Let us continue Paul’s explanation of how the
promise through Jeremiah is fulfilled in the believer today, whether Jew or
Gentile.
·
2 Cor. 3:1-18: The Ministry of the New Covenant.
o 3:7-11:
Paul is very clear: the Old Covenant ministry is one that will bring death; it
is the ministry of death and the ministry of condemnation. That is not to say it was not a glorious
ministry. It was, after all, God’s doing
and God’s law at the center of it. But
Paul likens the glory of that ministry to the glory that shown on the face of
Moses: it was external and temporary.
The ministry of the Spirit is
a ministry of righteousness; it
actually produces what the Law could not produce. Thus the NC ministry is more glorious: it is
internal and eternal.
o 3:12-18: If we ask specifically what the Spirit does
to bring about the relationship with God promised in the NC Paul gives us at
least two answers in this passage.
§ First,
the Spirit brings liberty, freedom to see Christ in the gospel. That is the sense of v17. When the Spirit is present in the experience
of the one who has been blinded, through the Spirit’s convicting work (John
16:9-11) that one turns to the Lord and the veil is removed.
§ Second,
when the veil is removed, the light of the gospel shines on them (2 Cor.
4:4). In other words, they are able to
see Christ who is at the center of the gospel.
Christ is no longer a source of contention or merely an intellectual
subject of conversation or a well-known religious leader. Thus the Spirit is able to take the gospel
which presents Christ who IS the image of God and use it in the life of the one
who has entered the New Covenant. As
that person sees Christ more clearly that person is changed into the same
image, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
How does a person open himself up to the work
of the Holy Spirit? We have two critical
truths to say concerning this. First,
receiving the Holy Spirit required the death and resurrection of Christ. As Jeremiah said, the NC rests on the fact
that sins and iniquities have been taken care of; God is able to forget them, a
truth requiring the work of His Son!
Second, that person must put his trust in
Christ alone for this forgiveness. When
faith has been expressed the Holy Spirit enters into the life of that
person. This is what Jesus promised His disciples
(John 14:15-18). This fits the words of
Paul: if anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, he is not His (Rom. 8:9).
It is the experience of the believer at the point of faith. Again God spoke through Paul in 1 Cor. 12:13
(and note the word all): For by one Spirit we were all baptized into
one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free – and have all been
made to drink into one Spirit.
The New Covenant is the new wine; and the gospel ministry or ministry of the new covenant is the new wineskin. Paul engaged in the gospel ministry is both
preaching the gospel and in establishing churches. Paul trusted the Holy Spirit to do what only
the Spirit could do in bringing new life to those who believed. We should engage in this same ministry today,
and trust the Spirit to do His work!
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