1
Must we begin again to commend ourselves? Or are we in need (as some are) of epistles of commendation for you, or from you?
2
You are our Epistle, written in our hearts, which is known and read by all men.
3
It has been made manifest that you are the Epistle of Christ, ministered by us, and written down, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, and not on tablets of stone, but on the fleshly tablets of the heart.
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And we have such faith, through Christ, toward God.
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It is not that we are adequate to think anything of ourselves, as if anything was from us. But our adequacy is from God.
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And he has made us suitable ministers of the New Testament, not in the letter, but in the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.(a)
The Glory of the New Covenant
(Exodus 34:10–35)
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But if the ministration of death, engraved with letters upon stones, was in glory, (so much so that the sons of Israel were not able to gaze intently upon the face of Moses, because of the glory of his countenance) even though this ministration was ineffective,
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how could the ministration of the Spirit not be in greater glory?
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For if the ministration of condemnation is with glory, so much more is the ministration of justice abundant in glory.
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And neither was it glorified by means of an excellent glory, though it was made illustrious in its own way.
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For if even what was temporary has its glory, then what is lasting has an even greater glory.
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Therefore, having such a hope, we act with much confidence,
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and not as Moses did, in placing a veil over his face, so that the sons of Israel would not gaze intently at his face. This was ineffective,
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for their minds were obtuse. And, even until this present day, the very same veil, in the readings from the Old Testament, remains not taken away (though, in Christ, it is taken away).(b)
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But even until today, when Moses is read, a veil is still set over their hearts.
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But when they will have been converted to the Lord, then the veil shall be taken away.
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Now the Spirit is Lord. And wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
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Yet truly, all of us, as we gaze upon the unveiled glory of the face of the Lord, are transfigured into the same image, from one glory to another. And this is done by the Spirit of the Lord.
Footnotes