Thomas Aquinas Commentary 2 Corinthians 3:1-5

"Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? or need we, as do some, epistles of commendation to you or from you? Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men; being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in tables [that are] hearts of flesh. And such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God;" — 2 Corinthians 3:1-5 (ASV)

After presenting his explanation, by which he won the goodwill of his hearers, the Apostle proceeds to his main intention: to discuss the ministers of the New Testament. In this regard, he does two things: first, he commends the dignity of the good ministers; second, he expands on the guilt of the evil ministers (chapter 10 and following).

Regarding the first point, he does two things: first, he commends the ministry of the New Testament; second, he commends the exercise of this ministry by exhorting others to it (chapter 6). Regarding the first of these, he commends the ministry of the New Testament from three aspects: first, in this chapter, from its dignity; second, from its exercise (chapter 4); and third, from its reward (chapter 5).

On the first aspect, he does two things: first, he addresses an objection; second, he commends the ministers of the New Testament (verse 6). It should be noted that the Apostle intended to commend the ministers of the New Testament, of whom he is one. Therefore, lest the Corinthians object that in doing this he wishes to commend himself, he immediately addresses this, saying, “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again?” Here he does two things: he first raises the question and then he answers it.

The question is this: I say that we do not adulterate the Word of God as the false apostles do, but we speak with sincerity as from God. But in saying this, are we beginning to commend ourselves again? That is, are we saying this because we want to secure our own glory and not that of God? He says “again” because in the first epistle he had commended himself sufficiently when he said, Like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation (1 Corinthians 3:10). Therefore, we are not saying this to seek our own glory, but God’s: Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips (Proverbs 27:2).

He answers this when he asks, “Or do we need…?” Here he shows that he is not eager to commend himself. In this regard, he does two things: first, he shows that he does not need human commendation; second, that he does not require it of them (verse 4). Regarding the first point, he does two things: first, he shows that he does not need their commendation; second, he gives the reason for this (verse 2).

He says, therefore: I declare that we do not begin to commend ourselves, because we do not need commendation. This is what he means: Do we, the true ministers, need letters of recommendation to you from others, or from you to others, as some do—namely, the false apostles? On the other hand, he says in Colossians 4:10, Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, greets you. Even papal legates always carry letters of recommendation. Therefore, it is not evil. I answer that it is not evil to accept such letters from famous people, which serve to commend and honor the bearer until they become known by their own good works; that is what papal legates do. But the Apostle was already so well known and recommended among them by his works that he did not need letters of recommendation.

Therefore, he immediately gives the reason for this, saying, you yourselves are our letter of recommendation, as if to say: I have a good letter; I do not need others. In this regard, he does two things: first, he shows what that letter is which he has; second, he explains this (verse 3). Regarding the first point, he does two things: first, he shows what that letter is; second, he shows that it is sufficient for commending him (verse 3b).

He says, therefore, you are our letter, that is, the letter through which our dignity is made manifest and by which we are commended, so that we do not need other letters: You are our glory (1 Thessalonians 2:20); My little children, with whom I am again in travail, until Christ be formed in you (Galatians 4:19). But is this letter sufficient? Yes, because it is written on their hearts. Here he touches on two things that make such a letter sufficient. One is that it should be understood and known by its intended recipient. The other is that he to whom it is sent may read and know it.

Regarding the first, he says, written on our hearts, because we always have you in mind, having a special care for you: I hold you in my heart (Philippians 1:7). Regarding the second, that the recipient may read and know it, he says, to be known and read by all men. It is to be known, I say, because you have been instructed and converted by us; but it is read, because by our example even others imitate you: Write the vision; make it plain upon tablets, so he may run who reads it (Habakkuk 2:2).

Then he explains how this letter is known, saying, you show that you are a letter from Christ. In this regard, he does three things: first, he explains whose letter it is; second, how it was written; and third, on what it was written. He shows whose it is when he says it is from Christ. Therefore, he says, you show that you are a letter from Christ, meaning you are informed and led by Christ as the principal authority—For you have one teacher (Matthew 23:8)—but by us as secondary instruments. Hence he adds, delivered by us: This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ (1 Corinthians 4:1); What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed (1 Corinthians 3:5).

He shows how it was written: not with ink, meaning not mixed with errors like the letters of the false apostles, nor changeable and imperfect like the Old Law, which led no one to perfection . For black ink signifies error, and erasable ink signifies changeability. It is written not with ink, I say, but with the Spirit of the living God, that is, by the Holy Spirit, by whom you live and by whose teaching you have been instructed: In whom you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13).

He suggests where it is written when he says, not on tablets of stone, like the Old Law, to exclude hardness. It is as if to say: not in the stony hearts of the hard-hearted, like the Jews—You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51)—but on tablets of human hearts. These are hearts opened by charity and made human, that is, made receptive through being filled and gaining understanding: I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).

Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Above, the Apostle explained that he was not seeking his own glory, because he did not need it. Here, he proves that he is not seeking his own glory. Indeed, he attributes everything good he does not to himself but to God. In this regard, he does two things: first, he attributes all the good he has and does to God; second, he gives the reason for this.

He says, therefore: I say that we do not need letters of recommendation and that you are our letter, delivered by us. Nor do we seek our own glory, but Christ’s. Such is the confidence—that is, to say such things—that we have through Christ toward God, meaning we refer it all to God. Or, I have such confidence in God, by whose power I say these things, because He works in me. And this is the confidence we have through Christ, through whom we have access to the Father, as it says in Romans 5:2, and who unites us to God: Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord (Jeremiah 17:7). And I have this confidence because I am united to God through Christ: I will act confidently in him (Psalms 11:6, Vulgate).

The cause of this confidence is that whatever I do, I attribute the very beginning of the work to God. Therefore, he says, not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, much less to say and accomplish it. For in the pursuit of any work, there is first an assent, which is done by thinking; then discussion, by word; and finally accomplishment, by work. Therefore, if a person does not have the thought from himself but from God, there is no doubt that not only the completion of a good work is from God, but even its very beginning: He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). This is contrary to the Pelagians, who say that the beginning of a good work is from us, but its completion is from God: O Lord, you have wrought for us all our works (Isaiah 26:12). But lest this seem to take away free will, he says of ourselves, meaning on our own part, and commends divine grace when he says, as coming from us, meaning as though it came from us, rather than from God.

The Philosopher also teaches that a person can never do any good through his free will without God’s help. The reason is that in the things we do, it is necessary to seek the purpose for which we do them. But this cannot be an infinite process, for we must arrive at something that is first—for example, a counsel or decision. Therefore, I do good because the counsel to do so is in me, and this counsel is from God. He says that the counsel to do good is from something above man, which moves him to act well; and this is God, who moves humans and all created things to their respective actions. But humans are moved in one way, and other things in another.

Since motion of this kind is something received into the thing moved, it must occur according to the mode of that thing's nature. Therefore, God moves all things according to their natures. Those things whose nature is to have free will and control over their actions, He moves in such a way that they act freely, as rational and intellectual creatures. But others He moves not freely, but according to the mode of their nature. Although we are not sufficient to think anything of ourselves as coming from ourselves, we still have a certain sufficiency—namely, the ability to will the good and to begin to believe—and this sufficiency is from God: What have you that you did not receive? (1 Corinthians 4:7).