Messianic

2 Corinthians 3:7-18

Paul · ~55 AD · Status: Fulfilled · Confidence: 65%
“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:”
King James Version · the opening — all 12 verses are below

The greater glory of the New Covenant Spirit over the fading glory of the Old Covenant, fulfilled in Christ's ministry.

Read the whole passage — all 12 verses (KJV)

3:7But 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:

3:8How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

3:9For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

3:10For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

3:11For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

3:12Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:

3:13And 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:

3:14But 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.

3:15But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

3:16Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

3:17Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

3:18But 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.

Fulfillment References

Exodus 34:29-35 Hebrews 8:6 Romans 8:3-4

How Traditions Read This Prophecy

Apostolic (Oneness) PentecostalPaul says the veil over Israel's heart is taken away in Christ, and 'where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,' for 'the Lord is that Spirit' (vv. 16-18). The Lord — the risen Jesus — and the Spirit are identified: not two, but the one Spirit of God, in Jesus Christ. To turn to the Lord is to receive the Spirit, and beholding His glory we are changed into His image. This is near the heart of the Oneness reading of the Godhead.
JewishDraws on Exodus 34 — Moses' veiled, fading glory after meeting God; the background is the Sinai covenant and its glory.
CatholicThe surpassing glory of the new covenant over the old; transformation 'from glory to glory' by the Spirit, read in Trinitarian terms.
ProtestantThe new covenant's greater glory; the veil removed in Christ, and the Spirit's transforming work conforming believers to Christ's image.
AcademicPaul's midrash on Exodus 34; the identification 'the Lord is the Spirit' (v. 17) is debated — functional, economic, or identifying — and is central to discussion of Paul's pneumatological language.
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