In our passage today Paul speaks of letters of recommendation. Since he was the first person to preach the gospel at Corinth, it is likely the people there had never received any communication regarding him before his arrival. Paul is known to write letters of recommendation for other workers in the faith, but it could be that the people of Corinth had never even heard of him before he first entered their city to preach about Christ. Some of his detractors in the region may have been questioning his authority because no one had ever recommended him to them, or it could be that some criticized him for always reminding them of his credentials as an apostle. Today he addresses concerns such as these by pointing out that their faith is the proof of his apostleship. It was through his preaching of the gospel that the believers in Corinth first came to Christ.
"Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?" (2 Corinthians 3:1) He says, "The fact that there is a thriving church at Corinth is the proof that I and the other apostles who have ministered to you are called by God to do this work. Rather than listening to troublemakers who want to put us down, look around you and see how many lives have been transformed in Corinth since the gospel came to you."
"You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts." (2 Corinthians 3:2-3) The Lord promised through the prophet Jeremiah that someday His laws would be written in people's hearts and not on tablets of stone. (Jeremiah 31:31-34) Paul saw this prophecy being fulfilled before his very eyes, and he was grateful that God allowed him to be involved in the work of getting the gospel message to the world.
"Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God." (2 Corinthians 3:4-5) The apostle is quick to assure his readers that he isn't making a big deal of himself, "My confidence is in the Lord, not in myself. I don't have the power to save anyone's soul. But the Lord anointed me to be a minister of the gospel and I am carrying out these duties to the best of my ability. If you need proof that I am called by the Lord to be an apostle, the proof is that a church began here in Corinth after I preached the gospel to you. The proof is that, while I was preaching to you, the Holy Spirit changed your hearts. In my own strength I can do nothing, but I am more than willing to allow the love of Christ to work through me. His is the glory and the honor."
Remember what a ragtag bunch the disciples were? They weren't the type of men most rabbis would have wanted as students, but Jesus saw into their hearts. He knew who they could be. The same can be said of Paul. He despised Christians and wanted them wiped from the face of the earth. He was the last person anyone would have expected to bow the knee to Christ, but his life was transformed on the Damascus road because Jesus saw who he could be. Paul and the other ministers of the gospel know who they used to be, and they will never forget that they were transformed because Christ saw who they could be. The people of Corinth are changed because of Christ too, so Paul says, "The proof that Christ is in my ministry is that you are not who you used to be! I didn't change you---Christ changed you---but it was through me, an apostle He chose, that you heard the life-giving message of the gospel. If the power of the Lord had not been present in my work, nothing would have been accomplished by anything I did at Corinth. But the Lord was with me because He loves you. He wanted to rescue you from the fruitless practices of idolatry and bring you into the family of the living God."
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