August 29

When Religion Blinds: Why Only Christ Transforms

Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. ~ 2 Corinthians 3:10

Paul draws a strong distinction between two covenants in 2 Corinthians 3. The old covenant, written on tablets of stone, was holy and glorious, but temporary. Paul describes it as “the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, even the tables” and “the ministry of condemnation” (2 Corinthians 3:7–9). That’s because it could expose our sin but not save us. The new covenant is engraved not on stone but on human hearts by the Spirit of the living God. It is eternal and transforms us with a righteousness and life that never pass away.

Paul reminds his readers that they themselves are letters of Christ, “written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:3). He says the proof of the gospel is not found in rituals, credentials, or outward ceremonies. The proof is in transformed lives by the power of Christ.

That’s why Paul stood against the Judaizers of his day. They were trying to bring Christians under the law of Moses again, insisting on circumcision, Sabbaths, and ceremonial observances as if that could make a person right with God. But the law was never intended to save. “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified” (Romans 3:20). The law was a tutor to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3: 24), but once Christ came, it no longer had a role as a covenant. Paul says simply, “When one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Corinthians 3:16).

The same problem rears its head today in Catholicism. Just as the Judaizers added ceremonies to Christ, the Catholic Church has added Mass after Mass, confession to priests, prayers to saints, purgatory, and sacraments. But Scripture is clear: Christ “offered one sacrifice for sins for ever” (Hebrews 10:12). “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us” (1 John 1:9), no priest necessary. “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Whether it is the law of Moses or the traditions of Rome, both are a veil to blind people to the sufficiency of the cross.

Paul says that the glory of the old covenant faded away, but the glory of the new covenant is permanent and surpassing. It is freedom: “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17). True Christianity is not a religion of external ceremonies that condemn. It is the life-changing Spirit of God who transforms lives from the inside out.

The question for us is this: Are we clinging to a religion that only condemns, or are we beholding Christ and being transformed? “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). The glory of the new covenant is real transformation, real freedom, and real life. Anything else, whether the old covenant of Judaism or the added rituals of Catholicism, is an empty shadow that can never save.

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Job 31:1-33:33
2 Corinthians 3:1-18
Psalm 43:1-5
Proverbs 22:8-9

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New Testament: 2 Corinthians 3:1-18

Summary: Ministers of the New Covenant

We see that the legalists who caused trouble in both Antioch and Jerusalem had come to Corinth and enticed some of the believers into living by the Law of Moses. Paul refuted their position by showing the wonders of the new covenant ministry. The background is Exodus, chapter 34. It changes hearts, this new covenant.

The law only reveals sin. It cannot renew the inner person. The Spirit wants to write a new version of his word on your heart, will you let him? And Warren Wiersbe in his great Bible Commentary, chapter by chapter Bible Commentary says it gives life, the Law kills, but grace gives life and sustains that life. God’s children have a living relationship with him through the spirit of life. Oh, and by the way, it gets more and more glorious. The glory of the Law is gone. The temple, the priesthood, the ceremonies, and the awesome revelations of God’s power, it’s all gone.

But the glory of God’s grace remains and grows more and more glorious and brings freedom. The Law brings bondage, but grace gives glorious freedom. That makes us more and more like Jesus Christ each day. You can have your own personal transfiguration as you worship the Lord and yield to the Spirit.

Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 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.
~ 2 Corinthians 3:5-6

the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. The letter kills in two ways: (1) it results in a living death. Before Paul was converted, he thought he was saved by keeping the law, but all it did was kill his peace, joy, and hope; and (2) it results in spiritual death. His inability to keep the law sentenced him to an eternal death (see Rom 7:9-11; Rom 5:12; Gal 3:10). Only Jesus Christ, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, can produce eternal life in one who believes.

~ John MacArthur

There is another way to understand God’s words, but the result is death. We can refuse to allow God’s Holy Spirit to work in our lives. Instead, we can just look at the letters and words on the page. Many people were trying to do that with God’s law. However, God’s law declared his judgement against them, because they could not completely obey it*.

For that reason, people need the new covenant. They need God to write his law in their hearts*. They need Christ’s death, so that God can forgive their evil deeds*. They need God’s Holy Spirit to give them life that never ends.

From: usefulbible.com