2 Corinthians 3:1-18

The purpose and passion of Paul’s life was to proclaim the Gospel.  He made great sacrifice from the time He was saved until the Lord took him to heaven in order that the Gospel might move forward.  Paul had been changed by the Gospel and he felt compelled to spread the message of Christ to all with whom he came in contact.
THE GOSPEL IS PROCLAIMED IN DEPENDANCE ON GOD: Paul realized that he was nothing more than a sinner saved by the grace of God.  He knew that he had not sufficiency in and of himself to make the message of Christ heard and understood.  As talented and committed as Paul was, he still depended on the Spirit of God to equip him for the work of the ministry.  That is why there is not room for pride in the work of the Lord.  If the ministry depended on our strength or ability there would be room and reason for boasting in our accomplishments.  However, since the ministry is accomplished only in dependence on God, all of the glory and honor belongs to the Lord.  We are all useless apart from the grace of God and no matter how significant our ministries may look, we must never believe that we deserve the credit for that which God has graciously accomplished through us.  The glory is His alone.
THE GOSPEL IS PRESENTED TO REVEAL TRUTH: The job of every minister of the Gospel is simply to present the truth of the Word of God to the people with whom God allow us to come into contact.  Christ taught that the truth is what sets us free and that continues to be the case today.  Our job as ministers of the Gospel is to reveal the truth to those who have been deceived by the world, Satan, and/or their own hearts.  Our ignorance of the truth is what chains us to sin.  The truth of the Gospel is what God uses to liberate us from the death and destruction that sin inflicts upon our lives.  Our only hope of helping others is to reveal the truth to them as it is presented in the Word of God.
THE GOSPEL IS POWERFUL TO TRANSFORM LIVES: We have no ability to change the hearts of men.  We can proclaim the truth that is revealed in Scripture, but we have no power to bring about the spiritual transformation that men so desperately need.  However, when the Word of God is proclaimed and the Spirit of God begins to work, the lives of men are supernaturally transformed.  This transformation does not depend on the ability of men but on the grace and power of God.  The presence of sin requires that lives must be transformed.  We have no ability to bring about this transformation in our own lives or in the lives of others.  However, we do have the Gospel of Christ which has all the power that is needed to change the hearts of men.  We must never abandon the life changing message of Christ for the message or methods of men which have no power to transform lives.

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