… ⁶[God] also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. ⁷But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, ⁸how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? ⁹For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. ¹⁰For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

The practical is rooted in the theological—that is what gives traction to Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians. The Bible is more than the self-help book that many preachers unfortunately treat it as today. Nor is it a matter of rules and regulations that one must keep in order to appease God. The difference is between life and death! Living in the Spirit or living in the Law. Walking in the new covenant or in the letter of the old covenant. And ultimately, as Paul crescendos to the pinnacle of his train of thought, it is a matter of going for the ultimate glory and not settling for anything lesser!

Notice Paul’s subtle transition from talking about the difference between a written letter of commendation versus his having the Corinthians “written in our hearts, known and read by all men… not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God” (2 Cor. 3:2-3). His adequacy for serving the Lord came not from human endorsement but through divine appointment. Therefore, he was adequate to serve the new covenant. Now he uses the same old/new, letter/spirit motif to segue into the basis for our Christian behavior. His ministry is based on the new covenant and lead to a greater glory than the old covenant way of ministry. So also the Corinthians are to live in the new covenant way so to gain the greater glory than under the letter of the law.

We can see the Jewish influence on the church in Corinth, that Paul could use such an argument with them. Yet such an argument could be made against any religious way of life: the letter of the law kills, but the Spirit of God gives life. Paul desires to take the Corinthians soaring beyond the religious legalism, where only the hearts born of God can fly. The glory of new covenant way of life completely eclipses the glory of the Mosaic law—like the moon which shines brightly at night is rendered invisible during the noonday sun. The glory of the Law of Moses becomes non-glory, fading away in comparison to glory of the new covenant. This isn’t about Paul exalting himself, but about exalting the glory of the message of Christ and Him crucified.

Lord, I want to soar in the glory of the Good News, the new covenant.