2Cor 3:3, 6, 8 | PNT | STEP | [Ye are] openly declared to be the epistle of Christ . A beautiful conception. Christ is the author of the letter. Ministered by us . Paul was the penman. Written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God . The message was written on the fleshly tablets of the hearts of the brethren at Corinth. The means employed by Christ to convey the message was the Spirit which filled Paul. All men who could see the transformation effected in the lives of the Corinthians could read the epistle. Not on tables of stone . Instead of naming parchment, he mentions tables of stone, because he is about to compare the Old Covenant, of which its chief part, the Decalogue, was written on stone, with the New Covenant ( ).

‏ 2 Corinthians 3:3

[Ye are] openly declared to be the epistle of Christ. A beautiful conception. Christ is the author of the letter.

Ministered by us. Paul was the penman.

Written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. The message was written on the fleshly tablets of the hearts of the brethren at Corinth. The means employed by Christ to convey the message was the Spirit which filled Paul. All men who could see the transformation effected in the lives of the Corinthians could read the epistle.

Not on tables of stone. Instead of naming parchment, he mentions tables of stone, because he is about to compare the Old Covenant, of which its chief part, the Decalogue, was written on stone, with the New Covenant (Ex 24:12).

‏ 2 Corinthians 3:6

Who also hath made us able ministers. God gave Paul and his fellow-ministers their "sufficiency" (2Co 3:5), who had made them able ministers of the gospel.

Of the new testament. The New Covenant, the Covenant of Christ. This is here contrasted with the Old Covenant, the Jewish. One is the Law; the other the Gospel. Compare Heb 8:7-13.

Not of the letter, but of the spirit. The first, the law, was written (by letters written and engraved on stones, hence "of the letter"); the gospel is the dispensation of the Spirit.

The letter killeth. The law. It condemns all who do not obey its commands, but could make no man perfect. The law places under the sentence of death. See notes on Ro 7:9,10.

The spirit giveth life. The gospel bestows eternal life.

‏ 2 Corinthians 3:8

How shall not rather the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? The gospel, the ministration of life, must have still greater glory. It has a glory now, and will have a fuller glory in the day of the Lord.