2 Corinthians 3:3

Since you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.

Verse 2 Read Chapter 3 Verse 4

Ambrose of Milan

AD 397

But with the Word of God before us we are able to formulate opinions on what is good and what is evil. One of these we naturally understand we should avoid as evil, and the other we understand has been recommended to us as a good. In this respect we seem to be listening to the very voice of the Lord, whereby some things are forbidden and other things are advised. If a person does not comply with the injunctions which are believed to have been once ordained by God, he is considered to be liable to punishment. The commands of God are impressed in our hearts by the Spirit of the living God. We do not read these commands as if they were recorded in ink on a tablet of stone. Hence, in our own thought we formulate a law… . There is something, therefore, like the law of God which exists in the hearts of men.

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Ambrose of Milan

AD 397

By this finger, as we read, God wrote on the stone tablets which Moses received. For not with a finger of flesh did God make the forms and elements of those letters which we read; by his Spirit he gave the law. And so the apostle said: “For the law is spiritual, which indeed is written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone but in fleshly tables of the heart.” For, if the letter of the apostle is written in the Spirit, what stands in the way of our being obliged to believe that the law of God was written not in ink but in the Spirit of God, which surely does not stain the secrets of our heart and mind but illuminates them? The Holy Spirit.

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Ambrosiaster

AD 400

The things which are promised are eternal and are therefore said to be written with the Spirit of God, unlike temporal things written in ink, which fades and loses its power to record anything. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.

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Basil the Great

AD 379

As the pen is an instrument for writing when the hand of an experienced person moves it to record what is being written, so also the tongue of the just man, when the Holy Spirit moves it, writes the words of eternal life in the hearts of the faithful, dipped “not in ink but in the Spirit of the living God.” The scribe, therefore, is the Holy Spirit, because he is wise and an apt teacher of all. And the Spirit writes swiftly, because the movement of his mind is swift. The Spirit writes thoughts in us, “not on tablets of stone but on fleshy tablets of the heart.” In proportion to the size of the heart, the Spirit writes in hearts more or less, either things evident to all or things more obscure, according to the heart’s previous purity. Because of the speed with which the writings have been finished, all the world now is filled with the gospel.

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Clement Of Alexandria

AD 215

These are the laws of reason, words that impart inspiration, written by the hand of the Lord, not on tablets of stone but inscribed in the hearts of men, provided only that those hearts are not attached to corruption. Therefore, the tablets of the hard of heart have been broken, that the faith of little ones might be formed in impressionable minds. Both laws served the Word as means of educating humanity, the one through Moses, the other through the apostles. But what a means of education is the one given through the apostles! Christ the Educator.

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Cornelius a Lapide

AD 1637

In fleshy tables of the heart. Not in hard stone, as was the law of Moses, but in a heart tender, soft, and teachable. There is an allusion to Jeremiah 32:33. The Apostle, we should notice, makes a distinction between ÏƒÎ¬ÏÎºÎ¹Î½Î¿Ï‚, used here, and Î¿Î±ÏÎºÎ¹ÎºÏŒÏ‚: the first denotes the natural condition of flesh—its softness, &c.; the other that which has the vices and corruptions of flesh. Cf. Romans 7:14 and 1 Corinthians 3:3. Other writers, however, do not observe this distinction. Nazianzen, e.g, applies the latter of these terms to the incarnation and manhood of Christ.

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George Leo Haydock

AD 1849

Though the Scriptures be of the Holy Spirit, the proper book of Christ's doctrine is in the hearts of the faithful, the true mansions of the Holy Spirit. Hence St. Irenus says: "If the apostles had left no writings, ought we not to follow the order of tradition they delivered to the persons to whom they committed the Churches? How many barbarous nations have received and practised the faith without any thing written in ink and paper? (lib. iii. chap. 4.)

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Irenaeus of Lyons

AD 202

And that the Spirit lays hold on the flesh, he says in the same Epistle, "That ye axe the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, inscribed not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart."

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John Chrysostom

AD 407

Here Paul bears witness not only to their love but also to their good works, since by their behavior they can demonstrate to everybody the high worth of their teacher. What letters would have done to gain respect for the apostle, the Corinthians achieve by their life and behavior. The virtues of disciples commend the teacher more than any letter. They are an epistle of Christ, having the law of God written in their hearts. God wrote that law, but Paul and his companions prepared them to receive the writing. For just as Moses hewed stones and tables, so Paul shaped their souls.

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John Chrysostom

AD 407

Being made manifest that you are an epistle of Christ. Here he testifies not only to their love, but also to their good works: since they are able to show unto all men by their own virtue the high worth of their teacher, for this is the meaning of, You are our epistle. What letters would have done to commend and gain respect for us, that you do both as seen and heard of; for the virtue of the disciples is wont to adorn and to commend the teacher more than any letter. Written in our hearts. That is, which all know; we so bear you about every where and have you in mind. As though he said, You are our commendation to others, for we both have you continually in our heart and proclaim to all your good works. Because then that even to others yourselves are our commendation, we need no epistles from you; but further, because we love you exceedingly, we need no commendation to you. For to those who are strangers one has need of letters, but you are in our mind. Yet he said not mere... Read More

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Severian of Gabala

AD 425

Paul shows how much better the grace of the Spirit is than the law and how much higher the preaching of the apostles is than the dispensation of the prophets. .

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