My first vicar taught me that in the event of a dispute it is far better to see the person involved rather than write a letter. We can be grateful that on this occasion Paul didn’t follow that advice, otherwise we would never have had this marvellous letter! Hovering in the background is the issue of the false teachers at Corinth who were trying to undermine Paul’s ministry. They followed the customary practice of providing letters written by other churches (or possibly by themselves!) commending their work (v 1). 

Paul did not need such testimony to authenticate his ministry: no character references, no framed qualifications on his office wall – just lives transformed by Jesus and indwelt by the Spirit of God (vs 2,3). He dispenses with pen and ink, instead pointing to flesh and blood people whose lives are an open letter able to be read by anyone. This approach puts the church on the spot of course. Would people visiting Corinth ‘read’ them? Perhaps this bit of the letter challenged them to ‘get a grip’ and mend their ways.

We too have care and responsibility for others – whether a child, or partner, or friend or colleague. Are their lives, as the result of our influence, a book that others would delight to read?!

God the Father ‘has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light’.¹

Qualifications are important. Many have acquired bits of paper that certify they have demonstrated certain levels of knowledge or ability and therefore can be relied upon. There are, equally, many people who have achieved their qualifications in the university of life and probably believe them to be superior!

Paul, among the other things he had to endure, was subject to profound impertinence. He was the founder of the Corinthian church and had every right to believe that ‘in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel’.² Now he is being asked by somebody (we shall come back to the question of who) to provide letters of recommendation to prove his bona fides (v 1). Should we put up with cheek, or should we name it for what it is? Paul gives the best possible answer, mixed up, again, with some decent theology: the Corinthians themselves were his recommendation. Through his ministry, Christ had become written on their hearts by the Spirit of the living God (note the trinitarian reference).

All this said, Paul introduces here the note of self-deprecation: he has no intention of commending himself since the facts speak for themselves. Anyway, what matters is not what we claim about ourselves but how we stand before God (v 4). If we have the power to accomplish anything for God it is because God has made it so. By grace, God has made him and his co-workers ministers of a new covenant, demonstrably so, one which operates in the life-giving Spirit (v 6). None of this means that qualifications don’t matter – remember that Paul was a highly trained rabbinic scholar (as well as a tent-maker) and had worked hard to acquire the skills.³ Without God’s Spirit, however, this is all letters and not life.

Reflect prayerfully upon your qualifications, gifts and achievements. Give thanks for what God has given you and offer it back to be filled with the Spirit.

¹ Col 1:12  ² 1 Cor 4:15  ³ Phil 3:4–6