Now I suppose some of my critics in Corinth will start accusing me of bragging at this point. I am well aware of the kind of people who come to visit the churches I have planted and try to turn them against me. So what do you think? Should I get some sort of a letter from some prominent Christian leaders endorsing my ministry?
Dear friends, the only letter of endorsement I need is . . . you! The letter I am referring to is not something you put down on paper with a pen – it is a matter of the heart!
The old blood-covenant[1] was written on tablets of stone, but the new blood-covenant is written on human hearts.
It’s not just information, it’s living, breathing truth that comes to reside in your hearts and carries with it the power to set you free![2]
Surely you remember how the power of the Holy Spirit[3] impacted you as I preached and taught you the things of Christ.[4]
I am not ashamed to tell you that I am very, very confident in the way that God ministers through me in Christ.
Don’t misunderstand me. If it was just a matter of me using my natural gifts, I wouldn’t have any confidence at all. But I cannot and will not deny the reality of the way God ministers through me.
It is because God ministers through us that we are able to be useful in ministering the new blood-covenant, which is a blood-covenant of the spirit and not of the letter of the law. And thank God that this is so, because, as you well know, the letter of the law, in and of itself, brings death. It is only the new blood-covenant of the spirit that brings life.
Consider these two blood-covenants. The first blood-covenant was the law of God carved into stone tablets. The law, apart from grace, brings nothing but condemnation and death. When this blood-covenant was made, it was accompanied by the blinding light of the glory of God. When Moses was up on the mountain receiving the covenant the glory of God transformed him in such a way that his very face became so alight with the glory of God that the Israelites could hardly bear to look at him.
And that was just one manifestation of the glory of God in the giving of that covenant. The Israelites were camped at the base of Mt. Sinai. God descended upon the mountain in the form of fire amidst thunder and lightning. When He spoke to Moses the Israelites could actually hear His voice like thunder. The people were so terrified that they asked God not to speak to them directly, but only through Moses. Moses went up the mountain into this visible, audible manifestation of the glory of God. It was during this time on the mountain that he became so transformed that his face literally shone with the glory of God when he came back down.[5]
If the glory of that lesser blood-covenant had such a transforming impact of the body of Moses, making his face shine with the glory of God, consider how the glory of this second, more spiritual blood-covenant can have an even greater impact in transforming your inner man!
It just stands to reason that if the original blood-covenant, which resulted in bringing condemnation to the human race, was inaugurated with such a manifestation of God’s glory, that the second blood-covenant, which makes us righteous, should be accompanied by an even great manifestation of God’s glory.
That overwhelming display of God’s glory in the first blood-covenant has been eclipsed, as it were, by the far great manifestation of God’s glory in the new blood-covenant.
It just makes sense. If the first blood-covenant, a temporary measure, was inaugurated with such an overwhelming manifestation, then the new, permanent blood-covenant must have an even more impressive and transformative manifestation of God’s glorious, omnipotent grace!
[1] A word covenant is one of the most challenging words to translate or paraphrase for the modern reader. The word in the Greek actually comes from the root word “to cut.” Covenants were always accompanied by the shedding of the blood of an animal. Instead of using modern terminology, “we signed a contract,” you could use the phrase “we cut a covenant.” As the knife cut the animal its blood flowed. The ultimate significance of the covenant was that the persons making the agreement were saying, “if I do not keep this agreement, may I die like t this animal.” It was not unusual when cutting a covenant to literally cut one or more animals in half and for the person or persons making the promises to walk between the half, actually walking in the blood, and signifying their desire that they should be torn to pieces if they ever failed to keep the promise. In Genesis 15 Abraham cut the animals in half, but it was God Himself, appearing as light and heat, who walked between the split bodies of the animals to signify His absolute commitment in His promise to give Abraham the promised land. Because blood was such a significant part of a covenant I will paraphrase “covenant” as “blood-covenant” to help bring this home to the modern reader.
[2] “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32
[3] “And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” 1 Corinthians 2:4
[4] “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32
[5] See Exodus 19:16-20; 20:18-21; 24:12-18; 34:29-35.
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