Today Our Daily Bread 2 Cor 3

2 Corinthians 3
1 Are we beginning again to tell you how good we are? Some people need to bring letters of recommendation with them or ask you to write letters of recommendation for them. 2 But the only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves! Your lives are a letter written in our[a] hearts, and everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. 3 Clearly, you are a letter from Christ prepared by us. It is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on stone, but on human hearts.
4 We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. 5 It is not that we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our only power and success come from God. 6 He is the one who has enabled us to represent his new covenant. This is a covenant, not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old way ends in death; in the new way, the Holy Spirit gives life.
The Glory of the New Covenant
7 That old system of law etched in stone led to death, yet it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses' face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. 8 Shouldn't we expect far greater glory when the Holy Spirit is giving life? 9 If the old covenant, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new covenant, which makes us right with God! 10 In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new covenant. 11 So if the old covenant, which has been set aside, was full of glory, then the new covenant, which remains forever, has far greater glory.
12 Since this new covenant gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory fading away. 14 But the people's minds were hardened, and even to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, a veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. 15 Yes, even today when they read Moses' writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, then the veil is taken away. 17 Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, he gives freedom. 18 And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect[b] the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.
Footnotes:
2 Corinthians 3:2 Some manuscripts read your.
2 Corinthians 3:18 Or so that we can see in a mirror.
~ Lena’s Comments~
This is what is meant when, other places in scripture, it calls us living stones. It calls us lively stones, a temple of God made without hands. This IS the difference between religion and Christianity. Religion puts on the face, plays out the part and tries to play it well. There’s one big problem about that. In our humanness we can only be perfected in Christ, and cannot put on any act or even try to live perfectly without dependence upon Him and His spirit alive in our hearts and active in our lives. If He is active in us, living out this perfection in us each and everyday, where we practice all we learn on Sunday’s and Wednesdays and what we read everyday, then that is when we have conquered over religion by entering into a lifestyle of relationship. This is where God lives in and dwells inside of my body, given to me to serve and love Him and those who are His, here on earth. Our representation of the new covenant is actually based upon our dependence on His Spirit alive in us. Allowing the work of His spirit is allowing the manifestation of God life in human form. This is how we prove Him here. This is how our children, natural and spiritual, prove Him here. Fruit is not evidenced by religious activity and how perfectly I keep all of the commandments and laws. Fruit is evidenced in my love and obedience and my continued covenant walk with God. See in the law I try and try and try again to become perfected by what I do, in Christ, I love Him because he first loved me. I believe His love for me leads me along the way towards change, it motivates me and calls for my response to the change. Not that the change is required, but received, because it is best for the abundance of life, alive in me. The motivation is love drawing me out of the dangerous place I’ve been in where I’ve been lead by and influenced by and have even had intimacy with death. The love of God of draws me to life abundantly, where there is no death or dying. Moses’ writings are what we call "The laws of God." So even reading these laws when we do not know Christ is useless. It is ONLY through the acceptance and deliverance of His blood that we can ever become perfected- daily. One reason we have not reflected God to Himself is we have not be-lived His Son, we were living for ourselves, by ourselves and so we had a veil and he cannot be reflected through a veil, BUT when we be-live in Him, the veil is stripped away and God’s reflection is seen by us and in us!