1Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as do some, letters of commendation to you or from you? 2You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men, 3being revealed that you are a letter of Christ, served by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in tablets that are hearts of flesh.
4Such confidence we have through Christ toward God, 5not that we are sufficient of ourselves to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God, 6who also made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7But if the service of death, written engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly on the face of Moses for the glory of his face, which was passing away, 8won’t service of the Spirit be with much more glory? 9For if the service of condemnation has glory, the service of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10For most certainly that which has been made glorious has not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasses. 11For if that which passes away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
12Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, 13and not as Moses, who put a veil on his face so that the children of Israel wouldn’t look steadfastly on the end of that which was passing away. 14But their minds were hardened, for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains, because in Christ it passes away. 15But to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.
A Fragment of the Rock of Ages
16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.
The words of verse sixteen jump off of the page and grab our attention. They say that if you and I turn to the Lord, “the veil is taken away”. It adds the thought that when this veil (think ‘spiritual blindness’) is taken away, the Spirit of the Lord is present, and in Him is liberty. As a retired lawyer I sometimes read things in the negative form to better understand the concept being stated. Thinking in that vein, these words tells me that when the Spirit of the Lord is not present, there is bondage. This is an incredible thought. In ancient times, the names of God and the names of gods were imbedded with this truth. I once visited a Jewish rabbi to ask him about the meaning of the name “Yahweh”. He spoke for about an hour explaining to me that G’d is in fact “a verb”, and the tetragrammaton (יהוה(YHWH) from which we sound out the name of Yahweh) is a compilation of every verb mode in the Hebrew language. He said, “It in essence means, ‘I was all that you needed when you needed me. I am all that you need when you need me. I will always be what you need when you will need me.” I’m not sure if this captures what he said, but I got the idea. The God of the Hebrews was the great liberator. Hence, where the Spirit is there is liberty.
In contrast, the name of the Canaanite god “Baal” means “dominator”. That is the picture of sin in the world. Sin always dominates. It never liberates. Think of the things that “dominate” people. Think of drug addiction. Think of pornography. Think of alcoholism. Think of slavery of human beings. Think of any other kind of slavery. Think of the entire premise of Islam. These are all about domination. They are not about freedom and empowerment. The Spirit of God is not in these things. Paul goes on to say that when we come to the Lord and that veil of blindness is removed, we can see the glory of the Lord as in a mirror. What does that mean exactly? It means that as the Spirit is at work in each of us, a change takes place. There is a transformation into the same image of Him who is the lover of our souls. When we “turn to the Lord,” we are turning AWAY from sin and from ourselves. And then, in a supernatural, unexplainable way, the Spirit of Almighty God takes up residence within us. Baal is rejected and YHWH is accepted. He comes into us, and as we yield sin and self to Him, in His mercy and by His grace, He does heart surgery within us. The change is happening. The transformation is real. Little by little, we find that we become, day by day, a fragment of the Rock of Ages. Rejoice in that!