Second Corinthians may be considered as the autobiography of Paul. In the first several chapters of this book there are many deep points concerning the life and work of Paul and his co-workers as ministers of the New Testament. They were not merely taught, edified, or instructed in the New Testament ministry. They were constituted with it. In the apostle’s speaking concerning their ministry for God’s new covenant, five very significant and expressive metaphors are used to illustrate how they, as ministers of the new covenant, and their ministry are constituted, how they behave and live, and how their ministry is carried out.
First, the ministers of the new covenant were captives in a triumphant procession for the celebration of Christ’s victory (2:14a). They were defeated and they were captured. From the day that Paul, as Saul of Tarsus, was defeated and captured by Christ, he was a captive under Christ’s power and authority. On the one hand, we have been freed by Christ; we are released people, who now have our freedom and liberty. On the other hand, however, we have been captured by Christ. Every person freed by Christ is a captive of Christ. If something of Christ is to be transfused into us, we must be captives. Today in America, everyone treasures their liberty, freedom, and human rights, and no one wants to be considered a captive. We, however, are the captives of Christ.
As captives, the ministers of the new covenant are also the incense-bearers to scatter the fragrance of Christ as the conquering general (2:14b-16). We are not only Christ’s captives, but also His incense-bearers, scattering His fragrance to others.
As apostles, Paul and his co-workers were letters, epistles written with Christ as the content (3:1-3). The Spirit of God was the “ink,” the element with which Paul was written upon to be a letter of Christ. He was a living letter written by the Holy Spirit with all the realities of Christ as the writing element. Today, when we read Paul’s autobiography, we can see Christ. We can read Christ in him. What is written in Paul’s Epistles is nothing but Christ. Christ is conveyed to the readers in every book he wrote.
Certain Christians emphasize that we should not exalt any man. However, for nineteen centuries Paul has been appreciated very much. Paul is always associated with Christ because Paul is Christ’s letter. When we read him, we see Christ. It is difficult not to refer to Paul when we speak about Christ. The fourteen Epistles of Paul constitute half of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. Without these fourteen Epistles, the New Testament would not be complete (Col. 1:25).
When the Corinthians were sinners, not knowing Christ, Paul came to them and brought them to Christ. He begot them in Christ through the gospel and became their spiritual father (1 Cor. 4:15). In a sense, Paul begot us also. In the past sixty years, the most help I have received from the New Testament has been from Paul’s Epistles. Without these fourteen Epistles, there would be a great lack. Because Christ is all-inclusive and mysterious, the four Gospels are not adequate to make Him clear to us. It would be difficult for us to know who Christ is without Paul’s Epistles.
In the fourteen Epistles, we see Christ to a much greater extent than what is portrayed in the four Gospels. We see the all-inclusive, mysterious Christ, who is the mystery of God (Col. 2:2) and who produces the mystery of Christ, the church (Eph. 3:4). The most striking point of Paul’s Epistles is that in them he opens up the eternal and universal mystery. God has a mystery which He planned in eternity past, but the four Gospels do not speak much concerning God’s eternal plan as the mystery of the entire universe. Paul, however, unveils to us the mystery of the all-inclusive Christ as the Head for the producing of the Body. The church as the Body of Christ is presented only by Paul, not by Peter, John, or any of the other writers of the New Testament. We are indebted to the writings of Paul.
Paul was constituted with Christ and was a living letter of Christ. Since Paul’s writings express what he was, they are also a letter of Christ. Whenever we read Paul’s Epistles, we read Christ. Paul’s Epistles do not convey mainly himself, but the very Christ with whom he was constituted to such an extent that he could say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Paul lived and did many things, yet it was no longer he but Christ. When we read Paul’s Epistles, we are reading him, yet what we see is not Paul himself but Christ as his constituent. We also should be constituted with Christ. In a sense, the name of Christ should be a part of our name, because when people read us, they see Christ. It is no more we, but Christ who lives in us. To us, to live is not ourselves but Christ (Phil. 1:21). Christ is our person and the reality of our person. In this sense, we are not Americans or Chinese; we are Christ.
Home | First | Prev | Next