“I have been told that some of you took my listing of credentials from my first letter as bragging, and have taken offense. I listed my credentials so that I might convince those of you who doubted my claim to be an apostle of Jesus. I did not do this to brag of my excellent qualities. Some of you are still saying that I ought to have letters of recommendation from the apostles in Jerusalem so that I can prove myself. And perhaps I should have letters of recommendation from you in order to continue my work in new cities. But I tell you that you, and all those who have accepted Jesus’ message after I preached to them, are my letters of recommendation. These letters of recommendation from you are written in our hearts for all the world to see when we speak of you and your love for Jesus and for us. In fact, you, yourselves, are letters to the world from our Messiah, written with God’s Holy Spirit instead of ink, on hearts instead of on stone tablets, and dictated to us by the Holy Spirit. We trust in God, through Jesus, that God qualifies us to do His work, spreading the teaching of His new covenant in Jesus’ blood. It is not in and of ourselves that we are qualified, but what God has done in and through us by His Holy Spirit. And it is not the Law that we teach, but the Holy Spirit. Because the Law by itself leads only to death – its primary job is to show us our need for the Holy Spirit, Who gives life.”
2 Corinthians 3:1-6
Entering Into The Great Story 