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2 Corinthians 3:6
"The
letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
Quite
frequently we have heard this passage quoted to “prove” that
it is unspiritual and displeasing to God to take the
literal meaning of Scripture and seek to obey it. Recently,
I was speaking to a zealous woman who was trying to establish
the point that God is not interested in literal water
baptism or a communion with literal bread and cup. She
contended that the Lord is not at all interested in literal
fasting and is not concerned with the clothes that a
Christian wears. All
of these “external” things are following the “letter
of the law,” but truly spiritual Christians are only
interested in the Spirit, for He is the one who gives
life! God
is only interested in a “spiritual” interpretation of
things today, the inner meaning of things, and all external
matters are of no consequence. In
fact, if one is concerned about obeying the “literal” words
of the New Testament, he is Pharisaical in his spirit! Is
this a proper interpretation of this verse?
The
entire chapter of 2 Corinthians 3 is Paul’s contrast
between the old covenant system and the new covenant
of Christ. The
old covenant was the “ministry of death” and the “ministry
of condemnation,” whereas the new covenant is the “ministry
of righteousness” (vv. 7, 9). The
old covenant fades away, whereas the new covenant remains
(v. 11). The
old covenant was written on “tablets of stone,” whereas
the new covenant is written on “tablets of human hearts” (v.
3).
In
this context, Paul says that he was a “servant of the
new covenant” (not the old covenant) (v. 6a). Paul
then inserts the text we are considering: “. . . not
of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills,
but the Spirit gives life” (v. 6b). We
can see that the “letter” refers to the old covenant
(with its ministry of death), and this is the letter
that “kills.” On
the other hand, Paul’s servanthood of the new covenant
was of the Spirit—the Spirit that gives life, rather
than death. The “letter” of
the old covenant and the Law of Moses “kills”—whereas
the Spirit of the new covenant (along with all of the
instructions of Christ and the apostles, given through
the Holy Spirit) gives life, both life now and life eternal.
No
one should ever use this portion of 2 Corinthians 3:6
to disparage or denigrate the literal words of Jesus
Christ our Lord. His
words are eternal (Matt. 24:35), His words are the foundation
of our life (Matt. 7:24-27), His words will face us in
judgment (vv. 21-23; John 12:48), and His words are meant
to be taken seriously and obeyed (see 1 Corinthians 14:37),
thereby demonstrating our love for Him (John 14:15, 21,
23-24). Sadly,
some who are “untaught and unstable” go so far as to “distort” and “twist” the
words of Jesus, Paul, and the other apostles, to their
own destruction (2 Peter 3:16, NASB, ESV).
Richard Hollerman |
