2 Coríntios 3

2 Coríntios 3:5-6

Ryle writes that "The world's idea of greatness is to rule, but Christian greatness consists in serving (cp Mk 10:45). Vance Havner - There are no trivial assignments in the work of the Lord. Henrietta Mears - Serving God with our little is the way to make it more; and we must never think that wasted with which God is honoured or men are blessed. The the word group diakonos, diakoneo, diakonos differs the other Greek word group, douleuo (doulos) which also means to serve, in that the former word group connotes “service” on behalf of someone while the latter speaks of “service” as a slave under or subordinate to someone (as a bondservant or bondslave to the “lord” or “master”). As Richards says... In Greek thought, both types of service were shameful. The duty of the Greek person was to himself, to achieve his potential for excellence. To be forced to subject his will or surrender his time and efforts for the sake of others was intensely distasteful, even humiliating. But Jesus came to serve, not to be served. In giving Himself for others, Jesus set the pattern for a transformed value system. In Christ, serving is the highway to greatness. In Christ we achieve our full potential by giving, not by grasping. (Richards, L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency) Ministry (including "mission" as shown in the reference below) is not the activity of an elite class, but the mutual caring of a band of brothers. Luke records that Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission (diakonia), taking along with them John, who was also called Mark. (Acts 12:25+) Such service is personal and practical, rather than institutional. A diakonos is one who by choice and position has come to be under the authority of his Master and who therefore serves others in love and gratitude. Paul had been called and set apart to be a servant, Luke quoting Paul who testified... I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry (diakonia) which I received from the Lord Jesus (Ministry was not Paul's idea but God's!), to testify solemnly of the Gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24+) Martha is an example of service of a menial nature but without the proper attitude, Luke recording that Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him, and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving (diakonia) alone? Then tell her to help me. (Lk 10:40+) The word group diakonos, diakoneo, diakonia involves compassionate love towards the needy within the Christian community. Paul and Luke in the Acts use the word to designate those who preach the gospel and have care of the churches, even as Paul instructed Timothy to... be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry (diakonia) (2Ti 4:5+) Comment - All the verbs in red are commands -- this signifies that Timothy must be totally dependent on the indwelling Spirit to supernaturally enable him to obey these supernatural commands and not to trust in or rely on his fallen flesh, his "natural" ability or power! This applies to all disciples of Christ! His power, not ours!!! Therefore, the word group diakonos, diakoneo, diakonia describes an office or ministration in the Christian community viewed with reference to the labor needed for others. What Paul said to Archippus in the closing section of Colossians applies to every believer... Take heed (aorist imperative = Don't delay! Do this now! The charge is urgent! Obey by depending on the Spirit not the flesh!) to the ministry (diakonia) which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it. (Col 4:17+) Every believer is called by His Lord to the role of a servant, and one of the surest ways we can serve Christ is to serve the saints in His behalf (see Mt. 25:34-40). UNDERSTANDING THE NEW COVENANT Of a new covenant - The word new (kainos) means brand new, of a kind that has never existed. It is new is quality in comparison to the Old Covenant. The irony is that the New Covenant was promised in the Old Testament, a promise make by Jehovah and given as a prophetic hope to the Jews who were at that time in captivity in Babylon in a seemingly hopeless state (in wrath He remembered mercy = Hab 3:2b)... "Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a New Covenant (Lxx of "New" = kainos = "fresh", brand new, radically unlike the Old) with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 2 not like the (Old) covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (cf Ex 24:3,7+ = Israel's promise "we will do!") My covenant which they broke (Old Covenant - Mosaic Law given at Mt Sinai), although I was a husband to them,” (See Israel Wife of Jehovah) declares the LORD. But this is the covenant which I will make (karath = cut) with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Je 31:31-34+). Jesus inaugurated this New Covenant when He shed His blood on the Cross (Lk 22:20+; 1Cor 11:25+; 2Co 3:6, Heb 8:8+, Heb 8:13+; He 9:15+). This covenant is new in several ways: It is a better covenant (He 7:22+), an infallible (faultless) covenant (He 8:7+), an everlasting/eternal covenant (He 13:20+), a covenant grounded on better promises (He 8:6+). The fact that the Old and the New cannot be "mixed" is repeated in all 3 synoptic gospels to emphasize the distinctive, unique nature of the New Covenant (Mt 9:17+ Mk 2:21, 22+, Lk. 5:36-38+). The new commandment of love has its basis in Christ’s own love (Jn 13:34, 1Jn 2:7, 8+; 2Jn 1:5). Those who enter the New Covenant are new creations in Christ (2Co 5:17+). In the New Covenant Jews and Gentiles are now one new man in Christ (Ep 2:15+, Ga 6:15+). New Covenant believers are to put on their new nature (Ep 4:24+). In the first place,The Bad News of the Law versus the Good News of grace Run, John, Run! The Law commands But gives me neither feet nor hands. Far grander news the Gospel brings It bids me fly and gives me wings! Broomall on new things - The new covenant (ASV; cf. Mt 26:28; Heb 8:8, 13) requires a “new man” (Eph 2:15; 4:24) who is a “new creature” (2 Cor 5:17). This regenerated person has a “new name” (Rev 2:17), observes a “new commandment” (1 Jn 2:7, 8), sings a “new song” (Rev 14:3), looks for “new heavens and a new earth” (2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1) where the “new Jerusalem” (Rev 21:2) is and where all things are “new” (Rev 21:5) (2 Corinthians 3) "The Old Covenant is Paul trying to do his best on behalf of God. The New Covenant is God doing his best through Paul. -- Ray Stedman The respected pastor Ray Stedman emphasizes that "This is a very important subject. It is my deep conviction that this is the one truth above everything else in the Bible that God wants his people to learn. If I had to list the most important truth in the Word of God, aside from the deity of Christ, I would say it is this truth -- the New Covenant, the new provision for life that God has given His people. But the one thing I find most missing in the church across the world today is the knowledge and understanding of this new way to live...Therefore, this New Covenant that Paul talks about is entirely different than anything the world knows anything about. The world would say that Paul was a success, and the great apostle that he was, because he was doing his very dedicated best to give himself totally to mobilize all his resources and his considerable abilities to serve God with all his heart. But if you asked Paul, he would never say that. He would say that there was nothing coming from him (cp 1Co 15:10-note). And he is not just being modest; he means that. "I don't make that kind of a contribution at all," he says, "everything is coming from God. The ability that is evident in my ministry, the changes that occur in people's lives because of what I am and where I go have nothing to do with my natural skills or ability. It's all coming from God at work in me." The Old Covenant is Paul trying to do his best on behalf of God. The New Covenant is God doing his best through Paul. What a difference that is! That is the great truth we need to learn. (Have you got What it Takes? - 2Corinthians 3:1-11)