Paul has just described the believers in Corinth as 'letters from God'. They were His 'handwriting' to communicate to other people the richness of His grace and His life-changing power. Paul then compared those 'living letters' with the writing on stone tablets which God gave Moses to teach His people. Not only were those words literally stone cold, they could never bring life. The commandments condemned lawbreakers.

It is very sad when you see religion operating as a business, making money and promoting power. Alas, it is not uncommon. The bustling ancient city of Corinth, like many international commercial hubs, looked for heroes to follow – role models of success. When popularist false teachers infiltrated the church after Paul left, their personalities and preaching style disparaged Paul and the gospel, as they eagerly received money, fame and power.

Paul's preaching was greatly used by God to start a cascade of church planting which has spread all over the world, and continues to this day. But Paul was not a celebrity preacher. He did not advertise himself or seek a personal following: his only interest was to announce Jesus Christ to a sin-stricken world through an undiluted gospel message.

Why did Paul spend his life proclaiming Jesus, teaching believers how to follow Him, and getting into so much trouble for doing so? The church in Corinth was immature, and often rejected Paul's apostolic role. Although he founded the church and stayed teaching there for at least eighteen months (Acts 18:11), other preachers came.