There is a brother on this forum who makes a false claim about this chapter in the Bible. One of the main issues of his claim is that the ten commandments are no longer binding on us and he uses parts of this chapter to support this. His statements include phraseology that says that you can't break the Sabbath by working on it because the Sabbath was fulfilled by Christ. I am going to assume this applies to the rest of the commandments as well. For instance you can't commit adultery by occasionally sleeping with another woman because that was fulfilled by Christ on the cross. You can't steel because that was fulfilled by Christ on the cross. You can't lie etc, etc. Yet, this brother claims he confesses his sins nightly. I am confused by his responses but they echo some that were made on another forum by some ex-adventists.
I think the teaching of the Grace of Christ and righteousness by faith is essential for the spreading of the gospel, however, it appears there has spread among our denomination a perverted form of just what this all means. Since reddogs has a thread going on this new grace movement I won't address that specifically other than to say that this new movement smacks of once saved always saved and it appears to lead directly back into sin , the very thing grace is supposed to keep us from.
In this thread I want to look at and do some in depth study of 2 Cor 3 and see what it really says. I will use the KJV , the NKJV and the amplified version of the Bible as well as the SDA Bible commentary on this.
First off the context of this chapter shows us that Paul is telling us that a true Christian is like an epistle ( letter ) that would be known and read of "all" men. This letter would be written by the Spirit of God on our hearts and not on tables of stone. This is similar to a text we find in Heb 8:10 that tells us that a new covenant would be made with the house of Israel, that new covenant would be putting God's laws on the hearts of His people.
One may ask a question right here. Does this narrative in any way tell us that God's laws are done away with? Absolutely not, what it does say is that God's laws are now an intimate part of our very being and a part of our very nature.
Let's go on with our study. The next few verses 4-6 tells us that of ourselves we cannot be sufficient to be good Christians. This is accomplished only thru Christ.
Then it talks about good Christians being able ministers of the new testament ( new covenant ) not of the letter, but of the spirit, for the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life. Here we see the contrast between the new covenant and the old covenant. The Jews had made the torah and the ceremonial laws a means of salvation for them. Keeping the letter of the law had become as the SDA commentary says idolatrous to them.
Now in verses 7-16 we come to the part where some on this forum say the Bible tells us that the ten commandment law is done away with. I want to quote the KJV traslation here:
2 Cor 3: 7-16: all bolding is mine and will be the parts that will be commented on after the quote is completed on each section.
Here we see the apostle telling us that the ministration of death the old Jewish system of the ceremonial law which included the ten commandments had become perverted and lifeless. Practicing the letter of the law instead of the spirit of it. The bolded part where this verse speaks of glory shining in Moses face is based on Mose's experience in Ex 34:29-35. This glory was the reflection of the glory of God as was the ceremonial system a reflection of the coming glory of christ. This glory was to be taken away when type met antitype in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This does NOT SAY anything about the ten commandment law being done away with but the glory of the countenance of Moses' face.
Here we see clearly Paul contrasting the two covenants. One is the ministration of condemnation the other the ministration of righteousness. The law can only condemn and could never save, but Christ can bring us righteousness and eternal life. However, the law still remains in effect. The law remember is written on our hearts.
The SDA commentary says on these verses, "Paul see the fading of the glory from Moses' face as an illustration of the passing of the Mosaic system, the passing of the ministration of death."
The SDA commentary says that these verses tell us that just as the children of Israel could not look upon the face of Mose because of a vail placed on it, that they are to his day still blind to the truth of the ceremonial law being done away with. There was no new testament written at this time so the phrase saying that the old testament was done away with was most likely the pentatuach or the parts of the old testament that specifically deals with the ceremonial laws.
Here we see that Paul is telling us that when we turn to Christ we can see what is truth and right. Just as Moses removed the vail when He went in before Jehovah so the Christian can loose his spiritual blindness when he comes to Christ and accepts His grace which allows God's laws to be written on the heart not on stone.
In conclusion:
The claims made that these passages say the law that is the ten commandments is done away with is false. A close study reveals quite the opposite. What we find is that the "laws of God" are written on our hearts and that the laws written on stone could never save us, that was done by Christ. However, the law of God is as eternal as it's author. Additionally, we find here the truth that the ceremonial law which was glorious in it's time like the glory in the face of Moses had to fade away when Christ came.
God Bless
Jim Larmore
I think the teaching of the Grace of Christ and righteousness by faith is essential for the spreading of the gospel, however, it appears there has spread among our denomination a perverted form of just what this all means. Since reddogs has a thread going on this new grace movement I won't address that specifically other than to say that this new movement smacks of once saved always saved and it appears to lead directly back into sin , the very thing grace is supposed to keep us from.
In this thread I want to look at and do some in depth study of 2 Cor 3 and see what it really says. I will use the KJV , the NKJV and the amplified version of the Bible as well as the SDA Bible commentary on this.
First off the context of this chapter shows us that Paul is telling us that a true Christian is like an epistle ( letter ) that would be known and read of "all" men. This letter would be written by the Spirit of God on our hearts and not on tables of stone. This is similar to a text we find in Heb 8:10 that tells us that a new covenant would be made with the house of Israel, that new covenant would be putting God's laws on the hearts of His people.
One may ask a question right here. Does this narrative in any way tell us that God's laws are done away with? Absolutely not, what it does say is that God's laws are now an intimate part of our very being and a part of our very nature.
Let's go on with our study. The next few verses 4-6 tells us that of ourselves we cannot be sufficient to be good Christians. This is accomplished only thru Christ.
Then it talks about good Christians being able ministers of the new testament ( new covenant ) not of the letter, but of the spirit, for the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life. Here we see the contrast between the new covenant and the old covenant. The Jews had made the torah and the ceremonial laws a means of salvation for them. Keeping the letter of the law had become as the SDA commentary says idolatrous to them.
Now in verses 7-16 we come to the part where some on this forum say the Bible tells us that the ten commandment law is done away with. I want to quote the KJV traslation here:
2 Cor 3: 7-16: all bolding is mine and will be the parts that will be commented on after the quote is completed on each section.
Here we see the apostle telling us that the ministration of death the old Jewish system of the ceremonial law which included the ten commandments had become perverted and lifeless. Practicing the letter of the law instead of the spirit of it. The bolded part where this verse speaks of glory shining in Moses face is based on Mose's experience in Ex 34:29-35. This glory was the reflection of the glory of God as was the ceremonial system a reflection of the coming glory of christ. This glory was to be taken away when type met antitype in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This does NOT SAY anything about the ten commandment law being done away with but the glory of the countenance of Moses' face.
Here we see clearly Paul contrasting the two covenants. One is the ministration of condemnation the other the ministration of righteousness. The law can only condemn and could never save, but Christ can bring us righteousness and eternal life. However, the law still remains in effect. The law remember is written on our hearts.
The SDA commentary says on these verses, "Paul see the fading of the glory from Moses' face as an illustration of the passing of the Mosaic system, the passing of the ministration of death."
The SDA commentary says that these verses tell us that just as the children of Israel could not look upon the face of Mose because of a vail placed on it, that they are to his day still blind to the truth of the ceremonial law being done away with. There was no new testament written at this time so the phrase saying that the old testament was done away with was most likely the pentatuach or the parts of the old testament that specifically deals with the ceremonial laws.
Here we see that Paul is telling us that when we turn to Christ we can see what is truth and right. Just as Moses removed the vail when He went in before Jehovah so the Christian can loose his spiritual blindness when he comes to Christ and accepts His grace which allows God's laws to be written on the heart not on stone.
In conclusion:
The claims made that these passages say the law that is the ten commandments is done away with is false. A close study reveals quite the opposite. What we find is that the "laws of God" are written on our hearts and that the laws written on stone could never save us, that was done by Christ. However, the law of God is as eternal as it's author. Additionally, we find here the truth that the ceremonial law which was glorious in it's time like the glory in the face of Moses had to fade away when Christ came.
God Bless
Jim Larmore