3:3 [Forasmuch as ye are] {a} manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ {b} ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the {c} living God; {1} not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
(a) The apostle says this wisely, that by little and little he may come from the commendation of the person to the matter itself.
(b) Which I took pains to write as it were.
(c) Along the way he sets the power of God against the ink with which epistles are commonly written, to show that it was accomplished by God.
(1) He alludes along the way to the comparison of the outward ministry of the priesthood of Levi with the ministry of the Gospel, and the apostolical ministry, which he handles afterward more fully.
3:3 [Ye are] openly declared to be the epistle of Christ. A beautiful conception. Christ is the author of the letter.
Ministered by us. Paul was the penman.
Written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. The message was written on the fleshly tablets of the hearts of the brethren at Corinth. The means employed by Christ to convey the message was the Spirit which filled Paul. All men who could see the transformation effected in the lives of the Corinthians could read the epistle.
Not on tables of stone. Instead of naming parchment, he mentions tables of stone, because he is about to compare the Old Covenant, of which its chief part, the Decalogue, was written on stone, with the New Covenant (Ex 24:12).
3:3 Manifestly declared to be the letter of Christ - Which he has formed and published to the world. Ministered by us - Whom he has used herein as his instruments, therefore ye are our letter also. Written not in tables of stone - Like the ten commandments. But in the tender, living tables of their hearts - God having taken away the hearts of stone and given them hearts of flesh.
3:1-11 Even the appearance of self-praise and courting human applause, is painful to the humble and spiritual mind. Nothing is more delightful to faithful ministers, or more to their praise, than the success of their ministry, as shown in the spirits and lives of those among whom they labour. The law of Christ was written in their hearts, and the love of Christ shed abroad there. Nor was it written in tables of stone, as the law of God given to Moses, but on the fleshy (not fleshly, as fleshliness denotes sensuality) tables of the heart, Eze 36:26. Their hearts were humbled and softened to receive this impression, by the new-creating power of the Holy Spirit. He ascribes all the glory to God. And remember, as our whole dependence is upon the Lord, so the whole glory belongs to him alone. The letter killeth: the letter of the law is the ministration of death; and if we rest only in the letter of the gospel, we shall not be the better for so doing: but the Holy Spirit gives life spiritual, and life eternal. The Old Testament dispensation was the ministration of death, but the New Testament of life. The law made known sin, and the wrath and curse of God; it showed us a God above us, and a God against us; but the gospel makes known grace, and Emmanuel, God with us. Therein the righteousness of God by faith is revealed; and this shows us that the just shall live by his faith; this makes known the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ, for obtaining the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. The gospel so much exceeds the law in glory, that it eclipses the glory of the legal dispensation. But even the New Testament will be a killing letter, if shown as a mere system or form, and without dependence on God the Holy Spirit, to give it a quickening power.
