Monday, March 19, 2018
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. We are confident of all this because of our
great trust in God through Christ. It is
not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 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.
2 Corinthians 3:3-6(NLT)
God led the
Apostle Paul to Corinth, and as Paul followed God’s leading there was a strong
movement of God’s Spirit. That resulted
in a church that was to have a huge impact on the spreading of God’s message
throughout the region.
In his later
testimony before the high council of Israel, Paul described in his own words
how previously he had been the chief persecutor of the church:
And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death,
arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison. The high priest and the whole council of
elders can testify that this is so. For
I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me
to bring the followers of the Way from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be
punished. Acts 22:4-5(NLT)
Back then he had
been called Saul; now, with a changed heart and a re-purposed mission, his name
was also changed to Paul, and the Spirit of God moved mightily in his life to
change the world.
This is the
difference between spirit and letter of the law. The “letter of the law” alerts us to the fact
that sin is possible…indeed, it is impossible to avoid. The “spirit of the law” is written without
words on the heart, deep within, and lifts us to a higher plane.
Saul had been acting
on the letter – even carrying letters of condemnation against Jesus and the
church. The letter of the law can only
create division between people, and more separation between humans and God; the
Spirit, conversely, knits our brokenness together. Previously Saul was a breaker, destroying
people’s lives; now, under the direction of the Spirit of God speaking mercy
and grace to his heart, a once-condemned sinner became a saint, and was building
the church instead of tearing it apart.
The Spirit of God
always dwells in places where hearts are tender, responding to love, grace, and
mercy. It is that condition to which
Lent drives us. Like Paul, confronted
with a great light (which was actually the presence of the resurrected Jesus) on
the Road to Damascas; the light blinded him, led him to accept Christ, healed
his spiritual and physical blindness, and set him on a road that would turn the
world upside down for the Kingdom of God.[2]
We are also
confronted with that same light when we consider the great sacrifice of the
cross. It is not a light you can ignore
for long.
For You Today
The letter of the law always ends in death, because sin is always
first-degree. The spirit of the law ends
in life.
If the abundant life of Christ is your aim, let the light hit your heart…that’s
where the Spirit of God wants to live.
You chew on that as you hit the
Rocky Road; have a blessed day.
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