Thursday, July 1, 2010

2 Corinthians 2:12-3:6

12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, 13 I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.
1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4 Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Questions to consider:
  • How is Paul’s ministry influenced by fellow Christians?
  • What has God done through you recently?
  • What facts sufficiently qualify Paul to be a minister of God’s word?
  • In what way are these facts the basis for confidence?

Possibilities for prayer:

Paul reminds the Corinthian church that their competence is found in Christ rather than in themselves...a reminder that we can all use every now and again. Let’s ask God to be growing humility within us, that we would, as Paul writes, “not claim anything for ourselves,” but instead give credit where credit is due: at the feet of Christ.