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2 Corinthians 3

Paul defends his ministry by showing how God’s Spirit gives life, removes the veil, and transforms believers.

Paul addresses the Corinthians about whether his ministry needs letters of recommendation. He calls the Corinthians themselves a letter of Christ, written by the Spirit on human hearts, and credits God with making him fit to serve the new covenant. He then contrasts the glory of Moses’ ministry with the greater, lasting glory of the Spirit’s ministry. The chapter closes with the veil removed in Christ and believers being changed into the Lord’s image.

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1Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as do some, letters of commendation to you or from you?
2You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men,
3being revealed that you are a letter of Christ, served by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in tablets that are hearts of flesh.
4Such confidence we have through Christ toward God,
5not that we are sufficient of ourselves to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God,
6who also made us sufficient 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 service of death, written engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly on the face of Moses for the glory of his face, which was passing away,
8won’t service of the Spirit be with much more glory?
9For if the service of condemnation has glory, the service of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.
10For most certainly that which has been made glorious has not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasses.
11For if that which passes away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
12Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech,
13and not as Moses, who put a veil on his face so that the children of Israel wouldn’t look steadfastly on the end of that which was passing away.
14But their minds were hardened, for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains, because in Christ it passes away.
15But to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.
16But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
2 Corinthians 3:18The closing verse brings the glory comparison to its goal: believers share an unveiled vision and transformation through the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:17The Spirit’s liberty belongs within Paul’s account of the veil being removed when someone turns to the Lord.
2 Corinthians 3:3The Corinthians themselves serve as Christ’s letter, showing the Spirit’s work on human hearts and supporting Paul’s ministry.
Where this chapter reaches

Romans and Galatians share Paul’s contrast between the law’s condemnation and the life given through the Spirit, while Hebrews also describes the new covenant’s surpassing work. John shares the themes of the Spirit giving life and freedom being found through Christ.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What does Paul’s picture of the Corinthians as Christ’s letter help you notice about the church?

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How does God’s sufficiency in verse 5 shape your understanding of the transformation described in verse 18?

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Questions people ask about 2 Corinthians 3

What does “the letter kills” mean in 2 Corinthians 3?

Paul connects the letter with the covenant engraved on stone, which he calls a service of death and condemnation. The law exposes guilt and brings condemnation; the Spirit gives life through the new covenant. His contrast concerns these covenant ministries and gives no permission to dismiss Scripture or God’s commands.

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

The statement follows Paul’s claim that turning to the Lord removes the veil. Liberty belongs to the Spirit’s life-giving work, through which people can behold the Lord’s glory with unveiled faces. The next verse describes transformation into his image, so this freedom has a clear direction toward likeness to the Lord.

What is the veil in 2 Corinthians 3?

Paul first describes the veil Moses put over his shining face, then uses it as an image for hardened understanding when the old covenant is read. In Christ the veil passes away. The image carries through to the closing verse, where believers behold the Lord’s glory with unveiled faces.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).