Bible Chapter Summary
2 Corinthians 3 Summary
Epistles of Christ and the Spirit's Ministry
Paul defends his apostolic authority by pointing to the Corinthians themselves as his epistle of commendation, written in his heart and known to all men. The Corinthians are the epistle of Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of God on living hearts. Paul describes the superiority of the new covenant of the Spirit over the old covenant written on stone, explaining that the Spirit gives life whereas the letter kills. He exhorts believers to use boldness in their faith, contrasting the veiled understanding that remains when Moses is read with the liberty found in Christ, where all believers, with unveiled faces, behold the Lord's glory and are transformed into His image.
Key themes
Key verses
2 Corinthians 3:2-3
“Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”
2 Corinthians 3:6
“Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”
2 Corinthians 3:17-18
“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 3:14
“But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ.”
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