Chapter 3
Ministers of a New Covenant
3:1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you?
During this time teachers and preachers would carry some form of ‘paperwork’ that had either endorsements from better-known individuals or certifications from those they learned from. Similar in concept to modern-day diplomas and accreditations. Paul is seemingly asking, “Are we back to this again?” Some believe that Paul is responding to accusations from other teachers/preachers who were trying to discredit Paul (see 2 Corinthians 10:1-11:15).
3:2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Paul points to them as proof of his authenticity. Their ability to be believers and followers speaks volumes regarding Paul’s certification, which is written on their hearts, and able to be read by everyone. This ‘letter’ is not written with ink, but something more indelible by the Holy Spirit. They themselves are their letters of recommendation.
3:4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Paul tells us that we can have that same confidence through Jesus, not from any sufficiency we can claim as being our own (our righteousness doesn’t add much, see Isaiah 64:6). Our sufficiency comes from God alone which enables us to be ministers of a new covenant, not by the “letter of the law” for God’s law demands justice and the penalty for any sin is death (see Romans 6:23), but by the Spirit, as Jesus fulfilled the law (justice is served for those who accept Jesus’ offer). The Holy Spirit indwells in every believer’s heart and serves as an assurance for our entry into life eternal.
3:7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
To understand these verses we need to go back to the book of Exodus where we learn about the law given to Moses. It was more than just a list of what a person should or should not do, it included detailed instruction regarding the proper protocols required for temporary atonement. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai after being near God, his face glowed (see Exodus 34:29-35). Since the law establishes what is and what is not a sin, and it was literally written on stone, Paul refers to it being “the ministry of death.” But the glory of God that was seen on Moses’ face pales in comparison to the glory of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The first ministry condemned, while the second, the ministry of righteousness surpasses it. Paul adds, “So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!” (2 Corinthians 3:11, NLT) In other words, if Moses’ face glowed due to being near God’s glory regarding the law, it truly pales in comparison to the glory regarding God’s righteousness.
3:12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
In order to not frighten the Israelites, Moses placed a veil over his glowing face. Paul now identifies that veil to be a metaphor for the Israelite’s refusal to see their inevitable outcome (death). He says that the veil remains in place today and that Jesus is the only one that can remove it. Paul further notes that whenever the books of Moses are read that same veil remains shrouding the hearts of the reader, unless they have turned to Jesus, at which time the veil is removed as death is replaced with life eternal.
3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 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.
Paul reaffirms that the ministry of the Spirit (see verses six and eight) as being the Spirit of the Lord (Jesus) and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom from sin and the law. We all stand before God with unveiled face reflecting His glory as we are being transformed into the same image! From the glory that condemns (the ministry of death, see verse seven) to the glory of righteousness (see verse nine). Our sanctification is made possible only from what Jesus did for us, as it is not through our righteousness that we are saved, but His. I like how the New Living Translation translated the last verse, “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” (NLT) Amen!
Considerations
The New Covenant
There are a several covenants in the Old Testament (a), but there is one that is identified as being a “new covenant.” We read in Jeremiah 31:31-32, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.” (ESV) This new covenant replaces the conditional covenant given to Moses on Mount Sinai as they were on their way to the Promise Land, which they broke. The new covenant is described as, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34, ESV) A covenant that offers total forgiveness, which points to the promise Jesus offers us today, of which Paul is calling us to be ministers. The glory of this new covenant of life eternal outshines the glory of the old covenant of condemnation. (Click here for more information)