Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Corinthians 3:2

"Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men;" — 2 Corinthians 3:2 (ASV)

The latter of the two questions posed in v.1 Paul now answers explicitly. He insists that for him to carry commendatory letters to Corinth would be completely superfluous. The most complimentary letter he could possibly possess had already been written (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:2). Their very lives as men and women “in Christ,” the result of the grace of Christ operative in his apostolic ministry, were an eloquent letter that all could read. To bring another letter would amount to a personal insult to the Corinthians.

The letter imagery is further developed and explained. This letter was not a human document recorded in ink on papyrus. Nor was it a divine composition, such as the Decalogue, engraved on inanimate tablets of stone (Exodus 31:18; 32:15– 16). Rather, the letter was authored by Christ, was “written by the Spirit of the living God,” and was indelibly inscribed on living tablets, sensitive human hearts (Jeremiah 31:33; Jeremiah 32:38; Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26). Proof of Paul’s genuineness was to be found not in written characters but in human characters.

So Paul delivers a powerful rebuttal to his opponents. His commendatory letter had been written before theirs; it was indelible; it was widely circulated, not confidential or unpublished; and its author was Christ, not a partisan group within the Jerusalem church.