9 For if the operation of the law, producing punishment, had its glory, how much greater will be the operation of the Spirit causing righteousness?
You have not come to a mountain which may be touched, and is burning with fire, and to a black cloud, and a dark smoke, and a violent wind, And to the sound of a horn, and the voice of words, the hearers of which made request that not a word more might be said to them: For the order which said, If the mountain is touched even by a beast, the beast is to be stoned, seemed hard to them; And the vision was so overpowering that even Moses said, I am shaking and full of fear.
But now without the law there is a revelation of the righteousness of God, to which witness is given by the law and the prophets; That is, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all those who have faith; and one man is not different from another,
Simon Peter, a servant and Apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who with us have a part in the same holy faith in the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:
And Moses certainly kept faith as a servant, in all his house, and as a witness of those things which were to be said later; But Christ as a son, over his house; whose house are we, if we keep our hearts fixed in the glad and certain hope till the end.
You are cut off from Christ, you who would have righteousness by the law; you are turned away from grace. For we through the Spirit by faith are waiting for the hope of righteousness.
For all who are of the works of the law are under a curse: because it is said in the Writings, A curse is on everyone who does not keep on doing all the things which are ordered in the book of the law.
For the glory of the first no longer seems to be glory, because of the greater glory of that which comes after. For if the order which was for a time had its glory, much more will the eternal order have its glory.
Who has made us able to be servants of a new agreement; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter gives death, but the Spirit gives life. For if the operation of the law, giving death, recorded in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the eyes of the children of Israel had to be turned away from the face of Moses because of its glory, a glory which was only for a time:
And let limits be marked out for the people round the mountain, and say to them, Take care not to go up the mountain or near the sides of it: whoever puts his foot on the mountain will certainly come to his death: He is not to be touched by a hand, but is to be stoned or have an arrow put through him; man or beast, he is to be put to death: at the long sounding of a horn they may come up to the mountain. Then Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and made the people holy; and their clothing was washed. And he said to the people, Be ready by the third day: do not come near a woman. And when morning came on the third day, there were thunders and flames and a thick cloud on the mountain, and a horn sounding very loud; and all the people in the tents were shaking with fear. And Moses made the people come out of their tents and take their places before God; and they came to the foot of the mountain, And all the mountain of Sinai was smoking, for the Lord had come down on it in fire: and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a great burning; and all the mountain was shaking. And when the sound of the horn became louder and louder, Moses' words were answered by the voice of God.
But God has given you a place in Christ Jesus, through whom God has given us wisdom and righteousness and salvation, and made us holy:
Because, not having knowledge of God's righteousness, and desiring to give effect to their righteousness, they have not put themselves under the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who has faith. For Moses says that the man who does the righteousness which is of the law will get life by it. But the righteousness which is of faith says these words, Say not in your heart, Who will go up to heaven? (that is, to make Christ come down:) Or, Who will go down into the deep? (that is, to make Christ come again from the dead:) But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart: that is, the word of faith of which we are the preachers: Because, if you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and have faith in your heart that God has made him come back from the dead, you will have salvation: For with the heart man has faith to get righteousness, and with the mouth he says that Jesus is Lord to get salvation.
For what the law was not able to do because it was feeble through the flesh, God, sending his Son in the image of the evil flesh, and as an offering for sin, gave his decision against sin in the flesh: So that what was ordered by the law might be done in us, who are living, not in the way of the flesh, but in the way of the Spirit.
But the free giving of God is not like the wrongdoing of man. For if, by the wrongdoing of one man death came to numbers of men, much more did the grace of God, and the free giving by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, come to men. And the free giving has not the same effect as the sin of one: for the effect of one man's sin was punishment by the decision of God, but the free giving had power to give righteousness to wrongdoers in great number. For, if by the wrongdoing of one, death was ruling through the one, much more will those to whom has come the wealth of grace and the giving of righteousness, be ruling in life through the one, even Jesus Christ. So then, as the effect of one act of wrongdoing was that punishment came on all men, even so the effect of one act of righteousness was righteousness of life for all men. Because, as numbers of men became sinners through the wrongdoing of one man, even so will great numbers get righteousness through the keeping of the word of God by one man. And the law came in addition, to make wrongdoing worse; but where there was much sin, there was much more grace: That, as sin had power in death, so grace might have power through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And he was given the sign of circumcision as a witness of the faith which he had before he underwent circumcision: so that he might be the father of all those who have faith, though they have not circumcision, and so that righteousness might be put to their account;
For in it there is the revelation of the righteousness of God from faith to faith: as it is said in the holy Writings, The man who does righteousness will be living by his faith. For there is a revelation of the wrath of God from heaven against all the wrongdoing and evil thoughts of men who keep down what is true by wrongdoing;
In his days Judah will have salvation and Israel will be living without fear: and this is the name by which he will be named, The Lord is our righteousness.
My righteousness is near, it is not far off; salvation will come quickly; and I will make Zion free, and give Israel my glory.
And all the people were watching the thunderings and the flames and the sound of the horn and the mountain smoking; and when they saw it, they kept far off, shaking with fear. And they said to Moses, To your words we will give ear, but let not the voice of God come to our ears, for fear death may come on us.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Corinthians 3
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
The apostle makes an apology for his seeming to commend himself, and is careful not to assume too much to himself, but to ascribe all praise unto God (v. 1-5). He then draws a comparison between the Old Testament and the New, and shows the excellency of the later above the former (v. 6-11), whence he infers what is the duty of gospel ministers, and the advantage of those who live under the gospel above those who lived under the law (v. 12-18).
2Cr 3:1-5
In these verses,
2Cr 3:6-11
Here the apostle makes a comparison between the Old Testament and the New, the law of Moses and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and values himself and his fellow-labourers by this, that they were able ministers of the New Testament, that God had made them so, v. 6. This he does in answer to the accusations of false teachers, who magnify greatly the law of Moses.
2Cr 3:12-18
In these verses the apostle draws two inferences from what he had said about the Old and New Testament:-