2ND CORINTHIANS CHAPTER THREE - from the McDonald Paraphrase

Are we beginning to congratulate ourselves again? Or do we need letters of recommendation to you, or from you? (As some apparently would prefer). You yourselves are our letter, written on the fleshy tablets of our hearts; known and read by all. You are the virtual letter of Christ, the result of our writing, written not with ink, but by the very hand of the Spirit. Our message has been engraved in the spirits and souls of men and women made just by the finished work of the Savior.

The confidence upon which we depend has little or nothing to do with our own personalities or abilities, but rather, on the power of the Holy Spirit. Not that we are inherently competent to fulfill the commission with which He commissioned us, but our competence lies in God. And as competent stewards we are much less interested in the letter of the Law, and much more interested in the power of the Spirit. For while the Law results in spiritual death, the Spirit bestows the gift of everlasting life.

Now, if the covenant which yielded the fruit of everlasting death, and which was written on tablets of stone was accompanied by glory, and the Jews were not able to stare into the face of Moses because of its radiated splendor, momentary though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit prove to be substantially more magnificent?

If the covenant which brought world-wide condemnation was nothing less than glorious, how much more glorious is the covenant which results in righteousness! For what was once so glorious has surrendered its glory to a second and inestimably more magnificent covenant. And if what was momentary was accompanied by glory, how much greater the glory of that which endures forevermore!

Therefore, since we maintain such a hope, we are very bold among you. We are not like Moses, who wore a veil on his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing what was quickly passing away.  However, the minds of those wandering Jews were blinded. And sadly, even now, the sons of Abraham are unable to see through that same proverbial veil when the scriptures are read in their presence.

Among some, the veil to which I allude has not yet been removed because only Christ is capable of removing it. When the Law of Moses is read aloud, this same veil clothes their hearts. However, whenever our Jewish brethren respond to the Gospel message, the veil which clothes their minds and hearts soon vanishes away.

Now, God is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord happens to be, and where ever the new covenant manages to rip away the veil, there is freedom. Thanks be to God. Now we stand with unveiled faces, and mirror that glory which belongs to Him, and Him alone!

We are in the process of being transformed into His image, and exude the glory which He has so graciously lent to us.

Excerpt from The McDonald Paraphrase of the New Testament, Copyright 2018

(I am preparing to submit my New Testament paraphrase to a publisher, and am posting selected chapters to my blog)