Paul's Apostolic Authority and Ministry by the Spirit
2 Corinthians 2:12-3:6
2
Chapter 2
12But when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, and a door had been opened to me in the Lord,13I had no relief for my spirit at not finding Titus my brother, but having taken leave of them, I went out to Macedonia.14But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifests the fragrance of the knowledge of him through us in every place.15because we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those being saved and among those being destroyed,16To some indeed a smell from death to death, but to some a smell from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?17For we are not like the many who peddle the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, in the presence of God in Christ we speak.
3
Chapter 3
1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of commendation to you or from you?2You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men.3being manifested that you are a letter of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets of fleshly hearts.4Such confidence, however, we have through Christ toward God.5Not that we are adequate in ourselves to reckon anything as from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.6who also made us competent ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.