![]() ![]() And the glory of his work will be great beyond anything the Old Testament ever knew.Ģ. He will preserve permanently all that he calls. He will create new hearts wherever he pleases. The age of fulfillment has begun! And the victory of God’s purpose is certain because his Spirit is sovereign. Paul’s hope is that God has now undertaken to fulfil his ancient promise to take out the heart of stone, to write his law on soft hearts of flesh (Jeremiah 31:33) and put his Spirit within them and cause them to walk in his statutes (Ezekiel 36:27). ![]() God is at work! Not simply to tell them on tablets of stone what they must do but to do it in them! It is the confidence that the sovereign Spirit of God is at work in his ministry to change hearts of stone into hearts of flesh and to give life (v. It is the hope of the new covenant promise. Piper: Now we should be able to see what the hope is that Paul has in mind. “Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech” Boldness in Ministry Inspired by Assurance of Enduring Glory (:12-13) Boldness Should Characterize New Covenant Ministryġ. (:12-18) GOD GRANTS CONVERTS THE LIBERTY THROUGH THE SPIRIT TO SEE HIS GLORY REFLECTED IN BOLD NEW COVENANT MINISTRYĪ. “For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.” “For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory on account of the glory that surpasses it.” Now, on that basis, with the security of that acceptance, go back to your work.” And you go with a sense of approval and security.ĥ. There is nothing more you can add to that. I intend to use you you are part of my program your life is significant. God tells you already in the new covenant, “I have loved you, I have forgiven you, I have cleansed you. You don’t have to earn it you start with it. The nearest word I know to describe this is the word worth. Stedman: Righteousness means being fully accepted, having a sense of being approved by God, of being honored and cherished by him. “For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.” ![]() But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how shall the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?”Ĥ. “for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Plummer: in all this disparagement of to gramma there was no danger of seeming to disparage Christian writings, for as yet there were no Christian Scriptures.ģ. Study OT promises of New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-33 and Ezekiel 36:26-27 new and old wineskins old covenant is worn out and obsolete replaced by new covenant which is enduring Not just is God adequate in Himself, but He has made us adequate!Ĭf. Transition: “who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant” (:6-11) Comparison of Surpassing Glory of New Covenant Ministry vs. So he hastens to insist that whatever he had done is not his own work but the work of God.ī. This new life is the authentication of Paul’s authority as a minister of the new covenant.īarclay: Paul is feeling that perhaps his claim that the Corinthians are a living epistle of Christ, produced under his ministry, may sound a little like self-praise. Rather, he is preaching Christ in the ministry and power of the Spirit. Instead he says it is all of God, and the evidence is that he is not merely handing on written laws or traditions like the scribes and Pharisees. His confidence is not based on anything that comes from himself. Piper: Here Paul explains why he has such an amazing confidence that he is actually an instrument of God in the great fulfillment of the new covenant promises. “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves”Ĭf. (:4-11) GOD MAKES US COMPETENT THROUGH THE SPIRIT TO REFLECT HIS GLORY IN NEW COVENANT MINISTRYĬf. How to solve a crisis of confidence in the ministry Who is adequate to be a minister of the Gospel? How can anyone really have a vision for the Glory of the Lord? How can New Testament ministry be effective? THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT (NEW COVENANT) FAR SURPASSES THE GLORY OF THE MINISTRY OF THE LAW (OLD COVENANT) ![]()
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