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 Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:11 am
2 Corinthians 3 1Do we begin again to recommend ourselves, except we need, as some, letters of recommendation unto you, or from you? 2our letter ye are, having been written in our hearts, known and read by all men, 3manifested that ye are a letter of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not in the tablets of stone, but in fleshy tablets of the heart, 4and such trust we have through the Christ toward God, 5not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency [is] of God, 6who also made us sufficient [to be] ministrants of a new covenant, not of letter, but of spirit; for the letter doth kill, and the spirit doth make alive. 7and if the ministration of the death, in letters, engraved in stones, came in glory, so that the sons of Israel were not able to look stedfastly to the face of Moses, because of the glory of his face -- which was being made useless, 8how shall the ministration of the Spirit not be more in glory? 9for if the ministration of the condemnation [is] glory, much more doth the ministration of the righteousness abound in glory; 10for also even that which hath been glorious, hath not been glorious -- in this respect, because of the superior glory; 11for if that which is being made useless [is] through glory, much more that which is remaining [is] in glory. 12Having, then, such hope, we use much freedom of speech, 13and [are] not as Moses, who was putting a vail upon his own face, for the sons of Israel not stedfastly to look to the end of that which is being made useless, 14but their minds were hardened, for unto this day the same vail at the reading of the Old Covenant doth remain unwithdrawn -- which in Christ is being made useless -- 15but till to-day, when Moses is read, a vail upon their heart doth lie, 16and whenever they may turn unto the Lord, the vail is taken away. 17And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty; 18and we all, with unvailed face, the glory of the Lord beholding in a mirror, to the same image are being transformed, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Discuss.
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:35 am
Could we have a layman's translation?
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 1:17 pm
We are living Testaments of Jesus Christ. By His energy are we able to do his will and live in His glory, not on our own. We are ministers of the righteous, living God who came to Earth. We are no longer under the Mosaic veil, which has passed away and is ashes but we are alive in the Kingdom of Christ. We have seen the True image of God and being in the Spirit have in essence become Christ-like.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 1:52 pm
Gho the Girl Could we have a layman's translation? New Living Translation Are we beginning again to tell you how good we are? Some people need to bring letters of recommendation with them or ask you to write letters of recommendation for them. But the only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves! Your lives are a letter written in our hearts, and everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ prepared by us. It is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on stone, but on human hearts. We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our only power and success come from God. He is the one who has enabled us to represent his new covenant. This is a covenant, not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old way ends in death; in the new way, the Holy Spirit gives life. That old system of law etched in stone led to death, yet it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses' face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn't we expect far greater glory when the Holy Spirit is giving life? If the old covenant, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new covenant, which makes us right with God! In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new covenant. So if the old covenant, which has been set aside, was full of glory, then the new covenant, which remains forever, has far greater glory. Since this new covenant gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory fading away. But the people's minds were hardened, and even to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, a veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read Moses' writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, then the veil is taken away. Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, he gives freedom. And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:55 pm
this is one of the proof texts of the Pentecostal movement, i believe.
"the Lord is the Spirit" especially.
Pentecostals have admirable eneergy and a fine record of inclusiveness that cuts across many barriers.
but i am uneasy about the emphasis on the Spirit, and relegating Jesus to a mere "son" ; there is an adoptionist tendency, i fear.
i had one self appointed prophet tell me that all that made Jesus powerful and holy was that he received the spirit as a dove at his baptism "and I have more of the Spirit than Jesus ever did, so I am more holy and more powerful!" he crowed.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 8:31 pm
chessiejo this is one of the proof texts of the Pentecostal movement, i believe. "the Lord is the Spirit" especially. Pentecostals have admirable eneergy and a fine record of inclusiveness that cuts across many barriers. but i am uneasy about the emphasis on the Spirit, and relegating Jesus to a mere "son" ; there is an adoptionist tendency, i fear. i had one self appointed prophet tell me that all that made Jesus powerful and holy was that he received the spirit as a dove at his baptism "and I have more of the Spirit than Jesus ever did, so I am more holy and more powerful!" he crowed. That man is an idiot. Insult applied. If you see him again tell him I said that. "...More of the Holy Spirit", as if the Holy Spirit is a liquid and we are cups. Some have more and some have less. Ridiculous that people think that way. Its like the toolbox on the gifts of the Spirit theory, that people receive certain gifts and not others. We have one God, who gave us His Son, who gave us His Spirit. Is it too difficult to believe that we are given His Holy Spirit to be within us, the whole, ot just part, to guide us and give us the direction for His Church to grow and live and be in Union with Him?
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 5:58 pm
Without humilty he has nothing.
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:04 pm
chessiejo this is one of the proof texts of the Pentecostal movement, i believe. "the Lord is the Spirit" especially. Pentecostals have admirable eneergy and a fine record of inclusiveness that cuts across many barriers. but i am uneasy about the emphasis on the Spirit, and relegating Jesus to a mere "son" ; there is an adoptionist tendency, i fear. i had one self appointed prophet tell me that all that made Jesus powerful and holy was that he received the spirit as a dove at his baptism "and I have more of the Spirit than Jesus ever did, so I am more holy and more powerful!" he crowed. Did you ask him to walk on water? The adoptionist viewpoint is quite valid however; it says that Jesus Christ had free will. By extension, and being a Gnostic Christian we share primarily the Gospel of John, we also may be adopted--- If you read the Proem of the Gospel of John very carefully, it says that those that believe on his name have the POWER to become children of God--- It's not an automatic free ride in the John view point. The earliest versions of the Gospel of Luke, at the baptismal, had the Voice of God saying, "In thee I am well pleased, this day I have begotten thee". So well your "prophet" friend was barking up the proper tree, he was looking at the wrong branch. But let me allay some of your fears; There is nothing "mere" about being a child of God, especially Jesus. In our view He was the only Gnostic from birth-- He knew who he was, where he came from, where he was going, and why he was here. Jesus was fully human and fully God. His most common honorific for Himself though, was "Son of man". Basically, God sent His Spirit into a human being and said "Hey, look what I am doing as a human, you have no excuse". "Be ye therefore perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect" Tough commandment right? I learned a long time ago not to follow somebody who would ask you to do what he himself was unwilling to do. Jesus asked us, and then showed it was possible. What Paul was doing, was distancing himself from the Jewish religion; not a rejection of the prophecies of christ, but a rejection of justification by law. If you are bound by even one law, you are bound by them all; If you have Christ in you, you do not obey the law, you become the law. That is, you do not steal, because it is against the law and you might get caught; rather, you do not steal because stealing has become unthinkable for you.
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Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:15 am
The Bible has some of the best imagery in the world. I'm so happy it was written when it was. Imagine if all that was happening today with all our technology and complex political and global systems. xp in 100 years our examples would become obsolete let alone 1000.
But THIS is timeless and universal (not to mention simple).
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