Devotional 2 Corinthians 3: The Glory of the New Covenant Reflection on 2 Corinthians 3: why the grace of the Holy Spirit surpasses the law, God's enduring mercy, and the path to eternal life in Christ. Topics: Devotional, New Testament.

Devotional 2 Corinthians 3: The Glory of the New Covenant

Today’s devotional is found in the book of 2 Corinthians, chapter 3, and this was what happened.

Synopsis: In this chapter, Paul writes his second letter to the church of Corinth, explaining how the new covenant through the Spirit is far more glorious than the old covenant through the law.

Observations

These were my observations.

1. The glory of the new covenant through the Holy Spirit. In this passage, Paul takes the opportunity to clarify the contrast between the old covenant established through the law and the new covenant established through the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:7–11). The covenant of the law was given and governed prior to the coming of Christ; however, the covenant of the letter brought with it condemnation and death because it introduced God’s holy commandments, statutes, and legal demands (Exodus 19:5–6 and 24:7–8). In that era, people witnessed God’s attribute of righteous justice in a very direct manner. Yet this does not mean that God did not love humanity in the Old Testament as He does in the New Testament, as some mistakenly claim. Such an idea would imply that God is imperfect and changed, becoming softer in the New Testament. In reality, God is the unchanging standard of everything good and perfect—love, goodness, mercy, patience, faithfulness, and justice (Romans 12:2). God was always merciful, as shown by the many times He forgave the people of Israel when they rebelled against Him (Exodus 34:6–7, Numbers 14:19–20, Judges 10:15–16, and Nehemiah 9:17). Nevertheless, God knew that we could never achieve His standard of perfection on our own. Therefore, He chose to send Jesus Christ to fulfill that standard of perfection on our behalf and then sacrifice Himself to rescue us from condemnation and death resulting from our sins (John 3:17). This is the great distinction between the two covenants: while the old covenant exposed condemnation and death because our sinful nature could not meet its demand for personal perfection, the new covenant brings salvation and life, freely accessible to all who receive Christ as Lord and Savior (John 3:16). This is why Paul declares that the new covenant is infinitely more glorious than the old.