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Texts -- 2 Corinthians 3:1-15 (NET)

Context
A Living Letter
3:1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again ? We don’t need letters of recommendation to you or from you as some other people do, do we? 3:2 You yourselves are our letter , written on our hearts , known and read by everyone , 3:3 revealing that you are a letter of Christ , delivered by us , written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God , not on stone tablets but on tablets of human hearts . 3:4 Now we have such confidence in God through Christ . 3:5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as if it were coming from ourselves , but our adequacy is from God , 3:6 who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit , for the letter kills , but the Spirit gives life .
The Greater Glory of the Spirit’s Ministry
3:7 But if the ministry that produced death – carved in letters on stone tablets – came with glory , so that the Israelites could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (a glory which was made ineffective ), 3:8 how much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be ? 3:9 For if there was glory in the ministry that produced condemnation , how much more does the ministry that produces righteousness excel in glory ! 3:10 For indeed, what had been glorious now has no glory because of the tremendously greater glory of what replaced it. 3:11 For if what was made ineffective came with glory , how much more has what remains come in glory ! 3:12 Therefore , since we have such a hope , we behave with great boldness , 3:13 and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from staring at the result of the glory that was made ineffective . 3:14 But their minds were closed . For to this very day , the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read . It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away . 3:15 But until this very day whenever Moses is read , a veil lies over their minds ,

Pericope

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  • [2Co 3:3] O Spirit Of The Living God (montgomery)
  • [2Co 3:6] Whether The Word Be Preached Or Read

Questions

Sermon Illustrations

The Covenants of Scripture:; Regeneration

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • This section closes with a summary. This is a common feature of Leviticus (cf. 11:46-47; 13:59; 14:54-57; 15:32-33)."The sacrificial law, therefore, with the five species of sacrifices which it enjoins, embraces every aspect ...
  • The meaning of the Hebrew word ratsahtranslated "kill"or "murder"(NASB, NIV) is "murder"or "slay."Of course, humans rather than animals are in view. Both forms of murder, premeditated and non-premeditated (i.e., manslaughter ...
  • The context of this section is significant as usual. Verses 1-8 deal with people who ministered to Yahweh in various ways for the people, and verses 15-22 concern the delivery of God's revelations to His people. Verses 9-14 c...
  • Isaiah now announced more about the work of the Servant (cf. 42:5-9). He will enable people around the world to return to God, similarly to how the Israelites would return to Jerusalem after the Exile. The response to God's s...
  • Many commentators believe that Jeremiah's revelation of the New Covenant was his greatest theological contribution. They view it as the high point of the book, the climax of the prophet's teaching."The prophecy of Jeremiah ma...
  • The following section of the lament falls into two parts marked by Jeremiah's use of the plural (vv. 41-47) and singular personal pronouns (vv. 48-66). In the first part he called on the Judahites to confess their sins to God...
  • "The next verses in the chapter are among the most glorious in the entire range of revealed truth on the subject of Israel's restoration to the Lord and national conversion."46536:22-23 Ezekiel was to tell the Israelites that...
  • 26:26 "And"introduces the second thing Matthew recorded that happened as Jesus and His disciples were eating the Passover meal, the first being Jesus' announcement about His betrayer (v. 21). Jesus took bread (Gr. artos, 4:4;...
  • This event is the climax of the "identity of Jesus"motif in all the Synoptics. Here the disciples saw and heard who Jesus really was. Luke's particular emphasis was the sufferings of Jesus that were coming. This comes through...
  • Jesus now returned to develop a theme that He had introduced previously, namely the Father's testimony to the Son (vv. 19-20). Jesus proceeded to cite five witnesses to His identity, all of which came from the Father, since t...
  • The purpose of this pericope (18:24-28) seems primarily to be to bring us up to date on what had transpired in Ephesus since Paul left that city.755Luke also introduced his readers to another important servant of the Lord to ...
  • 7:1 "Those who know law"--the article "the"before "law"is absent in the Greek text--were Paul's Roman readers. They lived in the capital of the empire where officials debated, enacted, and enforced laws. They of all people we...
  • The reason for Israel's failure mentioned in 9:32-33, namely her rejection of Christ, led Paul to amplify that subject further in this section.10:1 This pericope opens with Paul returning to his feelings of compassionate conc...
  • Phoebe was evidently the woman who carried this epistle from Corinth to Rome. She was a "servant"(Gr. diakonon) of the church in her hometown, Cenchrea, the port of Corinth (Acts 18:18; 2 Cor. 1:1). It is unclear whether Phoe...
  • I. Introduction 1:1-11A. Salutation 1:1-2B. Thanksgiving for comfort in affliction 1:3-111. Thanksgiving for comfort 1:3-72. Thanksgiving for deliverance 1:8-11II. Answers to insinuations about the sincerity of Paul's commitm...
  • Paul's thanksgiving continues, but its focus shifts from the reason for thanksgiving to the situation that provided the occasion for it.1:8 We cannot identify the precise affliction to which Paul referred certainly. This text...
  • "The passage that follows (2:14-7:4) is the longest coherent section within 2 Corinthians and is, arguably, the centerpiece of the entire letter. Nonetheless, it is not freestanding, but continuous with what precedes it."109P...
  • 3:1 The preceding verses could have drawn offense from the Corinthians because Paul told them things about himself that they already knew and should have remembered. He mentioned these things as though they were new. He expla...
  • 3:4 Jesus Christ had given Paul confidence that the changes that the gospel had produced in the Corinthians validated his apostolic credentials. That confidence was not merely the product of Paul's imagination.3:5 Paul did no...
  • "If the keyword in vv. 7-11 is glory,' the keyword for vv. 12-18, of which vv. 12-15 form the first part, is veil'; veil'-related words occur six times in these verses."1283:12 The hope to which Paul referred was the confiden...
  • 4:1 Paul now returned to the theme of being a minister of the New Covenant (3:6). Since we have a ministry in which the Spirit opens people's eyes and transforms their characters we can feel encouraged. Our job is not simply ...
  • Paul presented many paradoxical contrasts involved in the sufferings and supports of the Christian to clarify for his readers the real issues involved in serving Jesus Christ."This passage, which is about suffering and death ...
  • The section of this epistle that expounds the glory of the Christian ministry (2:14-6:10) builds to a climax in the following verses (5:11-6:10). Here Paul clarified the driving motive, the divine mission, the dynamic message...
  • 5:11 Respect for the Lord since He would be his judge (v. 10) motivated Paul to carry out his work of persuading people to believe the gospel. A healthy sense of our accountability to God should move us to fulfill our calling...
  • This section and the first two verses of chapter 6 constitute the crux of Paul's exposition of the apostolic office (2:14-7:4) and of the entire letter.1895:18-19 The basis of this total change (new attitudes, v. 16, and new ...
  • On the basis of his preceding openness with the Corinthians, Paul exhorted them, on the ground of fair play, to respond toward him as he had behaved toward them. His open speech (cf. 3:12; 4:2) reflected his open heart. They ...
  • Paul returned to the subject of his meeting Titus in Macedonia (2:13), which he had left to expound new covenant ministry (2:14-6:10) and to urge acceptance of his ministry (6:11-7:4).7:5 When he had arrived in Macedonia Paul...
  • Having motivated his readers to finish the collection Paul proceeded to explain the practical steps he had taken to pick up their gift. He wanted the Corinthians to know what to do and what to expect. He gave a letter of comm...
  • As Paul defended himself against the charge of cowardice leveled by his critics, so he also claimed ability to deal forcefully with them in person as well as by letter. He referred to this to explain his conduct further and t...
  • To answer his critics and prove the extent of his own service and sufferings for Christ, Paul related many of his painful experiences as an apostle.11:16 Paul apologized again for having to resort to mentioning these experien...
  • 13:1 There are at least four possibilities about what Paul meant by the two or three witnesses that would confirm his credibility and his critics' guilt. First, he may simply have been saying that the church would pass judgme...
  • Alford, Henry. The Greek Testament. 4 vols. Reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, n. d.Balge, Richard D. "Exegesis of 2 Corinthians 9:1-7."Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly 85:3 (Summer 1988):220-29.Barclay, William. The Let...
  • The apostle began to apply the principle stated in 2:15-21 to his audience.3:1 It is folly to mix law and grace. The Galatians were behaving as though they were under some kind of spell and not in full use of their rational f...
  • The apostle warned his readers not to think that they could satisfy the demands of the Mosaic Law by obeying only a few of its commands. Only complete compliance satisfies its demands.5:1 Paul's readers were in danger of retu...
  • Having revealed what believers have in Christ, Paul next pointed out the errors of the false teachers more specifically to help his readers identify and reject their instruction."Sad to say, there are many Christians who actu...
  • Paul wrote these positive directions to enable Timothy to overcome the influences of the ascetic apostates that threatened the church at Ephesus. He also wrote to remind him of the importance of his personal life and public m...
  • 7:11 The writer's point was that since God promised in Psalm 110:4 that the coming Messiah would be a priest after Melchizedek's order, He intended to terminate the Levitical priesthood because it was inadequate. If the Levit...
  • The writer proceeded to explain the superiority of the New Covenant that Jesus Christ ratified with His blood that is better than the Old Mosaic Covenant that He terminated when He died. He first explained the reason for the ...
  • Next Peter outlined what will surely happen so his readers would understand what will take place.3:7 God has given orders that the present heavens and earth (vv. 5-6) will experience another judgment yet future. Then God will...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • That beauty and strength come from communion with God.In both the cases with which we are dealing these were of a merely material sort. The light on Moses' face and the strength in Samson's arm were, at the highest, but types...
  • The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of diamond; it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars.'--Jer. 17:1.Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ...
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