2Co 2 Corinthians, chapter Second Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 3
Are we starting to speak well of ourselves again? Or do we need to have some letter of recommendation for you, or from you, as some people do? 2Co 1:12You are our letter, written in our experience with you, that everybody reads and knows about. 1Co 9:2You demonstrate that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us; not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not written on stone slabs but in our living experience as human beings. Ezk 11:19; Heb 8:10We have total confidence before God through Christ.
Not that we would consider ourselves able to do this on our own—it's God who gives us this capacity! Jhn 15:5; 1Co 15:10He also gave us the ability to be ministers of a new agreement,3:6. Or “covenant.” based not on the letter of the law, but on the spirit. The letter of the law kills, but the spirit gives life. Jer 31:33; Jhn 6:63However, the old way of relating to God, written in letters carved in stone, ended in death, even though it came with God's glory—so much so that the Israelites couldn't even bear to look at Moses' face because it shone so brightly, even though the glory was fading. Exo 34:30If that was so, shouldn't the new way of relating to God in the Spirit come with even greater glory? If the old way that condemns us has glory, the new way that makes us right with God has so much more glory! For the old that was once glorious has no glory at all in comparison with the incredible glory of the new. If the old that is fading away had glory, the new that continues has so much more glory.
Since we have such a confident hope, we are truly bold! We don't have to be like Moses, who had to put on a veil to cover his face so the Israelites wouldn't be dazzled by the glory, even though it was fading away. Rom 10:4In spite of that, they had a hard, stubborn attitude. For right up until today when the old agreement is read, the same “veil”3:14. In other words, they are not able to see clearly. remains. Only through Christ can it be removed. Isa 6:10; 1Co 2:8Even today, whenever the books of Moses are read, a veil covers their minds. But when they turn and accept the Lord, the veil is removed. Exo 34:34Now the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom. Jhn 4:24So all of us, with our faces unveiled, see and reflect the glory of the Lord as in a mirror. We are being transformed into the same mirror image, whose glory grows brighter and brighter. This is what the Lord the Spirit does.1Co 15:49; 2Co 4:6