Ministry of Righteousness

"12Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14But their minds were hardened. For to this day,when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we all, with unveiled face,beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
1Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truthwe would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 4In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."2 Corinthians 3:12-4:6

We could read books outlining what Scripture has to say about a ministry of righteousness.  What it is, what it produces, what it does, how it is manifested, how it is focused, what our part is and what God does, what models Scripture gives us, how to evaluate it and do it with accountability, what the prerequisites are and how to guard it, etc.

But for a devotional thought, I would like to focus on how this portion of Scripture leads us to a practical understanding of "a ministry of righteousness", so that we may 1) recognize it and 2) pursue it in whatever we do.

Paul continues with the word hope.  "Since we have such hope".  What hope?  Well, from the preceeding context, it is the hope of an eternal glory from a new covenant which is dependent on the work and power of the Holy Spirit, not self-effort - and nothing can come against this ministry.

The passage says that those who look to the Old Testament glory of the law (presented historically in the Old Testament, but no longer effective or even glorious today) have veiled hearts and are bound in slavery.  They cannot realize the hope described above - the freedom of grace - unless they turn to Christ.  Now vs. 18 is most important to our understanding of a ministry of righteousness.

It says "And we all, with unveiled face,beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

Recognition.     The transformation from self to Christlikeness comes only from the work of the Spirit of God, not self mortification and effort.  Furthermore, we are matured in degree as the Lord determines for each one of us.  Nobody moves at the same pace as if their was a spiritual maturity template god imposes on every believer to grow in exactly the same way at the same intervals.  Therefore, you may continual to struggle with certain sin in your life as God molds and shapes you while I struggle with other sin as God molds and shapes me.  For either one of us to try and impose our "spiritual maturity template" onto one anothers' life as if we had figured out a common perfect path for growth is sinful and proud.  God is the one working to produce righteousness, not me or you.  In such an instance, the heart is veiled from understanding the glory of grace which comes only from grace.  Sadly, such a heart is still bound by lawful duty.  The gospel is only veiled to those who are perishing.  If someone does not understand the ministry of righteousness and clings to the ministry of death (law bound effort), they are perishing.

Pursuit.    "For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."  The pursuit of the ministry of righteousness begins with the manifestation of Christ as the glory of God in my life circumstances.  If you haven't read my book "The Living Image: God Purposed You to Bear His Image and Know His Will", please download a copy of it from the links posted on this page above, or pick one up at Barnes & Noble; that is the whole thrust of my book.  No matter what you are and where you live; no matter what you do, you can manifest the glory of God in Christ Jesus - as long as it meets God's scriptural standards for propriety.  There is a way, despite your sin, for you to be used of God to reveal the perfect and unmerited Grace of God given in Christ through what you do.  Do people see the gloriousness of God through the grace administered by how you do what you do?  If you don't know how to incorporate such a life mission into your career or past time, then read the book.  It is not difficult.

"Let the light shine out of the darkness".  God's mission and message are not fillibusters or clauses on the rest of of our life, they are the purpose for our life.  We shouldn't be working to fit God into the way our life is lived or what we do, we should be fitting our lives and careers around the ministry of righteousness which He has given us.  This doesn't mean preaching - this means doing whatever it is in such a way that God's glory, revealed through Christ, is recognized as something separate from human effort.  This produces light, which leads to unveiled hearts, which leads to freedom...

...which is our competence and hope.

The ministry of righteousness is continuing sovereign rule of Gods grace in my life, despite my sin, for the manifestation of His glory in what He produces, not what I produce of my own disciplined effort.

Are you living a ministry of righteousness?  Are you a Living Image Bearer?

Tomorrow, I will expound on our proper response (not self-righteous effort) to God grace, and how we "work out" our salvation. as it pertains to this discussion.

With you for His glory

Ministry of ...?

"Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.  Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory."
2 Corinthians 3:7-11

If you believe yourself to be called to ministry, then what does God intend His ministry through you to look like?

The Gospel given to the Apostles and handed down through generations is a meesage of hope and grace; power for living, salvation, and freedom.  Paul states in many of his letters, that the gospel message is a ministry of encouragement and unity in the Spirit.  In other words, the ministry of the Word produces spiritual peace and spiritual unity among believers and between God and man.

It often brings sinful man to a crisis point, where he must acknowledge sin and change to experience those said fruits, but the life of the believer is a life idenitifed by continual peace with God and fellow man, not continual antagonism to both.

In this letter to the Corinthian church, Paul reminds his brethren that the old covenant ministry of condemnation, the ministry that condemned men for their sins and wickedness in the light of a Holy God, with no hope of reprieve outside of their strict adherance to a set of rules, was a ministry that was no longer active.  "A ministry of death" is what he called it.  It's glory is no more.  It came to and end because it was surpassed by a ministry of righteousness.

So why do so many ministers dabble in the ministry of condemnation?  There is no longer any glory in such a ministry.  The new covenant has come.  The new ministry of righteousness is about the peace God has made with men in their completely helpless estate.  He offers grace and forgiveness.  There is encouragment and hope when He reaches out his hand.

Contrary to many popular notions, God does not continually threaten to crush believers for sin.  He disciplines them.  Big difference.  And those He disciplines, he does so because He loves them (Hebrews 12:6).  Christ died for those HE loves (Galatians 2:20).  Discipline for those He loves and died for is not the same condemning that awaits the unredeemed in the Great Judgment to come.

True ministers of the Word of God warn the unrepentant of wrath, but preach the peace and love of God found in the righteousness and completed work of Christ, which has surpassed all human understanding.  It encourages and lifts up.

If you are redeemed, live encouraged that God's Word to you is peace, and hope and grace.  Be built up in a community of saints who understand that and share the faith.

If you are not redeemed, there is an inconceivable wrath awaiting you at the Judgment of all things when Christ returns because of your sin.  But the good news is that He has made a way to offer you peace and forgiveness for that sin, and you may live forever in grace and freedom if you respond to His call of repentance.  Don't listen to the condemnation and shaming of man.  Truth is, they probably don't know enough to shame you or condemn you enough, but God does.  And even though He does, He offers grace.  Think about it.

If you long to serve the Lord as a minister of His Word, make sure you understand what it is you are supposed to offer others.  Become to others what Christ is to you now after your repentance, not what He was to you before grace.  That is not now, nor was it ever your role to play.  Tomorrow, I will look at and clarify biblically what is referred to as a "ministry of righteousness" as we look at 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:6.

With you for His glory

Competent in Christ!

Regarding the Gospel of grace that is given us to preach and minister through, Paul says this:

"Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.  Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."  
2 Corinthians 3:4-6


My competency as a minister does not come from my diligence or internal fortitude, it comes from God.  I am commanded by Scripture to study the Word and to be a good steward of what has been entrusted to me, but that is not what gives me competence as a minister.  Without Christ and the Spirit of God living in and ministering through me, I am nothing more than a religious teacher.  My efforts are devotions that lead me into deeper dependance on Him.  If anything, it confounds me by the power of Grace, the simplicity of my part, and the faithfulness and continuity of His work in and through me.  Their is no pride in my diligent pursuit of wisdom, for in the light of His Word, I am humbled and strengthened only through absolute dependence on grace.  I bring nothing to be confident in.  His work in me and faithfulness to and through me is my confidence; because He alone is my competence. 


When we try to live by making what is supposed to be responsive fruit (study/stewardship), as our means of earning accreditation and competence, we are binding ourselves to a law which leads to death and whose glory has faded in the light of grace.  The are the very words of scripture we will look at tomorrow.


This is, by the Lord's design, completely opposite of the older covenant, in which my confidence could only be found in my competence in my fulfillment of the law in my own strength.  But the glory which that covenant revealed was fading.  The following vv. say that is was likened to "Moses wearing a veil".  The Glory of the new covenant however,  is permanent and never fading, because it is a spiritual glory born of His work in and through me.  The law covenant brought death, but this new covenant brings life.


Tomorrow I will continue through this passage in vv. 7-11. 


Are you living a ministry of confidence in the work of Christ or your own work?  If your idea of competence is tied up in your obedience and work, then you may not be living in grace.  Repent of your pride and humble yourself before God.  It is amazing how He lifts us up and uses us so powerfully when we quit trying to do His work in our own understanding and strength.

With you for His glory-

Do You Have Freedom or Something Else?

How do you know if you are experiencing true freedom in Christ?

I want to make this as black and white as possible (because Scripture does) for those who struggle with bondage, or for those who are trapped in bondage and need the light of Scripture to shine on your shackles and open for you the way to true freedom and joy in Christ.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave His life for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing."
Galatians 2:20-21

There is freedom in the Gospel.  If you live under the weight of shame and guilt for past sins, you probably haven't experienced the Freedom that Christ offers you through reconciliation.  Think about that word, "reconciliation".  We have been reconciled to God through the blood of Christ.  It is the Grace of God that sets us free to live to Him.  Are we sinners?  Yes!  Are we perfect yet? No!  Can we move forward in the grace of God anyway?  Yes!

"Clearly, no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The Righteous will live by faith."  The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."'
Galatians 3:11-12

Shame that condemns is produced by illegitimate guilt brought on by a guilty conscience or ignorance.  Legitimate guilt comes from God for the purpose of producing repentance.  True repentance produces fruit in accordance with Scripture:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  These are evidenced in the midst of adversity when their manifestation is demanded by Scripture, and distinguished from false fruits that disappear when adversity strikes.  There is no guilt or shame here, because against such things there is no law (*vs. 23).  True freedom brings real fruit, which in turn brings more freedom.  False fruit brings false condemnation, which leads to more bondage.

"Before this faith, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.  So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.  Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law."
Galatians 3:23-25

If your life is an attempt to regulate behavior and eradicate sin by administration of the law, then you are not free.  "Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?"  (Galatians 3:5)

You either believe what Scripture says, or you don't.  If you do, you live in the freedom of Grace.  If you don't, then you live in the bondage of the law and you are not saved.  If you live according to the law and claim to be saved, you are living a lie.  Repent.  Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and let Him lift you up.  Stop trying to lift yourself up.    What is it that Scripture says?

"For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this (faith) is not of yourselves, but it is the gift of God, not a result of works, that no one may boast."
Ephesians 2:8-9

Faith is believing that God has completed the work and that He is working in you  (and others = not your responsibility to transform) toward His intended purposes and will not let you go.  True faith produces true guilt over sin.  True guilt produces repentance.  True repentance produces fruit.  True fruit changes you from the inside out.

If you live under the weight of shame for sin, cry out for freedom.  You don't have to live with it.  CHRIST DID NOT DIE FOR NOTHING!

If you are busy pointing out the failures of other people, you probably haven't experienced true salvation, because that is not how the redeemed love.  If you are busy trying to replace sinful urges with "better" activities, then you probably haven't experienced salvation, because activities don't replace urges, new urges do.  If you are busy trying to sterilize your life from evil, then you probably don't understand what Christ has done and what is His to do and what very little is yours, because the redeemed focus on and think on what is good, lovely, noble, trustworthy, praiseworthy, etc.  Nothing you do can bring about salvation or force salvation upon others.  If you think this might be you, pray for freedom.  Read Galatians, and praise God for His mercies and faithfulness.  I look forward to seeing you and hearing you experience true freedom in Christ!

With you for His glory