Chapter 3
Themes, discussion questions, Christ connections, and denomination lenses.
Just read this chapter →Scripture
KJV1Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
2Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
3Forasmuch as ye 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 fleshy tables of the heart.
4And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
6Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
7But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
8How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
9For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
10For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
11For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
12Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
13And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
14But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
15But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
16Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
17Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD.
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Overview
Paul contrasts the ministry of the old covenant written on tablets of stone with the new covenant written on the hearts of believers by the Spirit of the living God. He explains that the glory of the old covenant, symbolized by the veil over Moses' face, was passing away, while the glory of the new covenant in Christ far exceeds it. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, and believers are transformed into Christ's image from glory to glory.
Key Themes
The New Covenant of the Spirit
The new covenant is not of the letter that kills but of the Spirit that gives life, written not on stone but on the fleshy tables of the heart.
Surpassing Glory
If the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds it in glory by far, showing the superiority of the gospel.
Transformation by Beholding
With unveiled faces, believers behold the glory of the Lord and are changed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit.
Study Questions
What does Paul mean when he says 'the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life' (v. 6)?
How does the veil over Moses' face illustrate the spiritual blindness that remains when people read the Old Testament without Christ (vv. 14-15)?
What does it mean practically that 'where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty' (v. 17)?
How are believers transformed 'from glory to glory' (v. 18), and what role does beholding Christ play?
How does understanding the surpassing glory of the new covenant affect your approach to Bible reading?
Connection to Christ
Paul teaches that the veil over the hearts of those who read Moses is taken away only in Christ (v. 14). Jesus is the one whose glory believers behold with open face, and it is by His Spirit that they are transformed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another.
Personal Reflection
Take time to journal or meditate on what God is teaching you through 2 Corinthians 3. How can these truths transform your thinking and actions today?