2 Corinthians 3:1-2 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all.
Paul returns once again to address the criticism he has received from the Corinthians. They may have thought that he was boasting in ch. 2 about his ministry or speaking ability, and thus was commending or recommending himself. But he did not want to put himself on a pedestal of his own making. Rather, he wanted to hide behind the cross. In the ancient world, similar to today, people would write letters of recommendation to authenticate the validity, background, skills, relationships, and positions of people. Paul’s opponents evidently brought such letters by which they claimed positions of authority.
Paul did not need such a letter because his authority as an apostle came directly from Christ. Paul flips the table over, so to speak, by claiming the Corinthians as his letter of recommendation. If they need proof of the truthfulness of his message and his ministry, they are this proof. He is subtly calling on them to return to their faith in Christ that they first had. Look at your salvation and hope. Are these founded in certain people who are good preachers or have dynamic personalities? Or, are these focused upon Christ?
Return to what really matters. Put your faith in Christ, not any preacher. Paul’s letter of recommendation was in the transformation within the Corinthians (3:18). They were new creations (5:17). His ministry among them pointed them to the true message of Jesus Christ. The false teachers who had come among the Corinthians preached a self-focused message. They were peddlers of God’s word (2:17). Paul came as a servant of Christ, suffering for the message he preached.
This is a comparison between two messages. Message one from the false apostles: self-glorification, boasting, in it for the glory, money, and honor. Message two from Paul: Christ-glorification, suffering, proof in genuine transformation of the Corinthians, an experience of divine power. Paul is giving them an opportunity to look within themselves and re-evaluate the direction of their lives.
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