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

2 Corinthians 3:7-11

With these verses, Paul makes the transition from defending himself, his ministry, his integrity… to proclaiming the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old. As he continues through the rest of chapter 3 and chapter 4 he sounds very much like the author of Hebrews, as so many believe him to be.

He begins with a continuance of his remarks about letters versus the Spirit, moves into letter equating with condemnation and death as opposed to Spirit and life, and ends with letters-condemnation- death: Old Covenant… contrasted with Spirit-life: New Testament… very effectively, I might add. The element that he uses here to tie this all together is glory.

He hearkens back to when Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the Law from God noting that God’s glory had permeated him so that he had to wear a veil for a time after that to avoid overwhelming the Israelites, for God’s glory literally shown from his face… for a time. Even so, glorious though that time was, the Law ultimately brought condemnation upon Israel, for none could keep it, even though it was their great pride and glory. Sadly however, the Israelites were every bit as human as we are, and they came to rely upon their own abilities as human beings to keep the Law, while all that God ever really wanted from them was to do their best and trust Him for the rest. Sadly then, the pride of the Israelites became their undoing, and when God fulfilled His promise of redemption, they came, for the most part, to reject His Son.

Contrast that sad story with the transcendent glory of God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. By God’s grace we are saved not only from our sins, but from death itself, for in Christ we have inherited eternal life. We have the Holy Spirit within us, and if we will only allow Him, He will work in our lives, and through us to work in the lives of those around us to build His Kingdom. The result of this is really obvious: In days of old, the people believed that the Law was glorious, and so it was. Yet now in Christ God’s glory has so surpassed the Old that the Old has simply withered away.

That is glory indeed!

With this foundation, Paul proceed to build on this theme in the verses that follow…