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2Cor.3:1. Should we really get to know you again? Do we really need, like some others, letters of approval to you or from you? “Are we going to inform you again?” For it is not us who should say this, but you, who know exactly what concerns both us and them. And the Apostle continues to wound them with his word. “Or we demand, like no one else, informative messages to you, or from you!” And this makes them understand that some of these deceivers were praised by others, and from them they received messages of encouragement to others. And since what was said was enough to defeat them, the Apostle in subsequent words offers healing and says: 2Cor.3:2. You are our letter, written in our hearts, recognizable and read by all people. “You are our message, written in our hearts, known and purged from all people.” We have no need for messages; Our very deeds bear witness to us; and we have an animated message that speaks to you in our favor; this is your faith, glorified everywhere, both on land and at sea; because we, having delivered you from error, led you to the light of knowledge of God. This is also expressed in the following words. 2Cor.3:3. you show by yourself that you are a letter of Christ, through our ministry written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh of the heart. “We appear as the message of Christ is, which we have served.” And what am I saying – ours? You are the message of our Savior Himself, the sayings of His very preaching, and we are only servants of the written word. “It is not written with ink, but lives by the Spirit of God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of the heart of flesh.” Leaving those who teach otherwise, the Apostle moves on to reality and shows the difference between the two covenants, for one was inscribed on tablets of stone, and the other was written on rational hearts. 2Cor.3:4. This is the confidence we have in God through Christ. 2Cor.3:5. Not because we ourselves are able to think something from ourselves, as if from ourselves, but our ability is from God. “This is the hope of the imams of Christ to God, not as if you were pleased... to think of something from yourself, as from yourself.” The Apostle mentioned the God of all at the right time, because those who preached the opposite claimed that God cared about the preservation of the law. Therefore he says: we boldly trust in the God of all, because Christ gave us this boldness; We do not think highly of ourselves and do not propose a sermon out of our own thoughts. 2Cor.3:6. He gave us the ability to be ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit, because the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. “But our contentment is from God: the servants also pleased us to make the New Testament, not in writing, but in spirit”; because the God of all things has given us power sufficient to serve the grace of the Spirit. For we do not offer the old writings of the law, but the new gift of the Spirit. “Writing kills, but the Spirit gives life.” The apostle expressed himself about both, looking at the end, because the law punished those who transgressed, but grace gives life to those who believe. Then the comparison makes this more clear. 2Cor.3:7. If the service of the deadly letters inscribed on the stones was so glorious that the children of Israel could not look at the face of Moses because the glory of his face was passing away. 2Cor.3:8. Shouldn't the ministry of the spirit be much more glorious? “If the ministry of death, written in stone, was formed in stone, it would come to glory, since the power of the son of Israel did not look upon the face of Moses, the glory for the sake of his face ceases: how much more will the ministry of the Spirit be in glory?” The apostle called the ministry of the law the ministry of death, because the law punished criminals. Therefore, he says: if even where there is punishment and death, and writings inscribed on stones, the one who communicates this received such glory that those looking at his face could not bear the radiance he emitted, then all the more will those who serve the Divine Spirit be filled with greater glory. For the Apostle called “the ministry of the Spirit” those who served the Spirit, as well as, on the contrary, “the ministry of death” those who served the law, that is, Moses, since he makes a comparison between Moses and the preachers of grace, and shows that he communicated the written tablets, and the latter taught the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, that the law punishes, but grace gives life, that the glory given to Moses lasted a short time, but the glory of the preachers endures forever and that there Moses alone partook of the glory, but here not only the apostles partake, but also those who believed through them. Then the Apostle, in order to show the superiority of grace, makes a comparison in the most extensive form. 2 Corinthians 3:9. For if the ministry of condemnation is glorious, much more will the ministry of justification abound in glory. “If the ministry of condemnation is glory, much more will the ministry of righteousness be in glory.” The law condemned those who sinned, and the grace that accepted them justifies them through faith, because it leads to Divine baptism and grants remission of sins. Therefore, if the one who served the first became a partaker of glory, then much more than the servants of the last will be filled with greater glory. 2Cor.3:10. That which is glorified does not even turn out to be glorious from this side, because of the predominant glory of what follows. “For what was glorified in this part was not glorified for the glory that surpasses it.” For such is the glory observed by the latter that, looking at them, the glory given to Moses as an inheritance would not, in all fairness, be called glory. Although the light from the lamp seems very strong at night, at midday it becomes inconspicuous and is not even considered light. Then the Apostle compares it even differently: 2 Corinthians 3:11. For if that which passes away is glorious, much more is that which endures glorious. “For if that which ceases remains in glory, much more does that which remains in glory.” The Apostle called the law “perishable,” as having lost its power with the coming of the Lord Christ, and the gift of grace “abiding,” as a gift that will have no end. Therefore, if the law, he says, was worthy of glory, then, of course, the gift of grace will be worthy of many times greater glory. 2 Corinthians 3:12. Having this hope, we act with great boldness. “If we have this, this is the hope of many: let us act boldly.” We know the greatness of glory and do not doubt at all, but with boldness we show the superiority of grace. 2Cor.3:13. And not like Moses, who put a veil over his face, so that the children of Israel would not look at the end of the passing “And not as Moses laid down a veil on his face, for he was not strong enough to look upon the end of the passing of the Son of Israel.” We do not need a veil, like Moses, because we talk with believers, and all believers use a ray of intelligent light. By saying this, he makes it clear that the divine Moses, foreshadowing the unbelief of the Jews, put a veil over his face, teaching that they would not be able to see the end of the law, because the end of the law is Christ for the justification of everyone who believes. This is what the Apostle said: “For the sake of his power, the Son of Israel must look to the end of what is to come.” For he called the law “perishable,” that is, losing its power, and the end of the one who ceases, he who was preached under the law, that is, Christ. Then he shows the truth of boldness. 2 Corinthians 3:14. But their minds are blinded: for the same veil remains untaken to this day when reading the Old Testament, because it is removed by Christ. “But their thoughts were blinded.” It was not another who blinded them, but they themselves fell into this disease by spontaneous reasoning. “Even to this day, the veil in the reading of the Old Testament does not remain openly, but ceases to be about Christ.” The Law bears the image of Moses to this day, and a veil lies over it for those who attempt to read it without faith. 2Cor.3:15. To this day, when they read Moses, a veil lies over their heart. “But even to this day, whenever Moses is revered, a veil lies over their hearts.” The Apostle calls the law Moses, and unbelief the veil. It teaches you how to remove the coverlet. 2 Corinthians 3:16. But when they turn to the Lord, then this veil is removed. “Whenever they turn to the Lord, the veil will be taken away.” Moses, talking with the people, had a veil over him, but when approaching God, he took off the veil. Therefore, if you also wish to lift your gaze to God, you will get rid of the veil of unbelief. Who is the one to whom the gaze should be raised? 2Cor.3:17. The Lord is Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. “The Lord is the Spirit.” The apostle showed the equality of God and the Spirit. For Moses looked to God, but we look to the Spirit. But I would not have mentioned the Spirit, intending to show the superiority of the new over the old, if I had known that the Holy Spirit is a creature. For if He is a creature, according to the teachings of Arius and Eunomius, and we approach the Spirit, and Moses approaches God and the Father, it means that ours is much lower than the old. If not lower, but higher, and much higher, then it follows that the Holy Spirit is not a creature, but is equal in power and equal in honor to the Father. But, driven by shamelessness, they say that here the Lord is called the Spirit, and not the Spirit Himself the Lord. This is full of foolishness and shamelessness. For the divine Apostle made a complete comparison of writing and spirit; says: “it was not written with ink, but it lives by the Spirit of God” (2 Cor. 3:3); and again: “Do not write, but to the Spirit,” and then: “For writing kills, but the Spirit gives life,” and again: “How else will the ministry of the Spirit be in glory?” Therefore, it is clear that the divine Apostle called the All-Holy Spirit Lord. The following also testifies to this, for the Apostle says: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” If he called the Lord Spirit, he would say: “where” the Lord. But that's not what it says; on the contrary, the Apostle named the Spirit of the Lord Himself, because the grace of the Lord is taught by Him. And so that no one would consider the Spirit to be of service, he necessarily added that the Spirit is the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18. But we all, with open face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord. “But we, who with revealed face behold the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Moses alone enjoyed glory, but here all believers enjoy it. He had a veil because of the weakness of the Jews, and we, offering teaching to the faithful, do not need a veil, but with an open face we look at the glory of the Lord, because we are not covered with the pus of unbelief. From this we attract upon ourselves a considerable radiance of glory, and this is characteristic of those who have acquired a pure heart. For just as clear water imprints the faces of those who look, and the circle of the sun itself, and the vault of heaven, so a pure heart becomes, as it were, some kind of imprint and mirror of God’s glory. So the Lord said: “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). The Apostle said: “from glory,” that is, the Spirit of God, “to glory,” that is, ours, as if saying: “From Him we are acceptable”; this he added: “for it is from the Spirit of the Lord.” And from this it is clear that in what was said before this, he called the Spirit Lord. You might be interested in: