Verse 1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
After stating in the final verses of chapter 2 that he and his fellow companions in the ministry did not distort the Word of God but preached the truth faithfully, the Apostle Paul asks the Corinthians if they need the apostles to be recommended again by a letter of recommendation or if they thought that they needed a letter of recommendation from the Corinthian church? This writer wonders if the Apostle Paul was being facetious, perhaps because he was always faced with gossip and criticism.
Verses 2-3 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
He then points out that basically the fruit of their ministry is the only letter of recommendation needed. The fact that a church existed in such a wicked place as the city of Corinth was testimony enough of the effectiveness of the preaching the people of Corinth had received and of the working of the Holy Ghost/Spirit through the apostles.
Verses 4-6 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
The Apostle Paul continues by stating that all he and his companions do in the ministry is not by their own flesh or will, but by the Spirit of God. Therefore, they have no pride over any aspects of their ministry and they could do nothing without the leading of the Holy Ghost/Spirit. They were called by the LORD to be ministers of the Gospel and the New Testament and not made ministers by any efforts or men or by any letters of recommendation from any men or any church. It is through the Spirit that life is given to those who convert and it is the Spirit that does the work through the apostles.
Verses 7-8 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, 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: 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
The Greek word translated as “ministration” is “diakonia” and it means service, ministering especially of those who by the command of God proclaim and promote faith among men, of the office of Moses, or of the office of the apostles and its administration. Paul is referring to Moses and the writing of the ten commandments on the tablets of stone. When Moses came down from the mountain after being in the presence of God, his face shone so brightly that the people could not look upon him. It was like trying to stare at the sun. This was the glory of God which lasted for a time but eventually faded away, and then Moses’ face returned to normal. The Apostle Paul calls the Old Covenant and the commandments “ministration of death” because no man or woman could keep the law, and no man or woman has ever kept the law except the LORD Jesus Christ. And breaking the law was a spiritual death sentence which is why God who manifested in the flesh of the LORD Jesus Christ came to Earth, kept the law perfectly, and then became the final sacrificial Lamb to reconcile mankind to God and to provide the remittance for sins that no animal sacrifice could provide. He paid the price for sins that were not His so that believers could have life eternal in Heaven. So if the ministry of the Prophet Moses and the law under the Old Covenant had such glory as to change the countenance of Moses, should not the ministry of the Holy Ghost/Spirit under the New Covenant be even more glorious?
Verses 9-11 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
The Old Covenant provided condemnation and people were perpetually performing religious sacrifices to atone for this condemnation. The New Covenant provides righteousness, the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which does not condemn and which provides life to all who will submit their will to the LORD.
Verses 12-13 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: 13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
The Greek word translated as “hope” is “elpis” and it means expectation of good, joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation, and faith. Because the Gospel message provides such hope, the Apostle Paul and his companions used speech that was easily understandable and direct and not veiled or containing words that could be confusing. The Hebrew people of old could not see Moses’ face, nor could they see the end of the Old Covenant which is no longer in existence regardless of Satan’s efforts to entrap Christian believers into reviving the religious ritual part of that Covenant. But the Church can know the entirety of the New Covenant which was established in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and they can know the end result of this Covenant which is the hope of life eternal with Jesus Christ in His heavenly Kingdom.
Verses 14-16 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
The Apostle Paul was saying that, just as the Hebrew people in the wilderness were blinded by the glory coming from Moses’ face so that they could not see his facial details, the Jews were blinded spiritually and their hearts were hardened and unable to see that the Old Covenant was no more and that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, had established a New Covenant. They continued to read the writings of the Prophet Moses in their synagogues but were unable to see that Moses wrote about Jesus and that the prophecies by both Moses and the other Old Testament prophets had come to pass. Only by looking to Jesus could that vail be taken away and the Jewish people see clearly the details and the glory of the New Covenant.
Verses 17-18 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 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. (2 Corinthians 3)
The Spirit of the LORD gives freedom, but the Law gives bondage. All truly converted Christian believers become new men and women when they repent, when they are baptized in Jesus’ name, and then filled with His Spirit. The old passes away and they become new because of the presence of the Holy Ghost/Spirit living within them. So even while still in a body of flesh, the believer is transformed daily to be more and more like Jesus Christ. This is what being “born again” is all about.