As I mentioned last time we were in 2 Cor, “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.” That means that you can’t really evaluate something until you try it out yourself. You have to eat the pudding to see how good or bad it is.

Paul’s main point in this passage is that the Corinthian people themselves are the “proof of the pudding.” That is, Paul could point to the people of that church as a living letter of recommendation giving testimony to the truth of the Gospel. People could look at that church and see that Paul’s ministry was legitimate.

The first main section of 2 Cor is a discussion of the privileges of Christian ministry. Paul continues that topic in today’s passage. And in the first few verses of chapter 3, he tells us how to be competent Christian ministers.

Every believer should think of himself as a servant of the Lord—that’s what a minister is—someone who serves God by serving God’s people. We all should be involved in Christian ministry in some way. And we should all want to serve the Lord with confidence or competence. How do we do that? How do we engage in competent Christian ministry? That’s what Paul is going to tell us in these verses.

Last time, we looked at the first part of this passage in which Paul compares human authority with divine action. Competent ministers rely on divine action, not human authority.

Now let’s consider the second part of this passage and what it says about how to be a competent Christian minister.