“You show that you are Christ’s letter, delivered by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God—not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” – 2 Corinthians 3:3
I don’t come across a reference to “tablets of stone” without thinking about the flowing white hair and fiery, angry eyes of Charlton Heston about to throw his “tablets of stone” at the golden calf (see DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” movie from 1956). Moses will take center stage in the rest of 2 Corinthians 3, but in 3, it is the tablets of stone that occupy the imagination. Rather than having the ability to magically explode a golden calf as portrayed in the movie, the tablets of stone here are mentioned for their inability. Cold stone was unable to make cold hearts warm again.
God would give further diagnosis through the prophet Ezekiel. The problem was not with the stone but with the heart, and unless God removed the “heart of stone” and replaced it with a “heart of flesh” the people of God would never follow the leadership of God (Ezekiel 11:19-20). What is more, God would write His new covenant not on tablets of stone but “on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33).
With this context in mind, it helps to see Paul’s point. He doesn’t see the Corinthians as cold-hearted, unbelieving rejectors of God’s covenant and leadership. Instead, he sees them numbered among the ones with hearts of flesh upon which God Himself had written the new covenant of Jesus Christ. There is no need for cold stone or flimsy letters for the Corinthians. They have the Risen, Living Savior and the Empowering, Life-Giving Spirit! He is able, and the proof is the life of faith the Corinthians were already living. God continues to replace hearts of stone and to write on human hearts through Jesus Christ.
What is written on your heart?
Think These Things 