2 Corinthians (2 Co) 3
3
1Are we starting to recommend ourselves again? Or do we, like some, need letters of recommendation either to you or from you? 2You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3You make it clear that you are a letter from the Messiah placed in our care, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on human hearts.
4Such is the confidence we have through the Messiah toward God. 5It is not that we are competent in ourselves to count anything as having come from us; on the contrary, our competence is from God. 6He has even made us competent to be workers serving a New Covenant, the essence of which is not a written text but the Spirit. For the written text brings death, but the Spirit gives life.
7Now if that which worked death, by means of a written text engraved on stone tablets, came with glory — such glory that the people of Isra’el could not stand to look at Moshe’s face because of its brightness, even though that brightness was already fading away — 8won’t the working of the Spirit be accompanied by even greater glory? 9For if there was glory in what worked to declare people guilty, how much more must the glory abound in what works to declare people innocent! 10In fact, by comparison with this greater glory, what was made glorious before has no glory now. 11For if there was glory in what faded away, how much more glory must there be in what lasts.
12Therefore, with a hope like this, we are very open — 13unlike Moshe, who put a veil over his face, so that the people of Isra’el would not see the fading brightness come to an end.
14What is more, their minds were made stonelike; for to this day the same veil remains over them when they read the Old Covenant; it has not been unveiled, because only by the Messiah is the veil taken away. 15Yes, till today, whenever Moshe is read, a veil lies over their heart. 16“But,” says the Torah, “whenever someone turns to Adonai, the veil is taken away.” 17Now, “Adonai” in this text means the Spirit. And where the Spirit of Adonai is, there is freedom. 18So all of us, with faces unveiled, see as in a mirror the glory of the Lord; and we are being changed into his very image, from one degree of glory to the next, by Adonai the Spirit.
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3
Living Letters
1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, recognized and read by everyone. # 1Co 9:2 3It is clear that you are Christ’s letter, # Phm 13 produced # Lit ministered to by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God # Dt 5:26 — not on stone tablets # Ex 24:12 but on tablets that are hearts of flesh. # Pr 3:3; 7:3; Jr 17:1; 31:33; Ezk 11:19; 36:26; Heb 8:10
Paul’s Competence
4We have this kind of confidence toward God through Christ. 5It is not that we are competent in # Lit from ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God. # 1Co 15:10 6He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, # Lk 22:20; Heb 7:22 not of the letter, # Rm 7:6 but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit produces life.
New Covenant Ministry
7Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, # Ex 34:29-35; Mk 10:37; Lk 9:32; Jn 17:24; 2Co 3:18; 2Pt 3:18 so that the Israelites were not able to look directly at Moses’ face because of the glory from his face — a fading glory — 8how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness overflows with even more glory. 10In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. 11For if what was fading away # Heb 2:14 was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.
12Therefore, having such a hope, # 1Th 1:3 we use great boldness. 13We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face # Ex 34:33 so that the Israelites could not stare at the end of what was fading away, 14but their minds were closed. # Lit their thoughts were hardened # Mk 8:17; Heb 3:13 For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, # Ac 13:15; 15:21; Heb 7:22 the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ. # Rm 16:7; 1Pt 5:14 15Even to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, 16but whenever a person turns # 1Pt 2:25 to the Lord, the veil is removed. # Ex 34:34 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at # Or are reflecting # 1Co 13:12 the glory of the Lord # Jn 17:24; 2Co 1:20; 4:4-6; 1Tm 1:11,17 and are being transformed # Mk 9:2 into the same image # Gn 1:27; 1Jn 3:2 from glory to glory; # Progressive glorification or sanctification this is from the Lord who is the Spirit. # Or from the Spirit of the Lord, or from the Lord, the Spirit
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