What is the “ministration of death” written and engraved in stones?

The “ministration of death” is Paul’s way of talking about the law given through Moses, written by God on stone tablets. That law was good and holy, and it even came with visible glory on Moses’ shining face. But it exposed sin and declared God’s curse on anyone who did not keep it perfectly. In that sense it “killed,” because it showed guilt and left people condemned if they stood on their own works. It revealed God’s holiness, but it did not give the power or life needed to meet that standard.

Why does Paul say the ministry of the Spirit is more glorious than the law?

Paul says the ministry of the Spirit is more glorious because it brings life and righteousness instead of only condemnation. The law came with real glory, but it mainly announced God’s demands and the sentence against sinners. The new covenant message brings the Holy Spirit into people’s hearts. Through Christ, it offers forgiveness, a right standing with God, and inner change. This glory does not fade like the brightness on Moses’ face, but remains and keeps shining as the Spirit works in believers over time.

What is the veil over people’s hearts when Moses is read?

Paul uses the picture of a veil to describe spiritual blindness. Just as the Israelites could not look steadily at Moses’ shining face, many later hear the writings of Moses but do not see what they point to. Their minds and hearts are covered, so they miss how the law leads to Christ. The words are read, but the meaning is hidden to them. This is not a problem with the law itself but with the heart. Paul explains that this veil is taken away only when a person turns to the Lord Jesus.

How is the veil taken away when someone turns to the Lord?

When a person turns to the Lord, God removes the inner veil that kept them from seeing clearly. Turning to the Lord means leaving trust in self and coming to Christ in faith. Then the Spirit opens the mind to see what God is saying in the old covenant and the new. The law is no longer just a list of demands that condemns. It is seen as pointing to the Saviour. In Christ, the blame and curse are lifted, and the person can see God’s glory and grace without that former blindness.

What does “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” mean?

This line means that where the Holy Spirit is truly at work, there is real freedom. Under the old system people were bound to many outward rules and were held under the weight of sin and condemnation. Through the Spirit, believers are freed from the old ceremonial burden and from slavery to sin. They are brought into free and open access to God, able to come to him without terror. This liberty is not freedom to live carelessly, but freedom to serve God gladly with a new heart and clear conscience.

What does it mean to behold the glory of the Lord with an open face?

Beholding the glory of the Lord with an open face means that believers look to Christ without a veil or barrier in the way. Under the old covenant, God’s glory was often hidden in clouds, shadows, and symbols. Now, in the gospel, Christ is clearly shown. By faith, Christians “look” at him, seeing his character, grace, and work as in a mirror. This is not a quick glance but a steady, worshipful look that the Spirit himself enables, so that the person really takes in who the Lord is.

How are believers changed into the same image from glory to glory?

Believers are changed into Christ’s image as they keep looking to him by faith. Paul says this happens “from glory to glory,” meaning by steps and stages, not all at once. The Spirit uses the clear light of the gospel to shape their hearts, so they begin to resemble the Lord in character, desires, and conduct. Each new work of grace is another degree of glory. This inner change continues through life, and the process will only be complete when believers are with the Lord and share his full glory.

Why does Paul contrast what is done away with what remains?

Paul is explaining that the old covenant, with its special ceremonies and its way of working as a covenant of works, had a limited time. Its glory was real but temporary, just like the brightness on Moses’ face that faded. In contrast, the new covenant in Christ is lasting. It brings a righteousness that does not pass away and the presence of the Spirit who stays with God’s people. By setting the fading glory beside the lasting one, Paul shows why the gospel has a higher and better glory.

How should this passage shape the way believers see the law and the gospel?

This passage shows that the law and the gospel are not enemies, but they have different roles. The law exposes sin and shows God’s pure standard, yet by itself it leads to condemnation. The gospel brings Christ’s righteousness and the Spirit’s life, so it brings hope and change. Believers should respect the law as a guide to what pleases God, but rest their acceptance with God on Christ alone. They should value the freedom, clarity, and transforming power that come through the Spirit in the new covenant.

2Cor.3.7

2 Corinthians 3:7

King James Version (KJV)

But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

Chapter:

Context:

The Glory of the New Covenant

But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious?

For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:

And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Cross References

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