Note 5 at 2 Cor. 3:3: Paul is speaking in defense of his apostleship and authority over the Corinthians. Their own lives testified as to the position he should hold in their hearts. He's the one who led them to the Lord and taught them the wonderful truths of God (see note 4 at v. 2).

Jesus said you could tell whether a tree was good or bad by looking at it's fruit (Mt. 7:17-19; 12:33). Paul uses that same logic here. Their own changed lives are the fruit of his ministry. Therefore, he cannot be bad, as some are accusing him of being, if he is producing good fruit. The transformed lives of these Corinthians were a greater letter of recommendation than any letter written on paper with ink could ever be. Christ Himself is the author of this letter, as described in the Old Testament prophecy about this New Covenant: "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." (Heb. 10:16-17).

In evaluating ministers and ministries, more attention should be given to the fruit that is being produced, as Paul does here. Failure to do this could lead someone to reject and even discredit a minister who simply makes a mistake or is wrong in one area. On the other extreme, failure to evaluate fruit could cause the simple to be deceived.

Every minister has shortcomings, just as every other member of the body of Christ does. But that doesn't mean his ministry is bad. Look at the fruit. Fruit is the true test of ministers and ministries.

There are some individuals today who feel it is their God-given duty to criticize, expose, and condemn other ministers and ministries by name. They dissect every little word and totally miss the heart of the minister. There is no scriptural precedent for this. Of course, there are instances where someone was rebuked or the body of believers were warned about someone, but these cases are relatively few and far between. No one was ever called to a ministry of correction. Anyone whose ministry exists only to correct others is way out of line.

In most cases, the critic is speaking against someone who has led more people to the Lord and blessed more lives than they will ever hope to. In other words, an individual who has little or no fruit is criticizing someone who has much fruit. That shouldn't be.

The fruit of these self-appointed spiritual police is not good. They take people who were once blessed and challenged by a minister and turn them into unhappy, unpleasant, critical people like themselves. They are judging another man's servant, which is not what the Lord wants them to do (Rom. 14:4). If they take issue with a minister over doctrine, then they should simply teach the truth. They don't have to mention the man's name and look for ways to discredit him. If the only justification for someone's ministry is to correct other ministries, then that's a bad tree which will produce bad fruit. Beware!

Note 6 at 2 Cor. 3:3: Notice that Paul says that this letter was written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the "living God." This phrase "living God" appears 30 times in scripture (Dt. 5:26; Josh. 3:10; 1 Sam. 17:26, 36; 2 Ki. 19:4,16; Ps. 42:2; 84:2; Isa. 37:4, 17; Jer. 10:10; 23:36; Dan. 6:20,26; Hos. 1:10; Mt. 16:16; 26:63; Jn. 6:69; Acts 14:15; Rom. 9:26; 2 Cor. 3:3; 6:16; 1 Tim. 3:15; 4:10; 6:17; Heb. 3:12; 9:14; 10:31; 12:22; Rev. 7:2).

In Hebrew and also in Greek a name or title signifies the attributes and characteristics of the person named. Therefore Paul's statements are very significant. We don't have a dead God. He's alive. It takes a living God to bring people abundant life (Jn. 10:10). The English word "God" is identical with the Anglo-Saxon word for "good," and therefore it is believed that the name "God" refers to Divine goodness. (Ungers Bible Dict.).

A list of various names for God are: "God (el, elah, elohim, eloah), Jehovah (JHWH), God (tsur-'rock,' Isa. 44:8), God (theos, N.T.), Lord (kurios, N.T.), (adonai, O.T.), Godhead (theotes, Col. 2:9), (theios, Acts 17:29), (theiotes, Rom. 1:20), Highest (Most High - elyon, Ps. 18:13, etc.), Highest (Most High - hupsistos, Mt. 21:9, etc.), Holy One (of Israel, qadosh, Ps. 71:22, etc.), Mighty One (el, Ps. 50:1; gibbor, Dt. 10:17, etc.), God of Gods (Dt. 10:17), Lord of lords (Dt. 10:17), Light giver (Maor, Gen. 1:16), Father (ab, O.T., Ps. 89:26, etc.), Father (pater, N.T., Jn. 5:17, etc.), Judge (shaphat, Gen. 18:25, etc.), Redeemer (gaal, Job 19:25), Saviour (yasha, O.T., Isa. 43:3), Saviour (soter, N.T., Lk. 1:47), Deliverer (palat, Ps. 18:2, etc.), Shield (magen, Ps. 3:3; also buckler, Ps. 18:30), Strength (eyaluth, Ps. 22:19), Almighty (shaddai, Gen. 17:1, etc.), God of seeing (el roi, Gen. 16:13), Righteous One (tsaddiq, Ps. 7:9, etc.), Lord of Hosts (elohim tsebhaoth, Jer. 11:20)" (Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia, vol. 2, p.761).