CHRIST LIVING LETTERS
- LifewithJesus
- Feb 13
- 8 min read
2 Corinthians 3:3 NLT
“Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.”
Paul started this chapter addressing the Corinthian church saying that he needed nor desired any verbal commendation to them, nor letters of recommendation, testimonial from them, as some others did, meaning the false apostles or teachers.
2 Corinthians 3:1-2 TPT
“Are we beginning to sound like those who speak highly of themselves? Do you really need letters of recommendation to validate our ministry, like others do? Do we really need your letter of endorsement? Of course not! For your very lives are our “letters of recommendation,” permanently engraved on our hearts, recognized and read by everybody.”
Remember they didn’t have YouTube or any sort of technology then, so they’d usually bring letter of recommendation from someone to proof he is a real deal. Such letters were common and necessary in the early church. A false prophet or apostle could travel from city to city and easily say, “Paul sent me, so you should support me.” To help guard against problems like this, letters of recommendation were often sent with Christians as they traveled.
Paul himself sent letters of commendation on many occasions (Romans 16:1-2, 1 Corinthians 16:3, 16:10-11, 2 Corinthians 8:16-24) to people/churches as well.
But here, Paul described his letter of recommendation to people maybe doubting his apolostic ministry; that the Corinthian church were his letter of recommendation. The Christians at Corinth, along with groups of Christians wherever Paul had worked, were Paul’s “living letter” to validate his ministry. The Corinthians themselves were his real commendation, and a good testimonial for him, that God was with him of a truth, that he was sent of God.
Bible commentary kept it this way, if they were denying his apostolic ministry then they would be denying their existence as believers.
The validation of his ministry is in the fruits itself, the lives saved as a result of his obedience to the call and work of the HOLYSPIRIT at work in him.
2 Corinthians 3:3 TPT
“As a result of our ministry, you are living letters written by Christ, not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God—not carved onto stone tablets but on the tablets of tender hearts.”
He acknowledged for a fact that it was GODs work in him that enabled him to be an effective minister.
And then in verse 3, he went ahead to call them Living letters written by Christ; which is the main point of this blog.
He went ahead to employ the Corinthian church as well as you and me in verse 3 that we are CHRIST living letters; written by the PERSON OF THE SPIRIT OF LIVING GOD.
The same way he was saying if people want to know about me, the effectiveness of my ministry, they should look at the Corinthians church, the same way he was saying if people want to know about JESUS CHRIST, they should be able to look at us Christian’s and read and study us to know JESUS. The world should be able to read how we eat, talk, serve, love, handle situations, conflicts, and it should reflect JESUS CHRIST.
We are living letter or recommendations ourselves just as the Corinthian church was for Paul; people are watching you and the most important thing is we are recommendation of Christ JESUS.
We are living letters of recommendation for the church and we are living letters of JESUS CHRIST.
People are looking at you to see what following JESUS means, is like.
So does your life draw people to Jesus or away from him?
People are watching us, how you live, talk; when they see how you love, serve; they associate that with the church you attend, the GOD you serve.
2 Corinthians 3:3 TPT
Now let’s look at the second part
“As a result of our ministry, you are living letters written by Christ, not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God—not carved onto stone tablets but on the tablets of tender hearts.”
It really is GOD that works in us to do and will of his good pleasure, that verse says yes we are living letters but our qualification comes from GOD only.
Paul strongly emphasised this that it was the power of GOD at work in him and now in us to be effective witness and ministers of the gospel of JESUS CHRIST.
You have the power of the HOLY SPIRIT, GOD qualifies us and we need him to accomplish this
We can’t be as effective as we should be without HIM
We are sent, not our words but JESUS Christ through us, not our lives but JESUS Christ living through us, not our action, deeds, thought anymore, it’s the SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD at work in us.
2 Corinthians 3:5-6 TPT
“Yet we don’t see ourselves as capable enough to do anything in our own strength, for our true competence flows from God’s empowering presence. He alone makes us adequate ministers who are focused on an entirely new covenant. Our ministry is not based on the letter of the law but through the power of the Spirit. The letter of the law kills, but the Spirit pours out life.”
Oxford learners dictionary defined a letter as a written, typed or printed message that is put in an envelope or attached to an email and sent to somebody.
As Christians, we are GOD’s love letter to the world. We are JESUS message to the world with the HOLY SPIRIT writing on us; inscribing HIS WORDS upon our hear.
That they see me, they see you, they see us and see GOD’s message of love, salvation, answers prayer, forgiveness, healing, protection, guidance to them.
It is the HOLY SPIRIT THAT works in us and inscribes this love letter to us through changing and transforming us to portray the love JESUS is showing to the world. So stay, don’t be an incomplete love story of JESUS.
I am Christ living letter, write on me Lord Jesus.
MsEast says
Being a Christian means so much more than just assuming the title and attending church on Sundays. When we accept Christ in our hearts as our Lord and Savior, essentially what that means is that we are to carry on His legacy through the power and Presence of His Holy Spirit living on the inside of us.
The fruit of the SPIRIT manifesting in us and through us is GOD’s love letter to the world.
YOU are the only Bible some people will ever ever read; that they see you and see JESUS heart, love, kindness, forgiveness to them; in the way you forgive, talk, show kindness, correct, care for people.
You can preach a better sermon with your life better than your lips, what kind of letter of recommendation are you writing for Jesus with your life?
That they may see you and glorify GOD, our ALMIGHTY FATHER in Heaven.
Matthew 5:16 NKJV
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
2 Corinthians 3:6 NLT
“He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.”
2 Corinthians 2:16 NLT
“To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?”
I John 4:17 NKJV
“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.”
2 Corinthians 2:14-17 says we are by GOD’s grace visible in Christ,
partners with GOD of his endless triumph.
Through our yielded lives HE spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere we go.
We have become the unmistakable aroma of the victory of the Anointed One to God
a perfume of life to those being saved and the odor of death to those who are perishing.
We are those sent from God with pure motives, who speak in the sight of God from our union with Christ.”
Remember everything GOD is, we should be
GOD is love; we should be love
GOD is patient, we should be patient…
The fruit of the PERSON OF THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD already tell us what character and traits we should exhibit and most importantly portray to the world.
Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
Remember “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.”
I John 4:17 NKJV
As we close; we are CHRIST letter of hope of joy of healing peace, light, restoration to the depressed, to the lost, to the world and I pray GOD enables us to be effective able ministers in JESUS name🙏
Prayer
You can’t be a true ambassadors of CHRIST if you don’t belong to HIS kingdom. An ambassador serve as the official representative of a country in a foreign nation, and we are in a foreign nation; this world is not our own, we are only passing by; there is life after death, and the decision we take or don’t will determine where we spend eternity; and this is that decision.
We either belong to the Kingdom of light; GOD or kingdom of darkness, the devil.
If you’d like to belong to the Kingdom of GOD, it’s through JESUS CHRIST, accepting HIM as light, as your LORD and personal saviour into your life.
And this is the Gospel, that we all have sinned, we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of GOD and deserve to die as punishment for our sins. But, yes there is a good but; But GOD came down from heaven in the form of man; JESUS CHRIST to bare our punishment and die on the cross of Calvary for our Sins, all our sins; JESUS CHRIST that was without sin became sin and bore all our guilt, shame and sin and died for them all. And the only way to GOD, to heaven is to believe this, and accept JESUS CHRIST as your LORD and personal saviour.
If you will like to give your life to JESUS Christ, please take this salvation prayer together with me:
Lord JESUS I thank YOU. I wasn’t worthy of YOU or deserving of YOUR love but still YOU died for my sins, I believe this and I accept YOU as my LORD and personal saviour; I acknowledge that YOU died in place of me and bore all my sins, shame and I thank YOU for it now and always, I thank you because now I am free, all my sins have been washed away, I am clean and a new man in YOU JESUS. Thank you for my new victorious life in YOU and I pray you continue to help me live a holy life free from all sin, shane and guilt. I love YOU LORD and I am forever eternally grateful to YOU LORD.
Amen🙏
If you did say a prayer of repentance, big big congratulations and welcome to the Christian family🤗 please reach out to us using the Contact link; we’d like to get in touch with you and help you as the PERSON OF THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD leads us🙏🙂
Let’s all pray together
GOD, we thank YOU truly for the gift of YOUR SON JESUS CHRIST to us, humanity; thank YOU JESUS because of YOU we have this new victorious life in YOU. Lord we pray that even as YOU have called us to be light, love to the world; that you help us be true ambassadors and representation of who YOU are to the world, help us reflect YOUR love, YOUR light, grace, patience, kindness, forgiveness, peace, healing, godliness to the world.
We know LORD, we know and acknowledge we can’t do it on our own, so we ask for grace, the Grace LORD, empowerment to be an able and effective witness of you, that dispite of and inspite of, we always portray you, the fruit of your HOLY SPIRIT at work in us always to our neighbours, family, friends, colleagues, the world at large LORD.
Thank you LORD cos we are your LOVE letter to the world and in us they see YOU JESUS.
We love YOU JESUS forever and eternity more.
This we pray in JESUS name, Amen🙏
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