2 Corinthians 3:18
“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.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Closing his contrast of the covenants, Paul describes the transforming effect of beholding the Lord's glory with an unveiled face, the work of the Spirit in believers.
What Does 2 Corinthians 3:18 Mean?
Beholding leads to becoming. Paul says that we all, with open face, gaze upon the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, and are changed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit. Where Moses veiled his fading radiance, believers now look with unveiled faces -- and the result is transformation. What we steadily behold, we begin to resemble.
Several truths shine here. The change is progressive: "from glory to glory," a deepening likeness rather than a single instant. It is corporate: "we all," not a privileged few. It is the Spirit's work, not self-improvement -- we are "changed" (the same root gives us "metamorphosis"), acted upon as we keep our gaze fixed on Christ. The mirror imagery suggests that as we contemplate the Lord's glory, that glory is reflected and increasingly stamped upon us. This is the heart of the new covenant Paul has been describing: not rules engraved on stone but a living likeness formed within. The believer's calling, then, is wonderfully simple and lifelong -- keep beholding. As we gaze on the glory of the Lord, the Spirit conforms us, step by step, into His image, so that the unveiled face that looks at Christ slowly comes to bear His likeness.
In the Original Language
The verb metamorphoo (μεταμορφόω), "to be transformed," describes the change, and doxa (δόξα) means glory, the radiance into whose image believers are being shaped.
Cross References
“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
- Romans 8:29
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
- 1 John 3:2
“And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”
- Colossians 3:10
Application
Make it your daily practice to behold the glory of the Lord in Scripture and prayer, trusting the Spirit to shape you steadily into His likeness.
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