Chapter 3
Paul moves on to a defense of himself as a (or indeed for the Corinthians THE apostle among all the fake ones) true apostle. He reminds them that they know him. He reminds them of the effects of the gospel he preached as opposed to that preached by the false apostles. He says the changed lives, the changed souls, of those converted long before the false apostles even arrived are testimony to the truth of that gospel. These saved people, the church at Corinth itself, are visible evidence of the legitimacy of Paul's message.
(****2021 - This is an appeal to orthodoxy - 2Co 3:1-3. This says not to look at what the new teachings of the false apostles might be doing, don't spend your time puzzling over whether their teaching is legitimate or not, but look backwards! The evidence of what is true was shown before they ever arrived, and the changed lives continue - the effects of the true gospel that Paul preached are manifest in the lives of the early members of your church - who are still there with you! Look back to that. Compare the "new apostle's teaching" with the old, and discard the new that contradicts the old. You know the old was right. You do not need to evaluate the new but only demand consistency with the old.***See also below.)
(2021-2 - Is the above really there? The Orthodoxy part? Is there a verse? If there is, it will be a great NT followup to the first post on Prov 4, where wisdom was old. Can the case be made that this also applies to new theological ideas? That the new must always be tested against the old, and that the old is to be weighted far more heavily? ...No, this idea is not clearly stated. Paul says that the Corinthians, their lives as Christians, are Paul's credentials. He needs no letters from, say, John or James in Jerusalem, because he was there, and his message of the gospel changed their lives. What else does he need to prove himself besides visible results. However, there is no explicit contrast here between Paul and the false apostles. He does not mention them at all here, but is focused only on establishing what should be obvious - that his credentials are writ large in the changed lives of the members of the church in Corinth.)
What of the legitimacy of the false teacher's message that Mosaic law is still required. That you obey stone tablets rather than your own heart? How does this look in the light of the changed lives from Paul's arrival there???
5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. [2Co 3:5-6 ESV]
Look at this last sentence. The letter is the Mosaic Law, and the Spirit is the New Covenant. Here is the stark contrast between the two. The Law condemned by showing them their sin, by requiring that they attempt to "purify" or "justify" themselves with the blood of animal sacrifices, observance of feasts, the Sabbath...all these things were WORK! And you couldn't do enough WORK to get you there. The New Covenant in Christ's blood was still necessary to save those OT followers of the Law. In their hearts, they had faith, and so were saved, but they could not be reconciled to God Himself, nor enter His presence, until the perfect sacrifice had been offered.
2021-2, The paragraph above is a good paragraph. I would extend this teaching also to Judaism and Islam. Theirs is still a religion of laws where obedience to the law is all that is required for salvation. A place in heaven is based on merit, on a willingness, a human ability to get over the performance bar, or in Islam's case, to be one of the best of those who strive.
Paul says the Law was temporary, insufficient, and coming to an end from the time it came into being. In spite of that, the glory of these words of condemnation which came direct from God, was visible on Moses countenance when he received them. If that law of death was glorious, how much more the finished work of Jesus.
Paul says that the glory that shone on Moses as he received this law faded and passed away over time, just as the Law itself was fading - had faded over time. But Paul says he won't veil his face, because the New Covenant is forever, imperishable, and about life, not death. Another stark contrast. Fading glory before, increasing glory until heaven's glory now.
Paul next says that the veil that hid Moses face is like the veil in the hearts of those Israelites, and of the Israel of his own day, and kept them from seeing the truth behind the veil. He says that...here's what he says:
14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. [2Co 3:14 ESV]
Their minds were hardened as punishment for the rebellion and unbelief. That whole generation died. And does that hardening of the hearts continue to Paul's time, so that they are still "kept from" the New Covenant? Surely Paul is implying this. NO. I have this one all wrong, Paul is saying the following, per the MSB note:
The "veil" here represents unbelief. Those Israelites did not grasp the glory of the Old Covenant because of their unbelief. As a result, the meaning of the Old Covenant was obscure to them. Paul's point is that just as the Old Covenant was obscure to the people of Moses' day, it was still obscure to those who trusted in it as a means of salvation in Paul's day. The veil of ignorance obscures the meaning of the Old Covenant to the hardened heart.
Here is where hope lies:
16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. [2Co 3:16 ESV]
In Christ. The veil is removed/torn. The Spirit indwells. Obscurity vanishes. Glory is beheld.
Look at this verse:
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. [2Co 3:18 ESV]
The Son and the Father are One. John 8 I believe. Now the Son and the Spirit are One. Proof text for the Trinity.
2022 - The word translated LORD both times in this verse is the Greek "kyrios", the title for Jesus.