1 - 3 Paul's Credentials
Paul mentions his "letters of recommendation." My notes say he uses "letter" as metaphors in which (1) the community is Paul's letter of recommendation; (2) they are a letter engraved on his affections for all to see and read; (3) they are a letter from Christ that Paul merely delivers; (4) they are a letter written by the Spirit on the tablets of human hearts.
4 - 18 Confidence toward God
Any qualifications we have come from God.
Paul speaks against those whoe appeal to the Moses but don't see any comparable glory in Paul's life as an apostle or in the gospel he preaches. Paul says that Christians have a glory of their own that far surpasses that of Moses. "To this day, in fact, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, but whenever a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed." (15 - 16)
Great Quote: "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit."
Remember Moses and his veiled face. We are being transformed into the image of God.
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Paul was sarcasticly asking if they were "patting themselves on the back" by saying that they were the "fragrance and aroma of Christ" indicating that people could twist his words. He asks about the letters of recommendation (references) in regard to the false teachers who often presented fake references as evidence to support them. Paul says that neither he nor they (the Corinthian church) need letters because their lives are living evidence of the truth they speak. The Holy Spirit lives in their hearts.
Paul compares the old law and Moses to the new law and Christ.
He says that if the old law was so great that it transformed Moses' appearance so that people couldn't look at him and he had to wear a veil, then how much MORE glorious is the new law where ALL believers can be transformed! He says that even reading the old law puts a veil over the hearts of the listeners and that hearing the new law and Christ lifts this veil and brings freedom.
It's true, we ALL now have the opportunity to be a Moses!
My notes make a pretty interesting point. They say that the following the Ten Commandments want get you into Heaven (of course), but they are still very important. They are more a "tool" now to help us recognize our sins.
I'm playing catch up, too Karlton. But I should be caught up after this weekend.
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