The Blog

In verses one to three, Paul makes a cultural reference.

Some false teachers at that time had started carrying forged letters of recommendation to authenticate their authority. Paul stated that he needs no such letters. The believers to whom Paul and his companions had preached were enough of a recommendation.

Paul did use letters of introduction, however, many times. He wrote them on behalf of Phoebe. These letters helped find a welcome in various churches.

Paul also uses powerful imagery from famous Old Testament passages predicting the promised day of new hearts and beginnings for God’s people. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. We do not become part of God’s family by adhering to a manual but as a result of God’s implanting his Spirit in our hearts, giving us new power to live for him.

2 Corinthians 3:1-3
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? 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.