14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us 4diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ namong those who are being saved and oamong those who are perishing. 16 pTo the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And qwho is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, as 5so many, rpeddling 6the word of God; but as sof sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.

Christ’s Epistle

3 Do awe begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, bepistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? 2 cYou are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, dministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not eon tablets of stone but fon tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

The Spirit, Not the Letter

4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 gNot that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but hour sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as iministers of jthe new covenant, not kof the letter but of the 1Spirit; for lthe letter kills, mbut the Spirit gives life.

Glory of the New Covenant

7 But if nthe ministry of death, owritten and engraved on stones, was glorious, pso that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will qthe ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry rof righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. 11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.