WHAT KIND OF MINISTRY DO I HAVE?

Paul draws a strong contrast between two kinds of ministry in 2 Corinthians 3:7-9, new covenant versus old covenant ministry. The word translated “ministry” (διακονία) is used four times in these three verses.  Drawn from the context of menial service like food preparation, it came to refer to the service of apostles and bishops in Acts 1:17 and 20:24 (BAGD, p.184). The word “glory” (δόξα) is used five times. The verb along with the noun is used four more times in the next two verses (10-11). 

Paul is showing us that the ministry God calls us to is a glorious ministry. We must never lose sight of the glory of the ministry in the drudgery of the service. While both kinds of ministry possess glory, one is more glorious. Literally it “abounds” (περισσεύει) in glory “much more” (πολλῷ μᾶλλον). The glory of new covenant ministry exceeds the glory of old covenant ministry.

Paul describes the old covenant ministry as the “ministry of death” (τοῦ θανάτου) in verse 7 and the “ministry of condemnation” (τῆς κατακρίσεως) in verse 9. The new covenant ministry is described as the “ministry of the Spirit” (τοῦ πνεύματος) in verse 8 and the “ministry of righteousness” (δικαιοσύνης) in verse 9. All four genitives should be taken in the same way with the same force. The constructions form two sets of contrasting patterns.

ἡ διακονία τοῦ θανάτου (death)

ἡ διακονία τοῦ πνεύματος (Spirit)

τῇ διακονίᾳ τῆς κατακρίσεως (condemnation)

ἡ διακονία τῆς δικαιοσύνης (righteousness)

How should we understand the genitives in these constructions? Are they simply genitives of quality or description (BD, p.91)? If so, they describe a quality of the ministry which makes sense in the last set of two constructions but not the first set of two. The “Spirit” cannot be merely a quality of ministry because it is clear in context that this is not the human spirit but the Spirit of God (3:6, 17-18).

The genitives could be objective genitives (BD, p.90) which is the way that some commentators understand Paul. In this case, one ministry leads to death and condemnation while the other ministry leads to the Spirit and righteousness. The object of the action of ministry is condemnation or righteousness (MART, p.61). The problem arises once again with the Spirit. In what sense does the ministry lead to or produce the Spirit. It is the Spirit who gives life, and it is the letter that kills (3:6).

The best way to understand the genitives is that they are subjective genitives perhaps better called “genitives of origin” (BD, p.89). Meyer uses the word “medium” to bring out the force of the genitives (MEY, p.468). One ministry is the medium of death and condemnation. It is the way that death and condemnation work in our lives. The other ministry is the medium of the Spirit and righteousness.  The Spirit of God is the origin of life and righteousness through the ministry of the Gospel of Christ. Gospel preaching is the way the Spirit and righteousness work through us. Our ministries are the expression of His grace and His righteousness.

Righteousness and condemnation are the legal acts of God carried out through the ministry of the Gospel. This is forensic or judicial righteousness and condemnation (MEY, p.468 fn1). Paul has just written that we are the smell of death to those who are perishing, or we are the smell of life to those who are being saved (2:15-16). God condemns sin through the ministry of the Law. There is a glory in this ministry, Paul tells us. However, God imputes righteousness through the ministry of the Gospel. There is far greater glory in this ministry, Paul stresses. When we focus on preaching the law, we are ministers of death and condemnation. When we focus on preaching grace, we are ministers of the Spirit and righteousness.

What kind of ministry do I have?

A.T. Robinson wrote:

It is sad to see a minister of Christ who is still at Sinai, who is still under the Old Covenant, who is still proclaiming a message of death, who has not caught the vision of love and grace and hope in the New Covenant. Paul’s appeal is for men who will carry the message of the Cross, not of Sinai. Paul sees in Jesus the emancipation of the human spirit from the bondage of the law. The chill of mere formalism had frozen the life out of Judaism as it has destroyed the real power of many expressions of Christianity (ATRG, p.76).

THE GLORY OF THE MINISTRY

In March of 1911, the Greek grammarian and preacher, A.T. Robertson, spoke at the Tabernacle Bible Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. He delivered a series of eight messages from 2 Corinthians 2:14-7:4 entitled The Glory of the Ministry: Paul's Exultation in Preaching which was later published in book form. Robertson spoke in his opening sermon of the discouragement that can overwhelm a pastor in the daily tensions of ministering to people. He wrote:

At such a time one is oversensitive and imagines all kinds of slights and insults. The real difficulties and problems of the ministry are magnified out of all proportion to the facts. In such a case a minister is in jeopardy. He is in danger of becoming bitter towards the world, jealous of other ministers, disgusted with his own task. Thus he will lose his compass and drift out to sea (23-24).

In the last verse of Paul's grand parenthesis on the glory of the ministry, he wrote, Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction (2 Cor. 7:4). Paul had been paralyzed by discouragement to the point that he couldn't even tackle the new ministry door God had opened for him (2 Cor. 2:12-13). Now he exults in the ministry, having received a good report about the church in Corinth. God had transformed his despair into exultation through people. What is the glory of ministry? The glory of ministry is people, warts and all, being changed by God's grace into Christ's image!

"I am filled with comfort," Paul writes. The verb translated "I am filled" (πεπλήρωμαι) is a perfect passive indicative. We can bring out the force of the perfect tense by translating it "I have been filled with ongoing results!" The passive voice indicates that someone other than Paul filled him with comfort. We can't just talk ourselves out of discouragement by positive thinking. God has filled Paul with comfort by delivering good news about the Corinthian response to his letter. The word for "comfort" (παρακλήσει) can also mean encouragement (BDAG, 618). God encourages us in ministry through the encouragement of other Christians. We desperately need such encouragement many times in our lives as we serve the Lord.

"I am overflowing with joy," Paul continues. The word translated "I am overflowing" (ὑπερπερισσεύομαι) is in the present tense. Paul is continually overflowing with joy. The present tense indicates ongoing action in his life. The verb περισσεύω by itself means "to be present overabundantly." Paul adds the preposition ὑπερ to the verb περισσεύω making it mean to be present super overabundantly! You can't get any more abundant than that! In financial terms, it means "to make over-rich!" (TDNT, 6:58-59) The wealthiest person in the world doesn't have more joy than Paul who is "over-rich" with joy because of the work of God in the people he loves.

However, our joy is not found in the absence of affliction. Our joy is found in the midst of affliction. The preposition ἐπὶ which introduces the idea of affliction does not introduce a post-stress result. It should be translated "in" or "at" (Meyer, 2 Corinthians, 564). The pressure of ministry that Paul feels continues unabated. Paul now realizes that even in the depths of his discouragement God was "leading him in triumph in Christ" (2 Cor. 2:14). His exultation in seeing his stress from God's perspective led him to write his lengthy parenthesis on the glory of the ministry (2 Cor. 2:14-7:4). God is always leading us in triumph especially when we can't see Him at work in our circumstances.

We can be "over-rich" in exultation even in sacrificial service. We may not be wealthy in the rewards of this life, but we can be super wealthy in the joys of the next one as long as we invest in people because people have eternal value. A.T. Robertson concluded his final message to the pastors with these words about Paul that remind us to exult in the ministry.

He had missed making money, but had won the whole world. He had to the full all that was worth having, all that was enduring. He is the richest man in all the world as he writes the last words of this matchless panegyric on the Christian ministry (241).