In this episode of Wednesday in the Word, Krisan Marotta explores Paul’s bold claim that his ministry as an apostle is more glorious than the ministry of Moses. By comparing the Old and New Covenants, Paul shows that spiritual transformation doesn’t come from the Law but from the work of the Holy Spirit.
In this week’s episode, we explore:
- Why Paul says the law kills, but the Spirit gives life.
- The symbolic meaning of Moses’ veil and how it relates to hardened hearts.
- How the Spirit removes the veil and brings true transformation.
- The contrast between external obedience and inward change.
- What it means to be transformed from “glory to glory.”
By listening, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the glory of the gospel and how God is at work transforming hearts. Whether you’re teaching the Bible or seeking personal encouragement, this passage is a reminder that real change comes from God’s Spirit, not from our own efforts.
Why Paul’s Ministry Outshines Moses (2 Corinthians 3:7-18)
Paul continues defending his apostleship by highlighting the source and impact of his work. He isn’t exalting himself but clarifying that the power behind his ministry comes from God and that power brings real transformation.
Review
Paul has a troubled relationship with the Corinthian church and writes to help resolve it. Some in the church respect and trust him. Others have rejected him, refusing to believe he is a true apostle.
He begins defending his ministry in chapter 1 and continues that defense here. When he changed his travel plans and did not return to Corinth, some accused him of being unreliable. Paul explains that after a painful visit he delayed coming back to spare them more grief. His delay was not careless. It was compassionate.
He assures them that his conscience is clear. He acted with integrity, sincerity, and concern for their well-being.
A unifying theme runs through this section. Paul urges the Corinthians to view him and his ministry in a certain way. That theme appears in three repeated ideas.
Theme 1: God’s Sufficiency, Not Paul’s
Paul is not adequate to produce the results his ministry has produced. The gospel is beyond him. He is just a man. He cannot invent something as powerful and wise as the gospel.
In 2:15-16, after describing the gospel as the aroma of life to those being saved and the smell of death to those perishing, he asks, Who is adequate for these things? The implication is clear. Not Paul.
In 3:2, the Corinthians themselves are Paul’s letter of recommendation. Yet he insists he did not write that letter. They are a letter of Christ, ministered by Paul. Christ is the one doing the profound work.
2Co 3:4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 2Co 3:5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 2Co 3:6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Again, Paul is not the source of the wisdom and power of the gospel. God prepared Paul for this task, taught him, and gave him deep understanding so he can minister to others. On his own, he could not have accomplished this.
2Co 4:5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 2Co 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
Paul has the treasure in an earthen vessel so that it is clear the power belongs to God, not to him. The Corinthians consider Paul a man with weaknesses and flaws, and he agrees. That is no reason to dismiss his ministry. The truth and power of the gospel are due to God, not Paul.
Theme 2: Openness and Integrity
2Co 2:17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
Paul is not a salesman trying to manipulate anyone. He speaks the simple truth sincerely, as before God.
2Co 3:12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 2Co 3:13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.
He is open, transparent, straightforward, and bold.
2Co 4:1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2Co 4:2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
The gospel is true and life-changing. Paul is not ashamed of it, does not water it down, and leaves the response to his listeners. He proclaims the truth and trusts God with the results.
Theme 3: A Ministry of Spiritual Transformation
Paul’s ministry is about God working a spiritual transformation in his people. That makes the gospel greater than the Old Testament law and, audaciously, Paul’s ministry greater than Moses’s.
He is a weak man. The gospel’s power is from God. Yet he speaks a message that brings transformation by the Spirit. That ministry extends to us as we read his letters and believe his gospel.
In 3:1-3 Paul says he needs no letter of recommendation to the Corinthians. He knows them. The impact of the gospel in their lives is his letter. Christ has written this letter on their hearts.
Jeremiah compared the external law with the promised new covenant. The law pointed to life but could not change hard hearts. In the new covenant, God writes the law on hearts so his people want to follow him and find life.
See: What good is faith? (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
Across Paul’s letters, God forgives us in Christ and works by his Spirit so we persevere in faith. That work begins now and culminates in complete moral transformation when Jesus returns. The gospel is not only that Jesus died for our sins. It is also that he rescues us from the hardness of our hearts.
Letter and Spirit
Paul claims the letter kills but the Spirit gives life.
The letter is the law, the external commands written on stone. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit writing God’s ways on hearts. The law kills because it does nothing to change us. It cannot remove our rebellious, sinful nature. Only the Spirit can transform us into people who turn to God and find life.
Paul defends his apostleship as a minister of this new covenant. Moses was the minister of the old covenant. God gave Moses the law for Israel. God gave Paul and the other apostles the gospel for his people.
Moses’ Veil in Exodus 34
To understand Paul’s argument, we need to look at Exodus 34:27-35. After the incident with golden calf, Moses returned to the mountain and received the Ten Commandments again.
Exo 34:29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai… Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Exo 34:30 Aaron and all the people of Israel… were afraid to come near him. … Exo 34:33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Exo 34:34 Whenever Moses went in before the LORD… he would remove the veil… Exo 34:35 …And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Whenever Moses stood before God, his face was uncovered. He then spoke to Israel with his face shining, and afterward he veiled it. The text does not tell us why he veiled it. We infer it was to shield the people from the fearful glory on his face.
Paul calls that shine “glory.” The word glory can mean a literal, bright light or, more often, a reputation or quality that is attractive, admirable, and praiseworthy.
See: Word Study: glory, doxa, G1391
God revealed himself in light to show his holiness and beauty. That visible glory stamped Moses’s face and authenticated his message. Moses’s ministry came with glory because God is glorious.
The Greater Glory of the New Covenant
Paul looks back on Moses’s story from the standpoint of Christ.
2Co 3:7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory…, 2Co 3:8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?
Moses understood the problem of his ministry. The law called for faithfulness, but most hearts were hard. Israel would rebel and be exiled. The law did not impart life to the many. In that sense, it was a ministry of condemnation.
2Co 3:9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 2Co 3:10 Indeed… what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 2Co 3:11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
The gospel is a ministry of righteousness. It shows the way to be right with God, to be justified and reconciled. Its glory so far surpasses the law that the law’s glory seems as nothing by comparison. The law had a role but was not meant to last. God ultimately intended to bless the world through the cross, not the law.
Boldness, Not a Veil
2Co 3:12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 2Co 3:13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.
Some argue Moses veiled his face to hide the fading of the glory. Exodus does not say that. The veil seems to protect the people from a glory they feared. Paul’s point is that the law’s ministry was not intended to last, while the gospel’s is permanent.
The veil implied separation. Moses had glory from God, but the people were veiled from it and were afraid.
Paul’s ministry is different. God is holy and we are sinful, but in Christ he has forgiven us and promises to make us like him. Paul can proclaim this good news boldly. He does not need to veil it. The gospel rescues people from their weakness.
The Veil Removed in Christ
2Co 3:14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 2Co 3:15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 2Co 3:16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2Co 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
It is as if the veil was never removed. A metaphorical veil lies over many hearts, blocking sight of God’s glory. When one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
The Lord is the Spirit. The Spirit at work in our hearts is the same Lord before whom Moses stood. By the Spirit we have freedom of direct access to God.
With unveiled face we behold the Lord’s glory and are transformed into his image from one degree of glory to another. As Moses came before God unveiled and the glory came off on him, so believers come before God and his glory is imparted to us. Not as visible light, but as the glorious character that light symbolized.
The veil both separates us from God’s transforming glory and blinds us to its value. In Christ the veil is removed. The Spirit brings sight and transformation.
Applying Paul’s Tightrope Today
Paul is not adequate for his apostolic ministry. God is doing the work through him. As a Bible teacher, I feel this tension. I am no one from nowhere. You have no reason to listen to me. Yet the message God has given is worth hearing because it is true, as far as I have understood Scripture.
You do not have to be a teacher to feel this. We all explain the gospel at times and face criticism for following Jesus.
How should we think about negative responses? How much is my fault, and how much is the offense of the gospel?
Paul holds two truths in tension. He seeks not to put stumbling blocks in anyone’s way. To the Jews he became as a Jew. To the Gentiles as a Gentile. He aims to avoid needless offense.
Yet he also says this is not about him. Some will reject the gospel no matter how it is presented. He must speak simply and truthfully and leave the results to God. Rejection does not necessarily mean he spoke unwisely.
If you told me many were offended by this episode and I replied, My job is to proclaim the truth and let the chips fall where they may, you might think, Maybe. Or maybe you are just a jerk. Both are possible.
There is no guarantee that because the gospel is true, I am speaking it wisely. I should be ready to hear, Krisan, you may have something good to say, but you are not saying it well. That is valuable feedback.
Yet the gospel always offends somebody. You could always charge me with being a bad teacher because some reject what I teach. There comes a point to say with Paul, There is nothing I could have done to prevent offense. The message itself offends.
We all walk this tightrope. We do not water down the gospel to win approval. Neither do we want to be rude or needlessly offensive. Think carefully about how you speak, but do not change the core message.
If feedback says you missed something or could explain it better, listen. If it says change the gospel so more people respond, do not cross that line.
Once a pastor encouraged me to be more seeker friendly. That sounded good until the advice was to stop talking about the cross and focus more on God’s love. I decided to stick to the biblical text, verse by verse. If the passage is about sin and the cross, I will teach about sin and the cross. That is difficult, but necessary.
I am floored by Paul’s courage. He paid a great price for his boldness. He suffered rejection, beatings, and near stonings. Ultimately, it cost him his life.
My prayer is that we would share his courage and not lose sight of the glory of the gospel. It is a thing of great value, beauty, power, and truth. May we honor Paul for the suffering he endured so we could hear the gospel. May our faith be strong enough to stand for it in this world, no matter the cost.
Please listen to the podcast for more detail and explanation.
Next: 06 Why Paul Did Not Lose Heart and What We Can Learn From Him (2 Corinthians 4)
Previous: 04 What’s New About the New Covenant (2 Corinthians 3:1-6)
Series: 2 Corinthians: When Church Hurts
Resources to help you study: 2 Corinthians
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Podcast season 26, episode 5