WWUTT 1657 Do We Need Letters of Commendation (2 Corinthians 3:1-3)

The Apostle Paul said, we are not like many peddling the Word of God, but as from sincerity, as from God, in the sight of God, we speak

Christ. We don't need to use gimmicks. We just preach the truth when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible study in the Word of Christ that men and women of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Tell your friends about our ministry at www .wtt .com. Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of 2 Corinthians. We're up to chapter 3 today, and I'm going to begin by reading through the first six verses out of the

Legacy Standard Bible. This is the Word of the Lord through the Apostle Paul writing to the church in Corinth.

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again, or do we need as some letters of commendation to you or from you?

You are our letter. Having been written in our hearts, known and read by all men, being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, ministered to by us, having been written not with ink, but with the

Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of hearts of flesh.

And such confidence we have through Christ toward God, not that we are sufficient in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the

Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

So coming back to the first verse once again, where Paul says, are we beginning to commend ourselves again?

Remember earlier that he said we're not boasting in ourselves. Our boasting is in Christ.

That was in chapter one and very similar to the way that Paul started the previous letter in Canon, 1

Corinthians, also there in chapter one, that it is his doing that we have been made in Christ Jesus.

It's God's doing that we're followers of Christ so that our boasting would not be in ourselves, but in God.

We boast in God. So as Paul is saying here about his ministry, as he's talking about the authenticity of his ministry, he says, are we beginning to commend ourselves again?

Are we boasting in ourselves? And then that next part, or do we need as some letters of commendation to you or from you?

Now, what's Paul talking about there? Well, there were some false teachers that were going around who claimed to have these letters of commendation.

They claim to have proof, authenticity, written proof that we're apostles. And Paul is going to talk about these guys.

It's really going to lay into him when we get to chapter 11. He refers to them there as super apostles, as if they're that much greater than Paul or Peter or any of the other apostles.

Now, this letter is very autobiographical, so Paul is just limiting it to himself. These guys have come into Corinth and they've claimed to be the true, genuine apostles.

They're better orators, they're flashy dressed, they have better gimmicks.

And so there are some that are won by these guys and they actually think that they're the more genuine apostles because they sound better, they look better, and they even have these letters, these letters of commendation.

There are people that can verify and authenticate that they're apostles. Paul is going to say later on in chapter 12 that the signs of true apostleship were performed among you.

In other words, we actually did miracles. You saw the miracles. You know that we're truly from Christ because of what it is that we did.

And yet there are there are these Corinthians that are going after these super apostles. They're more convinced by written documents and and the soothing sound of craftily delivered words.

They're more convinced by that than they were of the gospel of Christ that was presented to them and the authentication of miracles that was performed among them as well.

You saw these authentic things and yet they're going after these false apostles. So Paul is saying, are we commending ourselves?

Do we have an authenticity because we're boasting in ourselves? Is that what we need to do? We just need to stand up in front of you and boast in ourselves and then you'll believe that we're genuine apostles.

Or do we need as some need letters of commendation to you or from you?

Like, do you need to sign something so that when we go to the next church, we're able to say, look, the Corinthians verified us as genuine apostles.

No, the signs of apostleship were performed among them. Again, that's second Corinthians 12 12.

So all of this has been authenticated. Doesn't matter what the Corinthians say. They are appointed to this by Christ.

Not of themselves, not by some other church, but because Christ called them to this.

Let's jump back a little bit to chapter two, verse 14. But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and manifest through us the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place.

For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

So as Paul has said this at the end of chapter two, he's not boasting in himself.

He is pointing out to the Corinthians that that this call of ministry that we have has come to us by God.

It is in the Lord that we boast. And then notice the verse 17, this is the verse we closed with yesterday, and I said

I wanted to come back to today. Verse 17, for we are not like many peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, as from God, in the sight of God, we speak

Christ. Again, a ministry that has come not from ourselves, but from God. Now, notice there that he says in verse 17, we are not like many peddling the word of God.

And in chapter three, verse one, he says, or do we need as some letters of commendation?

So there were those that in order to look authentic, they had to peddle the word of God, or they're even using the word of God to make themselves prosperous and rich.

So instead of the apostle Paul charging money for the gospel, which he did not do, these guys do charge money.

And it's almost like they have this presentation of, hey, you get what you pay for. So either you get it from Paul for free and it's not much, or you can pay us for it and then we're going to give you the genuine article.

That was kind of the craftiness that these guys were probably operating. Paul says the same thing in the next chapter to second

Corinthians four, one. Therefore, since we have this ministry as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

So he doesn't use crafty ways of preaching the gospel to try to get people to believe it.

He just preaches the gospel. If somebody doesn't believe it, it has nothing to do with his delivery.

He just is proclaiming the truth. It's because they hate the truth. That's why they don't believe. As Paul had said in his previous letter in first Corinthians, well, the previous letter we have in Canon, but in first Corinthians, he says, we preach

Christ in him, crucified a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.

The reason they don't believe it is because they hate the truth. They hate God. It has nothing to do with the way that we preached it.

So Paul, you know, in case the criticism comes to him, like Paul, maybe you should have used a fog machine.

Maybe if you had better amplified sound, maybe if the lights were low and we got something, you know, kind of a moody atmosphere going on, you need to pick the right kind of music, and that's how you're going to win people to the faith.

No, Paul is saying we're not using craftiness and deceitful schemes. We're just commending ourselves to the truth.

And those who are genuine, genuine believers in Christ, they've come to believe this, not because we peddled it.

We're not like many peddling the word of God. We don't need letters of commendation. We just preach

Christ and him crucified, and those who are going to be saved will believe it.

Now, there are all kinds of ways that we can see happening in the church today where people are peddling the gospel.

They're probably not even preaching the gospel for that matter. You know, they don't want to say anything that might turn somebody off.

So they're taking Christianity, this religion, and they're trying to package it in such a way that is going to be the most appealing to the most number of people.

They peddle the word of God. They have their quote unquote letters of commendation, whatever sort of form that might present itself.

So what would be some examples of this? You can probably think of a few, and I've already referenced some kind of satirically, but like the music, the atmosphere, the whole thing, right?

Those pragmatic churches that play certain kinds of music. They have a certain kind of stage show.

They'll keep the lights low. They have fog machines. They've got lights. They've got laser. They got the good, bright billboard or the billboard size projection that is giving you the lyrics and all this kind of thing.

As flashy as we can make it, as appealing to the senses as it needs to be so that people have kind of this spiritual experience.

That's what Hillsong has done from the very beginning. For more than 20 years, Hillsong has been doing it this way, and this is how they've won so many people to becoming fans of Hillsong music.

I mean, some of the music can be good. It's catchy, and you probably like listening to it or singing along with it, but it's not just the songs and the truth of the lyrics that they have presented and letting those things speak for themselves or sing for themselves, but it's the whole

Hillsong experience, the whole flashy lights and sound and performance and all this kind of a thing. And then so many people that have imitated that,

Bethel Music, Elevation Music, and Andy Stanley's church, North Point, many other churches that will do the same.

You come into church and the lights are low. The churches should not have low lighting. We're not looking at the band that is playing on the stage or the preacher that is preaching with the spotlight just on him.

Church is going to be a congregational participation. We're not listening to people sing stuff at us and doing it so loudly that you can't hear your own self singing along with the music that is there.

This is supposed to be something that we as a church are all participating in together. After all, Colossians 3 16 says that we're to be singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in our hearts to God.

We're all doing that together as a church. So let the lights be up. So you can see your

Bible. You can read the Bible that is in front of you. If the lights are low, you can't exactly read the scriptures.

So this is one way, a very common popular way that Christianity gets peddled to people.

It's moodiness. You have a spiritual experience because of the mood that was set, not because you heard the truth and you were convicted by it.

Repented of sin, followed the exhortation that the preacher gave. No, you just had some goosebumps.

That's one way that the message of Christ gets peddled a second way.

I've got seven of these, by the way, so I'm taking down through seven. So first of all, we've got like music and atmosphere and that kind of a thing.

Secondly, miracles. There are some that claim to be able to perform miracles, and so they'll win people that way.

Bethel Church. I come back to them for they claim that they're doing miracles just about every time that they gather, lay hands on you, pray this prayer, believe and you'll receive, name it and claim it.

So on and so forth. Todd White, who I'm kind of lumping in there with Bethel, but he goes out and does that thing.

The gimmick, the street gimmick you've probably seen Todd White do is claiming that he can make a person's leg grow out.

Hey, are you having back problems? Yeah, my back hurts. Is there anybody on planet Earth that has never had back problems?

Anyway, maybe they can tell me their secret because I have back pain all the time. I've had back pain since I've been in my 20s.

So it isn't just something that comes about with age. Anyway, Todd will have them sit down and he holds their legs a certain way.

And he says, see, the reason why you're having this back pain is because one leg is actually longer than another one. And then he claims that in the in the power of God, he's making this leg grow out to even it with the other one.

And then it will solve all their back problems. All he's doing is rolling their ankle. One leg is not really longer than the other one.

He's just positioning their ankle a certain way. If you speed up the video of what he's doing, you can see exactly the trickery that he is implementing.

And he knows he's doing this. He knows he's doing it. He knows this person that this is a gag.

And he's trying to manipulate people into believing in Jesus.

And the way some of these guys will do it, they will claim that because the end is winning a soul to the kingdom.

Well, that justifies the means the end justifies the means. It's OK if I lie to them, if it means that they're going to become a

Christian because I've just saved somebody for eternity. Well, first of all, we don't save anyone. God does.

And it's not through trickery. It's through the gospel. As I've heard Paul Washer say, what you win them with is what you win them to if you're winning them with lies, you you will win them to lies.

And when they find out that it was a lie, do you think they're going to continue to be a Christian or they're going to say, man, this was all just a manipulative gag from the very beginning?

So miracles are one way that that people get one into the faith. And they're not really miracles.

These are not miracles that are being performed in any of these charismatic churches today. So that's number two.

Number three, I'm going to say charismaticism in general. We're still throwing out feelings here. We're still talking about God speaking to me.

I'm listening for a certain voice. I want to to to see a miracle done in my life.

So there's charismaticism, having to experience with the senses something that God is doing in order to believe that he's really there and the gospel is true.

That's another manipulative way that people will try to win to win others to the faith.

Number four, critical race theory and intersectionality. Yeah. See, you're just a victim.

You don't have the same opportunities that people with lighter skin color have. And so the people who have lighter skin, they need to give up their white privilege so that you can have more opportunities.

You can have more money. You can have better than what you've got.

Are you envious of what somebody else has? Well, the reason why you don't have what they have is because you're a victim.

And that guy who has a lot, he's the one that has oppressed you. And so it's through this philosophy that you kind of promise people more than what they have that becomes very appealing to them.

And that's one tactic that the church has been using in recent years to try to quote unquote, win people to the faith.

And that brings that brings us to the next one, prosperity gospel, because critical race theory and intersectionality, it's wokeness in general.

It's really just another form of the prosperity gospel. It's the promise of stuff. And so it is with the prosperity gospel where certain passages of scripture will get twisted to promise you things like Jeremiah 29, 11.

I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, a plan to prosper and not harm you to give you a hope and a future.

Instead of looking at that in context to see what that really means, God's address to Israel, promising them that they would not perish in exile, but that God eventually would bring them back to the land that he had promised them.

Instead of looking at it that way, you're looking at Jeremiah 29, 11 is the promise of stuff.

It's the promise of all my hopes and dreams, everything that I could ever want. As long as I believe or I say these words or I sow this seed like pay this kind of money, then

I'm showing that I believe God and he's going to pour out upon me all the more bountifully. And that's what the prosperity gospel promises.

You just name it and claim it. You just believe and you'll receive. And if you don't get it, though, that's not the preacher's fault.

You just didn't believe hard enough. So again, the promise of things with the prosperity gospel, that's another manipulative way that people get one to Christianity.

Number six, the offering of free stuff kind of ties right in with prosperity gospel.

You might have visited a church one time that says to you, hey, we're going to give away a big screen TV. If you come to our church, fill out this form, we're going to give you an iPad.

Or there's even the promise of like, you know, it might be an Easter egg drop. We're coming up on Easter pretty soon.

And so one manipulative tactic that churches will use to try to get families to come is an

Easter egg drop. We'll promise your kids candy if you will come to our church.

That is peddling the word of God. There's also the offering of like programs for your kids and things like that.

It's the same thing with offering free stuff. We'll take care of your kids. You get a break because we got great children's programs.

And then you can come and sit in church. And so the programs will be the thing that might end up winning a person there.

It's not really the preaching. And I've had this happen many, many times when I was pastoring the church that I was at in Kansas.

And we would have new people that would move into town. So many times we had people come to our church and say the people are friendly.

The gospel is being proclaimed. You are word centered. We see, you know, church discipline being practiced.

You want to obey God according to his word. And we see the fruit of that gospel even playing out in this church.

What a wonderful thing to see. But we're going to go down the street to the NAS church because they have a better kids program.

I heard that over and over and over again. On occasion, I would push back against those dads that I would talk to.

And I would say, so you think what's better for your kids is to go where they have a big slide instead of going where the gospel is preached.

And they would get mad at me for saying something like that, of course. But again, it's the offering of free stuff that kind of wins people to their church.

And then finally, number seven, preaching a watered down gospel. So a lot of these manipulative tactics that we've talked about, churches will try to justify that by saying, but hey, we're getting people in the doors and then we're preaching to them the gospel.

But once again, what you win them with is what you win them to. And so if you're going to kind of offer this appeal to their flesh, then you constantly have to appeal to their flesh.

And you're not going to tell them about their sin because that doesn't appeal to the flesh. You're not going to tell them the only way to eternal life is to repent and follow

Jesus because that doesn't appeal to the flesh. So as many as these churches want to say, hey, we're getting the most number of people through the doors as we possibly can so that we can deliver to them the gospel.

Eventually, they're going to water down the gospel and it's not even going to be there anymore because they'll realize once we start telling people about their sin and that they need to repent, once we say the judgment of God is coming and you must come to Jesus Christ, once we start saying stuff like that, then people walk away.

So they'll just stop saying it because they want to keep the big crowds in the door. So they preach a watered down gospel.

It'll be something else entirely that won't be the gospel of Jesus Christ, though they may call it the gospel.

They have to do that in order to keep people in their congregation. So these are just some of the ways that we see the word of God being peddled, that we see these letters of commendation.

But Paul says we don't need those things. We don't need to peddle the word of God. We don't need to have letters of commendation because, as he says in verse 2, you are our letter having been written in our hearts, known and read by all men.

And we're going to come back to that portion here of chapter 3 of 2 Corinthians 3 tomorrow.

Let's finish with prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you that what we have received that has brought us to Jesus Christ is the true gospel, really and truly convicted of our sin.

We have turned from that to Jesus Christ to receive forgiveness and grace and walking with the

Lord. We have the promise of eternal life, fellowshipping with you now in this life, but then in the next, eternity with God in your very presence.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus, and give us the boldness and the courage to preach the gospel until the day of Christ.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes.

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