The superiority of Christian ministry should produce great openness and encouragement within Christ's ministers. Paul developed these qualities in this section to enable his readers to understand his behavior and to respond in like manner in their own ministries.
"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."128
3:12 The hope to which Paul referred was the confidence that he and the other apostles and Christians served God under a covenant that God would not supersede.129The "boldness"(Gr. parrhesia) to which Paul referred is plainness of speech that has within it our concept of fearlessness (7:4; cf. Rom. 1:16). This word originally meant fearless candor in speech but came to mean confidence or openness in action as well as in word.130We can be confident and certain in our mission as well as in our message, though here Paul was speaking specifically of his speech.
3:13 One meaning of parrhesia("boldness") is barefacedness. Paul could be barefaced in his confidence because of the permanent character of the covenant under which he ministered. Moses, in contrast, could not. He ministered with a literal veil over his face much of the time (Exod. 34:29-35). He removed the veil when he spoke with the people (Exod. 34:33) and when he spoke with God in the tabernacle. He wore it at other times evidently to teach the Israelites' their unworthiness to behold God's glory. Paul used this difference in ministry to illustrate the superior nature of the New Covenant.
Moses also put a veil over his face so the departure of the fading glory that he had received would not discourage the Israelites. The Old Testament does not say that was his reason. It implies that Moses covered his face so the Israelites would not see the glory that was there. Perhaps Paul meant that the consequence of Moses' putting the veil over his face was that the Israelites could not see the fading of his facial glory.131Paul's implication then was that Christians can behold God's glory more fully in the New Covenant, and it will not fade away.
3:14-15 Paul said inability to perceive God's revealed glory persists to the present day among the Israelites (cf. Rom. 11:7).
"The Israelites' inability to see the glory shining from Moses' face, fading though that glory was, is treated as a parable of their descendants' present inability to realize the transitory character of the Mosaic order and to recognize the unfading glory of the gospel dispensation."132
"This is always the result of refusing and suppressing the revelation of divine truth. A veil of intellectual darkness hides the glory which has been deliberately rejected."133
The "Old Covenant"(v. 14) probably refers to the Mosaic Law, and "Moses"(v. 15) probably refers to the whole Old Testament.134
3:16 Only when the light of the glory of God shines on a person from Jesus Christ (i.e., he or she perceives the gospel) can that individual fully understand that revelation. Before God removes that veil that person cannot perceive it clearly. This applies to all people, but in the context Paul was speaking of Jews particularly. Whenever a person comprehends that Jesus Christ fulfilled the Mosaic Law (Rom. 10:4), that one then understands that the dispensation of grace has superseded the dispensation of the law (John 1:17).135"Turns to the Lord"means conversion to Jesus Christ.
3:17 This verse explains the former one. The Holy Spirit (vv. 3, 6, 8) is the member of the Trinity who causes a person to understand and believe that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law. Paul here described the Spirit's function and equated Him with Christ (cf. v. 14). Believing in Jesus liberates one from sin, death, and the Mosaic Law but not from obligation to respond obediently to God's new revelation in Christ, of course. Even though the Spirit is Lord, His presence liberates the believer rather than enslaving him or her (cf. Rom. 8:15).
3:18 In conclusion, Paul referred to Christian experience generally. All Christians, not just the Israelites' leader Moses, experience transformation daily as we contemplate the glory of God revealed in His Word and especially in the living Word, Jesus Christ. The perception of that revelation is still indirect. Paul's point was that the image of God that we see in the Word accurately reflects God though we do not yet see God Himself. What we see in the mirror of God's Word is the Lord, not ourselves. We experience gradual transformation. As we observe Christ's glory we advance in Christlikeness and reflect His glory, not in our faces but in our characters (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18). This glory will not fade but will increase over time providing we continue to contemplate the Lord. The Spirit who is the Lord is responsible for this gradual transformation.136
". . . Paul may also have in mind the Semitic idiom in which to uncover the face (head)' means to behave boldly (frankly).' If so, then with unveiled face' has practically the same meaning as with boldness' (Gk parrhesia) and may help to explain Paul's use of the latter expression in verse 12."137
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 to lay God's high standards on people, as Moses did, but to provide God's grace to them as the Holy Spirit's agents. Paul acknowledged that God has given us this privilege in His mercy, not because we deserve to be the ministers of a superior covenant.
". . . since the glory of the new covenant ministry remains' (3:11), as opposed to the old that is abolished' (3:11), it is appropriate that the new covenant minister remains,' that is, perseveres,' does not give up.'"138
4:2 In view of our inevitable success we do not need to resort to disgraceful subtleties and subterfuge. Paul's critics in Corinth were apparently accusing him of deceitful behavior (cf. 7:2; 12:16). He continues here his self-defense from 2:17. Paul did not need to trick his hearers because the Spirit would enlighten them concerning the truth and transform their characters. Some of the Corinthians may have concluded that because Paul did not require obedience to the Mosaic Law he was watering down the gospel to make it more acceptable. They apparently accused him of preaching "easy believism."
"In any self-defense, self-commendation must play some part. But Paul's self-commendation was distinctive. He commended himself, not by self-vindication at every point, but simply by the open declaration of the truth (in particular, the gospel and its implications). His appeal was not directed to a partisan spirit or the prejudices of men but to every man's conscience.' His self-commendation was undertaken with God as onlooker."139
4:3-4 By veiled here Paul meant obscure. The reason some people did not immediately understand and appreciate the gospel was that Satan had blinded their minds. It was not because Paul had sought to deceive his hearers by making the gospel obscure. The gospel is obscure to the lost until the Spirit enlightens their minds (3:16-17; cf. John 16:8-11; 1 Cor. 2:14-16).
"Apparently, Paul is responding to criticism that, to some, his gospel is no revelation at all, in other words, it is veiled.' . . . From whom, according to them, would his gospel be veiled'? Their reply would be, It is veiled from fellow Jews because Paul's message is unacceptable to them.'"140
The god of this age is not God the Father but Satan (cf. Matt. 4:8-9; John 12:31; 16:11; Gal. 1:4). He is the one whom this world has made its god.
Jesus Christ is the image (Gr. eikon) of God in the sense that He visibly and accurately represents the invisible God (cf. John 1:18; Col. 1:15). The personality and distinctiveness of God are especially in view when this Greek word describes Jesus in relation to God.141
"The glorified Christ is the ultimate and eschatological revelation of God. There is nothing more that can or will be seen of God."142
4:5 Even though Paul occasionally needed to commend himself to every man's conscience (v. 2; 6:4), he never promoted himself. Instead he proclaimed Jesus Christ as a faithful slave announces his master rather than himself. This is what he had done in Corinth. He did not conduct himself as the spiritual overlord of these Christians (1:24). A herald draws attention to himself only to promote the one he or she announces. This is also what Jesus did in the Incarnation. Both Paul and Jesus took the role of a servant and bound themselves to fulfill God's mission for them, which involved serving others.
"What humbler view of himself could a messenger of the gospel take than to regard himself not only as a bondservant of Jesus Christ (as Paul delights to call himself; cf. Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:10; Phil. 1:1) but even as the bondservant of those to whom he ministers?"143
"It would be hard to describe the Christian ministry more comprehensively in so few words."144
Paul in his preaching presented Jesus as the sovereign God to whom everyone must submit in faith. He did not make total submission to the lordship of Christ a condition for salvation, however. Voluntary submission to the lordship of Christ was a message that he reserved for believers (Rom. 6:13; 12:1-2). When Paul preached Christ to the unsaved, he presented Him as God who by virtue of His deity is sovereign over all people (cf. Rom. 10:9; 1 Cor. 12:3; Col. 2:6).
"The implication here is that lordship equates with deity. LORD' regularly translates Yahweh' in the LXX, and there are numerous NT references to Jesus as Lord' that echo OT (LXX) passages that refer to Yahweh."145
To become a believer an unsaved person must submit to Christ's lordship to the extent that he or she acknowledges that Jesus is God and is therefore over him or her in authority. Trusting in the person and work of Christ is submission to His lordship to that extent. However when one becomes a believer and appreciates what God has done for him or her in salvation, yielding every area of one's life to Christ's control becomes a voluntary act of worship (Rom. 12:1). To make what is voluntary for the Christian necessary for the unsaved to obtain justification is adding to what God requires for justification.
4:6 Why had Paul conducted himself as he did? It was because God had dispelled the darkness in his heart by illuminating it with the knowledge of Himself that comes though understanding Jesus Christ. Individual regeneration is a work of God as supernatural and powerful as the creation of the cosmos (Gen. 1:3). Now Paul wanted to share that light with others. In the physical Creation God spoke directly, but in the spiritual creation of new life He usually speaks indirectly through His servants. Nevertheless it is His Word that creates new life.
Paul was probably alluding to his own conversion experience on the Damascus road when he wrote this verse (cf. Acts 9:3, 8-9; 22:6, 9, 11; 26:13; Gal. 1:15-16). It was then that the apostle saw God's glory in the unveiled face of Jesus Christ.
The sincerity, simplicity, and steadfastness of Paul that surfaces in this passage can and should mark all ministers of Jesus Christ.
