2 Corinthians 3:6 - Meaning and Application

Here the apostle compares the Old Testament with the New, the law of Moses with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He values himself and his fellow workers by this, that God had made them able ministers of the New Testament, or new covenant, in (2 Corinthians 3:6). He says this in answer to the false teachers, who made much of the law of Moses.

He first draws a line between the letter and the Spirit, even within the New Testament (2 Corinthians 3:6). As able ministers of the New Testament, they were not ministers of the letter only, meaning they did more than read the written word or preach the outward form of the gospel. They were also ministers of the Spirit, and the Spirit of God went with their work. The letter kills. This is true of the letter of the law, because it is a ministry of death. If we rest only in the letter of the gospel, we gain nothing from it either, for even that can become a message that leads to death. But the Spirit of the gospel, working with the ministry of the gospel, gives spiritual life and eternal life.

He then shows the difference between the Old Testament and the New, and the great worth of the gospel above the law. The Old Testament way was a ministry of death (2 Corinthians 3:7), while the New Testament is a ministry of life. The law exposed sin, and it revealed the wrath and curse of God. It showed us a God above us and against us. But the gospel reveals grace, and Emmanuel, which means "God with us." For that reason, the gospel is more glorious than the law, even though the law had real glory in it. We see that glory in Moses's shining face when he came down from the mountain with the tablets in his hands, a sign that reflected brightness on his face.

The law was also a ministry of condemnation, because it condemned and cursed everyone who did not keep all the things written in it. But the gospel is a ministry of righteousness, meaning it reveals God’s right way of making sinners right with him by faith. It shows that the righteous person will live by faith. It opens up God’s grace and mercy through Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. So the gospel surpasses the law in glory so much that it, in a sense, hides the glory of the legal covenant, or covenant based on law (2 Corinthians 3:10). When the sun rises in full strength, the light of a lamp is no longer noticed. In the same way, the Old Testament glory is not much regarded when compared with the greater glory of the New.

Finally, he says the law is done away with, but the gospel remains and will remain (2 Corinthians 3:11). Not only did the glory on Moses's face pass away, but the glory of Moses's law also passed away. Indeed, the law of Moses itself is now abolished. That covenant was only meant to last for a time, and then vanish. But the gospel will remain to the end of the world. It is always fresh, always flourishing, and always glorious.