CHAPTER 3

(A.D. 60)

MINISTRY

¹Do we begin again to commend ourselves? (This was in order to prove his Apostleship.) or need we, as some others, Epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? (Paul is presenting this contention as an obscurity to suppose that he or Timothy should need such letters, either from the Corinthians or to them.)

²You are our Epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men (refers to the Saints at Corinth who had been saved under his Ministry, which were Epistle enough):

³Forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the Epistle of Christ ministered by us (Christ was the Author of this Epistle of which Paul speaks, i.e., souls saved from sin and darkness), written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God (which is the highest commendation of all); not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart (referring to changed hearts).

⁴And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward (refers to the personal confidence Paul had that he was appointed by God, and God accepted his work):

⁵Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves (Paul was confident that he possessed that competency through Christ in the sight of God, though personally absolutely incompetent, as are all men for that matter); but our sufficiency is of God (it can either be in God or self; it cannot be in both);

NEW TESTAMENT

⁶Who also has made us able Ministers of the New Testament (the New Covenant); not of the letter (the old Law of Moses), but of the Spirit (Holy Spirit): for the letter kills (refers to the Law; all the Law can do is kill), but the Spirit gives life (and does so through Christ, due to what Christ did at the Cross [Rom. 8:1-2]).

⁷But if the ministration of death (the Law of Moses), written and engraved in stones, was glorious (and it was), 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 (the glory on Moses face faded, just as the Law faded, as it was intended to when Christ came):

⁸How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? (It is a much better Covenant, based on better Promises [Heb. 8:6].)

GLORY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

⁹For if the ministration of condemnation be glory (the Law of Moses), much more does the ministration of Righteousness exceed in glory (due to what Christ did for us at the Cross, which made it possible for the Holy Spirit to do great things within our lives, providing we keep our Faith in the Cross; evidently, some false teachers had come from Jerusalem, attempting to extol the so-called virtues of the Law; in other words, they were trying to mix Law with Grace, which cannot be done).

¹⁰For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excels. (The glory of the Law of Moses could not begin to compare with the Glory of the New Covenant.)

¹¹For if that which is done away was glorious (the Law), much more that which remains is glorious. (This pertains to the Gospel of Christ, which is forever [Heb. 13:20].)

TRANSFORMATION

¹²Seeing then that we have such hope (which only the Cross could bring about), we use great plainness of speech (doesnt mince words):

¹³And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished (as stated, the glory on Moses face faded, and was meant to show that the Law would fade as well, which it did with Christ Who fulfilled it all):

¹⁴But their minds were blinded (they didnt understand the Law was meant to be phased out): for until this day remains the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament (Israel was still trying to live by the Law, and some were trying to force it into the New Covenant); which veil is done away in Christ. (The Law was meant to be fulfilled by Christ, and it was fulfilled by Christ.)

¹⁵But even unto this day, when Moses is read (the Old Testament), the veil is upon their heart. (This refers to Israel not seeing the true meaning and beauty of their own Scriptures, which portrayed Christ.)

¹⁶Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away (which will be done at the Second Coming).

¹⁷Now the Lord is that Spirit (Holy Spirit): and where the Spirit of the Lord is(He is with all who Preach the Cross), there is Liberty (Liberty to live a Holy life by placing ones Faith in the Cross, which gives the Holy Spirit the latitude to work mightily in our hearts and lives).

¹⁸But we all, with open face (all who do not know Christ are veiled, i.e., shut off) beholding as in a glass (looking into a mirror) the Glory of the Lord (because the Holy Spirit lives within our hearts), are changed into the same image from glory to glory (changed into Christlikeness, with the glory getting greater and greater, while it became dimmer and dimmer with Moses), even as by the Spirit of the Lord (the Holy Spirit Alone can make us what we ought to be, which He does within the parameters of the Finished Work of Christ and our Faith in that Sacrifice).