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2 Corinthians 3

2 Corinthians 3 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

2 Corinthians 3 contrasts the old covenant with the new covenant in Christ. Paul defends his ministry by pointing to changed lives, then shows how the Spirit brings life, freedom, and lasting glory. The chapter ends with believers being transformed as they behold the Lord.

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What happens in 2 Corinthians 3?

Paul says he does not need letters of recommendation, because the Corinthian believers themselves are proof of his ministry. Their lives are like a letter from Christ, written by the Spirit on human hearts. He explains that God, not human ability, qualifies ministers of the new covenant. Paul then compares the fading glory connected with Moses and the old covenant to the greater and lasting glory of the Spirit, righteousness, and freedom found in Christ. The chapter closes with a picture of believers, no longer veiled, being changed into the Lord's image.

This chapter comes after Paul has spoken about his ministry, sincerity, and comfort in hardship. Here he explains the nature of Christian ministry and contrasts the old covenant with the new. The chapter prepares for the next section, where Paul continues to describe this ministry in the light of God's mercy and power.

Themes to notice

  • New CovenantGod has qualified His people for a ministry marked by the Spirit rather than by stone tablets and outward rules.
  • Spiritual FreedomTurning to the Lord removes the veil and brings freedom where the Spirit is at work.
  • TransformationBelievers are changed as they behold the Lord, becoming more like His image over time.

Questions for 2 Corinthians 3

  • What does Paul mean when he says believers are Christ's letter to the world?
  • How does this chapter contrast the old covenant with the new covenant?
  • What does it look like to be transformed by beholding the Lord?

Read the full text of 2 Corinthians 3 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

2 Corinthians 3

Ministers of a New Covenant

1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?2You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone.3It is clear 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 before God is ours through Christ.5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.6And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The Glory of the New Covenant

7Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory,8will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?9For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness!10Indeed, what was once glorious has no glory now in comparison to the glory that surpasses it.11For if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which endures!

12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.13We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away.14But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.15And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.16But whenever anyone 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 freedom.18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

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