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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 3:3, 6-9, 18; 4:1a
The title of this message is “The Essence of the New Covenant Ministry.” The word essence is related to what Paul says concerning the glory and superiority of the ministry of the new covenant in 3:7-11. These verses show the inferiority of the glory of the Mosaic ministry, the ministry of law, a ministry of condemnation and death, and the superiority of the apostolic ministry, the ministry of grace, a ministry of righteousness and the Spirit. The former was through glory temporarily; the latter remains in glory forever. In 2:12-17 the apostle speaks of the triumph and effect of the apostolic ministry; in 3:1-6, of its function and competency; and in 3:7-11, of its glory and superiority.
In previous messages we have covered a number of basic points related to the new covenant ministry: the essence, the effect, the function, the competency, the glory, and the superiority. Now in this message we need to consider the essence of the ministry of the new covenant.
Some may point out that the word essence is not found in 2 Corinthians 3. Although this word is not used here, the concept of essence is nonetheless implied in verse 3: “Being manifested that you are a letter of Christ ministered by us, inscribed not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in fleshy tablets of the heart.” In this verse the word “ministered” actually means served. The Greek word means to serve something to someone, for example, as a waiter serves in a restaurant or a stewardess on an airplane. Thus, Paul is saying that the Corinthian believers are a letter of Christ served by the apostles. However, realizing that the word serve is not adequate, Paul went on to use the word “inscribed.” This explains the meaning of ministered, served. Paul’s way of ministering was by inscribing.
In 3:3 Paul says “inscribed not with ink”; he does not say “inscribed not by ink.” The word “with” indicates that the spiritual ink, the Spirit of the living God, is an essence, an element, used by the one doing the inscribing or the writing. It is important that we pay careful attention to Paul’s use of the preposition “with.” This preposition indicates that the Spirit is neither the writer nor the instrument used for writing; rather, the Spirit is the essence, the element, the substance, used in writing. The Spirit of the living God, who is the living God Himself, is not an instrument, such as a pen, but an element, the heavenly ink used in writing, with which the apostles minister Christ as the content for the writing of living letters that convey Christ.
Let us take as an illustration the simple matter of writing a letter with a ball point pen. You may be the writer, but the pen is the instrument. The ink, however, is neither the writer nor the instrument — it is the element, the essence. But if your pen is out of ink, any writing you try to do with it will be in vain. You may write words on paper, but the paper will be blank. In such a case, there would be a writer and an instrument, but there would not be any ink as the necessary writing essence.
In 2 Corinthians 3:3 the Holy Spirit is not the writer, the instrument, or even the power. When many Christians today talk about the Spirit, their concept is related to power. But if we read this verse carefully, considering it in its context, we shall see that the Spirit here is a matter of essence, not of power.
Because many Christians neglect the Spirit as an essence, I purposely emphasize the word essence in this message. What Christians today consider the Spirit as an essence? For the most part, Christians think of the Spirit as an instrument or as a power. Others go farther and speak of the Spirit as a divine person. But I do not know of any preachers who speak of the Spirit the way Paul does in 2 Corinthians 3. Paul’s view of the Spirit in this chapter was that of an essence used for inscribing letters of Christ. Here he does not view the Spirit as a person, an instrument, or a power. Rather, the Spirit is the essence used for inscribing living letters of Christ.
The ministry of the new covenant is not that of mere teaching. None of your teachers in school ever inscribed an essence into your being. They may have put concepts into you, but they did not deposit the essence of anything into you. However, the new covenant ministry does more than merely teach us; it inscribes us. Furthermore, this new covenant ministry inscribes us not with concepts, knowledge, or theology, but with an essence, with something real and substantial.
In the church life in the Lord’s recovery, do you not have the sense that you are under a spiritual inscribing? Many of us can testify that through the new covenant ministry Christ has been inscribed into us. A divine essence has been written into our being, and this essence is the Spirit.
However, we still need to define what this essence is. We realize we have been inscribed with the Spirit, but what is this Spirit?
Now we must go on to see certain terminology related to the ministry of the new covenant. In 3:7 Paul speaks of the ministry of death, and in verse 8, of the ministry of the Spirit. Thus, in these verses we have a comparison between the ministry of death and the ministry of the Spirit. The ministry of death refers to the old covenant ministry, the Mosaic ministry. Paul was bold in speaking of the ministry of death. No wonder the Jews were offended because of him. Then Paul goes on to compare the ministry of death with the ministry of the Spirit.
Most of us would not contrast death with the Spirit, for death is always versus life. For us, the issue is a matter of life or death, death or life. But instead of using the word life in 3:8, Paul speaks of the Spirit. This indicates that the Spirit here is related to life, since life is what stands in contrast to death. In 3:6 Paul has already said that the Spirit gives life. Therefore, the Spirit here points to the Spirit who gives life and also to the life given by the Spirit. The old covenant ministry was a ministry of death; the new covenant ministry is a ministry of life embodied in the Spirit.
The essence of the Spirit inscribed into us is life. Life here is not an instrument, person, power, strength, ability, talent, or gift. If we realize that the Spirit here is of life, then we shall understand what is the nature of the essence with which we are inscribed through the new covenant ministry.
Often Christians refer to the Spirit as an instrument, power, or gift. Under the influence of tradition, we also may not pay adequate attention to the Spirit as the essence inscribed into us. For this reason, I want to emphasize the fact that the Spirit in 2 Corinthians 3 does not denote a power or instrument — it denotes an essence.
This understanding is confirmed by verse 18: “And we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” Glory here is not an instrument, power, ability, or gift. Glory also is an essence. As we behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, we are being transformed with glory as an essence. In a previous message we pointed out that “from glory to glory” in verse 18 means from the Lord Spirit to the Lord Spirit, for in this verse the glory and the Spirit are synonyms. Therefore, to be transformed from glory to glory is to be transformed from the Spirit to the Spirit.
The Amplified New Testament renders the Greek words translated from glory to glory as “from one degree of glory to another.” It is correct to say that we are transformed from one degree of glory to another degree of glory. But we still must find out what glory is. The glory in 3:18 is actually the Spirit. This glory also refers to the resurrected Christ, or to Christ in resurrection. The Lord Jesus was glorified by resurrection (Luke 24:26). Hence, the glory, the Spirit, and resurrection all refer to the same thing. Today the Spirit within us is glory and also the reality of resurrection. Therefore, once again we see that the Spirit in 2 Corinthians 3 is an essence, not an instrument or power.
In 3:9 Paul goes on to say, “For if the ministry of condemnation came in glory, much rather the ministry of righteousness abounds in glory.” The phrase “the ministry of condemnation” also refers to the Mosaic ministry of the old covenant. That ministry was both a ministry of death and a ministry of condemnation. Paul was bold to declare the fact that the ministry of Moses was a ministry of death and condemnation. But, as verse 9 indicates, even this ministry came in glory.
As the old covenant ministry was of death and condemnation, so the new covenant ministry is of the Spirit and of righteousness. Death is versus life, which is embodied in the Spirit, and condemnation is versus righteousness.
We may have expected Paul to use the word justification instead of righteousness. But here Paul speaks of righteousness, not of justification. Based upon the principle that the Spirit in this chapter is an essence, righteousness here should also be regarded as an essence. Hence, the new covenant ministry has an essence in two aspects: the first aspect is of the Spirit, and the second aspect is of righteousness.
We have pointed out that the Spirit in 2 Corinthians 3 is related to life. The Spirit in this chapter refers to life. But to what does righteousness refer? If we would answer this question, we need to realize that Paul places righteousness in the same category as the Spirit. Both righteousness and the Spirit are on the same level. The new covenant ministry is a ministry of the Spirit and of righteousness, both of which are aspects of the essence of this ministry. Just as a table may be constituted of wood and of paint, so the new covenant ministry is constituted of the Spirit and of righteousness. Suppose a certain table made of wood is painted. Wood is the substance of the table, and the paint gives the table a particular appearance. Therefore, with the table there are both substance and appearance. The principle is the same with the new covenant ministry. This ministry has a substance, and it also has an appearance, an expression. The substance of the new covenant ministry is the Spirit, and the expression, the appearance, is righteousness.
Let us consider the matters of the Spirit and righteousness in the light of our experience with the Lord. When, as one who loves the Lord and seeks Him, you live Christ, do you not have the sense that within you there is something substantial, living, and active? This living substance is not any kind of doctrine, teaching, or theology. On the contrary, this living, active substance is the Spirit.
Through the ministry today, we all have had the Spirit inscribed into our being. Many times after a meeting we realize that inside we have something living, substantial, and active. This living substance is the Spirit in us, the Spirit who has been inscribed into us. In other words, the divine essence has been added into our being. If a certain person has never experienced this, I would doubt that he has truly been saved and regenerated. I believe all of us in the church life can testify that we have experienced the Spirit inwardly in a way that is living, active, and substantial. Along with this inward substance, we also have an outward expression. This expression is righteousness.
Anyone who has been inscribed with the Spirit of the living God will have an expression of righteousness in his daily living. For example, a married brother may experience the Spirit as the living substance within him through the inscribing that comes from the new covenant ministry. Spontaneously his wife will realize that something has happened to her husband. She may say to herself, “Something has happened to him, but I don’t understand what it is. He seems to be right in every way and right with everything. Formerly, he was wrong in the way he did many things. He was wrong even in the way he put things away, for he never put them back in the proper place. But now he takes care of everything in the right way. I also see a difference in the way he speaks to me. When it is time for him to go to work, he tells me in such a nice way that he is leaving. He says, ‘Dear, I’m going to work now.’ My husband is even right in the way he takes care of the dog. I don’t know what is going on with him.” Because the brother is experiencing the Spirit inwardly as the substance, he expresses righteousness in his life at home.
When we do not live Christ, we are wrong in many things. We may be wrong in the way we close a window or a door. Instead of closing a door in a proper way, we may slam it. But when we live Christ and experience something in us that is substantial and active, we become right in closing windows and doors. In fact, anything we do will be done in a right way.
Some may be very careless in putting away their shoes or their clothes. If you could see their bedroom, you would find that many things are out of order. But if those ones experience the Spirit as the substance within them, they will become right even with their shoes and clothes. Everything will be put in the right place.
If you experience the Spirit inwardly and express righteousness outwardly, others will realize that something is different about you. This is the result of the new covenant ministry. This ministry inscribes an essence into our being, an essence that has an inner aspect and an outer aspect. The inner aspect is the living Spirit moving in us; the outer aspect is righteousness as our expression.
The Spirit and righteousness are both related to our expressing the image of God. The reason for this is that the Spirit and righteousness are actually God Himself. God as the Spirit is moving in you as a substance and living in you as an essence, for He Himself has been added into your being by the new covenant ministry. Thus, inwardly you have the Spirit. The righteousness you express outwardly is also God Himself. Therefore, you are not only right in so many ways, and you are not only righteous, but you have God Himself as your righteousness. God as righteousness becomes your appearance, your expression. First, God Himself is the life-giving Spirit who lives, moves, and acts within you. Then God Himself becomes the outward expression, the appearance, of righteousness. This is the essence of the new covenant ministry.
The work of the new covenant ministry is altogether different from that of most of today’s preachers and teachers. The work of the new covenant ministry is not merely to teach us to improve our behavior. Rather, this ministry inscribes us with the Spirit. To inscribe is to add more of the essence of God into us. Inwardly this essence is the Spirit; outwardly it is righteousness. But as we have seen, both the Spirit inwardly and the righteousness outwardly are God Himself. Therefore, the ministry of the new covenant, a ministry of the Spirit and of righteousness, is simply a ministry of God. To say that the ministry of the new covenant is of the Spirit and of righteousness is equal to saying that the new covenant ministry is of God. However, to say that this ministry is of God is to speak in a general way, whereas to say that it is of the Spirit and of righteousness is to speak in a more particular way. Praise the Lord that the Spirit is God within us living, moving, and acting, and righteousness is God expressed to become our appearance outwardly!
The central vision of the Bible is related to the image of God expressed by the life of God. Regarding this, the first two chapters of Genesis are very important. In Genesis 1 we have the image of God: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness....So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (vv. 26-27). God’s intention is that we express Him with His image. However, if we would express God in this way, we need to have His life. The life of God is signified by the tree of life in Genesis 2:9. The life within is the Spirit, and the image outwardly for expression is righteousness. Praise the Lord for the new covenant ministry with the two aspects of life and expression! Inwardly we have the Spirit as life, and outwardly we have righteousness as our expression.
Among all the people on earth, the most righteous persons are those who live Christ. Whenever you live Christ, you will be right in every way. You will not need anyone to teach you to be right, for the Christ who lives within you will make you right in everything and right with everyone. If we are careless with our things or in the way we close a door, this is an indication that we are not living Christ. If we truly live Christ, we shall close a door in a right way. We shall also be proper when we knock on someone’s door or ring the doorbell. Once again I say that it is not necessary for someone to teach us how to close a door, how to knock on a door, or how to ring a doorbell. The Bible does not contain such instructions. If the Bible contained a rule for every aspect of our daily living, it would be too big for any of us to carry. It is the Spirit within us who makes us righteous in our living. What we need is more inscribing of the Spirit. The ministry of the new covenant is a ministry of the Spirit.
When we are inscribed with the Spirit, the divine essence is imparted into our being. This essence causes the process of spiritual metabolism to take place within us. As a result of this process, we are transformed into the Lord’s image.
We have seen that to be transformed into the Lord’s image from glory to glory is to be transformed from the Spirit to the Spirit. If we experience such an inward transformation, spontaneously we shall have righteousness as our outward appearance. Then we shall be right with God, with others, and with ourselves. However, many people are not right with God, with others, or with themselves. Daily they offend God and those around them. Furthermore, because they are short of the divine essence, they are not right with themselves. Therefore, they need the ministry which inscribes the divine essence into them. Inwardly, this essence will be the Spirit in them, and outwardly it will be expressed as righteousness.
This understanding of 2 Corinthians 3, especially of verse 18, is not merely according to doctrine; it is according to experience. For years I have been seeking to understand 3:18. Now from my experience with the Lord I realize that the Spirit is the essence of God living, moving, and acting within me, and righteousness is the essence of God manifested outwardly as God’s image to express Him. As a result of having the Spirit inwardly and righteousness as the image of God outwardly, I become right with God, with man, with myself, and with so many aspects of my daily living. Because we are right in every way, we have peace, joy, rest, and faith. This is the issue, the result, of the ministry of the new covenant.
