Keeping the spirit of the Covenant
2 Corinthians 3:1-11 Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 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.
4 Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant —not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
The Greater Glory of the New Covenant
7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
When was the last time you thought about covenants? A covenant, very simply, is an agreement, sometimes between two people, or perhaps between two nations, or in theology it is generally between God and man.
One of the primary problems with the Pharisees was their insistence on performing to the letter of the law, but Jesus, the ultimate teacher, often explained the godly meaning of a covenant by saying, “You have heard it said…but I say…”. Jesus was trying to teach these learned men that there was more to the law than the letter of the law. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, said, 2 Cor 3:9 said, “If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness”.
As a pastor, I would never officiate a marriage if a couple insisted the vows be changed from, “…as long as we both shall live,” to “…as long as we both shall love.” Such a vow would negate the intimate, transformative, replicative nature of Jesus’ covenant to His bride to one that is temporary in nature and thus not holy at all.
Likewise, I would not even attempt to influence a couple to continue a marriage where the husband Insisted that his rights superseded those of his wife, mistakenly believing that submission is blind compliance to unreasonable expectations instead of a spirit led and spirit shaped agreement to live according to God’s design. Instead, I would counsel the couple to spend time in prayer and Bible reading, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal His plan for a godly marriage.
May we, as we consider the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law, ensure that our motives are pure and Christlike.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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