02-18-07 2 Corinthians 3
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:7
12 Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech,
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 end of what was fading away.
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 removed in Christ.
15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart;
16 but whenever a person 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 liberty.
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.
Chapter 4
1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart,
2 but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
I. The Unveiled Glory of God…
A. Paul contrasts the Law of Moses with the gospel of grace
1. Showing the superiority of the latter over the former
B. The Law of Moses (3:7, 9a, 10a, 11a, 13-15)
1. The temporary glory of the Law of Moses, which brought the knowledge of sin and death 3:7
Rom. 3:20
20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Rom. 7:10
10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;
2. Compared with the eternal glory of God’s New Covenant of grace
Hebrews 8:7-13
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.
8 For finding fault with them, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
9 Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord.
10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people.
11 “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ For all will know Me, From the least to the greatest of them.
12 “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.”
13 When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.
3. The gospel of GRACE brings the power of inward transformation
C. Great boldness verse 12
2 Corinthians 3:12
12 Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech,
1. Having such a hope we speak with freedom of speech, or frankness
2. The Law functioned as a veil, restricting God’s glory (3:13-14a, 15)
2 Corinthians 3:13-15
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 end of what was fading away.
3. Ex. 34:29-35 is the story of the veil of Moses
a) It was not to hide the glory…. but to obscure it
(1) It concealed the end of what was paasing away of the glory of God
(2) Paul uses this analogy to explain that God is making a new covenant in Jesus
(3) The difficulty in understanding the Old Testament vanishes when a person comes to Christ
4. Jews and Christians who look for the old covenant to be the answer still…. see the veil and not the glory of Jesus
a) We find freedom when we look to Jesus
b) Sometimes it is the veil of the unteachable spirit
c) There’s none so blind as those who will not see
d) God gave us free will, and, if we insist upon our own way, we cannot learn his
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 removed in Christ.
15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart;
D. The gospel of grace (3:8, 9b, 10b, 11b–12, 16–18)
16 but whenever a person 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 liberty.
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.
1. It is accompanied by an unfading glory (3:10b)
2. It is a law of life that we become like the people we gaze at
3. It is eternal (3:11b)
4. It leads to life (3:8)
5. Gospel of grace It functions as a mirror, reflecting God’s glory (3:16–18)
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.
E. The Lord is spirit Verse 17
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
1. The Spirit gives us freedom from sin, death, and the condemnation of the law (vv. 7-12)
2. It produces boldness (3:12)
3. It transforms us
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.
F. All believers behold the glory of the Lord in the Scripture
1. We are transformed into the image of God
2. Christ is the image of God
3. In our physical universe, the sun is always shining
a) We do not always see it, ,,,,,the reason ….. something has come between the sun and us
b) So it is with the gospel
(1) The son is always shining
(2) God is always wanting to shine abroad in us
c) Satan will try any number of things it may be
(1) The cloud of pride
(2) Or of rebellion
(3) Of self-righteousness
(4) Or any one of a hundred other things
Paul writes about appropriate attitudes toward the Scriptures and toward suffering.
II. How to Handle the Scripture (4:1-7)
A. As practiced by Paul the apostle (4:1-2, 5-7)
1 Therefore, since we have this ministry,+ as we received mercy, =we do not lose heart,
1. Since we have this ministry +
2. As we have received mercy =
3. We do not loose heart
B. We have renounced things hidden
1. It is all simple attainable stuff
a) There is no hidden, unattainable meaning, deeper thing of God
b) That is Gnostic in nature, not biblical
2 but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
C. Not walking in craftiness
D. Not adulterating the Word of God
1. Adding us to it
2. My self help book
3. We have both the poorest theme for a preacher, and the best theme
4. The poorest theme is ourselves, while the best theme is Christ Jesus the Lord
a) Judaizers had a great habit of preaching about themselves and their virtues
5. Every minister should be asking them selves am I promoting me or promoting God
5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
E. Treasure
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
a) The illustration (4:6–7a): Paul pictures our body as a jar of clay, into which God has placed the treasure of the gospel
b) Why does God place such a valuable treasure in a lowly vessel
(1) It might be apparent that the power of the gospel is of God and not the vessel
(a) There is something wrong when the vessel robs the treasure of its glory,
(b) When the casket attracts more attention than the jewel which it bears
c) It is the treasure within the vessel that gives the vessel its value
(1) To begin with, God has made us the way we are so that we can do the work He wants us to do
(2) God said of Paul,
“He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles” (Acts 9:15)
(3) No Christian should ever complain to God because of his lack of gifts or abilities, or because of his limitations or handicaps
(4) Psalm 139:13-16 indicates that our very genetic structure is in the hands of God
(5) Each of us must accept himself and be himself
(6) We must focus on the treasure and not on the vessel
(7) Paul was not afraid of suffering or trial, because he knew that God would guard the vessel so long as Paul was guarding the treasure
1 Tim. 1:11;
11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.;
1 Tim 6:20
20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”—
F. Glory to glory
4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
1. Unbelivers have a natural barrier to over come
a) The god of this age has blinded their minds
b) If the gospel is veiled or hidden to some, it certainly is not God’s fault
(1) Satan is the culprit. He is here called the god of this age
(2) Because of Satan’s deception, sometimes what the world thinks is obviously true is painfully wrong
Proverbs 14:12
12 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
2. As believers we see the glory of God in the Word of God
a) The Spirit of God transforms us into the likeness of Jesus Christ
b) This is a description of the gradual process of sanctification
c) If we want to become like Christ, we must spend quality time focusing on Him in the Word of God
d) This reflection then becomes the raw material that the Spirit of God uses to form Christ in us
6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
G. 4:6 As God commanded the light to shine in the darkness at creation (Gen. 1:3),
1. God “turns on” the light in peoples’ hearts so they can see who Jesus Christ is
6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
a) The implication (4:7b): This is done “so everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own.”
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
H. As practiced by Satan, the adversary (4:3–4): He blinds the minds of unbelievers, preventing them from seeing the light of the gospel.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
1. Blinded by their own religion
2. The lure of legalism is still with us
3. There are Gospel-preaching churches that have legalistic tendencies and keep their members immature, guilty, and afraid
a) They spend a great deal of time dealing with the externals, and they neglect the cultivation of the inner life
b) They exalt standards and they denounce sin, but they fail to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ
4. There should be two aspects of ministry:
a) it is triumphant (2 Cor. 1–2)
b) it is glorious (2 Cor. 3)
5. Not only must we focus on the treasure and not on the vessel
6. But we must also focus on the Master and not on the servant
I. The test of a true ministry
1. it is not stars, but scars.
a) Are they sacrificing for the for Gods people
b) Or are the people sacrificing for them
Gal. 6:17
“From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks [brands] of the Lord Jesus”