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2 Corinthians 3:6-11
The Sufficiency of the New Covenant Ministry
The Superior Glory of the Spirit
Study this passage
Commentary written on this passage, not on a single verse.
- Who
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- When
- About
Where else Scripture says this.
John 6:63
The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.from verse 6Romans 7:6
But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.from verse 6Jeremiah 31:31
Behold, 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.from verse 6Romans 8:2
For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.from verse 6Hebrews 8:6
Now, however, Jesus has received a much more excellent ministry, just as the covenant He mediates is better and is founded on better promises.from verse 6Hebrews 8:10
For 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.from verse 6Hebrews 12:24
to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.from verse 61 Corinthians 15:45
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.from verse 62 Corinthians 3:14
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.from verse 6Hebrews 7:22
Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.from verse 6Romans 3:20
Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin.from verse 62 Corinthians 3:9
For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness!from verse 6
Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers 2 Corinthians 3:6–11. His two-level outline is real structure in the source text, so it is rendered as structure.
Here the apostle makes a comparison between the Old Testament and the New, the law of Moses and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and values himself and his fellow-labourers by this, that they were able ministers of the New Testament, that God had made them so, Co2 3:6. This he does in answer to the accusations of false teachers, who magnify greatly the law of Moses.
I.He distinguishes between the letter and the spirit even of the New Testament, Co2 3:6.
As able ministers of the New Testament, they were ministers not merely of the letter, to read the written word, or to preach the letter of the gospel only, but they were ministers of the Spirit also; the Spirit of God did accompany their ministrations. The letter killeth; this the letter of the law does, for that is the ministration of death; and if we rest only in the letter of the gospel we shall be never the better for so doing, for even that will be a savour of death unto death; but the Spirit of the gospel, going along with the ministry of the gospel, giveth life spiritual and life eternal.
II.He shows the difference between the Old Testament and the New, and the excellency of the gospel above the law. For,
1.The Old Testament dispensation was the ministration of death (Co2 3:7), whereas that of the New Testament is the ministration of life. The law discovered sin, and the wrath and curse of God. This showed us a God above us and a God against us; but the gospel discovers grace, and Emmanuel, God with us. Upon this account the gospel is more glorious than the law; and yet that had a glory in it, witness the shining of Moses's face (an indication thereof) when he came down from the mount with the tables in his hand, that reflected rays of brightness upon his countenance.
2.The law was the ministration of condemnation, for that condemned and cursed every one who continued not in all things written therein to do them; but the gospel is the ministration of righteousness: therein the righteousness of God by faith is revealed. This shows us that the just shall live by his faith. This reveals the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ, for obtaining the remission of sins and eternal life. The gospel therefore so much exceeds in glory that in a manner it eclipses the glory of the legal dispensation, Co2 3:10. As the shining of a burning lamp is lost, or not regarded, when the sun arises and goes forth in his strength; so there was no glory in the Old Testament, in comparison with that of the New.
3.The law is done away, but the gospel does and shall remain, Co2 3:11. Not only did the glory of Moses's face go away, but the glory of Moses's law is done away also; yea, the law of Moses itself is now abolished. That dispensation was only to continue for a time, and then to vanish away; whereas the gospel shall remain to the end of the world, and is always fresh and flourishing and remains glorious.
Historical interpretation
Two Centuries of Reception
36 surviving comments on this passage. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.
He alludes to Moses' veil, covered with which "his face could not be stedfastly seen by the children of Israel." Since he did this to maintain the superiority of the glory of the New Testament, which is permanent in its glory, over that of the Old, "which was to be done away," this fact gives support to my belief which exalts the Gospel above the law and you must look well to it that it does not even more than this.
Since he did this to maintain the superiority of the glory of the New Testament, which is permanent in its glory, over that of the Old, "which was to be done away," this fact gives support to my belief which exalts the Gospel above the law and you must look well to it that it does not even more than this.
Even if "the letter killeth, yet the Spirit giveth life; " and both belong to Him who says: "I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal.
For even if he has affirmed that "good dwelleth not in his flesh," yet (he means) according to "the law of the letter," in which he "was: "but according to "the law of the Spirit," to which he annexes us, he frees us from the "infirmity of the flesh.
Therefore "the New Testament" will appertain to none other than Him who promised it-if not "its letter, yet its spirit; " and herein will lie its newness.
The apostle briefly indicates the reason that these words that were read to us can be understood or not understood when he says that “the veil of the Old Testament” can “be removed” from the eyes of the one “who has been converted to the Lord.” From this, he wanted it understood that these things are less clear to us to the same degree as our conversion to the Lord is less complete. And for that reason, this must be worked at with all our strength so that, free from secular occupations and mundane deeds, and if possible leaving behind these unnecessary fables of friends, we may apply ourselves to the Word of God and “meditate on his law day and night.” The result will be the conversion of the entire heart. Then we can see the face of Moses, opened and unveiled.
