Have you ever felt exasperated with those who seem impervious to the good counsel of Scripture? Did you ever feel like giving up hope that they would turn around, even though you knew they were continuing on the wrong track?

Why did the Apostle Paul put up with the believers at Corinth who were giving him such a hard time? Why didnt he just move on to another city, saying, I dont have to put up with this anymore! Im out of here!

Why did he bother to defend his actions when so many had given credence to the damaging accusations made against him by the false teachers who had wormed their way into the congregation?

The Apostle Paul took his role as an under shepherd of The Great Shepherd of the Sheep very seriously. He was not unaware of the devils schemes to drive a wedge of distrust between believers and the authority of true gospel ministers (2 Cor 2:11). He knew what was at stake if he didnt continue to speak the truth. What motivated him to persevere?

What we do in life matters. All will be weighed accurately on the day of reckoning (2 Corinthians 5:10). What has been truly birthed by the Spirit of God will be manifested as having enduring value. What may have appeared to be good works in our lives may be proved as being illusory if they were not motivated by a genuine desire to bring glory to God and true benefit to others.

A recent news article referred to the murder of a Silicon Valley Executive ensnared in the San Francisco underworld of drugs and clubbing. The reporter commented on a host of successful entrepreneurs haunted by an inner emptiness, despite their highly applauded achievements- Theyre highly functioning, very intelligent people, incredibly talented, and theres not much in our world for them to do.  They are left asking Is this all there is?

The French refer to this particular boredom with plenty as ennui- a sense of  weariness, dissatisfaction, and loathing that arises from an excess of gratification.

How different it is for those who know that they are made for participation in Gods eternal plan. Spiritually-renewed Christians know they are positioned in a Christ-centered universe to live Christ-centered lives.  What impedes human participation is the problem of sin. The good news is that God, in His mercy, has put into effect a plan of salvation by which He would reconcile the world unto Himself in such a way that enabled Him to forgive sin without compromising His impeccable sense of justice.

But how are we who believe the gospel to function as reconciled sinners legally and positionally constituted as righteous before God? Do you have a new creation perspective? Has your heart and mind been reconciled to your participation in Gods eternal purpose? What does this kind of life look like?

What is your perspective on life? Do you recognize that your hardships, weaknesses, and afflictions, provide opportunities for you to personally experience and manifest the indwelling life of Christ?

Our current physical bodies are fragile earthen vessels. They are jars of clay. They were made to be receptacles and manifesters of divine life. Sin causes them to fall short of serving Gods original intention.

For Christians, however, these physical bodies still can serve Gods eternal purpose. Although they will be dissolved to dust, they will one day be resurrected in an incorruptible state.  From then on they will perfectly serve Gods original intention--they will enable us to reflect His communicable attributes, both in attitude and action.

Though we live in these transitory imperfect bodies, we have an opportunity every day to experience His life and have it progressively transform us to the image of Christ. By looking to Him and focusing on what is of eternal value, we will be better furnished to appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ. On that day, when our lives are scrutinized in His light, only that which has been sourced in His life will remain (John 15:1-16; 1 Corinthians 3:12-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

How do we recognize if our Christianity is the real deal? The Apostle Paul refers to the real deal as the outliving of the indwelling Christ (2 Corinthians 13:5). He refers to it as this ministry (2 Corinthians 4:1), the ministry of the new covenant (2 Corinthians 3:6), the ministry of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:8, 17-18) and the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). This ministry is shared by all those who have personally put their faith in the gospel of the glory of Christ and His perfect work of redemption (2 Corinthians 4:4, 6).

The ministry of Christs life in us is not stagnant! We are being changed by the Spirit of the Lord as a result of beholding Him in the mirror of His Word and having our faith exercised in the rough and tumble of life (our light afflictions; 2 Cor 3:18; 4:17-18). This process of transformation will not be complete until we receive new bodies resembling His glorified body. (1 Corinthians 15:51; 2 Corinthians 5:1-5; 1 John 3:2).

But this ministry also causes us to recognize that there are real enemies that war against our souls. There is an Adversary who blinds the minds of those who believe not (4:4). There is also the weakness of our human nature and bodies. We are born into these fragile jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7). We have a tendency to get caught up with the temporal and illusory. The default position of our old nature is to center on ourselves. The default position of the new nature is to focus on Christ and His promises-- to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Our purpose in this age and the age to come is to seek to please Him in all that we do (2 Corinthians 5:9). Is it your ambition to live that way?

Not all that advertises itself as Christianity is the real deal.

The false teachers at Corinth distorted the Christian message.  In the name of Christianity, they advocated a change of thinking and a change of behavior without a change of heart. They advocated a reformation without regeneration. But Jesus did not come to give us a TED talk. He did not come to merely give us a new ethic, new insight, a power boost or life enhancement. He came to give us a new lifewith new desires and a new direction. He came to deliver us from the Old Covenant and its condemnation by fulfilling its demands for righteousness on our behalf. The result makes the promise of a New Covenant available to us- a new life in Christ.

Do you know what it is to experience the New Covenant promises? Do you have new desires operating within you, a God-pleasing law written upon your heart? The Apostle Paul calls this experience of freedom- the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2-4).  Do you have the assurance that your sins are forgiven and the certain hope that you will be conformed to Christs image on the day that you see Him face to face?

The Spirit of God is at work in our lives to produce a transformation that is more than skin deep. It promises to be total. A daily recognition of this New Covenant ministry will help ward off any discouragement or deception in our lives!

Join us this Sunday as Pastor MacAdam continues to teach the reality of the New Covenant work of the Spirit (in 2 Corinthians 3).  Do not settle for the superficial. Jesus has paid for your total transformation. It takes Christs life to be Christ-like.