1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need (as some do) epistles of commendation to you, or from you?
2 You are our epistle, written in our hearts, which is known and read by all men:
3 Being manifested, that you are the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, and written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart.
4 And such confidence we have, through Christ, towards God.
5 Not that we are sufficient to think any thing of ourselves, as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is from God.
6 Who also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament, not in the letter, but in the spirit. For the letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth.
7 Now if the ministration of death, engraven with letters upon stones, was glorious; so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, which is made void:
8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather in glory?
9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more the ministration of justice aboundeth in glory.
10 For even that which was glorious in this part was not glorified, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is in glory.
12 Having therefore such hope, we use much confidence:
13 And not as Moses put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel might not steadfastly look on the face of that which is made void.
14 But their senses were made dull. For, until this present day, the selfsame veil, in the reading of the old testament, remaineth not taken away (because in Christ it is made void).
15 But even until this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart.
16 But when they shall be converted to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.
17 Now the Lord is a Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 But we all beholding the glory of the Lord with open face, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Versículos relacionados com 2 Corinthians, 3:
In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul talks about the superiority of the New Testament ministry in relation to the Old Testament ministry, emphasizing the superiority of the message of the Gospel of Christ over the law of Moses. He also highlights the transformative nature of the message of Christ, which brings freedom and life in contrast to the "law of death" that the law of Moses represented.
Romans 7:6 - "But now, because we die for what we were subject to, we were freed from the law, to serve in novelty of spirit, not the old age of the letter." This verse speaks of the liberation of the law of Moses that the Gospel brings, in contrast to the legalism that characterized Judaism.
Galatians 3:24-25 - "so that the law served us as aio, to lead us to Christ, that by faith we were justified. But after faith came, we are no longer under Aio." Paul uses this metaphor of the "law as aio" to explain how the law of Moses has led people to Christ, but now, with faith in Christ, the law is no longer necessary.
1 Peter 1:23 - "Being again generated, not of corruptible seed, but the incorruptible, by the Word of God, living and remains forever." Peter highlights the transformative nature of the Word of God, which brings life and renewal.
2 Corinthians 5:17 - "As soon as one is in Christ, a new creature is: Old things have passed; behold, everything has been new." Paul emphasizes the radical transformation that occurs in someone's life when he is reconciled with God through Christ.
Hebrews 8:13 - "Saying New Testament, aged the first one. Well, what was made old, and gets older, close to it." This verse emphasizes the superiority of the new pact in Christ in relation to the Old Testament, which was becoming obsolete.
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