Commentary - 2 Corinthians 3:12-18

Bird's-eye view

In this magnificent passage, the apostle Paul draws a sharp and glorious contrast between the old covenant ministry, represented by Moses, and the new covenant ministry, which he and the other apostles were privileged to lead. The central theme is glory, but it is a tale of two glories: one fading, veiled, and ultimately terminated, and the other permanent, unveiled, and ever-increasing. Paul is defending the integrity of his own ministry against detractors in Corinth, and he does so by showing that the ministry of the new covenant is superior in every conceivable way to the old. The old covenant, glorious as it was, was a ministry of condemnation and death, engraved on stone. The new is a ministry of the Spirit and of righteousness, written on human hearts. This inherent superiority is the basis for the Christian's hope, which in turn produces a characteristic boldness in gospel proclamation. The passage climaxes by describing the transformative effect of beholding the glory of the Lord in the new covenant. As believers look upon the unveiled face of Jesus Christ, they are progressively transformed into His very image, from one degree of glory to another, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The image of the veil is central. For Moses, it was a literal veil to hide a fading glory from the Israelites. For unbelieving Israel, it is a spiritual veil that remains over their hearts when they read the Old Testament, preventing them from seeing its fulfillment in Christ. But for the Christian, this veil is removed in Christ. This unveiling brings freedom, and it brings transformation. We are not kept at a distance from the glory; we are invited to gaze upon it, and in the gazing, we are changed. This is the engine of Christian sanctification.

Outline

Context In 2 Corinthians

This passage is part of a larger section (2 Cor 2:14-7:4) where Paul is defending the nature and legitimacy of his apostolic ministry. He has just finished contrasting the "letter that kills" (the law of the old covenant) with the "Spirit that gives life" (the new covenant). He described the Corinthians themselves as a letter from Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts (2 Cor 3:3). This sets the stage for the direct comparison between the two covenants. The glory of the old, represented by the shining face of Moses, was real but fading. The glory of the new, a ministry of righteousness, is permanent and far surpasses it. The argument here in verses 12-18 flows directly from this comparison. Because the new covenant ministry is so much more glorious and permanent, its ministers can operate with a hope and a boldness that was impossible under the old system. This defense of his ministry is not self-serving; it is for the sake of the Corinthians, so that they would not be led astray by false teachers who were likely promoting a Judaizing message that would drag them back under the shadows of the old covenant.

Key Issues

The Fading and the Permanent

One of the fundamental tasks for a Christian is to learn how to read his Old Testament. Paul is our tutor here. He does not dismiss the old covenant as worthless; he affirms its glory. When Moses came down from the mountain, his face was so radiant with a reflected glory that the people could not bear to look at it (Ex. 34:29-35). This was a real glory, a God-given glory. But its defining characteristic was that it was temporary, it was fading. It was designed to be brought to an end. The entire sacrificial system, the priesthood, the temple rituals, they were all glorious picture-sermons pointing forward to the substance that was to come, who is Christ.

The problem with the Judaizers then, and with much confused thinking now, is a failure to recognize the built-in obsolescence of the old covenant's administration. It was like a magnificent scaffolding erected for the purpose of building a permanent cathedral. Once the cathedral is finished, to insist on keeping the scaffolding up, or worse, to prefer the scaffolding to the building, is utter folly. Paul argues that the ministry of the new covenant is one of permanence, of righteousness, and of the Spirit. Its glory does not fade; it increases. This is the basis of our confidence. We are not ministers of a dying system; we are ambassadors of an eternal kingdom.

Verse by Verse Commentary

12 Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness,

The "therefore" links everything that follows to the preceding argument about the surpassing glory of the new covenant. Because our ministry is one of the life-giving Spirit and of permanent righteousness, we have "such a hope." This is not a flimsy, fingers-crossed kind of wishful thinking. This is a robust, objective, and certain confidence in the triumph of the gospel and the permanence of God's work in Christ. And what does this hope produce? It produces "great boldness." The Greek word is parrhesia, which means plainness, frankness, or unreserved speech. It's the opposite of shrinking back, of speaking in riddles, of hedging your bets. A minister of the new covenant, because his hope is anchored in the finished work of Christ and the power of the Spirit, can speak plainly and directly. He doesn't have to be cute or clever. He can lay the truth out on the table because the truth he carries is glorious and eternal.

13 and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the consequence of what was being brought to an end.

Paul now introduces the central metaphor of the veil, drawing from the account in Exodus 34. He gives a theological interpretation of Moses' action. Moses put a veil over his face for a specific reason: to keep the Israelites from seeing the glory fade. The glory was real, but it was transient. It was a dying glory. The veil concealed the termination point, the "consequence" or "end" of that which was passing away. The old covenant administration was glorious, but it had a built-in expiration date. The veil, in Paul's handling, becomes a symbol of the temporary and shadowy nature of that entire economy. The new covenant has no need for such a veil, because its glory does not fade. We are not hiding a diminishing reality; we are proclaiming an ever-increasing one.

14 But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is brought to an end in Christ.

The problem was not just with the fading glory; the problem was with the observers. "Their minds were hardened." A judicial hardening had fallen upon Israel because of their unbelief. This moves the discussion from the historical event of Moses' veil to the ongoing spiritual condition of first-century Israel. Paul says that when they read the Old Testament, which he calls "the old covenant," that same veil remains. It is now a spiritual veil, a blindness that prevents them from seeing the true meaning of the Scriptures. They read the words of Moses, but they cannot see that it all points to Jesus. Why? Because the veil is only "brought to an end in Christ." Christ is the key that unlocks the Old Testament. Without Him, it remains a veiled book, its ultimate purpose obscured.

15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart,

Paul repeats the point for emphasis, but with a crucial shift. The veil is not on the book; the veil lies over their "heart." This is not an intellectual problem that can be solved with more information. It is a spiritual and moral problem, a problem of a hard and unbelieving heart. The reading of the Torah in the synagogue, a central act of Jewish worship, becomes an occasion for their blindness to be reinforced. The very words that should lead them to Christ become a curtain that hides Him from their view. This is the tragic irony of rejecting the Messiah: the revelation of God becomes a means of concealment.

16 but WHENEVER a person TURNS TO THE LORD, THE VEIL IS TAKEN AWAY.

Here is the glorious solution. The condition is not permanent or hopeless. The veil can be removed. The action required is to "turn to the Lord." This is the language of repentance and conversion. When an individual Jew, or any person for that matter, turns from their sin and self-righteousness and looks in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, the veil is immediately taken away. The Holy Spirit performs a miracle of spiritual sight. The Old Testament suddenly makes sense. The prophecies, the sacrifices, the laws, they all snap into focus, revealing the face of the one to whom they have always pointed. The Lord to whom one must turn is Jesus.

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Paul makes a profound theological connection here. The "Lord" to whom we turn (v. 16) is functionally identified with the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. This does not erase the distinctions within the Trinity, but it shows their unity in the work of salvation. To turn to the Lord Jesus is to receive the Holy Spirit. And the characteristic mark of the Spirit's presence is "freedom." What kind of freedom? Freedom from the condemnation of the law. Freedom from the spiritual blindness of the veil. Freedom from the slavish fear that characterized the old covenant. Freedom to approach God with the boldness Paul mentioned earlier. The new covenant is not a relationship of cowering slaves before a distant master, but of adopted sons who have free access to their Father.

18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

This final verse is the magnificent climax of the entire chapter. "We all" refers to every new covenant believer. Unlike the old covenant where only Moses saw the glory, now every Christian gets to see it. We approach God "with unveiled face." There is nothing between us and the glory of God in Christ. And what do we do? We are "beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord." The Word of God, the gospel, functions as a mirror. As we look into it, we do not see ourselves, but rather the reflection of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this act of beholding is not passive. It is transformative. As we gaze upon His glory, we "are being transformed into the same image." This is progressive sanctification. We become like what we behold. The transformation happens "from glory to glory," meaning it is a continual, ongoing process of increasing conformity to the image of Christ. And the source of this miraculous change is made explicit: it is "from the Lord, the Spirit." The same Spirit who gives freedom is the one who effects this glorious transformation in us.

Application

This passage is intensely practical. First, it teaches us that Christian confidence is not rooted in ourselves, but in the superior glory of the new covenant. If you lack boldness in your witness, it may be because you have a low view of the gospel you carry. We are not peddling a system of self-improvement; we are announcing the arrival of an eternal kingdom whose glory will never fade.

Second, it is a potent reminder that without the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit, the Bible will remain a closed book. We can read it, study its grammar, and memorize its facts, but if the veil remains on our hearts, we will not see Christ. This should drive us to our knees, praying for our unbelieving friends and family, that they would turn to the Lord so the veil might be taken away. It should also fill us with gratitude for our own salvation, for the miracle of sight that God has granted to us.

Finally, and most centrally, this passage gives us the blueprint for Christian growth. How do you become more like Jesus? The answer is not by navel-gazing or by a grim, white-knuckled effort to behave better. The answer is by beholding the glory of the Lord. We must saturate ourselves in the gospel. We must fix our eyes on Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the Scriptures. As we consistently and faithfully gaze upon His perfection, His love, His sacrifice, His power, and His majesty, the Holy Spirit does the work of conforming us to that very image. Sanctification is not primarily about introspection; it is about Christ-o-spection. Look away from your own fading glory and fix your gaze on His, and you will be changed.