthew 21:28, incontradistinction from the old covenant, which was established through Moses.They were appointed to go forth and make the provisions of that new covenantknown to a dying world.ot of the letter. ot of the literal or verbal meaning, in contradistinction from thespirit. See Barnes:, See Barnes Romans 2:29; See Barnes Romans 7:6. This 23. is said, doubtless, in opposition to the Jews and Jewish teachers. They insisted muchon the letter of the law, but entered little into its real meaning. They did not seek outthe true spiritual sense of the Old Testament; and hence they rested on the mereliteral observance of the rites and ceremonies of religion, without understandingtheir true nature and design. Their service, though in many respects conformed tothe letter of the law, yet became cold, formal, and hypocritical; abounding in mereceremonies, and where the heart had little to do. Hence there was little purespiritual worship offered to God; and hence also they rejected the Messiah whomthe old covenant prefigured, and was designed to set forth.For the letter killeth. Comp. See Barnes Romans 4:15; See Barnes Romans7:9,10. The mere letter of the law of Moses. The effect of it was merely to producecondemnation; to produce a sense of guilt, and danger, and not to produce pardon,relief, and joy. The law denounced death; condemned sin in all forms; and the effectof it was to produce a sense of guilt and condemnation.But the spirit giveth life. The spirit, in contradistinction front the mere literalinterpretation of the Scriptures. The Spirit, that is, Christ, says Locke. Comp. 2Corinthians 3:17. The spirit here means, says Bloomfield, that new spiritual system,the gospel. The Spirit of God speaking in us, says Doddridge. The spirit here seemsto refer to the new testament, or the new dispensation, in contradistinction from theold. That was characterized mainly by its strictness of law, and by its burdensomerites, and by the severe tone of its denunciation for sin. It did not in itself provide away of pardon and peace. Law condemns; it does not speak of forgiveness. On thecontrary, the gospel, a spiritual system, is designed to impart life and comfort to thesoul. It speaks peace. It comes not to condemn, but to save. It discloses a way ofmercy, and it invites all to partake and live. It is called spirit, probably becauseits consolations are imparted and secured by the Spirit of God--the source of all truelife to the soul. It is the dispensation of the Spirit; and it demands a spiritualservice--a service that is free, and elevated, and tending eminently to purify theheart and to save the soul. See Barnes 2 Corinthians 3:17.2. CLARKE, Who hath made us able ministers - This is a more formal answer tothe question, Who is sufficient for these things? ; 1Corinthians 2:16. God, says the apostle, has made us able ministers; , he has made us sufficient for these things; for the reader will observethat he uses the same word in both places. We apostles execute, under the Divineinfluence, what God himself has devised. We are ministers of the new covenant; ofthis new dispensation of truth, light, and life, by Christ Jesus; a system which notonly proves itself to have come from God, but necessarily implies that God himselfby his own Spirit is a continual agent in it, ever bringing its mighty purposes to pass.On the words , new covenant, see the Preface to the gospel of St.Matthew.ot of the letter, but of the Spirit - The apostle does not mean here, as some haveimagined, that he states himself to be a minister of the ew Testament, in oppositionto the Old; and that it is the Old Testament that kills, and the ew that gives life; 24. but that the ew Testament gives the proper meaning of the Old; for the oldcovenant had its letter and its spirit, its literal and its spiritual meaning. The lawwas founded on the very supposition of the Gospel; and all its sacrifices, types, andceremonies refer to the Gospel. The Jews rested in the letter, which not onlyafforded no means of life, but killed, by condemning every transgressor to death.They did not look at the spirit; did not endeavor to find out the spiritual meaning;and therefore they rejected Christ, who was the end of the law for justification; andso for redemption from death to every one that believes. The new covenant set allthese spiritual things at once before their eyes, and showed them the end, object,and design of the law; and thus the apostles who preached it were ministers of thatSpirit which gives life.Every institution has its letter as well as its spirit, as every word must refer tosomething of which it is the sign or significator. The Gospel has both its letter andits spirit; and multitudes of professing Christians, by resting in the Letter, receivenot the life which it is calculated to impart. Water, in baptism, is the letter thatpoints out the purification of the soul; they who rest in this letter are without thispurification; and dying in that state they die eternally. Bread and wine in thesacrament of the Lord's Supper, are the letter; the atoning efficacy of the death ofJesus, and the grace communicated by this to the soul of a believer, are the spirit.Multitudes rest in this letter, simply receiving these symbols, without reference tothe atonement, or to their guilt; and thus lose the benefit of the atonement and thesalvation of their souls. The whole Christian life is comprehended by our Lordunder the letter, Follow me. Does not any one see that a man, taking up this letteronly, and following Christ through Judea, Galilee, Samaria, etc., to the city, temple,villages, seacoast, mountains, etc., fulfilled no part of the spirit; and might, with allthis following, lose his soul? Whereas the Spirit, viz. receive my doctrine, believe mysayings, look by faith for the fulfillment of my promises, imitate my example, wouldnecessarily lead him to life eternal. It may be safely asserted that the Jews, in noperiod of their history, ever rested more in the letter of their law than the vastmajority of Christians are doing in the letter of the Gospel. Unto multitudes ofChristians Christ may truly say: Ye will not come unto me that ye may have life.3. GILL, Who also hath made us able ministers,.... This is an answer to thequestion in 2 Corinthians 2:16 who is sufficient for these things? no man is ofhimself; we are indeed sufficient for them, but not of ourselves; our sufficiency is ofGod, he hath made us able, or sufficient ministers: such ministers as are not ofmen's, but God's making, are sufficient ones; and none are sufficient but whom Godmakes so; and those he makes able and sufficient, by giving them spiritual gifts,fitting them for the ministry: and these are ministersof the ew Testament, or covenant; the covenant of grace, of which Christ is theMediator and surety; called new, not because newly made, for it was made withChrist from everlasting; nor newly revealed, for it was made known to Adam afterhis fall, and to all the Old Testament patriarchs, and was exhibited under the legaldispensation, though but darkly, in types, shadows, sacrifices, c. which thereforewaxing old is vanished away; and the covenant of grace is now more clearly 25. revealed under the Gospel dispensation, free from all the obscurity it beforelaboured under; and therefore is called new, as well as because it will alwayscontinue so, and never give way to another covenant: now the Gospel, and theministry of it, is nothing else but an exhibition of the covenant of grace, its blessingsand promises; and the work and business of those who are ministers of it is not toinsist upon the covenant of works, the terms, conditions, obligations, promises, andthreatenings of that covenant; but to open and explain the nature, promises, andblessings of the covenant of grace: for such who are fit and proper ministers, areministersnot of the letter, but of the spirit; which is to be understood, not of any differencebetween the books of the Old and the ew Testament, for a faithful minister of theword may and will bring forth things new and old, out of the one as well as theother; nor of the literal and allegorical, or mystical sense of the Scriptures, as if thelatter and not the former was only to be attended to; nor of the difference ofcommunicating the Gospel by letters, and preaching it by word of mouth; since bothmethods may be used for the spread of it, as were by the apostles themselves; but ofthe difference there is between the law and the Gospel. The law is the letter, notmerely because written in letters, for so likewise is the Gospel; but because it is amere letter, hereby showing what is to be done or avoided, without any efficacy in it,or communicating any to enable persons to obey its commands, to give life to itsobservers, or either to sanctify or justify any who are under it, or of the works of it;it is a mere letter, as observed by an unregenerate man, who only regards theexternals of it, being unacquainted with its spirituality. The Gospel is the spirit;see John 6:63 it contains spiritual things, and not things merely natural, moral, andcivil, as does the law, but spiritual blessings and promises; it penetrates into thespirit and soul of man, and comes from, and is attended with the Spirit of God. Thelaw isthe letter thatkilleth, by irritating and provoking to sin, the cause of death, which though not thedesign and natural tendency of the law, and therefore not to be blamed, yet so it is,through the corruption of human nature; and by convincing of sin when the sinneris killed, and it dead in his own apprehension; and by not only threatening withdeath, but by cursing, condemning, and punishing with it:but the Gospel isthe spirit, whichgiveth life; it is a means in the hand of the Spirit of God, of quickening dead sinners,of healing the deadly wounds of sin, of showing the way of life by Christ, and ofworking faith in the soul, to look to him, and live upon him; it affords food for thesupport of the spiritual life, and revives souls under the most droopingcircumstances. The apostle may allude to a distinction among the Jews, between thebody and soul of the law; the words, they say, are , the body of the law; 26. and the book of the law is the clothing; and besides these, there is , the soul of the law; which wise men look intoF23.4. HERY, Verses 6-11Here the apostle makes a comparison between the Old Testament and the ew, thelaw of Moses and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and values himself and his fellow-labourersby this, that they were able ministers of the ew Testament, that God hadmade them so, 2 Corinthians 3:6. This he does in answer to the accusations of falseteachers, who magnify greatly the law of Moses.I. He distinguishes between the letter and the spirit even of the ew Testament, 2Corinthians 3:6. As able ministers of the ew Testament, they were ministers notmerely of the letter, to read the written word, or to preach the letter of the gospelonly, but they were ministers of the Spirit also; the Spirit of God did accompanytheir ministrations. The letter killeth; this the letter of the law does, for that is theministration of death; and if we rest only in the letter of the gospel we shall be neverthe better for so doing, for even that will be a savour of death unto death; but theSpirit of the gospel, going along with the ministry of the gospel, giveth life spiritualand life eternal.II. He shows the difference between the Old Testament and the ew, and theexcellency of the gospel above the law. For, 1. The Old Testament dispensation wasthe ministration of death (2 Corinthians 3:7), whereas that of the ew Testament isthe ministration of life. The law discovered sin, and the wrath and curse of God.This showed us a God above us and a God against us; but the gospel discoversgrace, and Emmanuel, God with us. Upon this account the gospel is more gloriousthan the law; and yet that had a glory in it, witness the shining of Moses's face (anindication thereof) when he came down from the mount with the tables in his hand,that reflected rays of brightness upon his countenance. 2. The law was theministration of condemnation, for that condemned and cursed every one whocontinued not in all things written therein to do them; but the gospel is theministration of righteousness: therein the righteousness of God by faith is revealed.This shows us that the just shall live by his faith. This reveals the grace and mercyof God through Jesus Christ, for obtaining the remission of sins and eternal life. Thegospel therefore so much exceeds in glory that in a manner it eclipses the glory ofthe legal dispensation, 2 Corinthians 3:10. As the shining of a burning lamp is lost,or not regarded, when the sun arises and goes forth in his strength; so there was noglory in the Old Testament, in comparison with that of the ew. 3. The law is doneaway, but the gospel does and shall remain, 2 Corinthians 3:11. ot only did theglory of Moses's face go away, but the glory of Moses's law is done away also; yea,the law of Moses itself is now abolished. That dispensation was only to continue fora time, and then to vanish away; whereas the gospel shall remain to the end of theworld, and is always fresh and flourishing and remains glorious5. JAMISO, able rather, as the Greek is the same, corresponding to 2Corinthians 3:5, translate, sufficient as ministers (Ephesians 3:7; Colossians1:23). 27. the new testament the new covenant as contrasted with the Old Testament orcovenant (1 Corinthians 11:25; Galatians 4:24). He reverts here again to thecontrast between the law on tables of stone, and that written by the Spirit onfleshly tables of the heart (2 Corinthians 3:3).not of the letter joined with ministers; ministers not of the mere literal precept,in which the old law, as then understood, consisted; but of the Spirit, that is, thespiritual holiness which lay under the old law, and which the new covenant brings tolight (Matthew 5:17-48) with new motives added, and a new power of obedienceimparted, namely, the Holy Spirit (Romans 7:6). Even in writing the letter of theew Testament, Paul and the other sacred writers were ministers not of the letter,but of the spirit. o piety of spirit could exempt a man from the yoke of the letter ofeach legal ordinance under the Old Testament; for God had appointed this as theway in which He chose a devout Jew to express his state of mind towards God.Christianity, on the other hand, makes the spirit of our outward observanceseverything, and the letter a secondary consideration (John 4:24). Still the moral lawof the ten commandments, being written by the finger of God, is as obligatory nowas ever; but put more on the Gospel spirit of love, than on the letter of a servileobedience, and in a deeper and fuller spirituality (Matthew 5:17-48; Romans 13:9).o literal precepts could fully comprehend the wide range of holiness which LOVE,the work of the Holy Spirit, under the Gospel, suggests to the believers heartinstinctively from the word understood in its deep spirituality.letter killeth by bringing home the knowledge of guilt and its punishment, death;2 Corinthians 3:7, ministration of death (Romans 7:9).spirit giveth life The spirit of the Gospel when brought home to the heart by theHoly Spirit, gives new spiritual life to a man (Romans 6:4, Romans 6:11). Thisspirit of life is for us in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2, Romans 8:10), who dwells inthe believer as a quickening or life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45). ote, thespiritualism of rationalists is very different. It would admit no stereotypedrevelation, except so much as mans own inner instrument of revelation, theconscience and reason, can approve of: thus making the conscience judge of thewritten word, whereas the apostles make the written word the judge of theconscience (Acts 17:11; 1 Peter 4:1). True spirituality rests on the whole writtenword, applied to the soul by the Holy Spirit as the only infallible interpreter of itsfar-reaching spirituality. The letter is nothing without the spirit, in a subjectessentially spiritual. The spirit is nothing without the letter, in a record substantiallyhistorical.6. CALVI, He had acknowledged himself to be altogether useless. ow hedeclares, that, by the grace of God, he has been qualified 377 for an office, for whichhe was previously unqualified. From this we infer its magnitude and difficulty, as itcan be undertaken by no one, that has not been previously prepared and fashionedfor it by God. It is the Apostles intention, also, to extol the dignity of the gospel.There is, at the same time, no doubt, that he indirectly exposes the poverty of those, 28. who boasted in lofty terms of their endowments, while they were not furnished withso much as a single drop of heavenly grace.ot of the letter but of the spirit He now follows out the comparison between the lawand the gospel, which he had previously touched upon. It is uncertain, however,whether he was led into this discussion, from seeing that there were at Corinthcertain perverse 378 devotees of the law, or whether he took occasion fromsomething else to enter upon it. For my part, as I see no evidence that the falseapostles had there confounded the law and the gospel, I am rather of opinion, that,as he had to do with lifeless declaimers, who endeavored to obtain applause throughmere prating, 379 and as he saw, that the ears of the Corinthians were captivatedwith such glitter, he was desirous to show them what was the chief excellence of thegospel, and what was the chief praise of its ministers. ow this he makes to consistin the efficacy of the Spirit. A comparison between the law and the gospel was fittedin no ordinary degree to show this. This appears to me to be the reason why he cameto enter upon it.There is, however, no doubt, that by the term letter, he means the Old Testament, asby the term spirit he means the gospel; for, after having called himself a minister ofthe ew Testament, he immediately adds, by way of exposition, that he is a ministerof the spirit, and contrasts the letter with the spirit. We must now enquire into thereason of this designation. The exposition contrived by Origen has got into generalcirculation that by the letter we ought to understand the grammatical andgenuine meaning of Scripture, or the literal sense, (as they call it,) and that by thespirit is meant the allegorical meaning, which is commonly reckoned to be thespiritual meaning. Accordingly, during several centuries, nothing was morecommonly said, or more generally received, than this that Paul here furnishes uswith a key for expounding Scripture by allegories, while nothing is farther from hisintention. For by the term letter he means outward preaching, of such a kind as doesnot reach the heart; and, on the other hand, by spirit he means living doctrine, ofsuch a nature as worketh effectually (1 Thessalonians 2:13) on the minds of men,380 through the grace of the Spirit. By the term letter, therefore, is meant literalpreaching that is, dead and ineffectual, perceived only by the ear. By the termspirit, on the other hand, is meant spiritual doctrine, that is, what is not merelyuttered with the mouth, but effectually makes its way to the souls of men with alively feeling. For Paul had an eye to the passage in Jeremiah, that I quoted a littleago, (Jeremiah 31:31,) where the Lord says, that his law had been proclaimedmerely with the mouth, and that it had, therefore, been of short duration, becausethe people did not embrace it in their heart, and he promises the Spirit ofregeneration under the reign of Christ, to write his gospel, that is, the new covenant,upon their hearts. Paul now makes it his boast, that the accomplishment of thatprophecy is to be seen in his preaching, that the Corinthians may perceive, howworthless is the loquacity of those vain boasters, who make incessant noise 381 whiledevoid of the efficacy of the Spirit.It is asked, however, whether God, under the Old Testament, merely sounded forthin the way of an external voice, and did not also speak inwardly to the hearts of thepious by his Spirit. I answer in the first place, that Paul here takes into view whatbelonged peculiarly to the law; for although God then wrought by his Spirit, yetthat did not take its rise from the ministry of Moses, but from the grace of Christ, as 29. it is said in John 1:17 The law was given by Moses;but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.True, indeed, the grace of God did not, during all that time, lie dormant, but it isenough that it was not a benefit that belonged to the law. 382 For Moses haddischarged his office, when he had delivered to the people the doctrine of life,adding threatenings and promises. For this reason he gives to the law the name ofthe letter, because it is in itself a dead preaching; but the gospel he calls spirit,because the ministry of the gospel is living, nay, lifegiving.I answer secondly, that these things are not affirmed absolutely in reference eitherto the law or to the gospel, but in respect of the contrast between the one and theother; for even the gospel is not always spirit. When, however, we come to comparethe two, it is truly and properly affirmed, that the nature of the law is to teach menliterally, in such a way that it does not reach farther than the ear; and that, on theother hand, the nature of the gospel is to teach spiritually, because it is theinstrument of Christs grace. This depends on the appointment of God, who hasseen it meet to manifest the efficacy of his Spirit more clearly in the gospel than inthe law, for it is his work exclusively to teach effectually the minds of men.When Paul, however, calls himself a Minister of the Spirit, he does not mean by this,that the grace of the Holy Spirit and his influence, were tied to his preaching, so thathe could, whenever he pleased, breathe forth the Spirit along with the utterance ofthe voice. He simply means, that Christ blessed his ministry, and thus accomplishedwhat was predicted respecting the gospel. It is one thing for Christ to connect hisinfluence with a mans doctrine. 383 and quite another for the mans doctrine 384 tohave such efficacy of itself. We are, then, Ministers of the Spirit, not as if we heldhim inclosed within us, or as it were captive not as if we could at our pleasureconfer his grace upon all, or upon whom we pleased but because Christ, throughour instrumentality, illuminates the minds of men, renews their hearts, and, inshort, regenerates them wholly. 385 It is in consequence of there being such aconnection and bond of union between Christs grace and mans effort, that inmany cases that is ascribed to the minister which belongs exclusively to the Lord.For in that case it is not the mere individual that is looked to, but the entiredispensation of the gospel, which consists, on the one hand, in the secret influence ofChrist, and, on the other, in mans outward efforts.For the letter killeth. This passage was mistakingly perverted, first by Origen, andafterwards by others, to a spurious signification. From this arose a very perniciouserror that of imagining that the perusal of Scripture would be not merely useless,but even injurious, 386 unless it were drawn out into allegories. This error was thesource of many evils