Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: 2 CORINTHIANS #3 - 3:1-4:6)
E. 3:1-3 CONVERTS: APOSTOLIC LETTERS OF CREDENTIALS
a. 3:1 PAUL DIDN'T REQUIRE LETTERS OF COMMENDATION
ArCHOme-tha [756] PAlin he-auTOUS su-nisTAnein [4921]? eme CHREzo-men [5535], HOS ti-nes,
Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? or need we, as do some,
sus-ta-tiKON [4958]e-pis-toLON [1992]pros huMAS e ex huMON?
epistles of commendation unto you or from you?
b. 3:2-3 CONVERTS WERE PAUL'S LETTERS OF COMMENDATION
hee-pis-toLE heMON huMEIS es-te, en-ge-gramMEne[1449]en tais karDIais [2558]heMON,
YOU are our :epistle, written in our :hearts,
gi-nos-koMEne[1097]kai a-na-gi-nos-koMEne[314]huPO PANton anTHROpon;
known and read of all men;
pha-neROUme-noi [5319]HOti esTE e-pis-toLEChrisTOU,
3 being made manifest that you are Christ's Epistle,
di-a-ko-neTHEIsa [1247]huph' heMON, kai en-ge-gramMEne[1449]ou MEla-ni,
ministered by us, and written not with ink,
alLA PNEUma-ti [4151]TheOU ZONtos [2198];
but with theliving God's Spirit;
ouk en plaXIN [4109] liTHInais [3035], all' en plaXIN karDIais sarKInais [4560].
not in tables of stone, but on tables of hearts of flesh.
F. 3:4-4:6 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT
1. 3:4-6 THE SPIRIT: MAKES MINISTERS OF NEW COVENANT EFFECTIVE!
PePOIthesin [4006]de toiAUten Echo-men diA tou ChrisTOU pros ton TheON:
And such confidence have we through the Christ toward God:
ouch HOti aph' he-auTON hi-kaNOI es-men, lo-GIsasTHAI [3049]ti hos ex he-auTON;
5not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves;
all' hehi-kaNOtes heMON ek tou TheOU;
but our :sufficiency is from :God;
hos kai hiKAno-sen heMAS di-aKOnous [1249]kaiNES [2537]di-aTHEkes [1242];
6who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant;
ou GRAMma-tos [1124], alLA PNEUma-tos: to gar GRAMma a-pokTEInei [615], to de PNEUma zo-o-poiEI.
not of the letter, but of the spirit:for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.
2. 3:7-11 MINISTRY OF SPIRIT OUTSHINES GLORY OF MOSES!
a. 3:7-8 SPIRIT MINISTRATION SURPASSES THAT OF LAW
Ei de hedi-a-koNIa [1248]tou thaNAtou en GRAMma-sin en-te-tu-poMEne[1795]LIthois e-geNEtheen DOxe,
But if the ministration of :death in letters engraven on stones came to be in glory,
HOSte meDUnas-thai a-teNIsai [816]tous huiOUS [5207]Is-raEL
so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly
eis to PROso-pon [4383]Mo-uSEos diA ten DOxan tou proSOpou auTOU; ten ka-tar-gouMEnen [2673]:
upon the face of Moses for the glory of his :face; which was being done away:
pos ouCHI MALlon hedi-a-koNIa tou PNEUma-tos EStai en DOxe?
8how shall not rather the ministration of the spirit be with glory?
b. 3:9 IT EXCEEDS THE GLORY OF THE LAW
ei gar he di-a-koNIa tes ka-taKRIse-os [2633] DOxa,
For if the ministration of :condemnation is glory,
polLO MALlon pe-risSEUei [4052] he di-a-koNIa tes di-kai-oSUnes [1343] DOxe.
much rather does the ministration of :righteousness exceed in glory.
c. 3:10 IT EVEN SURPASSES GLORY OF LAW IN ALL RESPECTES
kai gar ou deDOxas-tai [1392] to de-do-xasMEnon en TOUto to MErei [3313],
For verily what has been made glorious has not been made glorious in this :part,
EIne-ken tes hu-per-balLOUses [5235] DOxes.
by reason of the surpassing glory.
d. 3:11 For if what was being done away wasthrough glory, much more what remains isin glory.
ei gar to ka-tarGOUme-non [2673]diA DOxes, polLOMALlon to MEnon en DOxe.
3. 3:12-18 PURPOSE OF SPIRIT: REVEAL CHRIST APART FROM A VEIL
a. 3:12-14 CHRIST REMOVES THE VEIL OF MOSES
Echon-tes oun toiAUten elPIda [1680], polLE par-reSIa [3954] CHROme-tha [5530],
Having therefore such hope, we use great boldness,
kai ou kaTHAper Mo-uSES eTIthei KAlum-ma [2571] ePI to PROso-pon auTOU,
13and not just as Moses put a veil upon his :face,
pros to mea-teNIsai [816] tou huiOUS Is-raEL eis to TElos [5056] tou ka-tar-gouMEnou [2673]:
that the children of Israel should not look stedfastly on the end of what was being done away:
alLA e-poROthe[4456] ta noEma-ta [3540] auTON: ACHri gar tes SEme-ron heMEras
14but their thoughts were hardened: for until this very :day
to auTO KAlum-ma ePI tea-nagNOsei [320] tes pa-laiAS [3820]di-aTHEkes [1242] MEnei,
at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains,
mea-na-ka-lupTOme-non [343]HOti en ChrisTOka-tarGEItai [2673].
it not being revealed to them that it is done away in Christ.
b. 3:15 JEWS STILL HAVE MOSES' VEIL ON THEIR HEARTS
all' HEos SEme-ron, heNIka an a-na-giNOSke-tai [314]Mo-uSES, KAlum-ma ePI ten karDIan auTON KEItai.
But unto this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their :heart.
c. 3:16 But whenever oneshall turn to theLord, the veil is taken away.
heNIka de eAN e-piSTREpse pros KUri-on, pe-ri-aiREItai [4014 to KAlum-ma.
d. 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of theLord is, isliberty.
ho de KUri-os to PNEU-MA es-tin: hou de to PNEUma KuRIou, e-leu-theRIa [1657].
e. 3:18 GAZING AT CHRIST'S GLORY - TRANSFORMS!
huMEIS de PANtes, a-na-ke-ka-lumMEno [343] proSOpou [4383]
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror
ten DOxan KuRIou ka-top-triZOme-noi [2734],
the glory of the Lord,
ten auTEN eiKOna [1504] me-ta-morPHOUme-tha [3339] aPO DOxes eis DOxan,
are transformed into the same image from glory to glory,
kaTHAper aPO KuRIou PNEUma-tos.
even as from the Lord the Spirit.
4. 4:1-6 ONE PURPOSE OF SPIRIT: TO ENLIGHTEN MINDS
a. 4:1-2 A MINISTRY OF TRANSPARENCY AND HONESTY
DiA TOUto Echon-tes ten di-a-ko-NIan [1248] TAUten, kaTHOS eleEthemen [1653], ouk eg-kaKOUmen [1573]:
Having therefore this :ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we faint not:
alLA a-peiPAme-tha [550] ta krupTA [2927] tes aisCHUnes [152],
2but we have renounced the hidden thingsof the shame,
mepe-ripaTOUNtes en pa-nourGIa [3834], meDE doLOUNtes [1389] ton LOgon tou TheOU;
not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of :God deceitfully;
alLA tepha-neROsei [5321] tes a-leTHEIas [225]
but by the manifestation of the truth
su-niSTAnon-tes [4921] he-auTOUS pros PAsan suNEIde-sin [4893] anTHROpon eNOpi-on tou TheOU.
commending ourselves to every conscience of men in God's sight.
b. 4:3-4 THE VEIL OF SATAN ON HEARTS: OF HIS DOING
ei de kai EStin ke-ka-lumMEnon [2572] to eu-agGEli-on [2098] heMON,
And if our :gospel is veiled,
en tois a-pol-luMEnois [622] esTIN ke-ka-lumMEnon [2572]: en hois ho TheOS tou aiOnos [165] TOUtou,
it is veiled in the perishing: 4in whom the god of this :age,
eTUPHlo-sen [5186] ta noEma-ta [3540] ton aPISton [571],
has blinded the thoughts of the unbelieving,
eis to meauGAsai [826] ton pho-tisMON [5462] tou eu-ag-geLIou tes DOxes tou ChrisTOU,
that the enlightenment of the gospel of the glory of the Christ,
HOS es-tin eiKON [1504] tou TheOU.
who is God's image, should not dawn upon them.
c. 4:5 JESUS - NOT HIS MINISTERS - IS LORD!
ou gar he-auTOUS keRUSso-men [2784], alLA ChrisTON IeSOUN KUri-on,
For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord,
he-auTOUS de DOUlous [1401] huMON diA IeSOUN.
and ourselves as your bondmen for Jesus' sake.
d. 4:6 CHRIST'S GLORY IN SPIRIT: ENLIGHTENS HEARTS
HOti ho TheOS ho eiPON, Ek SKOtous [4655] phos [5457] LAMpsei [2989],
Because it is :God that said, Light shall shine out of darkness,
hos Elam-psen en tais karDIais heMON, pros pho-tisMON [5462]
who shined in our :hearts, unto enlightenment
tes GNOse-os [1108] tes DOxes tou TheOU en proSOpo [4383] ChrisTOU.
of the knowledge of the glory of :God in Christ's face.
NOTE: 3:2-3 - See this - Converts become our letter of recommendation - we need none other. Paul showed up false apostles by this contrast. The supernatural work of God's Spirit on human hearts is all we need!
3:4-6 - It is thisthat makes effective ministers of this New Covenant! It is of the spirit, not of the letter.
3:7-11 - Then Paul contrasts the glory of the law (Torah, teaching, NOmos) in Moses' face with the glory of the Lord in the New Covenant. But belief in Jesus is the key to remove the veil of Moses. Transformation only begins at this point.
3:12-18 - In Christ the veil is removed. Until Israel sees Jesus as God's Messiah, the veil remains. As soon as a Paul-type conversion takes place, this “liberty” of the Spirit is unknown. Then as we like Rees Howells yield to that Spirit, remarkable transformation takes place, conforming us into the image of Jesus. ThenGod is able to bring many sonsinto glory.
4:1-6 - The blindness upon Israel is a sovereign act of God, that we as Gentiles would have free access into our Jewish Roots. And as soon as our number is complete, just then God will return to His Chosen People, and a Nation will be born in a day! What a shock to Israel's enemies thatwill be. Then these enemies will know as the enemies of Nehemiah found out, that the work of the rebuilding of Jerusalem's Walls was of God, not of man! My background is the United Church of Canada. I left it in 1948 when I discovered how deep is their apostasy and error - and how they use ignorant believers like myself as decoy ducks to ensnare innocent young men into the ministry. August 9, 2009, they are planning to proclaim decisions to work against Israel both nationally and internationally, counting her as an enemy of mankind! Imagine the judgment due to come upon her and all other nations and denominations who adopt a similar posture! God has promised Abraham that He will bless all nations and people who bless Israel, and curse those who curse her. The Jimmy Carters and all those of his ilk will soon learn this! - J.A.W.