_LEST THEIR FALSE TEACHERS SHOULD CHARGE HIM WITH VAIN GLORY, HE SHEWETH THE FAITH AND GRACES OF THE CORINTHIANS TO BE A SUFFICIENT COMMENDATION OF HIS MINISTRY. WHEREUPON, ENTERING ON A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE MINISTERS OF THE LAW AND OF THE GOSPEL, HE PROVETH THAT HIS MINISTRY IS SO FAR THE MORE EX... [ Continue Reading ]
DO WE BEGIN AGAIN TO COMMEND OURSELVES?— This is a plain indication that St. Paul had been blamed among them for commending himself; as the next clause seems to intimate that their false apostle had got himself recommended to them by letters, and so had introduced himself into that church.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE ARE OUR EPISTLE, &C.— "I may well say, that you are yourselves our epistle, the best recommendation from God himself; his testimonial, as it were, written upon _your hearts,_ in the glorious change by our means produced there: and the effects of it are so apparent in your lives, that I may say ye... [ Continue Reading ]
FORASMUCH AS YE ARE MANIFESTLY DECLARED— The sense of St. Paul here is plainly this: that he needed no letters of commendation to them; but that their conversion, and the gospel written, not with ink, but with the Spirit of God in the tables of their hearts, by his ministry, and not in tables of sto... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SUCH TRUST HAVE WE, &C.— As if he had said, "But mistake me not, as if I boasted of myself. This so great boasting which I use is only my confidence in God, through Christ; for it was God who made me a minister of the gospel, who borrowed on me the ability for it; and whatever I perform in it is... [ Continue Reading ]
NOT OF THE LETTER, &C.— By expressing himself as he does here, St. Paul may be understood to intimate, that the _New Testament,_ or _Covenant,_ was also, though obscurely, held forth in the law; for he says he was constituted a _minister of the Spirit,_ or spiritual meaning of the law, which was Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH GLORY WAS TO BE DONE AWAY:— Καταργουμενην, _done away,_ is applied here to the shining of Moses's face, and to the law, 2 Corinthians 3:11; 2 Corinthians 3:13. In all which places it is used in the present tense, and has the signification of an adjective, standing for _temporary,_—or of a dura... [ Continue Reading ]
MINISTRATION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS— Or, of _justification._ So the ministry of the gospel is called, because by the gospel a way is provided for the justification of those who have transgressed. But the law has nothing but rigid _condemnation_ for all transgressors, and therefore is called here the _mini... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR EVEN THAT WHICH WAS MADE GLORIOUS— Though the shewing that the ministration of the gospel is more glorious than that of the law, be what St. Paul is treating of here, thereby to justify himself, if he has assumed some authority and commendation to himself in his ministry and apostleship; yet, in... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THAT WHICH IS DONE AWAY— St. Paul here mentions another pre-eminence and superiority of glory in the gospel over the law; namely, that the law was to cease and be abolished, but the gospel to remain, and never to be abolished.... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT WE HAVE SUCH HOPE,— That St. Paul, by these words, means the honourable employment of an apostle and minister of the gospel, or the _glory_ belongingto his ministryin the gospel, is evident from the whole foregoing comparison which he has made between the _ministry_ of the law and of the gospel... [ Continue Reading ]
COULD NOT STEADFASTLY LOOK, &C.— St. Paul is here justifying in himself, and to other ministers of the gospel, the plainness and openness of their preaching, which he had asserted in the preceding verse. These words therefore here must, of necessity, be understood, not of Moses, but of the ministers... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTAKEN AWAY—WHICH VAIL IS DONE AWAY IN CHRIST.— _Not discovered that in Christ it is done away._ Castalio. _Not uncovered, because in Christ_ [_only_] _it is done away._ Piscator, Bengelius, and Heylin.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN MOSES IS READ,— St. Paul possibly alludes here to the custom of the Jews, which continues still in the synagogue, that, when the law is read, they put a veil over their faces.... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THE LORD IS THAT SPIRIT:— _Now where the Lord is, the Spirit is._ Le Clerc. _Now the Spirit is the Lord; and where that Spirit is, there is the liberty of the Lord._ Wells. These words, according to Mr. Locke, relate to 2 Corinthians 3:6 where St. Paul says, he is a minister, not of the law, nor... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WE ALL, WITH OPEN FACE— St. Paul justifies his freedom and plainness of speech, by his being made by God himself a minister of the Gospel, which is a more glorious ministry than that of Moses in promulgatingthe law. This he does from 2 Corinthians 3:6 to 2 Corinthians 3:12 inclusively: thence to... [ Continue Reading ]