Have you ever been commended for anything recently? Perhaps you’ve needed a recommendation for a job and had to seek out your previous employers.
Commendations are commendable, and recommendations are nice when they are favorable, but are commendations and recommendations still needed today?
Should they be sought out?
What if they didn’t need to be?
What would THAT look like?
Paul opens a paragraph to his letter to a group of believers living in Corinth about this. They apparently lived by commendations and recommendations.
We read in 2 Corinthians 3:1-11, Paul’s opening question for the Corinthians is about commendation and if he and his co-traveling friends needed recommendations from others for them to gain a level of respect in their eyes. Paul is telling those believers that they themselves are Paul’s testimony, but of what? The work Paul and friends have done in their community. Paul reaches beyond the temporary world we live in to the eternal world that is brought into this one by the Spirit of God within His people.
The work of the Spirit’s was a work done in a written format—and the paper was the human heart. This happens in a sort of unexplainable way, but internally experienced in the transformation of the mind, attitudes, will, and conscience—what we might call our own spirit.
When the Spirit of God conforms the life of a believer into the image of God’s Son (Romans 8:29), God’s own glory impresses itself upon that person’s being. It transforms much like the presence of God’s influence on Moses’ person when he was on the mountain with God. When he came down, the glory that shown on his face was so noticeable, they asked Moses to put a veil on it.
The same is true for us today.
Paul calls this glorification “the ministry of the Spirit,” and this to Paul was all the commendation and recommendation he needed from those believers in Corinth.
Paul states the glory that comes through the ministry of the Spirit by contrast has even more glory than any previously, far exceeds all others by its completely surpassing them, and is the permanent kind of glory.
How can this be? Only God is permanent, right?
True.
That is why this glory is the permanent kind—the Spirit is God Himself!
To Paul, then, the Corinthian believers (v3) were figuratively and literally a letter written with words by the Holy Spirit on their hearts—this was recommendation and commendation enough—however, Paul transforms the phrase “commendation and recommendation” into something more eternal as well.
This metaphorical “letter” was delivered by Christ himself, not for the Corinthian believers to read, but to be known and read by all (v2).How were the Corinthian believers Paul’s recommendation? They showed that they were. How? The confidence believers have comes from what is shown through them … by God Himself. It’s called GLORY. And it is where Paul gained his sufficiency from (v5) and where we should as well.
Here is the great transformation: Paul moves from commendation to righteousness.
Righteousness is the evidence of the glory of God in a believer’s life.
“Commended” was following the law; righteousness, however, comes from glorification—how it shows in the life of a believer by the Spirit’s work.
Why do you think God would want to move away from commendation to righteousness?
Any church is a testimony of the pastoral leadership of that church. And we need to be careful that we are not a religious law-abiding church, because as Paul states, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (v6).
When God shows up, His glory (or His personal activity in the world) is evident. The glory of the Spirit comes through His people into the community and world around them. Paul gives this understanding in his phrase, “Ministry of the Spirit” and is the lifestyle of believers—and the hope Paul has for the Corinthian church … and for yours and mine.
How can we move away from commendation in the eyes of people to the righteous life in the eyes of God—and subsequently everyone else?
We need to lay down our worldly commendations at the feet of Christ so we can pick up the life of the Spirit.
Pray for each other that this week, God would be glorified in your body, Christ would be seen in your works, and the Spirit of Jesus would have more control within you than ever.
I am looking over a youth ministry position I am thinking about sending my resume to. Do I have any recommendations? Do I have any commendations? I get asked to preach on occasion. I have been asked to come back to some churches several times. It does give me a good feeling when this occurs. I am not trying to downplay the veracity nor the amicability of these two actions. I get it. But if we focus on the inner quality of the Spirit, I happen to believe these things will come and somewhat take care of themselves.
They did for Jesus. He was recommended for crucifixion at one point. He was commended to hang between two thieves. I am worthy of the same treatment, honestly.
If it wasn’t for Christ, no recommendation would help me beyond this life. Would you agree?