Take a moment to read 2 Corinthians 3:1-6 before reading the devotional below.
We aren’t entirely sure, but Paul seems to be making reference to some false preachers that had made their way to the Corinthian church. Paul is setting himself and his assistants apart from these false teachers, who were preaching something other than the good news of Jesus.
Paul’s use of metaphor in this passage is rich and full of meaning, so let’s not gloss over it. He says that the proof that God is working through Paul is written on their hearts, not on tablets of stone. When you imagine stone tablets, does anything come to mind? If you’ve read the book of Exodus (or seen the movie Prince of Egypt), you might think of the Ten Commandments. Paul is setting up a contrast here between things that we know deep down in our spirits versus things that have to be written down in an earthly way. He’s beginning an argument that will help the Corinthians understand the depth of the Gospel.
Here’s your freedom for today:
God’s promises are life-giving.
Paul wants us to be comparing old and new, stone and spirit, death and life. His comparison points to at least some of what the false preachers might have been saying — they were probably trying to say that Jewish religious rules were still necessary to follow even though Jesus came and offered salvation. Paul is reminding the Corinthians that this was the old way of thinking. They used to have commandments on tablets of stone, but now they have something far greater written on their hearts by the Holy Spirit himself. We’ll dive deeper into this tomorrow as we read on. Keep this old and new contrast in mind.