Chapter 3 of 2nd Corinthians is Paul's
clarification and defense of his capacity as minister (or even apostle) of the Covenant.
Verse 6 says, "(YLT) who also made us sufficient [to be] ministrants of a
new covenant, not of letter, but of spirit; for the letter doth kill, and the spirit
doth make alive." Paul followed in verses 15 through 18, and said," (YLT)[15]but
till to-day, when Moses is read, a vail upon their heart doth lie, [16]and
whenever they may turn unto the Lord, the vail is taken away. [17]And the Lord
is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty;
[18]and we all, with unvailed face, the glory of the Lord beholding in a
mirror, to the same image are being transformed, from glory to glory, even as
by the Spirit of the Lord."
Paul was initially a Jewish Pharisee. It is
evident that his interpretation of the Bible is drastically changed after his conversion
to Christianity. For example, he considered the teachings of Jesus as heretics
before his conversion but professed that Christ is the Messiah (Savior) of the
human race afterwards. He even opined that Abraham's two wives pertain to an
allegory such that they represent two covenants. Namely, which things are
allegorized, for these are the two covenants: one, indeed, from mount Sinai, to
servitude bringing forth, which is Hagar. (Galatians 4:24, YLT).
For Paul, the above changes are inseparable
from his Damascus experience as the Lord Jesus appeared and shone on him. It
must be a transcendent, shocking and even weird spiritual experience! For
people like us who do not have similar experience, it is extremely difficult for
us to fully understand the mystery of his experience. Nevertheless, his
experience gives us the following important enlightenment:
1. Jesus Christ (His divinity,
spirituality and words) is the key for us to perceive and understand God’s Word.
2. The essence of the Biblical
teachings lies in and with the Spirit which gives rise to the so-called
spiritual interpretation of the Bible.
When it comes to spiritual interpretation,
there are really endless stories and opinions. Moreover, the human perception
itself is full of tricky and complex elements. First of all, our understanding
and visualization of our environment depend upon our sensation and perception.
Sensation depends on our sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch while
perception relies on our brains to process the information we receive. For example,
we know that the visual image of an object which falls upon our retinas is
reversed. It is after one’s brain has processed such information that one can
know and tell the correct orientation of it. Other interesting examples are
that we are prone to illusions, such as the well-known Frazer
Spiral in which one would see a continuous spiral instead of concentric
circles in the figure. Other similar examples include the rabbit-duck illusion and the Rubin's Goblet.
It is difficult to explain the complex
relationship between sensation and perception in a short article. However, it
is not difficult to understand that our beliefs affect our perceptions. For
example, I mentioned in my “Devotional No 5” that the spectacles of God (Faith)
help us to understand that the world is created by God while an atheist could
only perceive a materialistic world although the things he sees are more or
less the same as what we see. In many psychology courses on sensation and
perception, signal detection theory and sensory adaptation are 2 crucial
devices by which we would understand things around us. It also carries
important implications for our understanding of the Bible.
For those who like to think, they can think
about how materialistic phenomena in our world can basically be reduced to the combinations
of sound (heat), light and electricity elements. If so, how can human thinking
be so complex? Otherwise, is there indeed some kind of "thinking" happening
in all tangible matters? For me, the truth of the Bible and its perception by
Paul belong to the spiritual dimension. Thus, my beliefs and choices are still after
what Paul has taught in 1st Corinthians [2: 13-14], namely, he speaks of things
taught by the Holy Spirit (comparing spiritual things with spiritual) and the
natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for to him they
are foolishness, and he is not able to know [them].
My Prayer:
Our Holy Father, I thank you for your
teaching: “For who has known the things of the man except his own spirit? So
also the things of God no one has known except the Spirit of God." Only You
can unravel the mystery of Your Word. Therefore, please give us the
understanding and insights in the Spirit so that we may experience the
illumination, guidance and revelation as those upon the Apostle Paul. Bless us
that we can take root and grow in and by Your Word. I pray in the name of the
Lord Jesus, Amen.
Howard
