NOTES for Co2 3:2-3

In Paul's words on the epistle or the message (the Greek corresponding word admits both translations) of the Christ, written in the heart, it is not difficult to notice the allusion to the prophetic books and, in particular, on the book of Jeremy, who speaking about the new messianic union-covenant, mentions that the conditions of this new union will not be any more on tables of stone, as it was the case with the text of the Decalogue (and the Decalogue was in fact the text containing the conditions of this union that the people concluded with God on Sinai), but written in the heart of each, becoming an integral part and the basis of the life of man in the messianic Kingdom. It is in particular these words of Jeremy that served as the basis for the representation appeared at the period before captivity in the Judaism of the internal Torah, which was seen not as a certain new text, but as the spiritual core, which is formed gradually in the heart of the man, who longs to follow the Torah and to observe the commandments, becoming the spiritual foundation of all his life.

As seen, in the image of the epistle of Christ, written in the heart, it is not difficult to find the link with the words of Jeremy about the Torah written on "tables of the heart", quite as with the image of the internal Torah, which should have been familiar to Paul who received a traditional rabbinic education. But as seen, the apostle reinterpreted these traditional representations in the context of what says Jesus about the Torah, which He came, according to His own words, not to destroy, but to lead to fullness.

Obviously, the Savior does not speak in this case about the text of the Torah, of which He had not at all in plan either to modify, or to complete (although He gave His comments to some of the commandments), but about the internal Torah which He alone could manifest in all fullness. Indeed, in order to observe the Torah totally, become a perfect righteous, or as said in that period a "living Torah", it was necessary to be completely free from the power of sin. It goes without saying that, except the Christ Himself, nobody could manifest anything similar to the world. It is not surprising that the first generation of Christians look at their Master, as at the only example in the world of the "living Torah".

It is not also surprising that the possibility of the internal Torah, as the foundations of the spiritual life, is conceivable for the Christian only as the life in the Kingdom, connected for them to the personality of the resuscitated Savior. To obtain the internal Torah in unity with Christ, the entrance into the Kingdom, where each becomes a "living Torah" - such sees the apostle the purpose of the life of the Christian.