2 Cor 3: Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part, verse-by-verse approach, to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: 2 Cor 3:1-6

1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

4 Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant – not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

A. Find Out:

1. What does Paul now ask? v.1
2. What does he say the Corinthian church is? v.2
3. How are they that? v.3
4. How sure is he about that? v.4,5
5. What has God made them? v.6a
6. In what way? 6b

B. Think:

1. Why do you think Paul started writing along this line?
2. What are the characteristics of the “Corinthian letter”?
3. Why was Paul confident?

C. Comment:

Paul has just been writing about his own ministry and as he writes he anticipates some objectors saying he is commending himself. In a sense he is being very defensive. He is on difficult ground trying to bring gentle correction to this church.

No (he implies), I don’t need to commend myself for you are my commendation. You are like a letter written to the rest of the world. The Holy Spirit has written on your hearts as a result of our ministry and that is visible for anyone to see. You are the proof of our ministry.

Look, he continues, I’m quite confident about that. I’m not confident in myself, but I am confident that Christ has worked in you and therefore, as I stand before God, I know that He declares us competent, because He called us and made us ministers of His word and His Spirit applied it and produced the fruit of you!

In this very defensive writing of Paul’s, note also his confidence. he is not afraid to say that he is a leader, that he has the right to bring correction to them, because he knows his calling and he knows that the fruit of his calling is obvious to everyone. They, the Corinthian church were the obvious fruit of his ministry, so that both confirmed his ministry and gave him the right to correct them.

D. Application:

1. Are we able to see fruit from our lives?
2. Can we rely on God-given fruit and not just on our “position”.

Passage: 2 Cor 3:7-11

7 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, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

A. Find Out:

1.  What were the characteristics of the Old Testament ministry? v.7
2. What does Paul say about the new ministry? v.8
3. How again does he contrast the two ministries? v.9
4. How yet further does he do that? v.10
5. How, finally, does he do that yet again? v.11 

B. Think:

1. Summarise what we are told about the old covenant?
2. Summarise what we are told about the new covenant?

C. Comment:

Paul has just written about the Corinthian church and has already started using contrasts. They were a letter written not in ink but in the Spirit (v.3), not on stone but on their hearts (v.3), of a covenant not focused on the letter but on the Spirit (v.6). Now he continues to contrast the old and the new covenants.

First of all, let’s note the things he says about the old covenant. It brought death, it was engraved on stone, it came with God’s glory which was reflected on Moses’ face but which faded away (v.8,11). It condemned men (pointed out their failure).

The new covenant, by contrast, is a ministry of the Spirit (v.8), it brings righteousness (v.9), it brings surpassing glory (v.10) which is a lasting glory (v.11).     

Why is Paul saying all this? What is the emphasis of these words? Basically, he is saying that the old covenant condemned men and the new brings righteousness. There must be implied behind this, therefore, that Paul is saying, I’m not here to condemn you but to encourage you to bring righteousness to the fore. The old emphasised the written law, the new emphasised the Spirit, so he’s saying, I’m not coming to lay down rules, but I want you to be a people who live by the Spirit of God. 

D. Application:

1. Do we condemn others or speak to bring them life?
2. Do we live by rules or by the Holy Spirit’s leading? Are we condemned by the Law or released by the Spirit?

Passage: 2 Cor 3:12-18

12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

A. Find Out:

1. What did this hope produce in Paul? v.12
2. How did he differ from Moses? v.13
3. What is the effect of the old covenant? v.14,15
4. What happens when a person is saved? v.16
5. What happens where the Lord is? v.17
6. So what is happening to us today? v.18

B. Think:

1. How do these verses flow on from the previous ones?
2. What 2 veils are being spoken about and why?
3. How does the new covenant differ?

C. Comment:

Paul has just written about the fading glory of the old covenant and the unfading glory of the new. Now he continues to consider these things and the effects they have.

First, he says because we have an unfading glory, we are bold. Moses, he says, couldn’t be bold because he knew the glory faded away, so he covered his face with a veil so the people couldn’t see the glory and couldn’t see it fading away. We don’t have to worry like Moses, for the glory we have is unfading. What is that glory? It is the expressed or manifest presence of God. It was seen as a bright cloud in the Old Testament times, but is the expression of the Holy Spirit today. Because the Spirit dwells in us, God’s glory is with us at all times, changing us, making us more like Jesus every day.

Second, he says that not only was there a veil over Moses’ face there was also a veil over the people’s hearts which restricted or limited their understanding and their faith. Now, he says, that veil is taken away because the Holy Spirit comes to live within and He brings understanding, He brings revelation, He releases faith as He speaks. The new covenant is all about the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus.

D. Application:

1. The Holy Spirit’s life within you is God’s guarantee (Eph 1:13 ,14).
2. The Holy Spirit in you is unfading, and He is working from within to change you to be more like Jesus