START WITH SCRIPTURE:
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
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OBSERVE:
Paul is drawing a contrast between the covenant revealed to Moses and the new covenant revealed in Jesus. He has pointed out in the passage preceding our Scripture that this is a:
new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6).
Paul’s interpretation of Exodus 34:29-35 suggests that the veil Moses put over his face wasn’t merely to shield the people of Israel from the awesome radiance of God, but was also:
to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside.
Paul makes very clear in his other letters that the giving of the law to Moses was a provisional revelation. Though the:
law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good (Romans 7:12),
he makes clear that the law serves as a mirror that reveals the human inability to attain God’s standards. The paradox is that the righteousness required by the law is impossible for human beings to attain, unless God himself fulfills the requirements. This he did through the atoning death of Jesus and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.
The purpose of the law was positive, to drive the sinner to Christ:
Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore, the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith (Galatians 3:23-26).
The problem is that the law, represented by Moses, is a fading glory superseded by the glory of grace. Unfortunately, those who continue to focus on establishing their own righteousness by works of the law will continue to be hardened and frustrated:
Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
By faith in Christ, the veil that conceals the true meaning of the old covenant is removed. The believer has new “eyeglasses” provided by the Lord, who is the Spirit, who enables the believer to understand and live out this new relationship with God:
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
The freedom that the Spirit brings is not a freedom to do anything we want to do — that is antinomianism which leads to anarchy. The freedom the Spirit brings is the freedom from sin, and the freedom to become what God intends us to be:
And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
The imagery here is powerful. When the veil is removed the believer begins to gaze upon the glory of God and to grow into the image of Christ!
There is a little tag, or footnote, to this inspirational summit that Paul describes as:
being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.
He follows this soaring rhetoric by applying it to his own life and ministry:
Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.
1 & 2 Corinthians are among the most autobiographical of Paul’s epistles. He describes the factions that threaten to divide the Corinthian church, and the hardships and persecutions that he has endured in his missionary work. He is answering accusations from some who are critical of him. So here he is asserting his complete transparency, and his refusal to give up.
APPLY:
There is always a tendency in human nature to look for rules and formulas for success and self-esteem and even for righteousness. That is the false promise of legalism — “Do this, and you will be — successful… happy…healthy…wealthy, etc.”
Paul makes it clear that though the law is holy and good and just, we don’t read it properly when we try to establish our own righteousness by our efforts to keep the law. Such efforts only end in frustration and hardness of heart.
But when we turn to Christ in faith, the veil is taken away, and we find that what our own efforts are unable to do, no matter how hard we try, the Spirit is able to do in us effortlessly:
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
And once the veil is removed, we behold the image of Christ, and we begin to be:
transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
This is the grace of sanctification in us, accomplished as we surrender to the Spirit.
RESPOND:
I love to go into my yard on clear nights to monitor the progress of the waxing moon. This isn’t merely because of an interest in astronomy, although the moon and the stars do fascinate me.
When I watch the moon growing brighter and fuller night by night, it reminds me of the process of sanctification. The moon in and of itself is only a cold, dark piece of rock. But when the light of the Sun shines on it, it becomes radiant and warm.
I think that’s like sanctification. In myself, I am a cold, dark sinner. But as I turn to Christ, his light brings radiance and warmth, and perhaps by his grace I can be:
transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.
Our Lord, I pray that the veil is removed and that I do behold you, as you transform my life into your glory. Amen.
PHOTO:
“2 Corinthians 3 verse 18” uses these photos:
“4% Illuminated Waxing Crescent Moon with Earthshine“, “Waxing Gibbous Moon on 11-20-15,” and “Full Moon on 11-25-15” are all by Stephen Rahn and are licensed under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license.
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