1 Am I again commending myself? Or do I need to present to you letters of recommendation as some do; or should I ask you for those letters?
2 You are the letter. This letter is written in your inner self, yet all can read and understand it.
3 Yes, who could deny that you are Christ's letter written by us - a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, carved not in slabs of stones, but in hearts of flesh.
4 This is how we are sure of God, through Christ.
5 As for us we would not dare consider that something comes from us: our ability comes from God.
6 He has even enabled us to be ministers of a new covenant no longer depending on a written text but on the Spirit. The written text kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7 The ministry of the Law carved on stones brought death; it was nevertheless surrounded by glory and we know that the Israelites could not fix their eyes on the face of Moses, such was his radiance, though fleeting.
8 How much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be!
9 If there is greatness in a ministry which uses to condemn, how much more will there be in the ministry that brings holiness?
10 This is such a glorious thing that in comparison the former's glory is like nothing.
11 That ministry was provisory and had only moments of glory; but ours endures with a lasting glory.
12 Since we have such a great ambition, we are quite confident -
13 unlike Moses, who covered his face with a veil. Otherwise the Israelites would have seen his passing radiance fade.
14 They became blind, however; until this day, the same veil prevents them from understanding the Old Covenant and they do not realize that in Christ it is nullified.
15 Up to this very day, whenever they read Moses, the veil remains over their understanding
16 but, for whoever turns to the Lord, the veil shall be removed.
17 The Lord is spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 So, with unveiled faces, we all reflect the Glory of the Lord, while we are transformed into his likeness and experience his Glory more and more by the action of the Lord who is spirit.
Versículos relacionados com 2 Corinthians, 3:
In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul talks about the superiority of the New Testament ministry in relation to the Old Testament ministry, emphasizing the superiority of the message of the Gospel of Christ over the law of Moses. He also highlights the transformative nature of the message of Christ, which brings freedom and life in contrast to the "law of death" that the law of Moses represented.
Romans 7:6 - "But now, because we die for what we were subject to, we were freed from the law, to serve in novelty of spirit, not the old age of the letter." This verse speaks of the liberation of the law of Moses that the Gospel brings, in contrast to the legalism that characterized Judaism.
Galatians 3:24-25 - "so that the law served us as aio, to lead us to Christ, that by faith we were justified. But after faith came, we are no longer under Aio." Paul uses this metaphor of the "law as aio" to explain how the law of Moses has led people to Christ, but now, with faith in Christ, the law is no longer necessary.
1 Peter 1:23 - "Being again generated, not of corruptible seed, but the incorruptible, by the Word of God, living and remains forever." Peter highlights the transformative nature of the Word of God, which brings life and renewal.
2 Corinthians 5:17 - "As soon as one is in Christ, a new creature is: Old things have passed; behold, everything has been new." Paul emphasizes the radical transformation that occurs in someone's life when he is reconciled with God through Christ.
Hebrews 8:13 - "Saying New Testament, aged the first one. Well, what was made old, and gets older, close to it." This verse emphasizes the superiority of the new pact in Christ in relation to the Old Testament, which was becoming obsolete.
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