2 Corinthians 3

2 Corinthians 3
David Groendyk

One of the reasons Paul is writing this second letter to the Corinthians is that a group of people calling themselves “super-apostles” (2 Cor. 11:5 and 12:11) had come to Corinth and begun teaching something contrary to Paul. Paul has to remind the Christians in Corinth that his ministry is the legitimate one while the super-apostles’ ministry is not. What was wrong with the teaching of the super-apostles? They were ministers of the old covenant; ‘old covenant’ means ‘the covenant God made with Israel on Mount Sinai after rescuing them from Egypt’ and you can find it primarily in Exodus 20–23. Paul, on the other hand, was a minister of the new covenant; the ‘new covenant’ was the covenant Jesus established when he died and rose and earned salvation for us (see Jeremiah 31:31–34 and Luke 22:20). In our chapter today, Paul contrasts the old and the new in order to explain why his ministry is better than the super-apostles’. There are at least four contrasts in this chapter:

  1. Letter vs. spirit (vv. 3, 6). The new covenant in Jesus promises us that the Holy Spirit will dwell in us and bring about transformation in our hearts. The old covenant didn’t promise that. The old covenant didn’t give believers any power. One of the greatest promises of the new covenant is that God puts his Holy Spirit in us to causes us to obey him. Thus, the law is no longer found only on tablets of stone, but it is actually written on your heart. What a blessing that we have the power of the Holy Spirit to believe God and obey him!
  2. Death vs. life (vv. 6, 7, 9). The old covenant only ever brought about death and condemnation because of everything in point #1. In the end, the old covenant could never give people salvation, because it was always going to be a bunch of sinners who were trying to keep the covenant. A leopard can’t change his spots; a sinner can’t stop himself sinning. However, in the new covenant the Holy Spirit gives us the salvation we need that Christ has won for us. We’re given Christ’s obedience as a gift in the new covenant, and we’re given the power not to sin through the power of the Holy Spirit.
  3. Glory vs. exceeding glory (vv. 7, 9). This contrast is a little surprising. It’s not “no glory vs. glory” but “some glory vs. more glory”. The old covenant does show us something of God’s glory! You may remember the story from Exodus 34:29–35. When Moses went up on Mount Sinai to talk to God, he came back with his face shining so brightly that he had to wear a covering over his face. And yet, even that old covenant was temporary (v. 11). The old covenant was always meant to end, and a new covenant was meant to take its place and show us even more of God’s glory. It shows us more of God’s glory by showing us God himself in Christ. And as we behold God even more fully in Christ, we are transformed to be more and more like him (v. 18).
  4. Obscure vs. clear. This is probably the easiest contrast to understand. The old covenant was obscure in the way that it revealed Christ, but the new covenant is much more clear. Paul has in mind the same story from Exodus in point #3. The old covenant was like seeing Jesus through a veil, but the new covenant is like seeing him face-to-face. Thus, Paul says, whoever reads the old covenant now but doesn’t believe in Christ still reads the old covenant with a veil over their hearts, metaphorically speaking—they will never truly see it for what it is. The Holy Spirit removes that veil by causing us to believe in Christ.

Now that’s a lot of seminary-level information condensed into some short paragraphs. There’s a lot more we could say, but here’s the upshot: the super-apostles were preaching a false gospel. They were offering the Corinthians a “gospel” that didn’t have any real power or any real life. That’s not to say that the old covenant itself was a false gospel. No, the old covenant did us God’s glory and serve a good purpose, but it never had the power to save us. Though the super-apostles were teaching from Scripture, they were twisting it and using it wrongly.

So, what is the gospel that you believe? Do you believe the gospel that Jesus achieves forgiveness and eternal life for you? Or are you still relying on your own feeble, powerless attempts to be good enough for God? God promises us amazing blessings of power and life, but they are only found in Jesus, not ourselves. Don’t go back to the old ways of trying to earn your own salvation. Trust that no one else can accomplish it except Christ, and rest wholly on him.