II Corinthians 3:1-18Paul’s theme to the Corinthians in this letter is reconciliation. In Chapter 3 he sets the tone of our reconciliation with God through Christ.
If we can’t feel Paul’s excitement as he writes about this theme, we need to check our heart meter. This is good stuff!!
The Verses
1-3 Contrary to what is often taught about this section, Paul does not ask for a letter of recommendation. He poses the question of whether he should ask for one, allows an implicit answer of, “No,” and goes on to say that their lives in Christ are all the letter he needs. They are a letter “written by the Holy Spirit on their hearts.”
4-6 When Paul speaks of “the letter” here, he is talking about The Law. The Law kills, but God’s Holy Spirit gives us life.
7-11 The Law was given by God and is therefore glorious, but the ministry of the Holy Spirit (the manifestation of Christ in our lives today), is more glorious because it imparts to us Christ’s righteousness which is the only righteousness worthy of salvation.
The New Covenant supersedes everything that came before it because everything that came before it (The Old Covenant) was preparation for the New Covenant, which is not a “what,” but a “who”…Christ.
12-18 Paul is so excited about this New Covenant that brings salvation! He alludes back to Moses to represent the Old Covenant and makes it clear that if we rely on “the law of Moses” to please God, we’re sunk. But in the New Covenant we can experience the Lord’s glory as we are “transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
Here is a clear indication, by the way, of the Third Person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is not some feeling, some ethereal such-and-such that “represents” God. The Holy Spirit IS God. The Holy Spirit is that Person of God whom Christ left with us when he went away. (John 14: 16 & 26; John 15:26 & John 16:7)
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