Showing posts with label 2 Corinthians 3:6b. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2 Corinthians 3:6b. Show all posts

Friday, March 02, 2007

VERSUS

We go through life making comparisons of one thing to another. That is how we see what is best.

Now sometimes comparisons don’t point out better or best, just differences. For example, when we compare ourselves to others and either, think we’re not good enough or that we are better than they are. That kind of comparison doesn’t work because God has made each one of us unique and gifted us in different ways.

At other times, comparisons show progress, as when we compare how we, or an employee, are performing a specific function now versus when we first began.

The whole of chapter three of Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth deals with the Letter or the Law versus the Spirit. When Paul is comparing the Law to the Law, that doesn’t mean the Law was bad, just that the Spirit is better. God’s progression is perfect.

“…for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” 2 Cor 3:6b (KJV)

The Law brought death, because it showed us we were sinning.

  • The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23

The Spirit and only the Spirit gives life – biological and eternal!

  • Jesus said, the words I have spoken to you are life…John 6:63

The Law came from God through a man named Moses.

  • The law was written on tablets of stone. Exodus 31:18

The Spirit came from God through the Son of God, Jesus.

  • Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18

The Law caused men to seek approval of men.

  • They might see that we had kept the Law on the outside but we knew it was only for looks. John 12:43

The Spirit causes us to seek approval from God.

  • Only God knows our heart. Acts 15:8

Paul tells us in Romans 2:29 that, “…true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

Truly, this comparison not only shows us the worth of the Law, but the more valuable characteristic of the Spirit of God living in us.

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” John 3:5 (NASB)

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SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD