2 Corinthians 3:7-11 (NIV)
Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
Jewish people and most God-fearing gentiles revered Moses as the great lawgiver. But in reality, he was not the lawgiver at all, but merely God’s messenger who gave His law to the people. And it was a necessary, logical step in the progression of God’s program of world salvation.
The law, not just the Ten Commandments, but the ceremonial and sacrificial laws as well, was designed to show God’s people His character- that He was a holy God, whose people must be holy as well, reflecting His own character. But the law itself had no power to make anyone holy. It only showed them clearly where they fell short, so that they would be moved to seek God more fully.
The result, however, was that people didn’t seek God – they simply began grading themselves on a sliding scale, comparing themselves with others and, as long as they could find others who weren’t complying as well as they were, felt they were doing fine. So, they ended up condemned by the law that they tried to follow in their own strength.
That is what Paul is referring to as the ministry that brought death. Even though it came with the glory of God’s presence showing on the face of Moses, and even with God’s glory filling the tabernacle and guiding the people in the cloud, it still left most of the people lost, just more aware of their lostness.
But, as Paul pointed out, the people of God were now living under the ministry of the Spirit. When they believed in Jesus and were baptized according to his instruction, they were all able to receive the promised Holy Spirit, who would not only live in them, but who would make them spiritually alive for the first time, transform their hearts, and empower them to live a genuinely holy life, a holiness that did not need the goad of an external law, but which was driven from the heart.
This ministry of the Spirit brings true life to all who believe and gives them all hope and a future instead of condemnation with no solution. And that life doesn’t fade, as the glory of Moses’ face did. It grows stronger as God’s Spirit works ever more completely in the person’s heart, and as they become more and more like Jesus.
Father, what an amazing difference between life under the law and life in the Spirit! The tragedy is that many who profess faith in Jesus are still living under the law, trying to obey the Ten Commandments in their own strength, comparing themselves to others, and horribly aware of their shortcomings and failures, which they sweep under the carpet of their hearts under the rubric of “being saved”. But it is a whole different world for those who live in the Spirit, who had been saved through faith, and whose hearts and minds have been transformed, renewed, recreated by the Holy Spirit, so that they obey Your commands as naturally as breathing, not by effort, but by Your own grace, power, and guidance. Lord, help us to all allow You to transform us and fill us with Your Spirit, so that we daily experience the complete victory that is possible in Jesus. Amen.
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