Introduction
With the beginning of a New Year coming upon on us this week, perhaps you have given some thought about a positive change in your life by making a New Year’s resolution. It’s hard not to get the resolution urge on New Year’s Eve. It seems as though each New Year brings a sense of renewal and rebirth, not to mention the guilty awareness that you really did eat all of those cookies and candy over the holidays. Funny thing about those New Year’s resolutions: No matter how practical and attainable they appear to be on January 1st, they are almost always doomed with the passage of time.
However, there is a resolution that will make a difference for eternity. This resolution is one of the greatest accomplishments a Christian can have, and every Christian is qualified to complete this resolution. There is one important thing you must keep in mind about this resolution: It is not an option; rather, it is a command from the Lord Jesus Christ. The resolution is this: Make a commitment to live your life as an effective witness for the gospel by leading someone to Christ this year. Pray that God will give you the opportunity to present the gospel to an unbeliever, or to someone who has been deceived by errant doctrine. Let’s read chapter two of Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, beginning with verse 12.
Who is qualified to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ? How can you become a witness of the gospel to an unbelieving world even though you may feel you are not qualified to present the gospel effectively? Many of us may find witnessing to be one of the most difficult aspects of the Christian life. We know that Jesus Christ has commanded us to go out into the world, and to preach the good news to all people. We know that we are to be a witness of the gospel message, that Jesus Christ died and was raised from the dead and that those who put their faith in the death and in the shed blood of Christ will receive the forgiveness of sin and promise of eternal life. But, the thought of presenting the gospel to a stranger, or to someone at work, or to, perhaps, a family member, may leave you feeling at least uneasy if not downright scared out of your wits. Sure, you’ve heard stories about how someone came to accept Jesus Christ as his or her Savior because a believer took the time to present God’s plan of salvation to that person. But you may be here today thinking to yourself: "There is no way I could ever do anything like that. I could never lead someone to Christ because I’m not qualified.” Or you may reason that leading someone to Christ is not your responsibility: “After all, didn’t God arrange the members of the church in a similar fashion to the parts of the body? And if the various parts of the body have their own specific functions, don’t the members of the church have their own specific functions as well? If that’s the case, why should I be expected to lead anyone to Christ if I don’t have the ability to be an evangelist? Besides, I don’t know enough about the Bible to teach anyone anything about Christianity. I’ll let other people lead others to Christ.”
In his Second Letter to the Corinthians, Paul asks the question: "Who is equal to such a task?" In other words Paul is asking: "Who is qualified to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ?” How can you become a witness of the gospel to an unbelieving world even though you may feel you are not adequate to present the gospel effectively?
I. The Corinthians Were Effective Witnesses for Christ as a Result of Their Hearing the Gospel
Paul convinces the Corinthians that they were effective witnesses for the gospel as a result of their hearing the gospel message Paul had preached to them. At this point, Paul is defending his ministry because the Corinthian church had been infiltrated by false teachers who were challenging Paul’s integrity as well as his authority as an apostle. A part of the controversy involved a change in plans Paul made concerning his visitation of the Corinthians. Paul had originally planned to make two short visits to the Corinthians. The first visit was to have taken place while he on his way to Macedonia, and the second visit was to have followed upon his return from there. In order to give you a sense of geography, the country of Macedonia made up the northern portion of what is now Greece, while the city of Corinth was located in southern Greece near the Mediterranean Sea. After visiting the Corinthians for the first time, Paul would have made his way north to Macedonia, then he would have worked his way south back to Corinth for his second visit. That was his original plan. But there was a change in Paul’s plan, and that change in his plan caused Paul to make one long visit to the Corinthians instead of two short visits.
So, what was the problem? So what if Paul made one long visit instead of two short visits? The problem was this: The false teachers used Paul’s change in plans to their advantage by claiming that Paul’s word could not be trusted. They claimed that Paul was a liar, simply because he changed his plans about how he was going to visit the Corinthians. The false teachers claimed: "If Paul can’t keep his word about a simple matter such as when he is going to visit you people, then how do you know his teaching about Jesus Christ is true?" The false teachers wanted the Corinthians to believe that since Paul changed his plans, they couldn’t believe anything he said.
And that accusation was significant because the doctrine presented by the false teachers diametrically opposed the gospel message Paul had been preaching. Although the false teachers claimed to be followers of Christ, their teaching was based upon an Old Covenant theology, which demanded that the believer follow the Law of Moses as a means of becoming right with God. The false teachers denied the sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as payment for the sins of the Corinthians. The false teachers told the Corinthians: “Faith in Jesus Christ isn’t enough because His sacrifice on the cross is not sufficient payment for your sins. Along with faith in Christ, you need to follow the Law of Moses to prove that you are worthy of God’s grace in order to have a right relationship with God.”
We pick up on Paul’s defense of his ministry in chapter 2. As we read beginning with verse 17, notice how Paul goes about convincing the Corinthians that his teaching was true.
Paul did not need to convince the Corinthians that his teaching was true through his own arguments or through the recommendations of others. Paul had the false teachers in mind when he asked: “Do we need letters of recommendation”? During the first century, there were so many impostors who claimed to be teachers of Christianity that anyone who was a preacher of the gospel was required to carry letters of recommendation, proof that the person was indeed a true preacher of God’s Word. But, as you might expect, there was a problem with letters of recommendation: How do you know when they are real? The false teachers carried letters of recommendation just like everyone else, only their letters had been forged or were otherwise obtained dishonestly. The point Paul is making is letters of recommendation are worthless since anyone claiming to be a preacher of the gospel carried them.
If Paul didn’t rely on letters of recommendation to prove that his teaching was true, then what was his proof? Look at verse 2.
Don’t you get a sense that Paul was amazed that the Corinthians would even consider what the false teachers were saying about him: "Why would you need a letter of recommendation from me, proof that the false teachers carry, when you are our letter of recommendation. Don’t be fooled by the false teachers, because you Corinthians are proof of the transforming power of the gospel we preach.”
Paul’s proof that his teaching was true was much more valid than any letter of recommendation. Paul’s proof was not some stupid piece of paper that anyone claiming to be a preacher of the gospel would carry. Paul’s proof was authentic. It wasn’t written with ink, like the phony letters of the false teachers; it was written with the Spirit of the living God. It wasn’t written on tablets of stone in the same way the Law of Moses was written on stone tablets on Mt. Sinai. Paul’s proof was written on tablets of human hearts, because Paul’s teaching represented the New Covenant, and the New Covenant guarantees the forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life to those who put their faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And since Paul’s teaching accurately reflected the truth of the New Covenant, his proof that his teaching was true was found in the hearts of the Corinthians.
But, how were the Corinthians proof? How were their hearts witness of the gospel message Paul had been preaching? And, for that matter, how can you become an effective witness for Christ as a result of your hearing the same gospel message?
The Corinthians were witnesses for Christ because when they heard the gospel message Paul had been preaching, their hearts were changed by God, and that change in their hearts was reflected through the words they spoke to others. Unlike a letter of recommendation, which may not be genuine and which is easily hidden from sight, the words of the Corinthians were obvious proof of the change that had taken place in their hearts as a result of their hearing the gospel message Paul had been preaching. The Corinthians were letters from Christ in the sense that their friends and families could read the gospel message through the words they spoke. The Corinthians were letters from Christ through the words they spoke to the many people representing various cultures and nationalities who visited the busy sea trade city of Corinth. The Corinthians were letters from Christ through the words they spoke to the pagan worshippers who came to Corinth to worship at the temple of Aphrodite. All those people who came into contact with the Corinthians were exposed to the truth of the gospel message because the Corinthians were letters from Christ.
And like the Corinthians, did you know that you are a letter from Christ? And there are people you meet every day who have never heard the good news that Jesus Christ can save them from their sin? You are a letter from Christ in the casual conversations you have every day with people you meet. Do you see your conversations as divine appointments that allow you to speak about Jesus Christ, or do you see those conversations as chance encounters where it is probably best not to speak about Christ for fear of offending someone? You are a letter from Christ whenever you face adversity at work. Do you see adversity as an opportunity to tell others about what Jesus Christ has done in your life, or do you respond to adversity in the same negative manner everyone else expresses?
Who is equal to such a task? Who is qualified to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ? You are equal to the task of an effective witness for Jesus Christ through the words you speak to others because the gospel message of Jesus Christ has been written on your heart. Remember this: You are a letter from Christ, written with the Spirit of the living God, known and read by everybody.
II. The Corinthians Were Competent Witnesses as a Result of God’s Grace
After declaring that the Corinthians were indeed effective witnesses for Christ as a result of their hearing the gospel message, Paul reminds the Corinthians that he was able to serve as a preacher of the gospel even though, from a human standpoint, he was not qualified to do so (read vv. 4 and 5). Before his conversion, Paul was a devote Jew who sought to kill all the Christians he could get his hands on. Because of his sinful past, Paul felt that he was not qualified to be an apostle. In Chapter 15 of his First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul describes how he felt about his own qualifications (read v. 9). Because of the way he lived his life Paul believed there were others who were more qualified for the work of an apostle than he; in fact, Paul wrote that he did not even deserve to be called an apostle.
If Paul felt so inferior, then how did he ever become an apostle? How can you become an effective witness for Christ, even though you may think that you are not adequately equipped to present the gospel? Paul continues in verse 10.
Paul recognized that he was able to become an apostle because of God’s grace in his life. By human standards, Paul would have never qualified to be a preacher of the gospel, let alone an apostle. But through his grace, God allowed Paul to become one of the most effective preacher of the gospel in history.
Are you letting your human qualifications influence your ability to present the gospel? Do you think that God could never use you to lead someone to Christ because you don’t have what it takes? Did you know that you are a letter from Christ? And there are people you meet everyday who have never heard the good news that Jesus Christ is a sufficient Savior? Just as the Corinthians were witnesses to the pagan worshippers in Corinth, you have the opportunity to speak about Jesus Christ to people who have been deceived by false teaching and errant doctrine. Like the false teachers of Corinth who denied the sufficiency of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there are people you meet every day who do not believe that Jesus Christ is a sufficient Savior. In the same way the false teachers insisted that the Corinthians follow the Law of Moses as a means of becoming right with God, there are people who believe that they need to add to the sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In fact, their arguments sound a lot like the arguments made by the false teachers of Corinth: “Faith in Jesus Christ isn’t enough. You need to be baptized in order to be saved. And you need to do good works to prove that you am worthy of God’s grace if you are going to have a right relationship with God.”
You are a letter from Christ to those people who have been deceived by false teachers because God, through His marvelous, infinite, and matchless grace, made you competent to be a witness for Christ. Along with God’s command to preach the gospel comes God’s grace, which enables you to speak confidently about Jesus Christ regardless of your human qualifications. When you understand God’s purpose for your life in light of His command to go out into all the world and to preach the good news to all people, you understand that every conversation you have is a divine appointment that gives you the opportunity to tell others about Jesus Christ.
Who is equal to such a task? Who is qualified to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ? You are equal to the task of an effective witness for Christ, not that you are competent in yourself, but your competence comes from God.
Conclusion
Has the gospel message been written on your heart? If so, Paul’s revelation that the Corinthians
were letters from Christ certainly applies to you. Do you ask God to help you recognize those moments that give you the opportunity to present the gospel? And do you pray that God will give you the correct words when you recognize those moments? Presenting the gospel requires a plan. Just as New Year’s resolutions are forgotten due to a lack of planning, God’s command to lead others to Christ can also be forgotten when you fail to prepare adequately. Make a commitment to be mentally and spiritually prepared for those occasions that will allow you to share the gospel.
If the gospel message is not written on your heart, or if you don’t know whether the gospel is written on your heart, Paul’s message to the Corinthians applies to you as well. The gospel message Paul preached to the Corinthians nearly 2000 years ago is the same gospel message of today, that is, Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross as a sacrifice for your sins. If you believe that you need to be baptized in order to be saved from your sin or that you need to do good works or follow the Ten Commandments in an effort to earn God’s favor, then you have been deceived by false teachers because the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross is a sufficient sacrifice, which means there is nothing you need to do to complete that sacrifice. All you need to do is believe that Jesus Christ died so that your sins may be forgiven. Make a commitment to Jesus Christ by accepting His sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins.
Funny thing about those New Year’s resolutions: No matter how practical and attainable they appear to be on January 1st, they are almost always doomed with the passage of time. This year, make a resolution that will last for eternity.
