The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 81

God and such is the epistJe of Christ-an argument surely for Christian consistency and for brotherly concord, that the sacred epistle may not be rendered unintelligible. ~f each memberofa_ Church abide in _his place, a1;1d all ~ogetber dwell in peace and walk m the truth, there lS produced an epistle of Chnst which puts the gainsayer to silence. Thank God that even a faulty Church or blotted epistle has somethina of a Divine element, some impression and expression of Christ! The obligation whi~h lies on the Church may )>a p~~ ~n ~eh member thereof. Would that Christ were more apparent and more leg1ble in Christians! Let your character be a consistent representation or epistle of rour Lord, and let it be an ori~inal, not a copy of some other man's religion but a genm~e P:oductic,n of Jesus Christ_ by" the Spirit of the living God." If you g~ to t~e Lord J~t1fymg y_ourself and accnsrng others, he will only write on the ground ; but 1f you with a penitent heart accuse yourself, he will write on you his grace and truth. Hereafter, when you have overcome, he will write on you his new Name.-F. Ver. 6,-ne letter and the spirit. The contrast between letter and spirit is in Scripture peculiar to the pages of St. Paul (see Rom. ii. 29; vii. 6). The subject specially occupied him, as the champion of Christian liberty and a profound thinker on tbe relations of the Old and New Testaments. J. THE 00:!ITRASTED TERMS-LETTER AND BPIBIT. A more frequent opposition is between flesh and spirit (see John iii. 6; vi. 63; Rom. viii. 1-13; Gal. v. 16-25). 'l'be distinction is obvious between a fleshly and a spiritual disposition, and the alterna- tive is shown to be one of life or death. "To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." But, by letter and spirit must be intended things of which it is possible for men to be ministers. St. Paul was a minister, not of the letter, but of the spirit; and the context shows that by letter he meant the old covenant, and by spirit the new. Not that there was nothing but letter in the one and Ilothing but spirit in t.be other. The contrast is between predominant characteristics; and characteristically, though not exclusively, the old covenant was letter and the new covenant was spirit. Therefore the latter excelled in glory. 'l'be old economy, or testa- ment, is not spoken of with disrespect. It was adapted in the wisdom of God to the training of the Hebrew people as his chosen nation. It was not a mere dead writing, but had a meaning in it which was Divine. The very term "letter" implies some import or significance. And there was enough in the Old Testament to educate tho minds of men in religious ideas, and bring home sacred obligations and hopes to their hearts. But it is called "the letter" because that which bulked largely in it was a code of law and a handwriting of ordinances. In its prescription of law it was to sinful men a ministration of death; and in its ritual of worship it was inferior to that holy liberty which we now enjoy in everywhere worshipping the Father in spirit and in truth. 'fhe old covenant had shadows, the new has substance; the old had rudiments and elements, the new has perfection; the old had pntterns of heavenly things, tho new ha.a heavenly things themselves; the old was a dispensation of dimness as of light seen through a veil, the new is one of unveiled faces and God's marvellous light. The new economy, or testament, while characteristically one of" spirit," is not altogether without letter. As every soul must have a body, and every essence a form, in order to be known among men, so has the spirit of the New 'l'estarnent embodiment and exact expression. Bnt here lies the contrast. Pre-Christian religion contained a small pro- portion of spirit and life in a large bulk of letter and ordinance. Christianity has n large proportion of spirit and life in a bulk of law and form as small and light ne poss1Lle. 'l'be teachings of Christianity are facts and principles, not propositions and restrictions; its institutions are simple outlines, not precise ceremonies; and its laws are moral sentiments, not minute mechanical directions. II. 'l'BE EFFECTS WHICH FLESH AND SPIRIT SEVERALLY PRODUCE. The letter, void of spirit, kills. The epirit, in whatever form or letter conveyed, gives life. We must stilf be on our guard against making that absolute which is intended only as a Atrong comparative. We must not say or suppose that under the M058:iC _economy there ~as uotbing but condemnation, bondage, and death. Beneath and w1thm the letter which had such promiilence, there nas spirit; and men who knew how to penetrate the letter got the spirit, and with it goi life. But the more that men made of mere traditional letter and form, the less they knew of the spirit ol li~rty and the power of godliness. CE. III. 1-18.J THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 81