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Ambrosiaster

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 1,043 passages across 16 books

Commentary

301–320 of 1,043
2 Corinthians 3:3

Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

The things which are promised are eternal and are therefore said to be written with the Spirit of God, unlike temporal things written in ink, which fades and loses its power to record anything.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 3:4

And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:

Paul’s purpose was to show that the ancient prophets did not have this position of trust in God’s eyes, because theirs was a preparing ministry.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 3:6

Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

The Spirit, who is the law of faith which is not written but which is contained in the rational soul, is life-giving, drawing to himself those who are guilty of mortal sin, so that they may be made righteous and cease altogether from sinning.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 3:8

How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

It is obvious that the grace of the law of faith is greater than that of the law of Moses. For although the law of Moses was intended to be beneficial, it became the law of death because it was flouted. Then, because there was no way it could make provision for sinners to be saved, there came the law of faith, which not only forgives sinners but also makes them righteous. There is therefore a great deal of difference between one law and the other.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 3:9

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

Paul says this because there is more glory in salvation than there is in death. However justly a judge may condemn some-one, he earns more honor if he shows mercy, so that the guilty party is given an opportunity to mend his ways.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 3:10

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

The law of Moses was not made glorious because of the splendor on his face. That splendor was of no benefit to anyone and did not have the reward of glory. It was rather a hindrance, not through its own fault but through the fault of sinners.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 3:11

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

Paul does not deny that there was splendor in the law and on the face of Moses, but it did not endure because in his case it was a symbol and not a reality. The difference between the face of Moses and the glory of Christ is the same as the difference between the picture and the person whom it portrays.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 3:12

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

Paul is saying that we have a hope of seeing glory, not the kind that was on the face of Moses but the kind which the three apostles saw on the mountain when the Lord revealed himself. Therefore we ought to repay the love of God as far as we can by being more fervent in our love for him, who by cleansing us from our sins has given us this confidence. Now our confidence ought to increase, because what we eventually see will be in proportion to what we now believe.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 3:14

But 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.

Their minds were hardened through unbelief, and this will not change until they convert and believe in Christ.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 3:17

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

Because God is Spirit, he has given through Christ the law of the Spirit, which persuades us to believe in invisible things which our reasoning understands spiritually. This law gives liberty because it demands only faith, and because it believes what it does not see, we are able to be rescued from our condition.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 4:1

Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;

Paul attributes his perseverance not to human merit but to the mercy of God, which first cleanses a person, then makes him righteous, adopts him as a son of God and endows him with a glory like the glory of God’s own Son.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 4:2

But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

This is really an invitation. Just while he had been speaking about himself and his associates, Paul is now exhorting the Corinthians to lead a better life.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 4:3

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

Unbelief casts darkness over the splendor of the power of God. This is especially true in the case of the Jews.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 4:4

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Paul is saying that God dims the sight of worldly people because they are hostile to the faith of Christ. He is giving them what they want, since it is because they are hostile and tell lies that they move further toward not being able to believe what they do not want to believe. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.

2 Corinthians 4:5

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

In expressing himself humbly, Paul spoke in a way which was designed to show that he was not preaching the gospel for his own advantage but for the glory of the Lord Christ, to whom he is obedient.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

By treasure, Paul meant the sacrament of God in Christ, which is made manifest to believers but which has been concealed from unbelievers with a veil. Just as a treasure is put in a hidden place, the sacrament of God is hidden within a person, in his heart. The reference to earthen vessels is an allusion to the weakness of human nature, which can do nothing unless empowered by God.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 4:9

Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

God was with them, like a shepherd, when they were in need. He looked after their interests, so that their enemies would not get the better of them.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 4:10

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Christ himself shares in the death of martyrs. Their sufferings are his sufferings. His life is made manifest in their bodies. Their sufferings are evidence of the fact that they are prepared to receive the life to come which Christ promised.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 4:11

For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

Paul is saying that Christians are not afraid to die because they have the promise of resurrection.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 4:12

So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

Paul is saying this because he and Timothy were being threatened with death for their sakes. By preaching to the Gentiles they had stirred up hatred from both Jews and Gentiles, risking even death.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

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