The Veil Removed in Christ; Beholding the Glory of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:15–4:2)

2 Cor. 3:15, 16. Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

He tells the same thought, referring only to universal experience. All, he says, experience this: that, reading Moses, that is, the law, without faith in the Lord, they see nothing there; “a veil lies over their heart,” they could see, but the eyes of the heart are closed by unbelief, so that seeing they do not see and reading they do not understand. As soon as they believe in the Lord and “turn to Him, the veil is removed” from the heart, their spiritual eyes are opened by faith, and they begin to see clearly all that is hidden in the law. This spiritual miracle Saint Paul himself experienced and saw it in all other Jews who truly believed. By faith the same thing is seen differently, read differently, understood differently. Parphenius of Guslitsy tells of himself how he read one passage in a book about faith a hundred times and it gave him no thought; but when he began to incline toward faith, that passage suddenly, like lightning, illumined the eyes of his heart, and he clearly saw the justice of the Church and the falsehood of the schism. So it was with the Jews; while they did not believe, they did not see Christ the Lord in the law, but when they began to believe, He was clearly perceived by them in everything. The heart, constrained by unbelief, constricted the mind as well, and did not allow it to expand its intellectual horizon; when unbelief departed, the horizon of the mind expanded, and all appeared clear. Something similar is experienced by all in reading Divine Scripture, though not from unbelief, but from unpreparedness of life “to contemplate more than what the letter of Scripture presents.”

Saint Chrysostom says: “Since the Apostle said that even now ‘a veil remains in the reading of the law, not unveiled,’ then so that no one might think that these words indicate the darkness of the law, he endeavored even before, though in other words, to show the injustice of this. For when he said: ‘their minds were blinded,’ he clearly showed that the Jews themselves are to blame. The same thing he shows in the present place, saying: ‘a veil lies on their heart,’ that is, this happens because of the crude and fleshly understanding of the Jews, because they are not able to understand Moses, to see the glory of his face. ‘But whenever they turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away.’ He shows also the remedy, or the way of correction. Though he did not say directly: when they abandon the law, but he clearly pointed to this, saying: ‘whenever they turn to the Lord.’ Thus he maintained the narrative consistently. For Moses also, when he spoke with the Jews, covered his face; but when he turned to the Lord, he removed the veil. And this prefigured what was to come after, that is, when we turn to the Lord, we will see the glory of the law. Do you see how strongly he draws the Jew to faith? He shows that the one coming to grace not only can look upon Moses, but can even stand on the same level as this lawgiver, for you will not only, he says, behold the glory which you then did not see, but you yourself will become partaker not of that same glory, but of one much better. How so? — Because when you turn to the Lord and receive grace, you will enjoy such glory that in comparison with it the glory of Moses is so small that it is not even glory.”

2 Cor. 3:17. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

This passage is difficult, especially in the words: “‘Now the Lord is the Spirit.” Spirit here is evidently the Holy Spirit; for its meaning here should be the same as in the following words: “‘where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,” and here it clearly speaks of the Holy Spirit. The word “‘Lord” should mean the Lord Saviour, the Son of God made flesh: for before this it was indicated that the veil is removed when they turn to the Lord, and a little higher it was said that it ceases about Christ. Therefore, according to the flow of discourse, Lord is Christ the Saviour. But when we place these terms in the position: “‘Now the Lord is the Spirit,” we get an expression that is incongruous, namely: the Lord Saviour, the Son of God made flesh, is the Holy Spirit. To speak thus contradicts the dogma of the Holy Trinity: of no person of the Holy Trinity can it be said that he is another person; for example, the Son is the Spirit, the Spirit is the Son, the Father is the Son or the Spirit, and vice versa. Although they are coequal in honor, consubstantial, and seated together on the throne, each person is the very person he is, not another. Therefore, we must either take the word “‘Lord” in the sense of Divinity in general, or the word “‘Spirit” in the sense of spirituality in general. That is, to recognize that here is spoken either of the Lord, that He is Spirit, that is, by nature Spirit, or of the Holy Spirit, that He is Lord, that is, God. And both according to the context and according to grammar are possible. Which should we take? — We should take that which better fits the flow of thoughts. Before this the Apostle said that the veil is removed from the hearts when they turn to the Lord. A natural question after this is: how is this accomplished? And the direct answer to this—in what way? — By the grace of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if we establish that in verse 17 it is spoken of the Holy Spirit, we establish what is completely in harmony with the flow of thoughts. The Apostle here indicates the way in which the eyes of the heart are opened and the veil is removed from them. Consequently, if we accept that in the words: “‘Now the Lord is the Spirit” it is spoken of the Holy Spirit, that He is Lord, then we accept a thought completely in accordance with the flow of the Apostle’s ideas. With this, perhaps we will not succeed in well constructing the sentence, but this is no reproach to the thought accepted.

All our interpreters understand this expression in the sense that in it is spoken of the Divinity of the Holy Spirit. Saint Chrysostom says: “Some say that in the same sense in which Scripture speaks—‘the Spirit is God,’ so also it is said here—‘the Lord is the Spirit.’ But this is not just. The Apostle does not express that the Lord is the Spirit, but that the Spirit is the Lord. And between this and that construction of the words there is a great difference. About whom did the Apostle speak all that he spoke above, for example, when he said: ‘the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life,’ and again: ‘written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God,’—about the Son or about the Spirit? — Evidently, about the Spirit; for it is to Him that he leads the Jews from the letter. But so that someone, hearing about the Spirit and reasoning to himself that Moses spoke with the Lord, while this one speaks with the Spirit, might not think from this that the Apostle (the New Testament order) is lower than Moses (the Old Testament order), he, preventing such a thought, says: ‘The Lord is the Spirit,’ that is, the Spirit too is the Lord. And so that you may know that he speaks of the Comforter, he adds: ‘where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom;’ so that you cannot then say that his words mean the same as—where the Lord is the Lord.”

The same thing is expressed by Blessed Theodoret: “In the words: ‘The Lord is the Spirit’ the Apostle showed the equality of God and the Spirit; for Moses turned his gaze to God, and we turn it to the Spirit. But he would not have mentioned the Spirit, intending to show the superiority of the new before the old, if he knew that the Holy Spirit is a creature; for if He is a creature, according to the teaching of Arius and Eunomius, and we approach the Spirit, while Moses approached God and the Father, then ours is far lower than that of the old. But if it is not lower, but higher, and far higher, then it follows that the Holy Spirit is not a creature, but equal in power and honor to the Father. But, being shameless, the heretics say that here the Lord is called Spirit, and not the Spirit Himself the Lord. This is full of folly and shamelessness, for the divine Apostle produced a complete comparison of the letter and the Spirit; he says: ‘written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God;’ and again: ‘not of the letter but of the Spirit;’ and then: ‘the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life;’ and again: ‘how will not the ministry of the Spirit come with even more glory?’ Therefore it is evident that the divine Apostle called the Most Holy Spirit the Lord. The following testifies to this; for the Apostle says: ‘where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.’ If he had called the Lord the Spirit, he would have said: “where the Lord is” (Lord is the Lord). But it is not said thus; on the contrary, the Apostle here named the Spirit Himself as the Lord’s Spirit, because through Him is given the Lord’s grace. And so that no one would consider the Spirit as a servant, by necessity he added that the Spirit is the Lord.”

So also holy John of Damascus, and Oecumenius with Theophylact. Let us establish ourselves on this thought. The Apostle has so far brought us to the revelation of what is hidden in the law. When, he says, they turn to the Lord, the veil is removed from the heart and what is hidden is perceived, that is, the whole economy of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here he says how this is accomplished. Those who believe in the Lord receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, which tears through all coverings and all bonds of their spirit and heart. This is directly stated in the words: “‘where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” But the words: “‘The Lord is the Spirit” must also be understood in this light, as it were. In them is concealed the thought: the Lord, to whom one turns by faith, gives the Holy Spirit, as being consubstantial with Him and seated with Him on the throne,—and the Spirit of the Lord already releases all bonds. Or: the Lord is one in essence with the Spirit, consubstantial with Him and inseparable; so that where the Lord is, the Spirit also is, or what the Lord creates, the Spirit also creates, by the co-operation of the persons of the Holy Trinity. Or better we confess that we cannot well construct this speech.

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”—complete, comprehensive freedom. The mind is bound by blindness, a veil lies over its eyes; the Holy Spirit comes, anoints the eyes of the mind with His eye-salve, and it begins to see clearly (Rev. 3:18) God, and itself, and how to remain in living union with Him, and what all that is created is, and how to relate to Him. The heart is bound by attachments to earthly pleasures and comforts; the Holy Spirit comes, releases it (cuts it off), and it begins to seek only what is above and strive only toward what is on high. Our active powers are bound by passions; the Holy Spirit comes, breaks these bonds, implants completely opposite principles for desires, undertakings, and deeds, and the weak man, like a mighty lion, begins to walk new paths of life, breaking all forms of life that previously held him as if in chains. The Spirit of God introduces the spirit of the believer into the spiritual realm, where no statute any longer binds him, no letter any longer constrains him. There he is guided solely by the Spirit of God, as a son and free. All this is accomplished when someone by faith clings to the Lord and receives the grace of the Holy Spirit through the mysteries.

The holy Apostle speaks as if of freedom only in relation to the Old Covenant, that is, “in contrast to the former slavery” (Saint Chrysostom), or the yoke of the law (Oecumenius). But in fact his thought embraces all aspects of freedom; for just before this he only spoke of the veil on the spiritual eyes, which is a bond; and above he spoke of the lifelessness of serving the letter, because of the death that remains even in it from sin and passions. Therefore, we must suppose that, proclaiming freedom through the Spirit, he meant to gladden all with complete freedom, though his thought was chiefly fixed on freedom from the law. Theophylact writes: “Under the Law there was a yoke and slavery; under the law of the Spirit of the Gospel there is freedom; so that those deemed worthy of this freedom freely and unhinderedly gaze upon the glory of the Lord.”

2 Cor. 3:18. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit.

“And we all,”—not the Apostles only, but all believers,—“with unveiled face,”—not of the body, but of the spirit, from which are removed the veils that shadowed it, the bonds that enslaved it, the yoke that weighed it down,—which, having received justification and taken up new life with readiness for all sacrifice, has dared to rise up to the Lord and to look directly upon Him,—“beholding the glory of the Lord,”—either the glory of the Divinity, or the glory of the Lord Saviour, glorious both in the incarnation and in His cross death, and not only in the resurrection and ascension, the glory as the Only-begotten of the Father, who laid the firm foundations of the kingdom of grace, now invisibly glorious, but destined to shine forth with wondrous glory and openly, after the second coming of the Lord and the renewal of all things,—“are being transformed into the same image,”—into the very image which we behold, into the image of the Lord, according to which we have been recreated, in this recreation having received, as it were, a pattern according to which the recreation that has begun must continue to its end,—so that it is nothing other than our transformation, our change from one image to another,—“are being transformed,”—we put off one thing, take on another, and our nature and all the powers of our nature remain the very same and with those same immutable laws naturally belonging to them, but everything receives another direction, another spirit, another image, not according to the image of the old, but according to the image of the new Adam,—“from glory to glory,”—for the pattern according to which we are transformed is boundless; therefore the transformation according to it can have no end, but must continually go further and further, ascending from one degree to another, from glory to glory, in consequence of which the first stage is glorious, and each new degree is glorious, and what lies ahead is even more glorious, so that necessarily the past fades, as being darkened by what is before, and one stretches forward to what is ahead,—“as from the Lord who is the Spirit.” All this is accomplished in us as the Spirit of the Lord wills; this glorious life is born in us by Him, ripens under His influence and movements, and all that is in it is from Him.

“Beholding the glory of the Lord”, — κατοπτριζομενοι,—which means “and clearly seeing,” as in a magnifying glass constructed according to the laws of catoptrics, “and clearly reflecting in oneself,” this glory and beholding it there. This final thought is evident in all our interpreters. Theodoret writes: “This is fitting for those who have acquired a pure heart. For as transparent water imprints upon itself the faces of those who look into it, and the circle of the sun itself, and the vault of the heavens, so a pure heart becomes as it were some sort of imprint and mirror of God’s glory. So too did the Lord say: ‘Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God’ (Matt. 5:8).”

“From glory to glory”,—Oecumenius understands it thus: “Into the same, he says, radiance we are transformed, for the reason that transformation goes from the glory of the Spirit into our glory; that is, we attain such glory as it is fitting for one illumined by the Spirit the Comforter to attain, and for one reflecting the image of His glory upon oneself.” Theophylact adds: “We are transformed from the glory of the Spirit into our glory, and such a glory as it is fitting for those illumined by the Spirit of the Lord, who is subject to no one. Being Lord, He possesses lordly radiance. For all believers are filled with the Holy Spirit through baptism, and their soul shines with light.”

Holy Chrysostom says: “What do the words mean: ‘beholding the glory of the Lord, in the same image we are transformed’? — This was clearer for believers in apostolic times, when the gifts of miracles were at work; nevertheless, whoever has the eyes of faith can even now understand it readily. As soon as we are baptized, our soul, cleansed by the Spirit, becomes brighter than the sun; and we become not only capable of beholding God’s glory, but we ourselves also receive from it a certain radiance. As pure silver, lying in the face of the sun’s rays, itself emits rays, not only from its own nature, but also from the brilliance of the sun, so too the soul, cleansed by the Spirit of God and made more resplendent than silver, both receives the ray from the glory of the Spirit and reflects from itself the ray of that same glory. Therefore the Apostle says: ‘beholding the glory of the Lord, in the same image we are transformed from the glory’ of the Spirit ‘into our’ glory, to which we are deemed worthy,—into such glory as is fitting ‘from the Lord’s Spirit.’ As bodies that have the capacity to receive and reflect light, illumined by self-luminous bodies and themselves reflected in them, scatter light upon other bodies nearest to them; the same befalls the faithful. And when they attain this, they abandon all earthly things and live by the heavenly alone. But what of us? — It remains for us only to groan, for, deemed worthy of so many benefits of God, we do not even understand what is being said to us about them. And this is because we quickly destroy all that is spiritual within us and attach ourselves to the sensual alone. This ineffable and fearful glory remains in us no more than one or two days, and then we extinguish it again, tossed about by the cares of life and obscuring its radiance with the thick clouds of passionate turbulence. For the cares of life are storms, and more violent than storms themselves.”

Having been chosen to proclaim the word of the gospel, says the Apostle, we direct all our effort to ensuring that nothing impure be mixed into it, but to present it to the conscience of each person in its purity. Once received by the conscience, it itself already produces its work; it awakens repentance and leads to the Lord, in whose name the forgiveness of sins is given. Thus goes the conversion of the Gentiles. The Jews are converted through the Law and the Prophets, if their minds are not darkened by superstition; but the Gentiles are converted by the action of conscience and fear of God, which lie in the human spirit, if these ordinances of God are not suppressed by the action of the god of this age. — Behold the mystery of the action of our gospel, which the Lord has now deigned to cause to shine forth in the darkness of this age, as He originally commanded light to shine out of darkness.

2 Cor. 4:1. Therefore, having this ministry, as we have been shown mercy, we do not lose heart.

Therefore: on account of such glorious fruit in believers, produced by our gospel, we, “having this ministry”, that is, the ministry of the gospel entrusted to us by God’s mercy and kindness, “do not lose heart”, do not despair, are not burdened by the difficulty of the work, do not stop before obstacles, do all that depends on us with eagerness, for the reason that such good flows from it for you and all believers.

The Apostle’s purpose is to keep attention fixed on the heavenly origin of the gospel, so as to have grounds at the end to say that if such light of knowledge now spreads abroad, it is because God caused it to shine, who originally commanded material light to shine. “To this end he employs such a turn of speech as shows that everything depends not on his own perfections, but on God’s kindness; hence he says: ‘having this ministry’, that is, we have brought nothing of our own, we are only servants of God and executors of His given instructions. Therefore he calls his apostolic work not sovereignty or leadership, but only ministry. Yet not content even with this, he says further: ‘as we have been shown mercy’, that is, and the very fact that we are appointed ministers (of the gospel), and this depends only on God’s mercy and kindness. ‘We do not lose heart’, that is, and the fact that we do not despair, this too is to be attributed to God’s kindness. For the words ‘as we have been shown mercy’ must be understood to apply both to the ministry and to these words: ‘we do not lose heart.’ He means by this that whoever has been deemed worthy of such great and manifold blessings, and has been deemed worthy of them only by God’s mercy and kindness, accomplishes nothing great, no matter how much he labors, what dangers he undergoes, or what trials he endures. Therefore we not only do not lose heart, he says, but we even rejoice and act boldly.” (Holy Chrysostom)

2 Cor. 4:2. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor deceit in God’s word, but manifesting the truth by commending ourselves to every “conscience of man before God.”

This is the chief point in this section. We care only, he says, for this: to present pure truth to the conscience of each person, pure as before God, and it will do its own work, so long as it is received. To preserve the truth of the gospel in purity, we avoid all that is evil in our intentions, in the manner of our actions, and in the very presentation of truth.

“But we have renounced the hidden things of shame.” We have renounced all shameful things not only outwardly, but in the very secrets of the heart we have rejected all shameful things,—all shameful things of whatever kind. Neither honor nor glory, neither gain nor any desire to seek only what is pleasant to ourselves, do we have in view. Only love for truth, only obedience to God’s will guides us. False teachers appear holy outwardly, yet keep passions untouched inwardly, to which each is enslaved. We are altogether not such, but guard our heart pure from every sin and every defilement, knowing that in an impure soul truth will not be retained. Holy Chrysostom says: “False apostles were celebrated as lovers of poverty, yet they received gifts, only secretly; they were considered holy, yet in fact had many vices. We, he says, have renounced all this, that is, what he calls ‘the hidden things of shame.’” Oecumenius continues: “We have renounced even doing secretly what brings shame in public. He alludes to the false apostles, who appeared in the form of godliness while being evil in secret. But we, he says, do not allow anything shameful even in secret. Thus, ‘we do not lose heart’ in afflictions, as you yourselves see; but not only outwardly, but also inwardly we do not allow any thought capable of bringing us shame in this regard; neither cowardice, nor hesitation, nor complaint, nor ingratitude, nor any other thought we do not allow in secret that might disgrace our: ‘we do not lose heart.’” Thus by the words “we have renounced the hidden things of shame,” the Apostle has said: we have a pure and blameless heart, free from all that is shameful, on the contrary full of truly holy moral and religious feelings.

“Not walking in craftiness,” — μη εν πανουργια. We do not act in such a way that one thing is spoken and done while another lies in our mind; we do not ensnare anyone with words, nor do we entice with apparently good schemes, behind which lies an ambush; we act openly, and what our words and deeds display, that they truly are. There is nothing crafty in the manner of our action. Holy Chrysostom says: “We do not, he says, proclaim so that we promise much in words while showing something different in deed, as false apostles do, but we are the same in deed as we present ourselves in words; we have nothing equivocal about us. We truly are what we appear to be, and have nothing hidden and crafty, whether in our life or in our very proclamation. We do not do as others do, cloaking our deeds to deceive and entice.” The Apostle denies employing all cunning devices to attract disciples, and at the same time all measures of prudence that their own wisdom could have devised. We do not contrive, but act as the Spirit of God directs, always openly and in simplicity of heart, expecting fruit not from our skill in acting, but from God’s blessing and all-working.

“Nor handling the word of God deceitfully,” — μη δολουντες. This is similar to what was said above: “not” corrupting “the word” (2 Cor. 2:17). We deliver the word as it is: when it is strict, we do not allow ourselves to soften it arbitrarily, out of people-pleasing; if something in it is unacceptable to human wisdom, we do not conceal it and do not diminish it in the hope of reconciling it with that wisdom; whether it is simple or extremely exalted, we never mix our own reasoning into it, so as to raise something that appears lowly or lower something that appears unattainably high. We do not even allow ourselves these apparently harmless devices, fearing to beguile God’s word; and as to adding any lie to the word of truth, and moreover consciously, that never even occurs to us. And we do not surround the word of our gospel with false hopes, we do not say: only believe, and happiness will flow to you in rivers; but we openly declare that believers await tribulation, attacks, and every kind of deprivation. And in general we add nothing to the word of the gospel, but present it as it is, in its natural nakedness and purity. Theophylact writes: “Not only, he says, is our life simple, pure, guileless, but our word too is not deceptive. For we add nothing to it from external wisdom, we do not surround it with flattering speech, we do not adapt it to times and persons, and thus we do not teach one way now and another way tomorrow.”

“But by the manifestation of truth presenting ourselves to” every “conscience of men in the sight of God.”

“This is similar to what was said above about letters of recommendation (2 Cor. 3:1). Not with letters of recommendation, he says, do we appear among people in various places, but with truth alone. It alone presents us everywhere and commends us. In what manner? — By its manifestation alone. We present it in all purity, as it is, and it itself assures those who hear that we are not deceivers and that the word of our gospel is inviolable truth. And how does this come to pass? — Through conscience. There is in the soul of each person an advocate for the truth of the gospel—the spirit with its inherent fear of God and conscience. These spiritual elements are of one kind with the word of the gospel and are at once recognized by it, so long as they are not suppressed by the spirit of this age. The gospel says that we are unanswerably sinful before God, and the conscience acknowledges it; the gospel assures us that every sinner awaits impartial judgment and condemnation, and the fear of God confirms this truth. If the gospel stopped there, it would plunge all into despair, attracting no one to itself, but it goes further and to the conscience distressed and afraid of judgment it offers a hopeful outcome, saying: The Son of God came to earth, was incarnate, suffered on the cross, and tore asunder the handwriting against us; believe in Him, and you shall obtain forgiveness of sins and the grace of the Holy Spirit for a new sinless life, which, having kept pure until the end, when you depart hence you shall be received by heaven for eternal indescribable blessedness. What spirit not suppressed could resist the power of this gospel?! This is why the gospel found acceptance everywhere, for everywhere there were people in whom the fear of God and conscience, natural elements of our spirit, were alive. They at once received the gospel as something akin, which had always been longed for but not found, and now appears as such a joyful guest from heaven. Those who received the word of the gospel were sanctified through the mysteries, reborn to new life, received the gift of grace, and from that moment had testimony within themselves not for themselves alone but for all who surrounded them. This affected the suppressed spirit of these latter, awakened it, and led them to faith. Made new, they in their turn by their very presence aroused others and drew them to faith. Thus in a short time all those disposed to faith were added to it and formed a small or large community of servants faithful to the Lord. Holy Paul experienced this in every place, and in the words cited he speaks precisely of this, that they everywhere presented themselves only to men’s consciences by the manifestation of pure truth, pure as before God, and it converted them to faith; and it remained only for them to guide those being added to faith. Photius says in Oecumenius: “False apostles presented themselves not by manifestation of truth, but by a counterfeit likeness of truth, and not before God, but only to gratify those whom they beguiled.” Of course, and those beguiled by them were beguiled because they had already been possessed by the flattering spirit.”