The ancient world was much like our world is this respect. It was common for business people to carry a portfolio, which included letters of recommendation. Nowhere did Paul ever speak against this practice, but in this instance he was saying, "I have something more powerful than a letter of recommendation. He was saying to the Corinthians, "you are my letter."

The background of that claim goes back to Acts 18. Paul had departed from Athens and relocated to Corinth, where he practiced his tent making trade. In the process he began preaching in that city, first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles.

Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.- Acts 18:7-8

Some of those baptized believers were among the original readers of the document we call 2 Corinthians. Too often we think of the church in Corinth only in terms of the trouble that plagued that body. The two surviving documents of correspondence to that church include much critical material. The purpose of that material was to soften attitudes and change behavior. The members of this church, no matter how imperfect in their walk with God, were light years removed from the Corinthian community in their demeanor.

The city of Corinth was notorious for its wickedness. Throughout the empire, the catch phrase "to live like a Corinthian" was commonly used to describe debauched behavior. A thousand prostitutes practiced their profession at the temple of Aphrodite. When the Greeks portrayed Corinthians in the dramas, they always showed them drunk. If a resident of Corinth spoke of his hometown when he was travelling, those who heard him would immediately assume that he was a drunken, profane, sexually immoral person.

The members of the Corinthian church had risen above that. Through Paul they heard the good news about Jesus. The Revised Standard Version reads

"You are a letter from Christ delivered by us."

It's a way of saying, "Christ wrote the letter and I served as the postman." For the Corinthians the good news was the message that Christ had come into their world. He was actually God clothed in human flesh. On the cross he dealt effectively with the problem of sin - the very problem that debauched Corinth.

When Christ came into the lives of people in Corinth, a remarkable change took place. Paul saw it as an ongoing change as indicated by his remarks in verse 18

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

It is this process of transformation that established the integrity of the gospel message. When people saw the transformation in their lives, the impact was more powerful and convincing than all of the books written by the cleverest defenders of the faith. It was more powerful than all the carefully thought out evangelistic strategies that have ever been devised. It was more persuasive than the arguments crafted by highly trained logicians.

Contemporary Application

I have two observations to make. One is negative and the other is positive.

My Negative Comment:

Our greatest handicap in preaching the gospel to a lost world is displayed in the lives of church members in whom Christ has made no real change.

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