Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary2 Corinthians 3

Commend ourselves. In ch. 2:17 Paul contrasts himself and his co-workers with the false leaders who had gone to Corinth and there corrupted the Word of God. There was the strong possibility that Paul’s clear statement might be misinterpreted and thus provoke criticism. Was Paul commending himself? Was he boasting and exalting himself and his co-workers? Had he not frequently referred to himself in glowing terms (1 Cor. 2:6; 3:10; 4:1; 9:15)? Perhaps the false teachers had introduced themselves to the Corinthian believers by letters of recommendation from the church at Jerusalem, which would make it appear that they were actually in good and regular standing and had the backing of the apostles. Thus their credentials would appear to be better than those of Paul (cf. Acts 13:1–3; Gal. 2:7, 9). See on 2 Cor. 5:12. Commendation. Literally, “standing together,” meaning that the bearer of the letter was in good standing with the writer of the letter. Such a letter was intended to identify workers traveling in a region where they were not known personally, and thus to protect the churches against false teachers. Letters of introduction are mentioned repeatedly (Acts 18:27; Col. 4:10). But there were spurious epistles, even as there were false apostles. Obviously the letters of commendation that some had presented at Corinth had been accepted as genuine. Evidently Paul had not carried identifying letters as a Christian missionary, and his critics at Corinth now disparaged him as an apostle and questioned his authority.

Ellen G. White

Our epistle. Paul now uses the word “epistle” figuratively. He had no need of literal introductory letters, for his converts were an all-sufficient proof of his apostleship. He needed no written documents to establish his apostolic authority. The metaphor of a written letter signifies both that the Corinthian believers had the word and law of God written on their hearts and that they were living epistles written on Paul’s heart. The first constituted evidence that they were true Christians, and the second that Paul was a true apostle. They were the “seal” of his “apostleship” (1 Cor. 9:2). Our hearts. Textual evidence may be cited (cf. p. 10) for reading “your hearts.”

Manifestly declared. Literally, “made known,” “revealed.” The world has need of more legible Christians. The language of a Christlike life is intended for all mankind. Only thus can men comprehend what Christianity means, understand its great truths, and learn to love and obey God’s law. Epistle of Christ. Each believer and each church should be a letter from Christ to the world. The author of the letter is Christ. The material on which the writing is done is the

Nichol, F. D. (1978). The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary : The Holy Bible with exegetical and expository comment. Commentary Reference Series (2 Co 1:1). Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association.

heart of each believer, and that which is written is the law of God, a transcript of His character. The penman in this case was Paul. Christ wrote the Ten Commandments with His own finger on tables of stone (Ex. 24:12; 31:18; Deut. 9:10, 11; cf. PP 366). He inspired men to write the Bible (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21), and is thus its author also. If they will, men can see and find Christ in the law, in the Scriptures, and in those who believe in Him. Ministered by us. Christ used Paul as His penman, or amanuensis. Paul did not originate or dictate the letter written in the hearts of his converts. But he was God’s instrument in the writing of this living epistle. Faithful ministers of the Word in the church today constitute God’s penmen to this generation. Not with ink. Ancient letters were usually written on papyrus, with a reed pen and a black pigment for ink (see 2 John 12). Paul’s letters to the churches were doubtless thus written. But when it comes to writing on the tables of the human heart, that is, of the mind, a more durable medium is required, and that medium is the spirit of the living God. Where the Holy Spirit is at work in the life, God’s law and God’s truth are manifested in holiness, obedience, and sanctification. Obedience to all the will of God becomes spontaneous. The writing of which Paul here speaks affects not only the intellect but the will and the affections as well (Ps. 1:2; 119:16). The apostle’s adversaries, the Judaizers, had written no such letter in the hearts of the Corinthian believers as Paul had. Their ministry was limited to the letter of the law. They were concerned almost exclusively with its outward forms; its spirit had never been engraved upon their hearts. What Jewish legalism could not accomplish—for a lack of faith on the part of those who practiced it (Heb. 4:2)—the gospel was now accomplishing (Rom. 8:3, 4). A literal adherence to the letter of Judaism did not transfer the principles of truth to men’s hearts. The Jewish practice of religion remained formal and mechanical—it lacked spirit. Tables of stone. Or, “tablets of stone.” Paul contrasts the two tablets of stone upon which God wrote the Ten Commandments at Sinai with the fleshly tablets of the heart. There was nothing wrong about having the law of God inscribed upon tables of stone, but so long as it was written only there, and was not transferred to the tables of men’s hearts, it remained, for all practical purposes, a dead letter. Truth has living, active force only when it is applied to the problems of life. Paul here anticipates his discussion of the new covenant in vs. 6–11. The new-covenant experience is referred to in such passages of Scripture as Jer. 31:31–33; Eze. 11:19, 20; 36:26, 27; Heb. 8:8–10. Only God has the power to reach the heart and write His law there. It is easier for Him to write His law on tablets of stone, for they have no will to resist. Once the law is written on the heart, it is no longer a dead letter. Paper and stone are transitory. Not so with the law written on the heart and in the life. Moses descended from Sinai bearing two slabs of stone, a visible evidence that he had been with God and came forth from the mount as God’s appointed spokesman. Though Paul’s credentials were not of a tangible kind, they were no less real, for the same divine law had been inscribed by the Holy Spirit in his own heart and in the hearts of his converts. Paul needed no other credentials. His life and the lives of those whom he had led to Christ constituted sufficient evidence that his commission was of God.

Such trust. Paul’s literal-minded critics had misinterpreted his confidence and sufficiency as boasting and self-commendation. On the contrary, his confidence was the

result of his consciousness of being under the constant guidance and influence of Christ (cf. ch. 5:14). Therefore, all honor and praise belonged to Christ, not to him. Foolish, vain self-confidence is a vice, but confidence in God is a great Christian virtue (1 Cor. 13:13; Gal. 5:22, 23). The first boastfully credits to self all success in the ministry, the other humbly credits it to God.

Sufficient. Gr. hikanos, “sufficient,” “enough.” The noun form of the word is translated “sufficiency” later in v. 5, and its verb form, “made … able,” in v. 6. Paul has discharged his God-appointed commission to the best of his ability, and does not hesitate to express confidence that his ministry has been a success. But all credit for being an effective instrument belongs to God. Think any thing. That is, to arrive at any conclusions respecting his own ministry. Though his own appraisal of his workmanship might be faulty, no one can deny that his labors have been fruitful for the kingdom. The principles of the kingdom are indelibly inscribed upon the hearts and lives of his converts. Of ourselves. That is, from ourselves, originating with ourselves. Paul denies any credit whatever for the success that has attended his ministry.

Made us able. In vs. 6–18 Paul sets forth the superiority of “the ministration of the spirit” (v. 8), which he represents, over “the ministration of death,” the now-obsolete Jewish system, represented by his Judaizing opponents. He draws this contrast by comparing the “glory” of the new covenant with that of the Mosaic period, and by exposing his Judaizing opponents as exponents of the letter of the law rather than of the spirit of it. He designates the Jewish priesthood as a ministry “of the letter,” in contrast with that of Christian ministers as a ministry “of the spirit.” A minister “of the letter” of the law administered a system of rules and regulations. His object was to secure conformity to external requirements. But God had made Paul a minister “of the spirit” of all God’s revealed will. He had been educated according to the rigid letter of the law (Acts 22:3; Phil. 3:4–6), but the spirit of life in Christ Jesus had set him free from that rigid system (Rom. 8:2). He had renounced the ministry “of the letter” for that “of the spirit.” (Rom. 8:1, 2; 2 Cor. 5:17). The one type of ministry has sufficiency to save men from sin and to make them children of God, the other has not (Eph. 3:7). The one has the Holy Spirit, the other has not. The ministry “of the spirit” is able to convict of sin, the other is not (John 16:8, 9, 13; Eph. 3:7; 1 Tim. 1:11–16). The ministry “of the letter”—the forms of religion—and that “of the spirit” (see on John 4:23, 24) need not have been mutually exclusive (see on Mark 2:21, 22; 7:6–9). But the ministry “of the letter” came to be, in actual practice, a perversion of the true gospel which had been revealed to Moses and to all the prophets (DA 29, 30, 35, 36). New testament. Literally, “new covenant” (see on Matt. 26:28). Paul contrasts the new covenant with the old, the one being identified with the spirit and the other with the letter. Under the old covenant, Jewish reverence for the simple “letter” of the law practically became idolatry. It stifled the “spirit.” The Jews chose to live under the dominion of the “letter” of the law. Their obedience to the law, to ritual, and to the prescribed ceremonies was formal and external. A Christian’s devotion and obedience will not be characterized by any mechanical method, by elaborate rules and requirements, but by the presence and power of the Spirit of God.

Not of the letter. The contrast between “letter” and “spirit” in Scripture is peculiar to the apostle Paul (see on Rom. 2:27–29; 7:6). The one is outward, the other inward. Both Jews and Christians are in danger of stressing the “letter” to the exclusion of the “spirit.” The OT, as well as the NT, constitutes an inspired revelation by the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 3:15–17). God intended Judaism to have both “letter” and “spirit”—a record of God’s revealed will and certain prescribed forms, translated into a living experience (see on John 4:23, 24). The same is true of Christianity. Formal creeds, theoretical theology, and the forms of worship have no power to save men from sin. In that it had come from God the “letter” of the law as recorded in the writings of Moses was good. But God had intended the “letter,” the written record of the law, to be only a means to the higher end of establishing the “spirit” of the law in the hearts of the Jews. But, as a whole, the Israelites failed to translate the “letter” of the law into the “spirit” of the law, that is, into a living religious experience of personal salvation from sin by faith in the atonement to be provided by the Messiah. The literal observance, alone, of the law “killeth.” Only the “spirit” of the law can possibly give “life,” whether it be to Jew or to Christian. The practice of Christianity can easily degenerate into a mere “form of godliness” without “the power thereof” (2 Tim. 3:5), so that the “letter” of Christianity “killeth” those who rely on it for salvation. In Paul’s day, Judaism had so far lost the “spirit” of true religion that its religious observances consisted only of the “letter.” As a system it had lost the power to impart life to its adherents (see on Mark 2:21, 22; John 1:17). On the other hand, Christianity was still young and virile, although in centuries to come it, too, was to become degenerate (see Additional Note on Dan. 7). Thus, when Paul wrote, Judaism was identified with the “letter,” and Christianity, in so far as it was free from the influence of the Judaizers, was identified with the “spirit.” The argument of some that Paul here depreciates the OT and the Decalogue is without foundation in fact. Writing to Gentile Christians, Paul repeatedly affirms the biding force of the OT and the Decalogue upon Christians (see on Rom. 8:1–4; 2 Tim. 3:15–17; cf. on Matt. 5:17–19). Christ and the apostles had no other “scriptures” than the OT (see on John 5:39). The galaxy of the faithful whose names are recorded in Heb. 11, together with many thousands of believers in OT times, experienced the quickening work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, just as others did in NT times. Every church and every creed has its “letter” as well as its “spirit.” The gospel of Jesus Christ has its “letter” and its “spirit.” Without the quickening power of the Holy Spirit, the gospel in any church inevitably becomes a dead letter. Thousands of professed Christians are satisfied with the “letter” and remain wholly without spiritual life. What God requires is not simply right action, but right action as the product and evidence of a right relationship with God and a right state of moral and spiritual being. To reduce Christian life and worship to compliance with a system of rules, rather than to make it a matter of reliance upon the living God, is to depend upon the service and ministry of the “letter.” The formal acts and ceremonies of religion, whether Jewish or Christian, are but a means to an end. If treated as ends in themselves, they immediately become a hindrance to true religious experience. The same is true of the law of God, the Decalogue. Formal compliance with its precepts, in the endeavor to earn salvation thereby, is futile. Only when obedience follows as the natural result of love for God and one’s fellow men is it of any value in

God’s sight (see on Matt. 19:16–30). In the Sermon on the Mount our Lord stressed the principle that obedience to the “letter” of the law without the “spirit” of obedience falls short of meeting His standard of righteousness (see on Matt. 5:17–22). Contrary to certain modern exponents of Scripture, the “spirit” of the law does not abolish its “letter.” For instance, Jesus enjoined His followers, on the basis of the sixth commandment, not to be “angry” with their brethren (Matt. 5:22), but He did not thereby give a man license to violate the letter of the commandment by taking his brother’s life. The “spirit” of the sixth commandment obviously does not replace its “letter” and tends to “magnify” it (see on Isa. 42:21); The same may be said of each precept of the Decalogue, including the fourth commandment (see on Isa. 58:13; Mark 2:28). The letter killeth. The “letter” was good, but it had no power to rescue the sinner from the sentence of death. In fact, it condemned him to death. As originally given by God, the law was designed to promote life (Rom. 7:10, 11), and thus it is said to be “holy, and just, and good” (v. 12). But life came with obedience, and death with disobedience. The law thus put the sinner to death, for the “soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Eze. 18:4, 20). “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), but the gospel was designed to forgive him, and give him life (ch. 8:1–3). The law sentences the commandment breaker to death, but the gospel redeems him and makes him live again. (Ps. 51). Giveth life. Literally, “makes alive.” The ministry of the “spirit” imparts supernatural power. The sentence of death imposed by the law is superseded by the gift of life in Christ (1 John 5:11, 12). When brought to the conscience of a converted man, the standard of God’s righteousness becomes the occasion of obedience and life. But when the law of God is brought to the conscience of the unregenerate man, it condemns him to death.

Ellen G. White

Ministration of death. That is, the Jewish religious system, which had become so perverted that it was lifeless and could not impart life to those who practiced it. In v. 9 Paul calls it “the ministration of condemnation.” Verses 7–18 are based on the experience of Moses recorded in Ex. 34:29–35. Paul here sets forth the superior glory of the ministration of the “spirit,” his purpose being to confute his opponents at Corinth, the Judaizers (see on 2 Cor. 11:22), whose ministry was of the “letter” and not of the “spirit.” Written and engraven. Literally, “engraved in writing,” with emphasis on the idea that the writing was intended to remain and thus have permanent force. This is an obvious reference to the two tables of stone on which the Ten Commandments were written (Ex. 31:18). Compare the words of Christ in Matt. 4:4, 7, 10, “It is written,” meaning, “It stands written.” Paul here refers to the second inscription of the law on tables of stone (Ex. 34:1–7, 28–35). Face of Moses. See on Ex. 34:29–35. Glory. See on Rom. 3:23. In 2 Cor. 3:7–18 the glory that remains is contrasted with the glory that fades away, the more glorious with the less glorious, the new with the old. In both, the “glory” is the glory of the presence of Christ. In the new there is a full revelation of God’s glory in the actual person and presence of Christ, who came to this world to be seen of men (see on John 1:14), which glory abides forever (see Heb. 7). In the Mosaic ministration Christ was seen only in types provided for by the ceremonial law, but the glory was nevertheless the reflected glory of Christ. The Redeemer was hidden behind a veil of types, symbols, rites, and ceremonies, but this veil was done away at the coming of the great Antitype (see Heb. 10:19, 20).

Done away. Some superficial readers have concluded from this statement that the law of God “was to be done away.” The verse clearly states, however, that it was the passing “glory” reflected in the face of Moses that “was to be done away.” That “glory” faded in a few hours, or days, at most, but the law of God, “written and engraven in stones,” remained in effect. It was the ministry of Moses and the Jewish system that was to pass away, not the law of God (see on Matt. 5:17, 18). The glory was not upon the tables of stone, and did not fade from them. The fleeting glory on the face of Moses was the result of his fellowship with God on Sinai. It testified to those who saw it that Moses had been in the divine presence, and bore silent witness to his commission as God’s representative, and the obligation of the people to abide by its precepts. That glory was given to attest the divine source and thus the binding force of the law. As Moses’ face reflected the glory of God, so the ceremonial law and the services of the earthly sanctuary reflected the presence of Christ. God intended that men in OT times should apprehend and experience the saving presence of Christ in the reflected glory of the typical system. But with the coming of Christ men were privileged to behold the glory of the Antitype (see on John 1:14), and no longer needed the lesser, reflected glory that attended the type. In OT times sinners found salvation by faith in Christ, the One who was to come, as surely as they have in Christian times. It is for this reason that Paul speaks of the administration of these rites and ceremonies as a “ministration of death.” Jews who failed to see Christ in the sacrificial system would die in their sins. In and of itself that system never saved anyone from reaping the wages of sin—death. And since most Jews of Paul’s time, including the Judaizers now troubling the church at Corinth, considered those sacrifices essential to salvation, Paul appropriately characterized the entire system as a “ministration of death.” It was lifeless. Jew and Gentile alike must find life in Christ, for in Him alone is there salvation (Acts 4:12). Christ was the Saviour of Israel throughout OT times as truly as He is our Saviour today (see EGW Supplementary Material on Acts 15:11). The failure of the Jewish nation to see and believe in Christ as typified by the ceremonial system marks the entire course of Hebrew history, from Sinai to Christ. Thus, the expression “ministration of death” appropriately characterizes the whole period of the Jewish economy, though there were, of course, many notable exceptions. Israel’s blindness finally led them to reject Jesus as the Messiah and to crucify their Redeemer. Paul declares that with the coming of the greater glory revealed in Christ and the consequent fading of the reflected glory of the typical system, there can be no further excuse for remaining under such a system. The coming of Christ and the fullness of the Holy Spirit amply provided a ministration that could impart life.

Ellen G. White

Ministration of the spirit. The ministry of salvation, which imparts life, is designated as (1) “the ministry of reconciliation” (ch. 5:18), that is, a ministry by which men are reconciled to God; (2) “the ministration of the spirit” (ch. 3:8); (3) “the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4); and (4) “the ministration of righteousness” (2 Cor. 3:9), that is, a ministry by which men may learn how to become righteous (see on Rom. 8:3, 4). The argument is from the lesser to the greater. This passage presents a series of contrasts, the letter and the spirit, the glory that fades and the glory that remains, condemnation and righteousness, Moses and Christ. The latter, in each instance, is infinitely superior to the former (see Heb. 3:1–6).

Ministration of condemnation. That is, the “ministration of death” (see on v. 7). The “ministration of righteousness” surpassed the “ministration of condemnation” in glory to the extent that the blood of Jesus Christ surpassed that of bulls and goats as a means of atoning for sin. The difference between the two was infinite.

No glory. Not in the absolute, but in a comparative sense. The glory of the ministry centering in the sacrificial system was great, but when compared with that of Christ it appeared as nothing. The former ministry has thus lost its glory. It is completely eclipsed. The brilliance of the moon and the stars fades away when the sun shines forth. So it is with Christ, the Sun of Righteousness. The transcendent glory of Christ’s incarnation, life, sufferings, death, and resurrection, and of His revelation of the love and character of God—His holiness, justice, goodness, and mercy—makes the sacrificial system, well adapted as it was for its time, wholly inadequate.

Done away. Paul sees the fading of the glory from Moses’ face as an illustration of the passing of the Mosaic system, the passing of the “ministration of death.” The apostolic ministry brings that of Moses to an end because it has served its purpose. A pattern loses its usefulness when the garment for which it prepared the way has been completed. The Judaizers kept their eyes focused on the “patterns of things in the heavens” after Christ had returned to heaven to administer the “heavenly things themselves” (Heb. 9:23). Paul sought to turn men’s attention from the “letter” of an administration that was powerless to impart life, to the “spirit” of one that could do so. The Jewish system had become not only useless as a guide to salvation, but actually dangerous, in that it now tended to turn men’s attention away from Christ, though its original purpose was to point men to Him. In addition to the fact that the Jewish system had now become obsolete, it was also true that even while the system retained validity the Jews had largely perverted God’s original plan and purpose for it. This now made the system doubly obsolete and objectionable (cf. Matt. 23:38; DA 577). Now, with the coming of Christ, no excuse whatsoever remained for perpetuating the old ministration, as Paul’s Judaizing opponents sought to do. Compare Rom. 9:30–33. Much more. As the glory of the sun makes the stars disappear, so the ministry of the “spirit” surpasses and replaces that of the “letter.”

Seeing then. In vs. 7–11 Paul has contrasted the Mosaic and apostolic ministries. Now he presents the differing results of the two kinds of ministration, as seen in the Jews (vs. 13–16) and in the Christians (vs. 17, 18). The Jews remained blind and hard of heart. For Christians the ministry of the “spirit” provided liberty and a transformation of character. Such hope. That is, in the surpassing glory and efficacy of the ministration of the “spirit” (cf. Titus 2:13). Plainness. Literally, “openness,” “frankness,” “boldness.” The same Greek word is translated “boldness” in Acts 4:13, and often so elsewhere. The word embraces the ideas of frankness, candor, and courage. The Jews had been afraid to look at the divine radiance on the face of Moses, and had trembled at the manifestation of divine glory on Sinai. Moses was indeed God’s spokesman, but it was necessary to veil the divine glory on his face, which attested his ministry. On the contrary, there was nothing about Paul’s more glorious ministry that needed to be concealed. He could proclaim the truths of the gospel without reservation.

Ellen G. White

Not as Moses. See Ex. 34:29–35. Paul uses the incident of the veil to illustrate Israel’s spiritual blindness (2 Cor. 3:14–16). According to Paul the fading glory represented the types and ceremonies that were to end with the coming of the great Anti- type, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of the “vail,” Paul says, the Israelites were unable to see the fading away of that transitory glory or to understand its meaning. They fondly believed that the types and ceremonies were to be permanent. They looked upon them as an end in themselves. They did not see that the typical system was temporary and provisional in nature, and foreshadowed the glory of Christ, who was to come. To be sure, Moses did not deliberately conceal the truth and seek to deceive the Israelites. He prophesied concerning the Messiah and looked forward to the glorious period of His coming (see Deut. 18:15). The veil symbolized the unbelief of the Jews (see Heb. 3:18, 19; 4:1, 2; cf. PP 329, 330) and their refusal to perceive Christ in the sacrificial ministration.

Blinded. Gr. pōroō, “to grow calous,” “to become dull,” “to lose the faculty of understanding.” Pōroō is translated “hardened” in Mark 6:52; 8:17. The cause of this spiritual condition was persistent unbelief. Until this day. Paul had been commissioned a minister of the new covenant, but his ministry for the Jews of his day was no more effective than that of Moses had been in his time. Was this because Paul had ministered to them the “letter” only? No! It was because the same “vail” was still upon their hearts and minds. The solution was for them to remove the “vail,” not for Paul to change his ministry of the “spirit” to one of the “letter,” as his critics demanded. The same vail. That is, the same spiritual incapacity for recognizing the great spiritual truths and the spiritual objective of the Mosaic administration. Some 1,500 years after Sinai the Jews were still as dull of understanding as they had been then. The pattern of Jewish unbelief in Paul’s day was identical with that of Moses’ day. Old testament. Certainly not what we know as the OT, for there was yet no NT. For the common NT designation for the OT see on Luke 24:44. Paul probably refers either to the Pentateuch, or to that portion of it in which the terms of the covenant arrangement are stated. Instead of being over Moses’ face, the veil is now over the book he wrote. Regardless of the spoken or written word of Moses, the minds and hearts of the people were still blinded. The Jews did not do away with the law. They read it regularly and, presumably, honored Moses. But in reality they did not believe him, for had they done so they would also have believed Christ (John 5:46, 47). For them, the glory of Moses consisted in the “letter” of the law and in the outward forms and ceremonies prescribed therein. The nature and work of the Messiah remained a mystery to them. Done away in Christ. Only the discovery of Christ in the prophecies of the OT, and in the forms and ceremonies prescribed by it, would ever serve to lift the “vail” from the reading of those passages of Scripture. But the Jews refused to recognize Christ as the Messiah, and the veil therefore remained unlifted.

Ellen G. White

Even unto this day. Some 1,500 years after the time of Moses and about 30 years after the death of Christ. When Moses is read. The first five books of the Bible were written by Moses, and came to be known as “the law of Moses.” These were regularly read in the synagogues (Acts 15:5, 21; see Vol. V, pp. 96, 97).

Upon their heart. Not so much upon the intellect as upon the will. They could have believed, but they refused to do so (see on Hosea 4:6). Throughout their history as a nation the Jews were willfully blind. They saw in what Moses wrote only that which they were willing to believe (see Vol. IV, p. 33). They were fully persuaded of the incomparable excellence of the “letter” of the Mosaic law, but they closed their eyes to its “spirit.” The sanctuary services and sacrifices pointed to the Lamb of God and to His mediatorial work. Such psalms as the 22d, 24th, and the 110th pointed to One greater than David. The prophecies of Isaiah should have led them to understand that the Messiah must suffer before he reigns as King. They did indeed look for the Messiah, but as a Saviour from foreign enemies, not from sin (see on Luke 4:19). The same veil of willful unbelief often conceals truth from men today. We need to approach the Scriptures with open minds, ready to relinquish preconceived opinions and to acknowledge and accept the truth, whatever it may be.

When it. The Greek may also be translated, “when he.” “It” would refer to the “heart” of v. 15, and “he” to the individual Jew who listened to the reading of the law of Moses in the synagogue. The obstacle to spiritual vision lies with the individual himself, not with God. Paul is not teaching that the whole nation of Israel is to be saved en masse (see Rom. 9:6–8; see on ch. 11:26). Shall turn. Gr. epistrephō, “to turn about,” “to return,” here, as commonly in the NT (see Matt. 13:15; Luke 22:32; Acts 3:19; etc.), “to be converted.” When truly converted, men will discern that both OT and NT bear witness to Christ (Luke 24:27; John 5:39; 15:26, 27; 16:13, 14). But like the unbelieving Jews of NT times, some modern Christians, their understanding veiled, see no more in the OT than a system of rites and ceremonies. The vail. As Moses removed the veil when he went again into the presence of Jehovah (Ex. 34:34), spiritual blindness and unbelief will be removed from the minds and hearts of those who are truly converted. When the Jew, led by the Spirit, came to believe on Christ, the veil, which had obscured his vision of the everlasting covenant, and which had thus perverted his being, was removed. He was then able to see the true significance of the Jewish economy and to realize that Christ, in His own person and work, constituted the very heart of the sacrificial system and of the entire law of Moses. Only as men find Christ in the Scriptures, whether OT or NT, are they reading its message aright. Only when men commit themselves in full obedience to the will of God are they prepared to understand His Word and interpret it correctly (see on Matt. 7:21– 27).

That Spirit. Literally, “the Spirit.” Paul does not here identify the second person of the Godhead with the third but refers to their unity of purpose and operation. That such identity is not meant is evident from the next clause, “the Spirit of the Lord.” In the NT the Holy Spirit is designated both as the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9). Paul here means that: (1) The indwelling of Christ is accomplished by, and is equivalent to, the indwelling of the Spirit (John 14:16–20; cf. Gal. 2:20). (2) The Spirit ministers the wisdom, truth, and righteousness of Christ (John 16:10–14). (3) The Spirit acts as Christ’s agent in carrying forward the work of redemption and in making it vital and effective (John 7:37–39). (4) The fellowship of Christ is the fellowship of the Spirit (John 14:17, 18).

Where the Spirit. The ministration of the Spirit means freedom from the ministration of the letter, which, by itself alone, means bondage. To “walk in the Spirit” is to enjoy Christian liberty (see Gal. 5:13–16; cf. John 6:63). In and of itself the ministration of the “letter” engraved on tables of stone has no power whatever to convert sinners and to give liberty. It is the Son who alone can make men “free indeed” (John 8:36). The liberty of the Spirit is that of a new life which can always be allowed free and natural expression for the simple reason that when a man is born again his supreme desire is that the will of God be made effective in him. God’s law written upon the heart (see on 2 Cor. 3:3) frees him from all forms of external compulsion. He chooses to do right, not because the “letter” of the law forbids him to do wrong, but because the “spirit” of the law, engraved in his heart, leads him to choose the right. The indwelling Spirit so controls his will and affections that he desires what is right, and is free to follow the truth as it is in Jesus. He consents that the law is good, and delights “in the law of God after the inward man” (Rom. 7:22; cf. Ps. 1:2). Liberty in Christ does not mean license to do as one pleases, unless one pleases to obey Christ in all things. There must be control. The less of it there is within, the more of it must be imposed from without. The man who is renewed in Christ Jesus can be safely trusted with full liberty, because he will not abuse it by making it subserve selfish objectives.

With open face. Unlike the Israelite, who still has a veil upon his mind and heart that prevents him from seeing the glory of the Lord, the Christian is privileged to behold the fullness of that glory. At Sinai Moses alone received the revelation from God with unveiled face. Now all may draw nigh to God as effectively as Moses did and hold intimate communion with Him (cf. Heb. 4:16). Beholding as in a glass. Gr. katoptrizō, “to reflect,” or “to behold a reflection.” Some translators and commentators favor the first definition here, others the second. The context favors the second, for to be “changed” into the likeness of Christ is logically the result of “beholding” Him, not of reflecting Him. It is also true that our lives are as mirrors, receiving light from Christ and reflecting it to others. As Moses’ face reflected the glory of God at Sinai, so our lives are ever to reflect the glory of the Lord as it shines forth to a lost world in the face of the Saviour. Are changed. Literally, “are being changed.” The plan of redemption aims to restore the image of God in man (Rom. 8:29; 1 John 3:2), a transformation that comes about by contemplating Christ (Rom. 12:2; Gal. 4:19). The contemplation of the image of Christ acts upon the moral and spiritual nature as the presence of God did upon the face of Moses. The humblest Christian who constantly looks to Christ as his Redeemer will reflect in his own life something of the glory of Christ. If he faithfully continues to do so, he will go on “from glory to glory” in his personal Christian experience (see 2 Peter 1:5– 7). From glory to glory. This transformation is progressive. It advances from one stage of glory to another. Our spiritual assimilation of Christ comes through His glory and results in a reflection of glory like unto His. As by the Spirit of the Lord. Literally, “as from the Lord, [the] Spirit.” The spiritual transformation that proceeds from Christ takes place only through the operation of the Holy Spirit, who, having access to the heart, renews, hallows, and glorifies the nature and makes it over into the likeness of Christ’s perfect life.

Ellen G. White