2 Corinthians Week 4

Day 1 

READ 

2 Corinthians 2:17 

17 You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us. 

Even in Paul’s day there were those preachers taking advantage of people and lining their own pockets. The difference is whether one really believes that God is watching. Paul was sure He was and wanted only to preach God’s word “with sincerity and with Christ’s authority.” One’s view of God determines how he lives. 

REFLECT 

Are you sensitive to the realization that God views all you do? 

RESPOND 

This is a serious topic for you and a friend to think about. Read Job 34:21-23 to see that even in Job’s time, accountability to God was assumed. For a New Testament passage, read Romans 14:11-13.  

Day 2 

READ 

2 Corinthians 3:1-3 

1 Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not! 2 The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. 3 Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. 

The most significant letter of recommendation a spiritual teacher can have is the lives of some of those he has taught. If lives have been changed by his teaching those reveal the quality and integrity of his ministry. It is not a letter to be written and read, but a heart that has been changed by the Holy Spirit’s power. 

REFLECT 

Think of those who have taught you eternal truths. Think also of others you have passed these truths on to. Their lives are a recommendation of your ministry. 

RESPOND 

Rejoice with a friend about those you have had a part in their spiritual lives. See what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20 and ask if you feel the same about those in whom you have invested your life.  

Day 3 

READ 

2 Corinthians 3:4-6 

4 We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. 5 It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 6 He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life. 

Some use the term “God” but do not indicate which God they mean. Paul left no doubt by adding the words “through Christ.” The New Covenant Paul referred to was prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Its fulfillment is seen in Romans 11:25-27 when the nation of Israel turns to Jesus. The Old Covenant was one that said, “Do this or die;” the New Covenant says, “It is all of grace apart from works of any kind.” One only needs to believe in Jesus and His finished work on Calvary.  

REFLECT 

How thankful you can be that even though you could never do any good works that would add anything to the finished work of Jesus, it is by grace you are saved by believing in Jesus, as Ephesians 2:8-9 says. 

RESPOND 

Talk with a friend about the significance of what Jesus said on the cross when He cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Those who think they can add anything to the finished work of Christ are insulting God. Before the cross, the tax collector prayed, “O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner” (Luke 18:13). After the cross it can be declared that God has been merciful to everyone and the only thing anyone needs to do is believe in the finished work of Jesus. 

Day 4 

READ 

2 Corinthians 3:7-8 

7 The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. 8 Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? 

“The old way” referred to the Old Testament law system. It led to death even though it began with glory. In contrast to the law that brought death, the “new way” brings greater glory and life through the Holy Spirit who gives life to all who believe in Jesus. These two verses reveal the great contrast between the Old Testament and the New Testament.  

REFLECT 

Think of the good news that living by grace that Jesus’ death brought us is so much better than the law gave those who lived in Old Testament times. 

RESPOND 

Read again passages about the Holy Spirit entering a believer’s life and producing the characteristics of Jesus through their lives described as the “fruit of the Spirit.” Read passages such as Roman 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; and Galatians 5:22-23. 

Day 5 

READ 

2 Corinthians 3:9-11 

9 If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! 10 In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. 11 So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever! 

Paul continued to contrast the old way with the new way. This new way makes us right with God through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus on the cross. His death satisfied the heavenly Father for the sins of the entire world (see 1 John 2:2). Only those who believe in Him, however, benefit from His death by receiving eternal life. 

REFLECT 

Think about how you can rejoice to realize you will never be condemned if you have believed in Jesus for salvation. 

RESPOND 

Many people are concerned about being ready to meet God. Talk with a fellow believer about some Bible verses you can use to comfort them. Consider passages such as John 3:16-18; Romans 5:9, 16; and Romans 8:1. Encourage others to believe this even if they do not feel like it.