2 Corinthians 3

You May Now Kiss The Bride {2 Corinthians 3}

2:18 PM




Monday April 27, “Walking In Wisdom”

With the quarantine I’ve been able to spend some time doing one of my favorite things, watching old movies. The other night I was enjoying a romance film that had the most wonderful wedding scene. The bride wore a beautiful antique wedding dress with a delicate lace veil that covered her face. The groom was filled with love and joy as he watched his soon to be wife walk down the aisle. After a quick ceremony and the exchange of vows, the minister finally said, “You may now kiss your bride.” As the groom lifted her veil he exclaimed, “You’ve never looked more beautiful!” And indeed her face was beaming with happiness and anticipation as she transformed from bride to wife.

All of us were created, as the church, to become the bride of Christ. Yet sadly some reject this calling, and Jesus. Instead of wearing a bridal veil to be lifted by the Lord revealing a face which is a shining reflection of His glory, some choose to wear a widow’s veil barring all light from getting in. Instead of becoming transformed into Christ’s perfect image, they hide their faces in darkness and harden their minds against Him. Just like in the time of Moses. After spending 40 days and nights on Mt. Sinai receiving God’s Law for a second time, as Moses came down the mountain the skin of his face was transformed from the glory of God. When the Israelites saw how his face shone, they were filled with fear and dared not come near him. So after he had finished speaking with them, Moses wore a veil to hide the shine of God’s glory. (Ex. 34:29-35)

Like Moses, the  apostle Paul too received a great transformation. As told in the book of Acts, he was once known as Saul, one the greatest persecutors of Christians. But because of an encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus, Saul was transformed into Paul, one the greatest evangelists in history. We too can receive a great transformation.  A transformation possible because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus comes into our hearts by faith, through the Spirit, “the veil is taken away”, (vs 16) and the transformation begins. For unlike the veiled faces of those who cling to the Law, choosing instead to live in darkness, Christians not only see the glory of God but become, “transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (vs. 18)

What does it mean to be transformed from glory to glory? Our God is so loving that He never wants to leave us as He found us. And so the moment we confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit, if we let Him, gets to work taking our sinfulness, wickedness, and brokenness, and through God’s saving grace, transforms us from a Saul to a Paul. Not to say that our transformation will come easy. For the Christian walk is a lifelong journey of growth and change. There will be times when our walk will be hard, frustrating, and painful. And days where it’s two steps forward and three steps back. But if we keep seeking God, allow the Holy Spirit to work both in and through us, change will come. And on that glorious wedding day when Christ comes for His bride, as He lifts our veil in love, the transformation will become complete. We will be perfect reflections of His image as we dwell with the Lord forever! 



2 Corinthians

Going From Glory To Glory {2 Corinthians 3:5-18}

4:44 PM





Monday Nov. 25


One of my heroes in the Bible has always been Paul. He is the perfect example of how no one is beyond God’s reach. Previously known as Saul of Tarsus, he was a respected and highly educated Pharisee (Acts 22:3,23:6) who not believing Jesus to be God, saw Christians as blasphemers; deserving of persecution and death. So it should come as no surprise when we learn in Acts 9:1-2 that Saul asked for letters from the high priest that he could present to the synagogues in Damascus, allowing him to take all followers of Jesus as prisoners. (Acts 9:1-2). Once he got those letters, Saul set out to round up believers and dole out his punishment. It was while he was on the road to Damascus, that God got a hold of Saul and “used temporary blindness and humiliation to transform the zealous Pharisee named Saul into the powerful Apostle and missionary named Paul who spread the gospel and planted churches across the Roman world.” (Dr. Charles Stanley) (Acts 9:1-20)

Now here in 2 Corinthians we find the transformed Paul who, after establishing the church in Corinth, is having his credentials questioned by some false teachers in the church. They’re looking for his letter of commendation. Letters of commendation were usually sent with traveling Christians in the early church to weed out false teachers or those claiming to be apostles. Paul lets these doubters know that his letter is the church itself with Jesus as its author. The proof could be seen through the transformation of both Paul, and the members of the church themselves. A transformation possible because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. So now, unlike the veiled faces of those who reject Jesus as their Savior and continue to live in darkness, for those who turn to Jesus, “the veil is taken away” (vs. 16). This allows Christians to not only see the glory of God, but to become, “transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (vs. 18)

But what does it mean to be transformed from glory to glory? “Glory to glory is not moving from one state of euphoria to another. It is not going from one state of being lost in the spirit to the other. To go from glory to glory, to be ever-increasing in glory, is to continually be changed into what you were created to be. It is to be conformed to His likeness. It is increasing in the character and nature of God.” (Pastor Harold Martin) Our God is so loving that He never wants to leave us as He found us. And so He gives us of the gift of the Holy Spirit who, if we let Him, will take our sinfulness, wickedness, brokenness, and hardheartedness, and through God’s saving grace, transform us from a Saul to a Paul. 

This isn’t to say that our transformation will come easy. For the Christian walk rather than a weekend getaway, is a lifelong journey of growth and change. There will be times when that change will be hard, frustrating, and painful. And there will be days when it may be two steps forward and three steps back. But if we keep seeking God, allow the Holy Spirit to work both in and through us, change will come. We are all God’s glorious works in progress, and one day when we dwell with Him forever, we will be perfect reflections of His image and glory. Until then keep trusting God, keep moving forward, and remember this quote by Joyce Meyer which says, “I may not be where I want to be, but thank God I’m not where I used to be!” 



2 Corinthians 3

Unveiling Glory {2 Corinthians 3}

12:30 AM

2 Corinthians 3 has had me stirred up for a while.  I can’t seem to get this song out of my head:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuNwOSDGvuo

Are you desperate for the Holy Spirit?  Are you desperate for the Glory of God? 

Recently, I was reminded of Exodus 33:12-19 where Moses felt like he could not lead the Israelites without knowing how it was all going to work out.  God would not give Moses the picture he wanted, God instead told Moses that His presence would go with them.  And Moses wanted to see God’s glory.  He was desperate for God’s glory.  He had already brought the Law, written on stone down the mountain to this stiff-necked people and the tablets were broken, now Moses had to go back up the mountain and write the Law again.  (Exodus 34)  This second time Moses’ face shone – he reflected God’s glory.  (v. 34:29-35).

Image result for 2 corinthians 3:18


2 Corinthians 3:3 says, “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”  The old covenant was written on stone; the new covenant is written on our hearts.  

Paul uses powerful imagery from famous Old Testament passages predicting the promised day of new hearts and new beginnings for God’s people.  Take a look at Jeremiah 31:33. 

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time”, declares the Lord.  I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.  I will be their God and they will be my people.

And Ezekiel 11:19

“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”

And Ezekiel 36:26

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”


The Law, written on tablets, relies on external regulations.  The New Testament teaches the law was good.  The only problem was, people were not able to keep the law.  Before the law had even made it down the mountain, they were already breaking all the laws.  Even when God gave the law a second time, they were still breaking the law. That’s the history of God’s people throughout the Old Testament – they are breaking the law over and over again.  They can’t live up to these external regulations that are written down. 
This is exactly what Paul is opposing in 2 Corinthians 3 because there were a lot of people in the New Testament who were Jews, who were telling people that they could come to faith in Christ, but they still had to do all the laws in order to be saved.   And Paul was letting them know that was not true.
The law demands that you follow it perfectly, so when you can’t keep the demands of the law, then the law condemns you. The law itself sentences you to death. This is what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 3:7. He says it’s the ministry that brought death. In verse 9, it says it’s the ministry that condemns men. The law pointed out man’s inability to obey it, and as a result, condemned him and sentenced him to death. They couldn’t keep it. That was the point.
So what can you do to please God?  Absolutely nothing!  I think we in the 21 century are still consumed with pleasing God.  We pray a prayer, get involved in a bible study, start going to church, get involved in church activities – we mark off the list of ‘What a Christian must do’, and we fail.  We cannot keep the rules. 
So, are you desperate for the Holy Spirit?  Are you desperate for the Glory of God?   What is it that you need? 
You need a new heart!  And only the Spirit of God can give you a new heart. You can’t manufacture that. It’s an internal transformation. This is what both Jeremiah and Ezekiel says. “I will give you a new heart. I will give you a new spirit.” It’s what Romans 8:8-9 says, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.”  The difference is whether you have the Spirit or not. Has your heart been changed or not?  It does not mean that the picture in Exodus 34 was bad; Paul says this was glorious, but it’s even more glorious because now it’s the Spirit in your heart. 
Do you know why Moses wore the veil?  Paul tells us that the veil kept the people from seeing the radiance fade away.  Moses and his veil illustrate the fading of the old system and the veiling of the people’s minds and understanding by their pride, hardness of heart, and refusal to repent.  The veil kept them from understanding the references to Christ in the Scriptures.  When anyone becomes a Christian, Christ removes the veil (3:16), giving eternal life and freedom from trying to be saved by keeping the laws.  And without the veil, we can be like mirrors reflecting God’s glory!
God called you by name and created you to be a reflection of His glory.  You are a blessing as Jesus is reflected in your life.  You are being transformed into His image with every-increasing glory.  You are created for a purpose – to do good works (Ephesians 2:10).  You are a masterpiece, crowned with glory and honor (Isiah 54:5; Psalm 8:5).  You are to shine with the uniqueness He created you with.  Our reflection is of Christ, not your teacher, or neighbor or preacher.  Christ is in you – reflect Him. (taken from Seek Him.  Meet Him)

When we trust Christ to save us, he removes our heavy burden of trying to please Him and our guilt for failing to do so.  By trusting Christ we are loved, accepted, forgiven and freed to live for Him.  “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”  (v. 17)  You are free to pray, to study the bible, go to church and get involved in church activities.  The Spirit of the Lord moves you to do these things!  Through learning about Christ’s life, we can understand how wonderful God is and what He is really like.  As our knowledge deepens, the Holy Spirit helps us to change.  Becoming Christlike is a progressive experience.  The more closely we follow Christ, the more we will be like Him.

 By Lisa Thayer