Twin City church of Christ Blog
“June 5, 2024 - The Spirit and Freedom”
Categories: 2024 Reading DevotionalsThe Spirit and Freedom
Reading: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18
Paul insists that Christian hope promises greater glory than Moses alone. This has some other effects: “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end”(2 Cor 3:12-13). Moses veils his face so that the Israelites will not be blinded by the way his skin shines, yet Paul sees a deeper meaning. Moses could not be bold and let them see the full dazzling brilliance of God’s glory. This veiling continues. “For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed”(2 Cor 3:14-16). Paul, himself a Jew, asserts that Jews cannot see the full glory of the Mosaic law until they come to Jesus. By remaining under Moses’ Law, they remain enslaved to condemnation.
Christians are not so. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”(2 Cor 3:17). Following Jesus means following the Spirit, not the Law (see v. 6). This means that there is “freedom” from basing our hope on our own perfect law-keeping and the resulting condemnation. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another”(2 Cor 3:18). Now we see clearly (no veils), beholding Jesus’ glory, and are remade into someone more like him. Now we are bold (v. 12). Now we are free.
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Many Jewish Christians in the New Testament write that the Law of Moses was a restrictive and difficult master (Acts 15:10, Gal 4:1-5, Rom 7). God wants to set us free. The goal of freedom is not to eliminate rules, but to escape condemnation, slavery, and death due to sin. The Spirit does this in a way that no amount of rules or works could do—by empowering us to resist sin (Rom 8:13) and making us into the image of his Son (Rom 8:29, Gal 5:22-23).
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One Thing to Think About: What are some ways I have seen the Holy Spirit transforming me?
One Thing to Pray For: The freedom God’s Spirit brings
