2 Corinthianschapter 3

A.You Are Our Letter, Written on Heartsvv. 1-6

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, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 It is clear 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. 4 Such confidence before God is ours through Christ. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God. 6 And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

B.A Fading Glory Outshonevv. 7-11

7 Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness! 10 Indeed, what was once glorious has no glory now in comparison to the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which endures!

C.The Veil Removed, the Mirror, the Transformationvv. 12-18

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 the end of what was fading away. 14 But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed. 15 And 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. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition

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Chapter summary

Need we epistles of commendation?

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Need we epistles of commendation? Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts. God hath made us able ministers of the new testament. Not of the letter, but of the spirit. If the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, how much more the ministration of the spirit? 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. JFB marks the chapter as the new-covenant ministry's charter.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Epistle · Paul — 2 Corinthians overview

A. 1–6 You Are Our Letter, Written on Hearts
B. 7–11 A Fading Glory Outshone
C. 12–18 The Veil Removed, the Mirror, the Transformation

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

2 Corinthians 122 verses
- 2 Corinthians 12:9But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.
- 2 Corinthians 12:11I have become a fool, but you drove me to it. In fact, you should have commended me, since I am in no way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.
- Read 2 Corinthians 12 →
Jeremiah 312 verses
- Jeremiah 31:31Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
- Jeremiah 31:33“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.
- Read Jeremiah 31 →
Hebrews 82 verses
- Hebrews 8:10For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.
- Hebrews 8:13By speaking of a new covenant, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
- Read Hebrews 8 →
Ephesians 22 verses
- Ephesians 2:14For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility
- Ephesians 2:18For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
- Read Ephesians 2 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Exodus 342 verses
- Exodus 34:33When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.
- Exodus 34:34But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded,
- Read Exodus 34 →
2 Corinthians 42 verses
- 2 Corinthians 4:3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
- 2 Corinthians 4:6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
- Read 2 Corinthians 4 →
2 Corinthians 101 verse
- 2 Corinthians 10:12We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they show their ignorance.
- Read 2 Corinthians 10 →
2 Corinthians 51 verse
- 2 Corinthians 5:12We are not commending ourselves to you again. Instead, we are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who take pride in appearances rather than in the heart.
- Read 2 Corinthians 5 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.