Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Servants of the New Agreement

3 Are we starting to brag about ourselves again? Do we need letters of introduction to you or from you, like some other people? ² You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts. It is known and read by everyone. ³ You show that you are a letter from Christ that he sent through us. This letter is not written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is not written on stone tablets.^[a] It is written on human hearts.

⁴ We can say this, because through Christ we feel sure before God. ⁵ I do not mean that we are able to say that we can do this work ourselves. It is God who makes us able to do all that we do. ⁶ God made us able to be servants of a new agreement from himself to his people. This new agreement is not a written law. It is of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

⁷ The law that brought death was written in words on stone. It came with God’s glory. Moses’ face was so bright with glory that the people of Israel could not continue to look at his face. And that glory later disappeared. ⁸ So surely the new way that brings the Spirit has even more glory. ⁹ That law judged people guilty of sin, but it had glory. So surely the new way that makes people right with God has much greater glory. ¹⁰ That old law had glory. But it really loses its glory when it is compared to the much greater glory of this new way. ¹¹ If that law which disappeared came with glory, then this new way which continues forever has much greater glory.

¹² We have this hope, so we are very brave. ¹³ We are not like Moses. He put a covering over his face so that the people of Israel would not see it. The glory was disappearing, and Moses did not want them to see it end. ¹⁴ But their minds were closed. Even today that same covering hides the meaning when they read the old agreement. That covering is taken away only through Christ. ¹⁵ But even today, when they read the law of Moses, there is a covering over their minds. ¹⁶ But when a person changes and follows the Lord, that covering is taken away. ¹⁷ The Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ Our faces, then, are not covered. We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings more and more glory. And it comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Preaching the Good News

4 God, with his mercy, gave us this work to do. So we don’t give up. ² But we have turned away from secret and shameful ways. We use no trickery, and we do not change the teaching of God. We teach the truth plainly. This is how we show everyone who we are. And this is how they can know in their hearts what kind of people we are before God. ³ The Good News that we preach may be hidden. But it is hidden only to those who are lost. ⁴ The devil who rules this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe. They cannot see the light of the Good News—the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is exactly like God. ⁵ We do not preach about ourselves. But we preach that Jesus Christ is Lord; and we preach that we are your servants for Jesus. ⁶ God once said, “Let the light shine out of the darkness!” And this is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts. He gave us light by letting us know the glory of God that is in the face of Christ.

Spiritual Treasure in Clay Jars

⁷ We have this treasure from God. But we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure. This shows that this great power is from God, not from us. ⁸ We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We do not know what to do, but we do not give up. ⁹ We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed. ¹⁰ We carry the death of Jesus in our own bodies, so that the life of Jesus can also be seen in our bodies. ¹¹ We are alive, but for Jesus we are always in danger of death. This is so that the life of Jesus can be seen in our bodies that die. ¹² So death is working in us, but life is working in you.

¹³ It is written in the Scriptures, “I believed, so I spoke.”^[b] Our faith is like this, too. We believe, and so we speak. ¹⁴ God raised the Lord Jesus from death. And we know that God will also raise us with Jesus. God will bring us together with you, and we will stand before him. ¹⁵ All these things are for you. And so the grace of God is being given to more and more people. This will bring more and more thanks to God for his glory.

Living by Faith

¹⁶ So we do not give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day. ¹⁷ We have small troubles for a while now, but they are helping us gain an eternal glory. That glory is much greater than the troubles. ¹⁸ So we set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time. But what we cannot see will last forever.