Fruits of an Authentic Ministry

Letters of recommendation were common in the Greco-Roman world. However, Paul did not bear such letters. The Spirit’s transformative power in the lives of the Corinthians was proof of his authentic ministry. Yet, Paul was sure that it was not through his intelligence or efforts that the church in Corinth came into being (2 Cor. 3:4–6). He was not involved in self-promotion (2 Cor. 3:5, 1 Cor. 2:2).

Paul speaks about his ministry by briefly discussing the two cove­nants: the old one represented by Moses and the new one represented by Paul and his colleagues. A hasty reader may think that the old cove­nant gave no hope of salvation, but this is untrue. Salvation was available in the old as in the new covenant. The old covenant was the gospel in advance. “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed’ ” (Gal. 3:8, NKJV).

In 2 Corinthians 3:1–4:6, we can see that the old covenant is used to symbolize the legalistic experience of those who depended upon their own works of obedience as the means of pleasing God. The new cove­nant, however, represents the experience of those who rely completely on God’s grace to do all that God has promised to do for them and in them.

Paul is talking about two different responses, by believers and unbelievers, to the gospel. He is not talking about different gospels, one in the Old Testament and a different one in the New—for there is only one gospel, offered by God, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2 Tim. 1:9, NKJV).

“This is not to deny that 2 Corinthians 2:14–4:6 contains some historical elements.”—Skip MacCarty, In Granite or Ingrained?: What the Old and New Covenants Reveal about the Gospel, the Law, and the Sabbath (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2007), p. 120. But Paul is using that history to make the point that some among them “are being saved” and some “are perishing” (2 Cor. 2:15, NKJV). Because of the reaction, that of unbelief and lack of faith toward Moses’ ministry, his ministry can be viewed as a ministry of condemnation and death. Because the church at Corinth believed, Paul’s ministry among them proved to be a ministry of righteousness, a ministry of the Spirit who gives life.

This experience of salvation of the church in Corinth is the evidence of Paul’s authentic ministry.

---

Additional Reading: Selected Quotes from Ellen G. White

When Jesus sat down to rest at Jacob’s well, He had come from Judea, where His ministry had produced little fruit. . . . He was faint and weary; yet He did not neglect the opportunity of speaking to one woman, though she was a stranger, an alien from Israel, and living in open sin.
As the woman talked with Jesus, she was impressed with His words. . . . She realized her soul thirst, which the waters of the well of Sychar could never satisfy. Nothing that had hitherto come in contact with her had so awakened her to a higher need. Jesus had convinced her that He read the secrets of her life; yet he felt that He was her friend, pitying and loving her. While the very purity of His presence condemned her sin, He had spoken no word of denunciation, but had told her of His grace, that could renew the soul. . . .
Leaving her waterpot, she returned to the city, to carry the message to others. . . . With heart overflowing with gladness, she hastened on her way, to impart to others the precious light she had received.“Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did,” she said to the men of the city. “Is not this the Christ?” Her words touched their hearts. There was a new expression on her face, a change in her whole appearance. They were interested to see Jesus.
As soon as she had found the Saviour the Samaritan woman brought others to Him. She proved herself a more effective missionary than His own disciples. . . . Their thoughts were fixed upon a great work to be done in the future. They did not see that right around them was a harvest to be gathered. But through the woman whom they despised, a whole cityful were brought to hear the Saviour. . . .
This woman represents the working of a practical faith in Christ. Every true disciple is born into the kingdom of God as a missionary. He who drinks of the living water becomes a fountain of life. The receiver becomes a giver.—Conflict and Courage, p. 294.

While two disciples were standing near, John again saw Jesus among the people. Again the face of the prophet was lighted up with glory from the Unseen, as he cried, “Behold the Lamb of God!” The words thrilled the hearts of the disciples. They did not fully understand them. What meant the name that John had given Him—“the Lamb of God”? John himself had not explained it.
Leaving John, they went to seek Jesus. One of the two was Andrew, the brother of Simon; the other was John the evangelist. These were Christ’s first disciples. Moved by an irresistible impulse, they followed Jesus—anxious to speak with Him, yet awed and silent, lost in the overwhelming significance of the thought, “Is this the Messiah?”
Jesus knew that the disciples were following Him. They were the first fruits of His ministry, and there was joy in the heart of the divine Teacher as these souls responded to His grace. Yet turning, He asked only, “What seek ye?” He would leave them free to turn back or to speak of their desire.
Of one purpose only were they conscious. One presence filled their thought. They exclaimed, “Rabbi, . . . where dwellest thou?” In a brief interview by the wayside they could not receive that for which they longed. They desired to be alone with Jesus, to sit at His feet, and hear His words. . . .
It is contrition and faith and love that enable the soul to receive wisdom from heaven. Faith working by love is the key of knowledge, and everyone that loveth “knoweth God” (1 John 4:7).—Lift Him Up, p. 168.