Chapter 3, Verses 8-18
The apostle has asked, “But if the ministry of death, in letters graven in stones, began with glory... how shall not rather the ministry of the Spirit subsist in glory?” And he continues— “For if the ministry of condemnation be glory, much rather the ministry of righteousness abounds in glory. For also that which was glorified is not glorified in this respect, on account of the surpassing glory. For if that annulled was introduced with glory, much rather that which abides, subsists in glory” (verses 7-11, “New Translation” of J. N. Darby).
Is it not strange that so many Christians look upon the gospel as a sort of supplement to the Ten Commandments, and the system of law given through Moses, when the Scriptures, here and elsewhere (notably in the Epistle to the Galatians) set them in complete contrast? The system which Moses communicated was, as we have seen, the ministry of death and the ministry of condemnation; the gospel proclaimed since the cross of Christ is the ministry of the Spirit and the ministry of righteousness, eternal in its fruits; subsisting in glory; abounding in glory, a glory that surpasses the glory of the first covenant.
The gospel—you will find that the word in Rom. 1, verses 1, 9, 15 and 16, is the ministry of the Holy Spirit, because it is His presence and work which give character to the gospel. He has come to make God known through Christ. See verses 7-11 of John 16, the Acts (a preferable title for which, would be The Acts of the Holy Spirit, instead of The Acts of the Apostles) and Rom. 8; many other passages might be profitably examined.
How great, how marvelous is the grace of God! O, that our souls may have an ever-deepening sense of this altogether unmerited favor of the Savior God! His own beloved Son has died, the just One for the unjust; our sins' judgment fell upon Him to the utmost. Think of those two utterances from the central cross:
“My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Matt. 27:4646And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46), and
The first, as He was bearing our sins; the second, when the judgment of them was past.
Now, justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. He has ascended in manhood to the very presence of God and is coming soon to claim all who have trusted in Him, that they may be with Him and share His glory. Meanwhile the Holy Spirit has come down to abide in and with believers; by Him we are baptized into one body, of which Christ is the Head; we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is the earnest of our inheritance. And so, left here for a season in the word, but possessing a sure and certain hope, the very thought of which moves the Christian's heart with longing desire, we are the epistle of Christ, written in our hearts by the Spirit of the living God. If the glory of God shone out in the giving of a mingled law and grace in the introduction of the first covenant with Israel, how much more is the present unfolding of His grace glorious!
Verses 12, 13. Having therefore such hope, the apostle uses much boldness or openness of speech, and not as Moses put a veil on his own face, so that the children of Israel should not fix their eyes on the end of that to be done away or annulled. What a contrast is here again set before us! The law condemned, and the sons of Israel, except where faith wrought in them, saw nothing in the sacrifices that pointed on (as we know they did) to the substitutional death of Christ. Nor was it the time for God to appear in grace; the law must continue to pronounce against sin.
Verses 14-16. But their thoughts have been darkened (literally, hardened), for unto this day the same veil remains in reading the old covenant, unremoved, which in Christ is annulled. But unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil lies upon their heart. But when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Israel should have relied upon the promises of God to the fathers of the nation; should have turned in heart and conscience at the message of their prophets, and should have gone to Him in deep conviction of sin, feeling that there was no escape for them from judgment to the full unless He should show mercy to the confessed sinner. But as a nation (not speaking of individuals, for God has always wrought in grace) they never did these things; they never have; the veil is still on their heart. When as a nation they shall turn to the Lord, the veil will be taken away; that day is coming, ever drawing nearer; but it will not be brought in by the preaching of the gospel, we have believed.
The young Christian will find it very profitable to study in connection with what we have been considering, the ninth, tenth and eleventh chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, wherein the Holy Spirit has explained the state of the Jews, of Israel. Two quotations from that portion of God's word must suffice here:
“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” Rom. 11:25-2725For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. (Romans 11:25‑27).
In verse 16 the long parenthesis of verses 7-16 (not noted as a parenthesis in the King James translation) comes to an end, and the inspired writer begins again where he had paused at the close of the sixth verse. The apostle had contrasted “the letter” and the Spirit; the first killing, the second giving life. The letter of the Word of God pronounces man's condemnation, but to the opened heart the Spirit of God brings not only light, but life, through the same word of truth.
In verse 17, then, verses 7 and 16 are connected; the Lord, to Whom Israel shall turn, is the Spirit who gives life. As another has expressed it,
“The revelation of the Lord is in the present power of the Spirit of God”; and again,
“Thus the apostle unites in the selfsame thought, the mind of God in the Word according to the Spirit; the glory of Christ who had been hidden in the Word under the letter; and the Holy Ghost Himself who gave its force, revealed that glory, and by dwelling and working in the believer enables him to enjoy it.”
And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. This it is into which the believer is brought; all fear is removed; so we sometimes sing,
“Death and judgment are behind us;
Grace and glory are before.”
Verse 18 in the “New Translation” is, “But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit.”
“As in a glass” is left out, not being found in the best copies from which translations are made. “Changed” becomes “Transformed” to better express the meaning of the word in the original Greek, which has been made almost without alteration into an English word, “metamorphosed.” Four times only in the Scriptures is this Greek word used—twice in reference to the Lord when on the mount of transfiguration (Matt. 17:22And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. (Matthew 17:2), Mark 9:22And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. (Mark 9:2)), and twice (Rom. 12:22And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2); 2 Cor. 3:1818But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)), telling of a change which should be going on in every true believer on earth, producing in each one a likeness to Christ.
O, let us endeavor with purpose of heart, to give joy to Him in the practical working out of these Scriptures in our lives!