With The Spirit Of The Living God

2 Corinthians 3:1-3,6,14,18 - Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 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…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…But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away…And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.


2 Corinthians 5:12 - We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.

Jeremiah 31:33 - “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Ezekiel 36:26 - I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 11:19 - I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.

Application:

· Do I take pride in what is seen rather than what is in the heart?
· Does the law govern my life?
· Is God transforming my mind and heart? Is God bringing about change? What God requires of His people He always provides
· The Spirit alone gives life because only the Spirit can change the heart, enabling me to keep His commands
· Do I have a single-minded commitment to the Lord and to His will?
· Has Christ removed the veil so that I can see the power of the new covenant?
· Do I partake of the glory of God and am I being gradually transformed into the likeness of Christ?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV