In 3:3 Paul says, “Being manifested that you are a letter of Christ ministered by us, inscribed not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in fleshy tablets of the heart.” Here a letter of Christ does not mean a letter written by Christ; rather, this letter is a composition that uses Christ as the alphabet. A letter of Christ is one composed of Christ as the content to convey Christ and express Him. All believers of Christ should be such living letters of Christ so that others may read and know Christ in their being.
A letter of Christ is composed using Christ as the words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs. From first to last, Christ is every part of such a letter. Therefore, a letter of Christ speaks Christ, for every part of the letter expresses Him. We all should be letters of Christ expressing Him.
According to 3:3, the letter of Christ was written by the ministry of the apostles. The apostles were filled with Christ so that their ministry spontaneously ministered Christ to those whom they contacted, inscribing Christ in their hearts and making them living letters conveying Christ.
In verse 3 Paul says that a letter of Christ is not inscribed with ink, but inscribed with the Spirit of the living God. The Spirit of the living God, who is the living God Himself, is not an instrument, like a pen for writing, but is the very element, like the ink in writing, with which the apostles minister Christ as the content for the writing of living letters that convey Christ.
A living letter of Christ is written not in tablets of stone, but in fleshy tablets of the heart. Our heart, as the composition of our conscience (the leading part of our spirit), mind, emotion, and will, is the tablet upon which the living letters of Christ are written with the living Spirit of God. This implies that Christ is written into every part of our inner being with the Spirit of the living God to make us His living letters, so that He may be expressed through us and read by others in us.
Some of the saints may think that because they are not apostles, they cannot participate in writing a living letter of Christ. We should not hold this concept. Through our daily preaching of the gospel, we can write Christ on others. Do you know what it is to preach the gospel? To preach the gospel is to write a living letter. Gospel preaching is a matter of letter writing.
We have seen that in chapter two Paul uses the metaphors of captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and incense-bearers scattering incense. As you contact people at work, you should be a captive of Christ bearing Him and spreading Him as incense. On the one hand, preaching the gospel is a matter of writing Christ on others; on the other hand, it is a matter of scattering Christ as incense. In either case, this kind of gospel preaching is related to our own experience of the gospel.
If we do not have the experience of the gospel, our preaching of the gospel will not be effective. We may only be able to speak to others in a doctrinal way concerning God, Christ, and salvation.
Suppose a brother who has little experience of the gospel tries to convince a fellow worker that there is only one God. This brother’s fellow worker may say, “I don’t agree with you! You say there is only one God, but I believe that there are many gods. Don’t try to tell me there is only one God!” The brother is defeated by this unbeliever because his preaching of the gospel is a preaching without the experience of the gospel.
Let us also suppose that this same brother tries to tell another colleague at work that Jesus Christ is the Savior. However, once again he is defeated by the other party who says, “I don’t believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior. I believe that I can be saved without Jesus.” Although the brother attempted to preach the gospel, his preaching was not effective.
The proper preaching of the gospel depends on our measure of life and on our experience of God and Christ. Suppose a brother with a considerable amount of experience of God and Christ speaks to a fellow worker concerning God. This brother will not preach to his fellow worker, trying to convince him that there is one God. Instead, he may give him a testimony of his experience and of how he came to believe in God and receive Christ as his Savior. He will testify of something living and real that came into him and changed him. Surely, this brother’s fellow worker will enjoy hearing this kind of testimony.
Furthermore, such a testimony infuses others, convinces them, and subdues them. There is no need for you to preach to your fellow workers by saying, “Everyone is a sinner, and you are not an exception. You are a sinner, and you need to be saved.” Instead of preaching in this way, you should infuse him day by day with your testimony. This is the experiential way to preach the gospel. This way is a matter of infusing into others what we have enjoyed of God and Christ. Even though your fellow worker may not mentally accept what you tell him, through your experiential preaching of the gospel the element of God and of Christ will be infused into him.