How lovely God is Pt 10: The old and the new.
2 Corinthians 3:3-9 3You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 7Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!
Context
From the beginning of time God has had a plan that would result in the defeat of Satan and the drawing of His children into holy and righteous relationship through His Son. The first part of that plan, the Old Covenant, was the bringing of the Law to His people. This covenant laid out what sin was and established a sacrificial system intended to show the consequence of sin and the impossibility of defeating it except through the grace of God.
The New Covenant expanded the Old to include the presence of God directly in the hearts of willing believers. The presence of God the Son through the Holy Spirit in believers’ hearts enabled direct, intimate relationship with God and offered a way through, not around, the obstacle of sin.
A letter written not with ink
When Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers, he wanted them to understand that the Gospel he proclaimed wasn’t merely about rules, rituals, or written regulations. His message was about that presence of God in the hearts of believers, using the contrast of a message written in ink verses that of the indwelling Spirit of Christ. That image — a letter not written with ink — is powerful. Ink fades, paper wears out, and stone tablets can crack or be broken. But when the Spirit of God writes upon the heart, the message is alive and enduring. Paul’s imagery recalls Exodus 31:18, where God gave Moses “two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.” Those tablets represented the old covenant — an external law, written on stone and given to a people who often failed to keep it. The law revealed sin but did not have the power to transform the heart that it condemned.
By contrast, the new covenant is internal and transformative. The prophet Jeremiah foresaw this shift centuries earlier: “This is the covenant I will make… I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). God’s intention was never just to impose commandments but to implant His very character within His people. What the old covenant inscribed on stone, the new covenant inscribes within the soul.
Paul was addressing those who were tempted to return to a law-based system of righteousness — something that could be measured by performance or visible conformity. Yet the “letter” Paul speaks of isn’t something they carry or display; it’s who they are. Their lives themselves bear witness that the Spirit has done a work far deeper than any written law could accomplish. The Spirit doesn’t just inform; He transforms. This is the heart of Christian identity — not a faith of ink and parchment, but of Spirit and power. Our faith is living because the One who authored it is living. When God writes His law on human hearts, the result is not external compliance but inward renewal. As Ezekiel foretold, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you… I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees” (Ezekiel 36:26–27).
Paul therefore makes an important point: the true evidence of ministry is not written commendations or official letters. It’s the living testimony of changed lives. Each believer becomes a “letter from Christ” — a message of grace that the world can read.
Ministers of a new covenant
v6 captures the essence of the transition from the old to the new. Under the old covenant, the “letter” — the written code of the Law — demanded perfect obedience but offered no power to fulfill it. It showed the holiness of God and the sinfulness of humanity but left the sinner condemned. That’s why Paul can say, “the letter kills.” It reveals the deadly seriousness of sin. The new covenant, however, is not a revised version of the old. It is a completely new reality. It operates not by law but by Spirit; not by human merit but by divine grace. The Spirit gives life — the same creative breath that once formed humanity from dust now regenerates dead hearts. As Jesus told Nicodemus, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again… born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:3–5).
The “ministers of a new covenant” are not those who enforce a code but those who bear witness to Christ’s finished work. They don’t write rules on tablets; they proclaim a risen Savior who writes truth upon hearts. The Spirit, Paul insists, is the active agent of this covenant. Where the Law exposes sin, the Spirit imparts righteousness. Where the Law condemns, the Spirit justifies.
This means that every believer, in some sense, becomes a minister of the new covenant. The Spirit who gives life works through us to bring others into that same life. We do not offer people a rulebook but a relationship; not a moral ladder to climb but a Savior who descended to lift us up. The Gospel does not make bad people better — it makes dead people alive.
Ministry which brings condemnation
The old covenant, glorious as it was, brought condemnation because it showed that people couldn’t affect their own restoration. When Moses descended from Mt. Sinai. his face shone with the reflected glory of God, so much so that the Israelites were afraid to look at him (Exodus 34:29–30). Paul acknowledges this glory but calls it “the ministry that brought death.” Why? Because the Law, while holy and good, could only condemn those who broke it. It was glorious in revelation but deadly in effect.
Romans 7:10–11 expresses the same paradox:
10I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.
The Law was never the problem; human sin was. But the Law, by exposing sin, made the reality of condemnation unavoidable.
And yet, it was glorious. The Law revealed God’s holiness, justice, and moral perfection. It gave structure to a nation and pointed forward to Christ. Its glory was real — but temporary. The veil Moses wore was symbolic of how the people could not see the fading glory of the old covenant (2 Cor 3:13). The Law could reflect the glory of God, but it could not transmit it. It showed God’s standards, but not His saving power.
That’s why Paul calls it “the ministry of condemnation” (v. 9). The Law’s purpose was not to save but to reveal the need for salvation. “Through the law we become conscious of our sin” (Romans 3:20). The Law was like a mirror — it showed the dirt on our faces but provided no water to wash it away. Its glory was in its truth, but its truth led to death apart from grace.
This is a humbling reminder that external religion — however impressive — cannot save. The old covenant could produce outward conformity, but only the new covenant produces inward transformation. That’s why Jesus warned the Pharisees that though they appeared righteous on the outside, their hearts were far from God (Matthew 23:27–28).
The old covenant exposed guilt; the new covenant removes it. The old brought fear; the new brings freedom. The old condemned; the new justifies.
Pales against the ministry which brings righteousness
The “ministry that brings righteousness” refers to the Gospel — the good news that through faith in Jesus Christ, sinners are declared righteous before God. This righteousness is not earned but imputed; it’s not our own, but Christ’s. As Paul says elsewhere, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The contrast couldn’t be clearer. The old covenant could reveal righteousness but never confer it. The new covenant creates righteousness by uniting believers with Christ through the Spirit. Where the old demanded righteousness, the new delivers it. This is the heart of the Gospel — not a call to strive harder, but an invitation to receive grace. In the old covenant, righteousness was something pursued through obedience. In the new, it’s something received through faith. As Paul writes in Philippians 3:9, “not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.”
The glory of this new covenant never fades because it’s grounded in the eternal work of Christ. The veil that once covered Moses’ face is removed in Christ. Believers now behold “the Lord’s glory” with unveiled faces and are “being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). The old glory diminished over time; the new glory grows brighter as the Spirit transforms us.
This “ministry that brings righteousness” is not just a theological concept but a living reality. The Spirit continually applies Christ’s righteousness to the believer’s life, producing the fruits of righteousness — love, joy, peace, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23). The glory of the new covenant is not confined to Sinai’s mountaintop; it radiates in every heart that the Spirit indwells.
Paul’s argument leads us to a stunning conclusion: the old covenant, glorious though it was, pales beside the surpassing glory of the new. The Law, like the moon, reflected light but had no light of its own; the Gospel is like the sun, blazing with uncreated glory. One reveals holiness from a distance; the other brings holiness within. To live under the old covenant is to live by effort and condemnation; to live under the new is to live by grace and transformation. We are no longer bound to stone tablets but bound to Christ Himself. The Spirit’s work within us is the ongoing testimony that the new covenant has truly come.
As Paul says elsewhere, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
What about me?
The transition from ink to Spirit, from law to grace, from condemnation to righteousness, is the story of the Gospel itself. It is the difference between living for God and living from God — between trying to please Him through our strength and allowing His Spirit to produce His righteousness within us.
Now that we have this righteousness offered to us, what do we do about it? The one thing that is fully within human strength is the ability to say yes. But it is also difficult. We are taught by society and our own nature to believe the only route to success is through personal effort…to work harder. But this is exactly the barrier that God won’t tear down because He won’t violate our free will.
Life everlasting, life in eternity with Jesus, is offered to us and requires only that we be willing. How can we say ‘no’ to that?