The Sufficiency of the Apostles Is From God; the New Covenant of the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:4–8)

2 Cor. 3:4, 5. And such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.

Although above the Apostle referred everything to the Gospel word and the grace of the Spirit, depicting the hearts of the Corinthians; he could not, however, pass over in silence the fact that both were and served toward their salvation through them. They were the immediate instruments of Divine grace acting upon them. And the Corinthians knew this from the very deed itself. From their lips came the victorious Gospel word; through baptism, either by them or by their guidance, rebirth to a new life was bestowed; through the laying on of their hands the gifts of the Holy Spirit descended. All this the Corinthians knew. Therefore, when the Apostle magnified so greatly God’s work manifested in them and upon them, he could give them occasion to think of him and other workers with him more highly than they were. That is why he deemed it necessary to qualify this and present the matter as it really is. He speaks as if: indeed, we also act here and act with complete boldness, with full confidence in God through Christ the Lord; and He never puts our hope to shame, but always acts through us with all the fullness of Divine action, as He appointed for salvation to be accomplished in men according to the economy of salvation. But do not think anything excessive about us. Despite all that is accomplished through us, we here—are nothing. Not only can we not devise anything of our own to improve the action on people from ourselves, but we do not even understand how all this is accomplished. The actions issuing from us for salvation prove complete, and we appear ready and capable of accomplishing them, but this readiness and capability are not from us—“our sufficiency is from God.” He acts through us in Christ Jesus by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

“Such confidence” — πεποιθησιν — assurance in God we have, that He will not refuse to act through us in this or that case, as He promised and appointed, and we have this assurance through Christ the Lord, for we act in the order of the economy of salvation accomplished by the Lord. Theodoret writes: “We boldly rely on God, because Christ gave us this boldness; but we do not think highly of ourselves and do not present preaching composed of our own thoughts.” — Saint Chrysostom says: “Again he attributes everything to God and calls Christ the cause of all things. He did not say: ‘such confidence we have,’ by which we ascribe one thing to ourselves and another to God; on the contrary, ‘such,’ by which we lay everything on God and ascribe it to Him: for our sufficiency is from God.” Here is Oecumenius’ rendering: “We have such confidence,” we dare, he says, completely rely on God, through Christ being filled with inspired boldness toward Him; but we ourselves in no way are sufficient to worthily work in this ministry; we cannot even conceive the greatness of the works, much less understand anything in it.

2 Cor. 3:6. Who has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

“What does it mean: ‘made us sufficient’? — That God made us capable of such ministry. For it is a great thing to communicate to the whole world such tablets and writings, which are far more important than the first. Therefore he added: ‘not of the letter but of the Spirit.’ Behold the difference between the old and the new tablets! Moses brought not the Spirit, but letters, but to us is entrusted the impartation of the Spirit (Saint Chrysostom). God Himself endowed us with power sufficient to serve the grace of the Spirit. For we present not the old letters of the Law, but the new gift of the Spirit (Theodoret). God made us sufficient, filled us with His power, made us ministers fitting for such a great and Divine work, ministers ‘of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit.’ And the Law was spiritual, but did not give the Spirit as the New Covenant does. To us, he says, is entrusted the impartation not of letters, as to Moses, but of the Spirit. The Apostles did not merely teach about the spiritual and Divine, but gave the Spirit, laying hands on the believers” (Theophylact).

Behold the essence of the New Covenant—the inspiration of believers with the Spirit. The word issuing from the lips of the Apostles was the same as the Old Testament word; and if apostolic ministry had been limited to preaching alone, the New Covenant would not have been higher than the Old, even if the conceptions communicated by the preaching were higher than Old Testament conceptions. The power of the New Covenant is not in the conceptions, but in the grace of the Spirit. The Gospel word only prepared for the reception of the Spirit; but the New Covenant work was accomplished by the Spirit, received through Divine mysteries, of which the Apostles were the first servants. The Spirit, having entered into the heart, not only wrote the New Covenant, but accomplished it, transforming the inner man according to the spirit of the New Covenant. The Spirit did everything: He formed faith; He established the new life; He directed the paths of life. And here the Apostle is not proclaiming something new, but indicating the fulfillment of what was foretold of old by the prophets. The prophet Jeremiah foretold: “‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers… I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hearts” (Jer. 31:31–33). The prophet Ezekiel completes this prophecy: “‘And I will give them another heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they will follow My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them; and they shall be My people and I will be their God” (Ezek. 11:19, 20). These predictions were fulfilled when the Lord poured out His Holy Spirit on the holy Apostles, and then through them, by means of the God-appointed mysteries, upon all believers. Believers all received the Spirit and became new in the very sources of life. Thus it is and always happens to all who truly believe and sincerely walk the path of faith. Behold, he says, as what kind of covenant God made us sufficient to be ministers of—“‘not of the letter but of the Spirit!”

“For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” “The Apostle spoke of each with an eye to the outcome, because the law punished those who transgressed, while grace gives life to believers” (Theodoret). “By letter here he means the law, threatening punishment to those who transgress the law, while by Spirit he means grace, giving life through the mystery of baptism to those dead in sins. Before he said that one covenant was written on tablets of stone, while another on tablets of flesh. But it seemed to him that this distinction was still slight, and therefore he added that the former Covenant is written in letters and ink, while the New is written in the Spirit. But since even this distinction could not fully arouse his listeners, he points out to them something even more powerful that would inspire them, namely that ‘the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.’ What does this mean? — According to the old law, a sinner is subject to punishment, while according to the new, he takes refuge in baptism and becomes righteous; and having become righteous, he lives, freed from the death of sin. The law, if it apprehends a murderer, condemns him to death; but if grace apprehends a murderer, it sanctifies and gives him life. But why do I speak of a murderer? The law even seized and stoned him who gathered wood on the Sabbath (Num. 15:32–36). Behold what ‘the letter kills’ means! On the contrary, grace seizes countless murderers and robbers, and having washed them in the waters of baptism, releases them from their former evils. Behold what ‘the Spirit gives life’ means! The law, whomever it apprehends, makes dead out of the living; grace, the transgressions out of the (spiritually) dead makes living. By the grace of baptism, sins are washed away, former iniquities are blotted out; man is made alive, and all grace is impressed upon his heart as upon a tablet” (Saint Chrysostom).

At the present time, Christianity too is all contained in writings. The Spirit-bearing word of the Apostles constitutes our New Testament revelation; the spirit-bearing mysteries are surrounded by beautiful ceremonial order; the guiding movements of the Spirit are fulfilled in the relations of shepherds and their flocks. And all this is determined by the canon. But the canon is writing, the letter; its fulfillment is an external form. In all this, the spirit of life may not be present. One can move in the forms of life without life. One can know the whole New Law by heart and understand it, and not have the Spirit illuminating by living faith; one can strictly observe all the orders of the Church and not have the Spirit that gives life, or not have spiritual life; one can remain in complete obedience to the shepherdhood and not receive guidance truly issuing from the Spirit. Truly spiritual life moves in all these orders, but is not necessarily presupposed by them. We all live according to established order; but some are spirit-bearing while others are not. Of two standing in the church, and even acting, one may be spirit-bearing while the other is not. So what then? Does the letter kill here too? — The letter, the form is everywhere of one value; and when there is no Spirit with them, they are nothing. But the Spirit blows where it wishes, and you do not know where it comes from and where it goes (Jn 3:8). It does not come without faith and mysteries; but these can only be observed in form, without the manifestation of inner power. That all this is so, universal experience testifies. It is before our eyes. But how and why this happens, we cannot comprehend. The Lord has covered with great secrecy the genesis and ripening of life from the Spirit. So His will is pleased; and His will is holy, righteous, and good. One consolation: “‘Seek and you will find” (Mt 7:7).

2 Cor. 3:7, 8. For if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of the glory of his face, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit come with even more glory?

The Apostle has already shown sufficiently the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old, especially in that the old was written with dead letters on stone, while the new is depicted by the life-giving Spirit in the heart, so that the old is death-bringing while the new is life-giving. Now he wishes to present the glory of the New Covenant, overshadowing the glory of the Old, and for this he uses reference to the glory that shone on Moses’ face when he came down from the mountain after communion with God. His reasoning here is this: How much more excellent is the economy of salvation that we have presented to you and you have accepted before the Old Testament one, you know from your own experience; you have received the life-giving Spirit, who gave you new life, sanctified you, and openly manifested the sign of His abiding in you (in extraordinary gifts). The Old Testament ministry gave nothing of the sort. But see with what glory its establishment was accompanied? Moses, coming down from the mountain with its inscription, shone with glory. Conclude from this that if that, so much lower in comparison with our ministry, appeared thus glorious, how much more glorious must our ministry be? The purpose of such speech by the Apostle is as follows: I am telling you about the superiority of the new grace over the Old Testament ministry; in this someone might think: but how is it that Moses shone with glory, and here what do we see? The Saviour in humiliation, the Apostles all obscure and all believers share a similar inglorious fate. Be careful not to be scandalized by this thought; on the contrary, from the very fact that the Old Testament ministry appeared so glorious, conclude that ours is incomparably more glorious. For you have already experienced its power on yourselves and you bear testimony of its superiority in yourselves. If what you receive from this ministry is incomparably superior to what that ministry gave, then do not doubt that the glory of our ministry is brighter than the glory of that ministry. Do not look at appearance; what appears is temporal, what is unseen is eternal. Is what you have from the Spirit of grace visible? — It is invisible. And is it less real because of that? — Not at all less; for it is not something told to you from outside, but what you yourselves feel and experience in yourselves. So—if this is certain, though invisible, do not doubt that the glory of our ministry is indeed brighter than the glory of the Old Testament ministry, though the brightness of its glory no one sees. — The Apostle presses upon them this truth by reasoning, for he could not point to this glory so that bodily eyes would see it as the Israelites saw the glory on Moses’ face,—he could not say: look here—what glory! And even intellectual eyes do not contemplate this glory as light; it is only accepted in the certainty of conviction that it exists. This certainty of conviction is its light. The glory itself is the superiority of its dignity, clearly perceived. All this was built on that indisputable fact that the economy of salvation gave the Spirit of grace, imparted new spiritual life, and was crowned with special gifts. This universally experienced quickening from the Spirit, this spirit-bearing and spirit-moving nature present in all, gave the Apostle’s reasoning an unshakeable support point and strength capable of dispelling all doubts.

Saint Chrysostom sees such a structure of thoughts in the Apostle, and following him all our interpreters. He says: “The Apostle said that Moses’ tablets were stone and written in letters or writings, while the new covenant tablets are fleshly and are written by the Spirit; he also said that ‘the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.’ It remained finally to add to this comparison something else, quite important, namely about the glory of Moses’ face, a glory which no one saw in the New Covenant with bodily eyes. Therefore the former seemed great glory, for it struck the senses and was contemplated by bodily eyes, though it was also inaccessible. And the glory of the New Covenant is spiritual. But the perception of this superiority of the latter was inaccessible to the weak, therefore the Old Testament glory more attracted and drew them to itself. Therefore, since he had already allowed such a comparison (of the New Covenant with the Old), he resolved to show the superiority of New Testament glory. But since this was very difficult because of the weakness of the listeners, see what he does and what method he employs to achieve this goal: he shows this difference and superiority through reasonings, which he draws from what was said before. If the Old Testament ministry, he says, was a ministry of death, while the New Testament is a ministry of life, then undoubtedly the glory of the latter ministry is greater than the glory of the former. Since he could not present New Testament glory to bodily eyes, he shows its superiority through reasonings.”

The Apostle constructs three such reasonings, for which the source point is, on one hand, the glory of Moses’ face, and on the other, the spiritual perfections of New Testament ministry. The production of reasoning is everywhere the same: that is less, yet so glorious; how then will not this better and greater be incomparably more excellent? He sets forward what is less and what is greater, and from this draws the obvious conclusion: if that which is less is glorious, then surely this which is greater is incomparably more glorious. The following features are compared: that is “‘ministry of death” (dead), while this is “‘ministry of the Spirit” (living and life-giving) (2 Cor. 3:7, 8); that is “‘ministry of condemnation,” while this is “‘ministry of righteousness” (2 Cor. 3:9, 10); that is “‘passing away,” while this is “‘abiding” (2 Cor. 3:11). Who does not see that if the first is glorious, the second must be incomparably more glorious?

After this, the content of these verses 7–11 is clear. However, necessary remarks should be made on certain expressions.

What is to be understood here by ministry? — Not Moses’ mediation and Apostleship, but the economy of salvation under the law and under grace, in their comparison with one another. So Saint Chrysostom and all our interpreters. Theodoret only points to one or the other. And in the course of the discourse it is better to understand the latter. The Apostle in this section reasons throughout about the superiority of the New Covenant and sets it forth, and hides and obscures himself in every way. Just before this he only said that by themselves they are nothing. Is it fitting to suppose that after such a word he immediately sets forth the glory of Apostleship?

“For if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory”—“Carved” — εντετυπωμενη — impressed with letters on stones—on two stone tablets. On these tablets only the Decalogue was written; by ministry of death, however, the whole Old Testament establishment is meant. The Apostle embraces all of it by that one thing which was written on the tablets, because the Decalogue constituted the center of the whole Old Testament establishment, and because the glory on Moses’ face first appeared when he brought down the tablets, and perhaps also because writing with letters on stones very well expresses the essential features of the Old Testament. The words: “came with such glory” point to the glorification of the “appearance of his face” when he came down from the mountain. This glorification was so great that Aaron and all the sons of Israel could not endure its brightness, and “were afraid to come near” Moses (Ex. 34:29, 30). This is what the Apostle expresses when he says: “that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face.” Moses himself at first did not know “that the skin of his face shone,” but when he found out, he began to put a veil on his face (Ex. 34:33) so that he might communicate freely with the sons of Israel in carrying out the arrangement of the whole Covenant. When ascending the mountain, Moses removed the veil for communion with God. This glorification of the face was a result of the vision of God’s glory, its reflection; therefore at the end of all the work of setting up the covenant orders, it probably ceased. That is why the Apostle called this glory “fading.” The sons of Israel could not gaze upon Moses—“because of the glory of his face, which was being brought to an end.”

But why was this establishment called “ministry of death”? — “The Apostle called the ministry of the law a ministry of death, because the law punished (with death) those who transgressed” (Theodoret). “By ministry of death the Apostle understands the law, though the law was not the originator and producer of death. The originator of death is sin. It led to transgression of the law; and the law revealed this and subjected it to condemnation for sin. It made evil more clearly known and only punished for evil, and did not incite to evil; and it served not to produce sin or death, but to punish the one who sins. And thus it was at the same time a destroyer of sin. For when it showed sin to be so terrible, it certainly thereby caused it to be fled, or restrained sin by fear of punishment” (Saint Chrysostom). The law held back from the deeds of sin, but the power of sin remained in operation even under it. Since the power of sin is a death-dealing power, and it was irritated by the law, which gave no help to resist it, it kept those under the law in the death-dealing realm of sin. “The law was nothing other than writings. And writings provided no help, as on the contrary happens in baptism, to those under the law; but the tablets and the inscriptions brought death to those who transgressed the writings” (Saint Chrysostom). That is why the law is a ministry of death!

Or perhaps the Old Testament establishment is called a ministry of death in the sense that it was a dead ministry, that is, written, literal, statutory, external ministry, without the inner power of life. The law did not give the Spirit, but only prescribed deeds. Deeds were done in the usual order, but inwardly there was no spiritual life, for it is given by the Spirit, which the law did not communicate. In the New Covenant, on the contrary, the first thing is the bestowal of the Spirit, which, regenerating to new life, also depicted in the heart the laws of this life, giving power not only to suppress sin externally, but to destroy it. Therefore, in contrast to the Old Testament establishment as a ministry of death, he called it a ministry of the Spirit, giving to understand that the ministry of the Spirit is the same, according to him, as the ministry of life, that is, living, issuing from the heart, not determined by external prescriptions, but issuing from within, as a need of the heart. But the ministry appears such only because it is itself the fruit of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Recognizing the superiority of such ministry, everyone with the Apostle will cry out: “how will not the ministry of the Spirit come with even more glory?”