2 Corinthians · chapter 3 of 13
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2 Corinthians 3 presents believers as Christ's letter written by the Spirit on the heart, and Paul as a minister of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. It compares the fading glory of Moses' ministry with that of the Spirit, explains the veil that covers the mind until someone turns to the Lord and affirms that by beholding his glory we are transformed.
Against those who questioned Paul and boasted of letters of recommendation, this chapter shows the true credential of ministry: the transformed lives of believers. Paul contrasts the old covenant, given at Sinai, with the new covenant in Christ, and explains why the second is more glorious.
Paul asks whether he needs, like some, letters of recommendation. The Corinthians themselves are his letter, written on his heart, known and read by all, and they are a letter from Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Paul has such confidence toward God through Christ. Not that they are sufficient in themselves: their sufficiency is from God, who made them ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit, for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life.
If the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its fading glory, will not the ministry of the Spirit be more glorious? If the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds it in glory. What was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. If what was fading away came with glory, much more will what remains be in glory.
So Paul acts with great boldness, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face. To this day, when the old covenant is read, the same veil remains over the minds of many, and it is removed only in Christ. When someone turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Corinthians are Christ's letter, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, on tablets of human hearts. The best proof of a ministry is the changed lives of people.
Our sufficiency is from God, who made us ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit, for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. Paul does not despise the law, but points out that without the Spirit it cannot give life.
The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Christian freedom is not doing what one wants, but living without the veil, before God, with the Spirit.
All of us, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into his image from glory to glory. Christian change is the Spirit's work as we look to Christ.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The Corinthians themselves, written on his heart. — 2 Corinthians 3:2
Answer: Not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, on tablets of human hearts. — 2 Corinthians 3:3
Answer: From God, who made him a minister of a new covenant. — 2 Corinthians 3:5-6
Answer: The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. — 2 Corinthians 3:6
Answer: When someone turns to the Lord. — 2 Corinthians 3:16
Answer: We are transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. — 2 Corinthians 3:18
2 Corinthians 3 reminds us that a church's clearest testimony is the life of its members. A Sunday school teacher does not measure success only by preparation but by what God writes on hearts. We can ask what letter of Christ we are being to those around us.
It also gives hope for personal change. We are not transformed by our own effort but by looking to Christ with unveiled face, and the Spirit does the work. Spending time in the Word and in prayer is a way of beholding his glory, and that is what slowly changes us, from glory to glory.
2 Corinthians 3 ends with the promise of transformation by the Spirit. In chapter 4 Paul will show how that ministry is carried out amid weakness: treasure in jars of clay, with the light of the gospel shining in hearts.
Paul contrasts the law written on stone, which exposes sin and condemns the one who cannot keep it, with the Spirit, who gives life and power to obey. He does not say the law is bad, but that alone it cannot give life. The new covenant promises that God writes his law on the heart.
It is an image Paul takes from the veil Moses put over his face. He applies the idea to the minds of those who read the old covenant without seeing Christ in it. The veil is removed only in Christ, when someone turns to the Lord.
Paul does not blend the persons of the Trinity, but stresses that the Lord to whom the believer turns acts through the Spirit. The next verse speaks of the Spirit of the Lord, which shows that the Spirit's work is the living presence of Christ in the believer's life.