But we all with unveiled face nlt11/24/2023 ![]() ![]() Paul notes that, if the messenger of that ministry (Moses) had glory or a face that shone (2 Corinthians 3:7), how much more the ministry of the Spirit would be associated with glory (2 Corinthians 3:8). When referring to the letter, Paul was talking about the Mosaic Law, which did not bring life but rather was a ministry to expose death (2 Corinthians 3:7). Paul contrasts the letter and the Spirit, observing that the letter kills but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6b). That the Corinthians had unveiled faces was important for them and also for the big picture of Paul’s ministry. Paul’s proclaiming of the gospel to the Gentiles (which many of the Corinthians were) was all part of that plan to ultimately bring the fulfillment of God’s word and His New Covenant. When that happens, the New Covenant will be fulfilled. Paul explained elsewhere that he thought his ministry was important in part because God’s message of salvation would ultimately make Israel jealous for their Messiah, and they would one day call upon Him and be saved (Romans 11:11–12). If God keeps His word, then He would have to keep that commitment with ethnic Israel and Judah in a literal sense. It is important to note that Paul never suggested that the New Covenant was being fulfilled in the church or among the Corinthians-that covenant was made exclusively with Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 31:31). God had made Paul and Timothy servants or ministers of a new covenant (2 Corinthians 3:6). They knew that the fruit borne in the Corinthians’ lives was from God and that the ministry God had entrusted them with was reliable. Paul and Timothy had confidence in God and recognized that their adequacy came from God (2 Corinthians 3:4). Their having an “unveiled face” was evidence of that (2 Corinthians 3:18). The letters sent to the Corinthians were not written with ink or on stone but were written by Christ and by the Spirit of God (2 Corinthians 3:3). Their new life and fruitfulness are evidence of the veracity of the ministry of Paul and Timothy. Paul explains that the Corinthians themselves are Paul and Timothy’s letter of commendation (2 Corinthians 3:2). The significance of having an unveiled face is unveiled as the chapter unfolds. At the end of the section, he characterizes all who believe in Jesus as having an “unveiled face”: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NKJV). In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul contrasts the letter and the Spirit as he argues for the legitimacy of his apostleship.
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