Epistles of Christ with God's Spirit 2 Corinthians 3:3

Paul the apostle told the church members in Corinth he did not need “letters of commendation” from them, but rather, “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:” In chapter three and verse three of Second Corinthians, Paul told the church members they were,“the epistle of Christ ministered by us”, where we read:

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 fleshy tables of the heart.

The verse begins, “Forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, ...” Paul began with the word, “forasmuch” which means “in this way and cause” “as you are manifestly declared” or “shown, declared and set forth” “to be the epistle” which refers to “as the letter” “of Christ” which refers to “the anointed One, the Messiah and the Son of God” “ministered” or “as a servant, attendant, domestic, servant and waiter” “by us” or “through Paul and his companions”. Paul showed how the church members were “shown” to be the “letter of Christ” that was presented and “served” by himself.

The verse goes on to say, “...written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” Paul added the words, “written not” which means “not engraved, inscribed, recorded or enrolled” “with ink” or “as with ink from a pen” “but” which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written takes precedence over what was just stated “with the Spirit” or “with the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, coequal, coeternal with the Father and the Son” “of the living” which means “of the active, blessed, full of vigor, fresh, strong, efficient, powerful and efficacious” “God” which refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”; “not in tables” or “” “of stone” which means “”, “but” which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written takes precedence over what was just stated “in fleshly” or “pertaining to the body” “tables” which means “a flat broad tablet, plane or level surface” “of the heart” or “the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavors ”. The “Spirit of the living God” was written upon the “fleshly hearts” of the church members..

When we meditate upon these words of Paul, we see how “the Spirit of God” was involved within the church members, and His affect was within them where He removed their “stony” or “hard heart” and replaced it with a “fleshly” or “soft heart”. This is how a person becomes a “changed person”, and when God Himself gets involved in the process of being “the epistles” with “His Spirit”, it is the greatest commendation letter that has ever been written.

Next time Paul tells the church members how, “such trust have we through Christ toward God”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then,

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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