The Superiority of New Covenant Ministry (preaching resource for 3/2/25, Epiphany 8, Transfiguration Sunday)
This exegesis of 2 Corinthians chapter 3 provides context for the RCL Epistle reading on Transfiguration Sunday, Epiphany 8, 3/2/25. Insights are drawn from commentary by Warren Wiersbe ("Bible Expository Commentary") and Colin Cruse ("New Bible Commentary").
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| Transformation: monarch butterfly emerging |
Introduction
In founding the church in Corinth, Paul had been careful to ground the believers in the pure gospel of God’s grace. Shortly after Paul left, false teachers (called “Judaizers”) brought in another gospel—one of grace plus law. Their teaching said that salvation is both received and then maintained by grace received through faith plus obedience to the requirements of the Law of Moses. This false teaching was popular at the time and remains so today. Why? Because we humans tend to be more comfortable with pursuing measurable religious goals than we are in simply trusting Jesus and allowing his Spirit to work within us. We are more comfortable with external conformance to written codes than we are with the internal, often hidden, transformation that comes through the Holy Spirit at work within us.
Paul would have none of this false gospel. And he viewed the Judaizers as devious “peddlers” of God’s word (see 2 Cor 2:17; 4:2). Moreover, he despised their tendency to boast about their converts (2 Cor 10:12–18). And he knew that the Corinthians were behind in their contribution to the special offering for the poor in Jerusalem due to these false teachers “robbing” the church to line their own pockets (2 Cor 11:7–12, 20; 12:14). So here in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul goes on offense—refuting the legalism of the Judaizers by contrasting their Old Covenant, law-based ministry with the grace-based ministry of the New Covenant. He makes his point by offering four areas of contrast between the two, showing clearly the superiority of New Covenant ministry.
1. Tablets of stone vs. human hearts
2 Corinthians 3:1–3
1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
The Judaizers boasted that they carried “letters of recommendation” from church leaders in Jerusalem, and pointed out that Paul had no such commendation. Paul replies that his life and ministry are the only commendation he needs. When God gave the Law, he wrote it on tablets of stone and even if the Israelites could read these tablets, it could not change their lives. The Law is external, and people are transformed internally. Legalists admonish people with “Do this!” and “Don’t do that!” lists (including lists from the Law of Moses), but such lists don’t carry the power to change lives. But God’s grace has that power—the Holy Spirit writes God’s word on our hearts—he unites us with Christ (the living Word of God incarnate), and as we experience and participate in this union, our lives are changed from the inside out. This is the fruit of New Covenant ministry—fruit that had been born through Paul’s founding ministry in Corinth (see 1 Cor 6:9–11). The believers in Corinth were Paul’s “living letters from Christ.”
2. Death vs. life
2 Corinthians 3:4–6
4 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant-- not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Of course, Paul was not taking credit for this transformation. He knew full-well that the credit goes to God. In contrast, the legalists credited themselves—emphasizing their human ability, achievement and credentials. Paul’s testimony was, “by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor 15:10). None of us is competent in ourselves to minister to God’s people. Any true competency is from God who shares his competency with those who, through grace, participate in the ministry of Jesus—the ministry of the New Covenant.
Note in 2 Cor 3:6 that Paul speaks of “the letter” to refer to the Old Covenant Law and of “the Spirit” to refer to the New Covenant message of grace. In this contrast he shows that the Old Covenant Law could not give life; it was a ministry of death (see Gal. 3:21). However, the New Covenant imparts life because it is the message of the saving-transforming life of Jesus which is ours in union with Jesus through the Spirit. Our calling is to participate in that union and thus to experience deeply the only ministry that truly transforms lives.
Ministers who take an Old Covenant approach major on the application of rules and regulations. By doing so they make a grievous mistake, keeping their congregations under a dark cloud of guilt, and thus killing their joy and power in Christ. Christians who are constantly measuring each other, comparing “results,” and competing with each other, soon discover that they are depending on the flesh and not on the Spirit. There never was a standard that could transform a person’s life, and that includes the Ten Commandments (the core of the Old Covenant law). Only the life of Jesus, extended to us through God’s grace via the Holy Spirit, can transform us into living epistles that speak to God’s glory.
3. Fading glory vs. increasing glory
2 Corinthians 3:7–11
This paragraph should be read together with Exodus 34:29–35. Paul’s point is that the Old Covenant, based in the Law of Moses, had a certain fading glory. But what he here affirms (in three points), is that the New Covenant, based in the Holy Spirit, has a permanent and increasing glory that is vastly superior.
a. New Covenant glory means spiritual life, not death
2 Corinthians 3:7–8
7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?
When Moses descended from the mountain after conversing with God, his face shone with the reflection of God’s glory. This certainly impressed the people. However Paul notes (arguing from the lesser to the greater), that if the Old Covenant, which brings death, had a certain glory, the glory that comes with the New Covenant, that brings life, is far greater. Legalists proclaim the glory of the Law and, in doing so, minimize its deficiencies. In Galatians Paul points out these deficiencies: the Law cannot justify (Gal 2:16), give righteousness (Gal 2:21), impart the Spirit (Gal 3:2), provide an inheritance (Gal 3:18), give life (Gal 3:21), or give freedom (Gal.4:8–10). The New Covenant brings us all of these things.
b. New Covenant glory means righteousness, not condemnation
2 Corinthians 3:9–10
9 If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory.
The Old Covenant was not provided by God to bring salvation—thus obedience to the Law cannot accomplish or even enhance salvation. Rather, the Law was given to condemn—like a mirror it was given to Israel to reveal how dirty they really were. But one cannot wash one’s face with a mirror. In contrast, the New Covenant was given to impart true and lasting righteousness by uniting us to Jesus, the true and only righteous one. The person who tries to live under the Law will find more and more guilt with feelings of hopelessness and rejection. But as we trust in Jesus, our righteousness, living by faith in God’s grace, we experience acceptance and joy. Thus in comparison to the New Covenant, the Old Covenant really has no glory at all. There is no comparison. How sad that some Christians can’t feel “spiritual” unless they are carrying around a weight of guilt. Law-based (legalistic) religion is a burden that is contrary to the grace of God.
c. New Covenant glory is permanent, not temporary
2 Corinthians 3:11
11 And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
The verb tense here is important: “fading away.” Paul wrote at a period in history when the ages were overlapping. The New Covenant of grace had come in, but the Old Covenant temple services were still being carried on and the nation of Israel was still living under the Law. In A.D. 70, the city of Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed by the Romans, and that would mark the disappearance of the last vestiges of the Old Covenant system, which came to an end with Jesus’ death and resurrection. Unfortunately, the Judaizers wanted the Corinthian believers to live under a mix of the Old and New Covenants. But Paul objects—“Why go back to that which is temporary and fading away?” he asks. “Live in the unabated glory of the New Covenant—a glory that is getting greater and greater.”
The glory of the Law is thus the glory of past history, while the glory of the New Covenant is the glory of present experience. As believers, we can experience this “ever increasing glory” of life under the New Covenant of grace (2 Cor. 3:18).
Summary: So far, Paul has pointed out that the ministry of grace is internal (2 Cor 3:1–3), it brings life (2 Cor 3:4–6), and it involves increasing glory (2 Cor. 3:7–11). He next presents a fourth contrast to prove the superiority of New Covenant ministry.
4. Concealment vs. openness
2 Corinthians 3:12–18
The Bible can be thought of like a picture book, in that it uses symbols, similes, metaphors, and other literary devices to illustrate its powerful, life-transforming message that focuses on Jesus and his grace. In this paragraph, Paul uses the experience of Moses and his veil as an illustration of the glorious freedom and openness of the life we have in Jesus, by the Spirit, under the New Covenant. Paul finds in Moses’ experience (outlined in Exodus 34:29-35) a deep spiritual meaning.
a. The historical event
12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away.
Standing in the unabated glory of Jesus we may be bold, because we have nothing to conceal. Such was not the case for Moses—his experience of God’s glory was fleeting. And here Paul notes that the reason Moses had to wear a veil when he descended from Sinai, where he met with God, was to conceal the fact that the radiance was fading away. Who wants to follow a leader whose glory is fading? The veil also prevented the people from seeing that the purpose of the Law itself (which Moses brought with him from the mountain) was also impermanent. These people were not ready to learn that the glorious legal system (the Old Covenant) which Moses was about to institute for them was in itself temporary. The truth that the Old Covenant Law was merely preparation for something greater and permanent was not yet revealed.
b. The national application
2 Corinthians 3:14–17
14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Paul had a special love for Israel and a burden to see his people saved (Romans 9:1–3). Why were the Jewish people rejecting their Messiah? As the missionary to the Gentiles, Paul was seeing many Gentiles trust the Lord, but the Jews—his own people—were rejecting the truth and persecuting Paul and the church. Why? Because a “spiritual veil” was over their minds and hearts. Their “spiritual eyes” were thus blinded, so that when they systematically read the Old Testament in their synagogues, they did not see the truth about their own Messiah. They could not grasp the spiritual message God had given. They were blinded by their own religion.
Is there then any hope for the Jews? Indeed there is, for “whenever anyone [Jew or Gentile, but Jews are principally in view here] turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (v 16). This turning is not of ourselves, it is the gracious work of the Holy Spirit: “the Lord is the Spirit” (v 17 and see v 18). This is a declaration of the Tri-unity of God and the deity of the Holy Spirit. The Judaizers were depending on the Law to change men’s lives, but true transformation comes only by and through the indwelling Holy Spirit. In actuality, the Law brings bondage, while the Spirit brings liberty. “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, Abba, Father" (Romans 8:15).
c. The personal application
2 Corinthians 3:18
18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
This verse is the climax of this chapter, presenting a marvelous truth: in our union with Jesus, we share his glory, which is his communion with the Father and Spirit. And our sharing in that communion and glory grows in our experience—it’s “ever increasing glory”—as we yield to the transforming work of the Spirit who unites us to Christ. Under the Old Covenant, this communion with God was for only a few (Moses principally) but even then it was temporary and fleeting. Under the New Covenant, however, this union and communion with God is for everyone, and each one may experience it in increasing measure as they yield personally to God through the indwelling Spirit.
Comment: The word translated transformed in verse 18 is the same word translated transfigured in the accounts of Jesus’ transfiguration (Matt. 17; Mark 9). It describes a change on the outside that comes from the inside. Our English word metamorphosis is a transliteration of this Greek word. Metamorphosis describes the process that changes an insect from a larva into a pupa and then into a mature insect. The changes come from within. The glory of the Law was external and fading. The glory of the Lord, which we share with him by grace through the New Covenant, is internal, permanent and growing—it’s “ever-increasing glory”—or as other translations have it, it’s “from glory to glory.”
Keep in mind that Paul is here contrasting, not only the Old Covenant with the New, but also the Old Covenant ministry of the Law with the New Covenant ministry of grace. The goal of Old Covenant ministry was obedience to an external standard, but such obedience does not transform human character. The goal of New Covenant ministry is likeness to Jesus. The Law can point us to Jesus (Gal. 3:24), but only Jesus, through the Spirit, operating in grace, can transform us into the likeness (the glory of) Jesus. Legalistic preachers and teachers may get their listeners to conform to some legal standard, but they can never transform them to be like the Son of God. The result of Old Covenant ministry is bondage; but the result of New Covenant ministry is freedom in the Spirit who conforms us to the likeness of Jesus.
Conclusion
The lure of legalism—of grace plus law—still troubles many Christians. We must both identify it and avoid it—embracing and practicing a New Covenant ministry, not a form of Old Covenant ministry, no matter how superficially attractive it may seem. Some would rather exalt standards and denounce sin, than magnify the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in the Spirit to lead and transform us. Sad to say, in some New Testament churches we find an Old Testament ministry. Let us acknowledge and practice the superiority of New Covenant ministry.
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For a related Surprising God blog post, click here.