Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 3:6
Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
6. Who also hath made us able ministers ] None of the old English versions have given the threefold repetition of the word by St Paul, who writes, ‘Who hath made us sufficient ministers.’ The word St Paul uses signifies the having reached a certain standard of ability.
of the new testament ] We must dismiss all notions here of the book called the “New Testament.” The word in the original (see note on 1Co 11:25) signifies both testament and covenant. The latter should be the rendering here. St Paul is contrasting the Mosaic with the Christian covenant. There is also no article. The Apostle’s meaning may be thus paraphrased: ‘Who hath endowed us with qualifications sufficient for us to become the ministers of a new covenant.’ It is not to the covenant, but to its newness, that the Apostle would here ask our attention.
not of the letter, but of the spirit ] See Jer 31:31-34, and Eze 11:19, before cited. There is an obvious reference to these passages in the text. The difference between the old covenant and the new was that the former prescribed, the latter inspired; the former gave written precepts, the latter the power to fulfil them; the former laid down the rules, the latter brought man’s heart into the condition in which such rules became a part of his nature. “The old form was superseded by the principle. Instead of saying, ‘Thou shalt not say Fool, or Raca,’ Christ gave the principle of Love.” Robertson. The words ‘of the letter,’ and ‘of the spirit,’ however, depend not on the word covenant, but on the word ministers. See also Rom 1:16 ; 1Co 1:18; 1Co 1:24 and notes. Also, for the expression, Rom 2:27; Rom 7:6. “What then, was not that law spiritual? How then did he say, ‘We know that the law is spiritual?’ Spiritual indeed, for it came from God, but it bestowed not a spirit ” Chrysostom.
for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life ] Quykeneth, Wiclif. Cf. 1Co 15:45. The formal enactment, whether positive or negative, can only kill. For while it makes no difference whatever in the condition of the man who fulfils it, it condemns him who disobeys or neglects to perform its precepts. See Joh 3:17-18; Rom 3:20; Rom 4:20; Rom 5:13; Rom 7:10. The spirit, the breath or influence proceeding from God, can only give life, since it comes from Him who is life, and by breathing into man a new heart, enables him to perform naturally, without the aid of any enactments, the things that are pleasing to God. “The law, if it lay hold of a murderer, putteth him to death; the Gospel, if it lay hold of a murderer, enlighteneth and giveth him life.” Chrysostom. Cf. Joh 6:63; Rom 8:11; 1Co 15:45; Gal 6:8; 1Pe 3:18. Calvin remarks on a singular misconception of the meaning of this passage by Origen and others, who supposed that the reading of Scripture would be useless or even injurious, unless it were allegorically expounded. “Sensus ad Origenis damnata dogmata rejiciendus.” Estius.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Who also hath made us able ministers … – This translation does not quite meet the force of the original. It would seem to imply that Paul regarded himself and his fellowlaborers as people of talents, and of signal ability; and that he was inclined to boast of it. But this is not the meaning. It refers properly to his sense of the responsibility and difficulty of the work of the ministry; and to the fact that he did not esteem himself to be sufficient for this work in his own strength 2Co 2:16; 2Co 3:5; and he here says that God had made him sufficient: not able, talented, learned, but sufficient hikanosen hemas; he has supplied our deficiency; he has rendered us competent, or fit; if a word may be coined after the manner of the Greek here, he has sufficienced us for this work. There is no assertion, therefore, here, that they were people of talents, or special ability, but only that God had qualified them for their work, and made them by his grace sufficient to meet the toils and responsibilites of this arduous office.
Of the New Testament – Of the new covenant (note, Mat 26:28), in contradistinction from the old covenant, which was established through Moses. They were appointed to go forth and make the provisions of that new covenant known to a dying world.
Not of the letter – Not of the literal, or verbal meaning, in contradistinction from the Spirit; see the notes on Rom 2:27, Rom 2:29; Rom 7:6. This is said, doubtless, in opposition to the Jews, and Jewish teachers. They insisted much on the letter of the Law, but entered little into its real meaning. They did not seek out the true spiritual sense of the Old Testament; and hence, they rested on the mere literal observance of the rites and ceremonies of religion without understanding their true nature and design. Their service, though in many respects conformed to the letter of the Law, yet became cold, formal, and hypocritical; abounding in mere ceremonies, and where the heart had little to do. Hence, there was little pure spiritual worship offered to God; and hence also they rejected the Messiah whom the old covenant prefigured, and was designed to set forth.
For the letter killeth – compare notes on Rom 4:15; Rom 7:9-10. The mere letter of the Law of Moses. The effect of it was merely to produce condemnation; to produce a sense of guilt, and danger, and not to produce pardon, relief, and joy. The Law denounced death; condemned sin in all forms; and the effect of it was to produce a sense of guilt and condemnation.
But the spirit giveth life – The spirit, in contradistinction from the mere literal interpretation of the Scriptures. The Spirit, that is, Christ, says Locke, compare 2Co 3:17. The spirit here means, says Bloomfield, that new spiritual system, the gospel. The Spirit of God speaking in us, says Doddridge. The spirit here seems to refer to the New Testament, or the new dispensation in contradistinction from the old. That was characterized mainly by its strictness of Law, and by its burdensome rites, and by the severe tone of its denunciation for sin. It did not in itself provide a way of pardon and peace. Law condemns; it does not speak of forgiveness. On the contrary, the gospel, a spiritual system, is designed to impart life and comfort to the soul. It speaks peace. It comes not to condemn, but to save. It discloses a way of mercy, and it invites all to partake and live. It is called spirit, probably because its consolations are imparted and secured by the Spirit of God – the source of all true life to the soul. It is the dispensation of the Spirit; and it demands a spiritual service – a service that is free, and elevated, and tending eminently to purify the heart, and to save the soul; see the note on 2Co 3:17.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Co 3:6
Who hath made us able ministers of the New Testament.
An able minister of the New Testament
Two things are implied.
I. First, Gifts–natural endowments. A minister of the New Testament ought to have intellectual qualifications.
II. But now, in the second place, there are spiritual qualities which are higher, more wonderful, and even more essential. One would rather have a feeble intellect with a pure and devout heart than the brightest intellect without these glorifications of the soul. What are these spiritual qualities which unite to make an able minister of the New Testament?
1. First and most manifest is that which Paul himself indicates in the account of his own mission. The man who is to preach so as to move mens hearts must preach out of the depth of the faith that is in his own heart; he must be a man of faith. How can a man preach the New Testament unless he believes it?
2. Yet, again, a man who would be an able minister of the New Testament must be one who is emphatically true. What a mighty force is the man to whom, as we listen, our secret heart says, We know that he believes and feels all that. The transparency of truth is one of the grandest qualifications for a New Testament preacher.
3. Yet, again, another qualification for such work is courage. If he sees error he must point it out, even though he may wound some in doing it; if he sees fashionable folly and sins drawing men away from the simplicity that is in Christ, he must expose them.
4. And then, finally, an able minister of the New Testament will think only of Christ and not of himself. (J. G. Rogers, B. A.)
For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.—
The letter and the spirit in the ministry of Christianity
1. The New Testament means Gods revelation through Christ, in contradistinction to His revelation through Moses. Though both are admitted to be glorious, the latter is shown to be more glorious; for the one is the dispensation of righteousness, the other of condemnation; the one is permanent, the other is done away; the one so opens the spiritual faculties that the mind can look at it with open face, the other through the prejudices of the Jewish people was concealed by a veil.
2. This Christianity is the grand subject of all true ministry.
(1) Not naturalism. Had man retained his primitive innocence nature would have been his grand text. But since the Fall men cannot reach the spiritual significance of nature, and if they could, it would not meet their spiritual exigencies.
(2) Not Judaism. Judaism, it is true, came to meet mans fallen condition; it worked on for centuries and rendered high services. But it had its day, and is no more; it is done away. Note–
I. The twofold ministry. I do not think that Mosaism and Christianity are here contrasted. It would scarcely be fair to denominate Judaism a letter. There was spirit in every part; think of the revelations of Sinai and of the prophets. Christianity itself has letter and spirit. If it had no letter, it would be unrevealed, and if it had letter only, it would be empty jargon. All essences, principles, spirits, are invisible, they are only revealed through letters or forms. The spirit of a nation expresses itself in its institutions; the spirit of the creation expresses itself in its phenomena; the spirit of Jesus in His wonderful biography. The text therefore refers to two methods of teaching Christianity.
1. The technical. The technical teachers are–
(1) The verbalizes, who deal mainly in terminologies. In the Corinthian Church there were those who thought much of the words of mans wisdom.
(2) The theorists. I underrate not the importance of systematising the ideas we derive from the Bible; but he who exalts his system of thought, and makes it a standard of truth, is a minister of the letter. Can a nutshell contain the Atlantic?
(3) The Ritualists. Men must have ritualism of some kind. What is logic but the ritualism of thought? What is art but the ritualism of beauty? What is rhetorical imagery but the ritualism of ideas? Civilisation is but the ritualising of the thoughts of ages. But when the religious teacher regards rites, signs, and symbols as some mystic media of saving grace, he is a minister of the letter.
2. The spiritual. To be a minister of the spirit is not to neglect the letter. The material universe is a letter. Letter is the key that lets you into the great empire of spiritual realities. To be a minister of the spirit is to be more alive to the grace than the grammar, the substances than the symbols of the book. A minister of the spirit requires–
(1) A comprehensive knowledge of the whole Scriptures. To reach the spirit of Christianity it will not do to study isolated passages, or live in detached portions. We must compare spiritual things with spiritual, and, by a just induction, reach its universal truths. Can you get botany from a few flowers, or astronomy from a few stars, or geology from a few fossils? No more can you get the spirit of Christianity from a few isolated texts.
(2) A practical sympathy with the spirit of Christ. We must have love to understand love. The faculty of interpreting the Bible is of the heart rather than the intellect. Christianity must be in us, not merely as a system of ideas, but as a life, if we would extend its empire.
II. The twofold results.
1. The result of the technical ministry of Christianity.
(1) The verbalist kills. Words are the counters of wise men, but the money of fools. Words in religion, when they are taken for things, kill inquiry, freedom, sensibility, earnestness, enthusiasm, moral manhood.
(2) The theorist kills. The Jews formulated a theory of the Messiah; He did not answer to their theory; so they rejected Him. Souls cannot feed upon our dogmas. The smallest seed requires all the elements of nature to feed on and grow to perfection; and can souls live and grow on the few dogmas of an antiquated creed?
(3) The Ritualist kills. The ceremonial Church has ever been a dead Church. Letter teaching reduced the Jewish people to a valley of dry bones.
2. The result of the spiritual ministry of Christianity. It giveth life. It is the Spirit, said Christ, that quickeneth, etc. He who in his teaching and life brings out most of the spirit of the gospel will be most successful in giving life to souls. His ministry will be like the breath of siring, quickening all it touches into life. Such a ministry was that of Peters on the day of Pentecost. Words, theories, rites, to him were nothing. Divine facts and their spirit were the all in all of his discourse, and dead souls bounded into life as he spoke (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Ministry of the letter and of the spirit
I. The ministry of the letter.
1. The ministry of Moses was a formal ministry. It was his business to teach maxims and not principles; rules for ceremonials, and not a spirit of life. Thus, e.g., truth is a principle springing out of an inward life; but Moses only gave the rule: Thou shalt not forswear thyself, and so he who simply avoided perjury kept the letter of the law. Love is a principle; but Moses said simply, Thou shalt not kill, nor steal, nor injure. Meekness and subduedness before God–these are of the spirit; but Moses merely commanded fasts. Unworldliness arises from a spiritual life; but Moses only said, Be separate–circumcise yourselves. It was in consequence of the superiority of the teaching of principles over a mere teaching of maxims that the ministry of the letter was considered as nothing.
(1) Because of its transitoriness–it was to be done away with. All formal truth is transient. No maxim is intended to last for ever. No ceremony, however glorious, can be eternal. Thus when Christ came, instead of saying, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, He said; Let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; and instead of saying, Thou shalt not say, Fool, or Raca, Christ gave the principle of love.
(2) Because it killed; partly because, being rigorous in its enactments, it condemned for any nonfulfilment (2Co 3:9). He that despised Moses law died without mercy. And partly it killed, because technicalities and multiplicities of observance necessarily deaden spiritual life. It was said by Burke that no man comprehends less of the majesty of the English constitution than the Nisi Prius lawyer, who is always dealing with technicalities and precedents. In the same way none were so dead to the glory of the law of God as the Scribes, who were always discussing its petty minutiae. Could anything dull the vigour of obedience more than frittering it away in anxieties about the mode and degree of fasting? Could aught chill love more than the question, How often shall my brother offend and I forgive him? Or could anything break devotion more into fragments than multiplied changes of posture?
2. Now observe: No blame was attributable to Moses for teaching thus. St. Paul calls it a glorious ministry; and it was surrounded with outward demonstrations. Maxims, rules, and ceremonies have truth in them; Moses taught truth so far as the Israelites could bear it; not in substance, but in shadows; not principles by themselves, but principles by rules, to the end of which the Church of Israel could not as yet see. A veil was before the lawgivers face. These rules were to hint and lead up to a spirit, whose brightness would have only dazzled the Israelites into blindness then.
II. The ministry of the New Testament.
1. It was a spiritual ministry. The apostles were ministers of the spirit, of that truth which underlies all forms of the essence of the law. Christ is the spirit of the law, for He is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. And St. Pauls ministry was freedom from the letter–conversion to the spirit of the law. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.
2. It was a life-giving ministry.
(1) Note the meaning of the word. It is like a new life to know that God wills not burnt-offering, but rather desires to find the spirit of one who says, Lo! I come to do Thy will. It is new life to know that to love God and man is the sum of existence. It is new life to know that God be merciful to me a sinner! is a truer prayer in Gods ears than elaborate liturgies and long ceremonials.
(2) Christ was the spirit of the law, and He gave, and still gives, the gift of life (2Co 3:18). A living character is impressed upon us: we are as the mirror which reflects back a likeness, only it does not pass away from us: for Christ is not a mere example, but the life of the world, and the Christian is not a mere copy, but a living image of the living God. He is changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
3. Now such a ministry–a ministry which endeavours to reach the life of things–the apostle calls–
(1) An able–that is, a powerful–ministry. He names it thus, even amidst an apparent want of success.
(2) A bold ministry. We use great plainness of speech. Ours should be a ministry whose very life is outspokenness and free fearlessness, which scorns to take a via media because it is safe, which shrinks from the weakness of a mere cautiousness, but which exults even in failure, if the truth has been spoken, with a joyful confidence. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
Letter and spirit
I. The relation between letter and spirit.
1. A letter is a sign of a certain sound; an integral pert of a word, with no meaning out of a word; and if one should occupy himself with any one letter, even all the letters in succession, and never form the word, he misses the purport for which the letters exist. On the other hand, if you take away the letters of a word, thinking them nothing, you find yourself at last without the word. The vocable is gone, and what comes of the meaning?
2. Everything that God has made has a letter and a spirit. The sun, stars, flowers, brooks, and the great sea itself are letters. And God has taken care to keep us from looking at these things as only letters. He has surrounded them with a certain glory which is continually reminding us that they are intended to be formed into words and sentences to express great truths regarding God. What idea would infinitude convey to me unless I had the picture in the great vault of heaven or the wide sea? Yet there are some who go through the world and recognise only one letter and another. To them a tree is only a tree, the sea only a body of water, and the sky a great concave in which the stars appear to be. Others perceive a connection between the different facts. Others go farther and observe law. Others, however, see the grand truth which the whole was made to teach regarding the character of God and His will, and the natural and moral history of man. He only sees the spirit who sees this.
3. As opposed to spirit, then, the letter means
(1) Outwardness. He who confines himself to form, whether as to the world, the Bible, worship or conduct, is a man of the letter. The Pharisees were such, and failed utterly to see the spirit, and lost all wish for it. All O.T. worshippers who saw nothing in the ceremonial higher than the ceremony; those who imagine that a mere outward observance of Gods laws is all; those who think their presence in the church, or their bodily communicating at the Lords table is all that is required, all belong to the letter. Extreme partisans of the spirit are perhaps not more exempt from this danger than others. The cry for spirit may be a phrase by which painfully solid things are made nebulous, and little left strong and certain but self. The last degradation of the word is reached when it indicates a superfine way of making things that are too real–thin, hazy, and uncertain.
(2) Isolation.
(a) Take a letter of a word and place it out by itself. It was more than a letter while in the word, but now it is only letter. So with a word taken out of a sentence, a sentence out of a paragraph era passage out of a book. The meaning of each separate part is that which is intended to be expressed by the whole.
(b) This holds in the book of nature. Take a tree, e.g. Can it be understood without reference to air and light and soil? But its meaning is visible when placed in the general economy of nature. So it is with the stream that runs down the hillside, the bird that sports in the air, etc. There is no object so small that you can grasp it by itself. For the understanding of a blade of grass you require a knowledge of all the sciences.
(c) The principle holds, too, as to the Bible. No word, or phrase, or chapter of it has its true meaning looked at apart from the rest. The spirit of the Bible is the meaning of the whole Bible. The spirit of Christianity is its grand central idea and purpose of bringing men to Gods likeness and fellowship, and glorifying God in the salvation of men. In this gospel there are many parts, and all are needed, but all have only one end and aim, and that one end and aim is the spirit; and if the separate parts are taken away from this one end and aim, they become letter. Hence, if any one part is contemplated habitually apart from the great aim, it becomes letter. If a man take up any promise, commandment, doctrine, or ceremony, and think of it as if it were the be all and the end all, he is making it letter. Any attribute of God by itself is letter, for Gods attributes are not separate existences, but each is in reference to all. It is doubt, less to guard us against this ever-pressing danger that the Word of God mixes up ideas in a way almost unparalleled in human literature. Doctrines are intertwined with duties, and so blended with facts that it is often a task of difficulty to sunder them and look at one by itself.
4. The way to reach the spirit is not by destroying or making light of the letter–or any letter. It is by the letter and all the letters that we reach the spirit; and our concern ought to be to know what is genuine letter, and to keep every letter in constant connection with the central spirit. Suppose a scholar spend his time on the mere words of his lesson, without trying to grasp the meaning, would the remedy be to erase the words? Or because some might dwell exclusively on pictures in the book, meant to illustrate the text, and never think of the meaning–would that be a good reason for taking out the pictures? And yet this minimising process forms nearly the whole plan of many for getting at spirit. Their recipe is short and simple–destroy the letter. Let them apply this to the study of human institutions, to the study of botany or astronomy, and see what wealth of insight into law and principle will accrue. Do the millions of stars, the multiplicity of herbs and flowers, seem intended for such a formula?
5. All the letters of a word are, or ought to be, needful to the word. Sometimes the only difference between two words that mean very different things is found in one letter. And no letter, nor any number of letters, will ever be anything without the grand spirit of the whole; but no letter, however trivial it look, is poor with the spirit in it. The greatest truths shine in a single rite or word when filled with the spirit of the whole, as the laws of light and gravitation are shown in a single drop of dew. The little creek, so insignificant and even unseemly when the sea has ebbed, is a fine sight when it is filled and brimming with the swelling tide. That is the water of the great sea that floods it, and there, too, great ships that have crossed the ocean can float.
II. The opposite influences of letter and spirit.
1. The letter killeth, not, of course, in virtue of its being letter, for God made the letter, which was never intended by Him to kill, but to give life by leading to the spirit. But–
(1) Letter kills when men take it as the whole and never go beyond it, or when they are so much occupied about it as to have no thought for the spirit. Thus, the very grandeur of the material universe leads some men to rest in it. Many are so occupied with the arrangements and laws of nature that they never think of its spirit. And many more are so engrossed in the material business of the world that they seldom think of any significance in it at all. Some are killed by the beauty of the letter, some by the wonderful shape and order of the letters, others by the immediate utility they find in the letter. Do not imagine that it is only the letter of Gods Word that kills; the letter of His works kills also. And the letter of other books often kills men mentally. When men read without thinking, or for amusement, or for the sake of reading, or, worst of all, of being able to say that they have read; they will certainly by and by have the capacity of thought dwarfed or quite killed out. It is known even that men have been intellectually killed by a liberal education. The faculties are so gorged with facts and words, which remain only facts and words, that they never play spontaneously and naturally again. So, men are killed by the letter in a far more serious sense when they look merely to the beauty of the Bible, or when they dwell on some other external aspects of it, or when they lose themselves in forms and ceremonies and outward observances. Sometimes they cherish hostility to the truths that dare to seem to rival their favourite doctrines, or come in the least competition with them. Whenever men arrive at this they are in process of being killed.
(2) The abundance of letter kills. It is well known how dangerous to the spirit a multitude of Ceremonies is. And a great number of doctrines marked off with minute logic, and pressed upon the soul, has the like effect.
(3) The letter kills with certainty when formally installed in room of the spirit, as it was in our Lords time. The Jews, as a whole, clung so fondly to the letter that they hated the spirit.
(4) The letter kills by being made hostile to the spirit through disproportion and caricature, as when the doctrine of the Divine Sovereignty is so held as to be in actual opposition to the grand revelation that God willeth not that any should perish, etc. If God is love, what can His Sovereignty mean, but the reign of love? The letter kills, when the doctrine of Justification by faith is so held as to clash with the imperative and absolute obligation on all to obey always all the commandments of God.
2. The spirit gives life.
(1) It alone mingles with our spirits. This is the great reason. We live on meaning, not on form or husks. And it is not any partial sense, but the central idea of the whole that sustains. The Spirit of God does not use the mere outward observance, but the drift or object of it.
(2) The spirit of the Bible gives life, for the spirit is Christ. The Lord is that spirit. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of the Bible; and the spirit of the Bible gives life, because when one imbibes the spirit of the Bible he embraces Christ. Let our idea of Christ be drawn from all parts of the Bible, and let the idea of Christ in turn illuminate and vivify all; thus only, and thus surely, shall we escape from the letter that killeth to the spirit that giveth life.
(3) The spirit gives life by awakening love to God, which is life. (J. Leckie, D. D.)
The letter killeth, the spirit giveth life
The text teaches–
I. The powerlessness of Divine commands alone to produce obedience. This does not prove any imperfection in the law, which, being Divine, is perfect. The failure of obedience is due to the imperfection of human nature, which does not yield to the obligation. The conscience, indeed, is on the laws side, but such is the strength of the lower nature that the man is hurried by animal impulse to sin.
1. Then one of two things happens. Either the habitual failure of the conscience produces habitual wretchedness, in a consciousness of powerlessness against evil, which may well be named death, or the law becomes the occasion of sin. The appearance of prohibition provokes the lower nature and irritates it to impatience of restraint. Now the consciousness of sin renders the man reckless, and to get rid of the uneasiness, the rider is thrown. When conscience thus loses dominion and ceases resistance, the man is given over to the licence of self-will and undergoes moral death.
2. On the other hand, the Spirit which characterises Christianity has a quickening power. The Spirit of Christ quickens–
(1) By means of a perfect and most moving instance of obedience. In the Old Testament we do not meet with any such instance. Christ not only obeyed the law as it was intended to be obeyed, but opened it in a new and sublimer meaning, so that the imitation of Him is a new command. His example is presented in a form most intimate and intelligible, and it is the example of One who, in His very obedience, binds us to Himself by the tie of the tenderest and mightiest gratitude. And then, since Christ is God, and the revelation of the Father, the gratitude which He inspires becomes Divine love, and throws its full strength into obedience to the Divine commands.
(2) By a secret influence on the heart. He is the Creator, and His noblest creative work is the moral regeneration of the human soul. He renders the heart perceptive of the beauty of Christs character, and sensitive of the proper impressions. Thus our higher nature receives an incalculable increase of power. Conscience is re-enthroned and governs, but the law is obeyed not so much because it is obligatory, as because it is loved.
II. The intellectual deficiency and mischievousness of mere writing as a means of instruction.
1. As a vehicle of meaning, writing is immeasurably inferior to a living presence. The correspondence of distant friends is but a poor comfort in their separation. It is often obscure, and is liable to misunderstanding. If the writing in question is holy writing, the evil arising from ignorance or misunderstanding is augmented. To receive a falsehood as Gods word is intellectual and moral death. Spiritual death is sometimes the effect of the letter of theological system. Technical terms are regarded by many with a reverence as great as are the words of Scripture. There are congregations to whom a man may preach with living eloquence the very truths which kindled the zeal of St. Paul and St. John, but his audience, not hearing the familiar dialect, are deaf to the music, blind to the glory, and dead to the spirit of the discourse.
2. Knowledge of the author, and sympathy with him, is indispensable to the understanding of his writings. Unless we had something in common with writers, not a line of the literature of the world would be intelligible. By the human nature, common to all ages, we understand the writings of Greece and Rome; but a higher than the spirit of man is necessary to the reading of Holy Scripture, even the living Spirit of truth and holiness, by whom it is inspired. (Homilist.)
The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life
I. The letter, or the law, killeth, because–
1. It denounceth death.
2. It can only convince and condemn.
3. It awakens the sense of sin and helplessness.
4. It excites sin and cannot either justify or sanctify.
II. the Spirit, or the Gospel, giveth life, because–
1. It declares the way of life. It reveals a righteousness which delivers us from the law and frees us from the sentence of condemnation.
2. It is that through which the Spirit is communicated as a source of life. Instead of a mere outward exhibition of truth and duty, it is a law written on the heart. It is a lifegiving power.
3. The state of mind which it produces is life and peace. The Spirit is the source of eternal life. (C. Hodge, D. D.)
The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life
By the letter is meant the moral law. Note–
I. How and why the letter kills.
1. By its manifestation of that disruption which lay concealed under the happy outflow of young and brimming life. That strong energy, which is the core of our human nature, is brought up sharp by a relentless voice that refuses it its unhindered joy. It clashes against the obstinate resistance which bars its road with its terrible negative, Thou shalt not covet; and, in the recoil from that clashing, it knows itself to be subject to a divided mastery. It knows itself to be capable of violent variance with God, to be somehow spoilt, disordered, corrupt. The unity of sound organic health has suffered rupture. It has in it the evidences of a disorganisation and a dissolution, which is death. I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
2. And the law not only declared sin to be there, but it also provoked the sin, which fretted at its checks, into a more abundant and domineering extravagance. Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. Curiosity, imagination, vanity, impulsiveness–all are set astir to overleap the barrier, to defeat the obstacle that so sharply traverses its instinctive inclinations. The law entered that offence might abound, and where offence abounded, death reigned, for the end of sin is death.
3. And the letter killed also by convicting. Over against the very men whom it irritated into revolt it stood as a judgment which could not be gainsaid nor denied. And they knew the sting of its terrible truth. Its wrath unnerved them, and-its presence confounded. They were shut up within the prison-house of a criminal doom, and that justly. It killed, and this by Gods own intention. Yea, sin, that it might appear sin, worked death by that which is good, that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. Better far that the secret poison should be brought out into violent action. Its sickness, its pain–these are, after all, proofs of capacity to struggle; these are methods of liberation. The body is releasing itself from disease through these bitter experiences; and let, then, the letter kill. Let death dig in its fangs. Let the doom deepen and darken. So only shall at the last the spirit of the resurrection quicken.
II. Through sin the letter slew, and what is more, there was no hope of relief or escape through mans spiritual advance, for the higher the law the sharper its sword of judgement. As mans apprehension grew more spiritual, the discovery of his fall become more desperate. The law slew because it was just and pure and holy, and the quickened spiritual instincts would but learn the touch of a more biting terror; so that when at the last hour of that old covenant there stood upon the earth a Jew greater than Moses or Abraham, who accepted the hereditary law and promulgated it anew, with all the infinite and delicate subtlety which the mind of One who was one with the Giver of the law could convey into its edicts, so that it comprehended the entire man in its grip, why, such a gospel, if that Sermon of the Mount had been all, would have struck the very chill of the last death into the despairing soul, who listened and learned that not one jot or tittle of that law could fail. The sermon that some lightly affect to be the whole gospel of Christ would be by itself but a message of doom.
III. Man lies there dead before his God–dead, until–what is it, this sweet and secret change? What is it, this breaking and stirring within his bones, as when the force of the spring pricks and works within the wintry trunks of dry and naked trees? As he lies stung and despairing, there is a change, there is an arrival. Far, far within, deeper than his deepest sin, behind the most secret workings of his bad and broken will, there is a breaking and a stir, there is a motion and a quiver and a gleam, there is a check and a pause in his decay, a quickening is felt as of live flame. What is it? He cannot tell; only he knows that something is there and at work, strong and fresh and young; and as it pushes and presses and makes way, a sense of blessing steals into his veins, and peace is upon his hunted soul, and the sweet soundness of health creeps over his bruises and his sores; and he who has faith just suffers all the strange change to pass over him and to work its goodwill, as he lies there, feeding on its blessedness, wondering at its goodness, sending up his heart in silent breaths of unutterable thanks. So it is come. St. Paul saw those lame and impotent men rise and leap and sing at the coming of the new force, under the handlings of the new ministry; and, so seeing, he knew the full meaning of the Lords promise that the Spirit should come, and that every one born of the Spirit should be even as the Spirit. And the essence of the change is this–that God, Who in His manifestation of the letter stood there over against man, has now passed over on to the side of the men whom His appeal has overwhelmed. He, the good Father, is bending over the sinner, and entering within his human spirit by the power of His own Holy Spirit, is inspiring him with His own breath. God Himself in us fulfils His own demands on us. God Himself moves over to our side to satisfy the urgency of His own will and word. In Him we do what we do, and we are not afraid, though the Son of God has come not to destroy that law, but to fulfil it –yea, even though from us is required a righteousness exceeding that of Scribe and Pharisee. We are not afraid for the Spirit giveth life. God has come over to our side, but He has not ceased to stand over there against us. There He still stands as of old, and His demands are the same; still it is true as ever that without holiness no man shall see the Lord. The revelation of the letter of the moral law holds good for us as much as for the Jew; and it is because that letter inevitably holds good that God has Himself entered within us, and striven for its fulfilment. (Canon Scott-Holland.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 6. Who hath made us able ministers] This is a more formal answer to the question, Who is sufficient for these things? ; 2Co 2:16. God, says the apostle, has made us able ministers; , he has made us sufficient for these things; for the reader will observe that he uses the same word in both places. We apostles execute, under the Divine influence, what God himself has devised. We are ministers of the new covenant; of this new dispensation of truth, light, and life, by Christ Jesus; a system which not only proves itself to have come from God, but necessarily implies that God himself by his own Spirit is a continual agent in it, ever bringing its mighty purposes to pass. On the words , new covenant, see the PREFACE to the gospel of St. Matthew.
Not of the letter, but of the Spirit] The apostle does not mean here, as some have imagined, that he states himself to be a minister of the New Testament, in opposition to the Old; and that it is the Old Testament that kills, and the New that gives life; but that the New Testament gives the proper meaning of the Old; for the old covenant had its letter and its spirit, its literal and its spiritual meaning. The law was founded on the very supposition of the Gospel; and all its sacrifices, types, and ceremonies refer to the Gospel. The Jews rested in the letter, which not only afforded no means of life, but killed, by condemning every transgressor to death. They did not look at the spirit; did not endeavour to find out the spiritual meaning; and therefore they rejected Christ, who was the end of the law for justification; and so for redemption from death to every one that believes. The new covenant set all these spiritual things at once before their eyes, and showed them the end, object, and design of the law; and thus the apostles who preached it were ministers of that Spirit which gives life.
Every institution has its letter as well as its spirit, as every word must refer to something of which it is the sign or significator. The Gospel has both its letter and its spirit; and multitudes of professing Christians, by resting in the LETTER, receive not the life which it is calculated to impart. Water, in baptism, is the letter that points out the purification of the soul; they who rest in this letter are without this purification; and dying in that state they die eternally. Bread and wine in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, are the letter; the atoning efficacy of the death of Jesus, and the grace communicated by this to the soul of a believer, are the spirit. Multitudes rest in this letter, simply receiving these symbols, without reference to the atonement, or to their guilt; and thus lose the benefit of the atonement and the salvation of their souls. The whole Christian life is comprehended by our Lord under the letter, Follow me. Does not any one see that a man, taking up this letter only, and following Christ through Judea, Galilee, Samaria, c., to the city, temple, villages, seacoast, mountains, &c., fulfilled no part of the spirit and might, with all this following, lose his soul? Whereas the SPIRIT, viz. receive my doctrine, believe my sayings, look by faith for the fulfilment of my promises, imitate my example, would necessarily lead him to life eternal. It may be safely asserted that the Jews, in no period of their history, ever rested more in the letter of their law than the vast majority of Christians are doing in the letter of the Gospel. Unto multitudes of Christians Christ may truly say: Ye will not come unto me that ye may have life.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This verse plainly openeth what he had said before, and lets us know what sufficiency of God that was of which he there spake. He hath (saith the apostle) not found, but made us sufficient. We were men before, and, through the creating power and providence of God, we had an ability to think and to speak; but God hath made us sufficient, by a supervening act and influence of his grace, to be ministers of the new testament, that is, of the gospel; which being the new revelation of the Divine will, and confirmed by the death of Christ, is called the new testament.
Not of the letter, but of the Spirit: by the letter, here, the apostle understandeth the law; for the law is called the letter, Rom 2:27; Rom 7:6; Who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law; that is: While thou, by some external acts, professest a subjection to the law (particularly by circumcision) in a multitude of other actions, (which are more valuable in the sight of God than those external acts), thou transgressest the law. The law, in opposition to the gospel, is called the letter, sometimes a dead letter; because it was only a revelation of the will of God concerning mans duty, no revelation of Gods grace, either in pardoning men their omissions of duty, and doing acts contrary to duty, or assisting men to the performance of their duty. As the gospel is also called the Spirit, both in opposition to the carnal ordinances of the law, and because Christ is the matter, subject, and argument of it; and chiefly because, that the preaching of it is so far attended by the Spirit of grace, that where men do not turn their ears from the hearing of it, nor shut their eyes against the light of it, nor harden their hearts against the precepts and rule of it, it becomes (through the free grace of God) effectual to change their hearts, and to turn them from the power of Satan unto God, and to make them truly spiritual and holy.
For the letter (that is, the law) killeth; the law showeth men their duty, accuseth, condemneth, and denounceth the wrath of God against men for not doing their duty, but gives no strength for the doing of it. But the
spirit (that is, the gospel) giveth life: the gospel, in the letter of it, showeth the way to life; and the gospel, in the hand of the Spirit, or with the Spirit, working together with it, (the Holy Spirit using it as its instrument), giveth life; both that life which is spiritual, and that which is eternal, as it prepareth the soul for life and immortality.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. ablerather, as the Greekis the same, corresponding to 2Co3:5, translate, “sufficient as ministers”(Eph 3:7; Col 1:23).
the new testament“thenew covenant” as contrasted with the Old Testamentor covenant (1Co 11:25; Gal 4:24).He reverts here again to the contrast between the law on “tablesof stone,” and that “written by the Spirit on fleshlytables of the heart” (2Co 3:3).
not of the letterjoinedwith “ministers”; ministers not of the mere literalprecept, in which the old law, as then understood, consisted;”but of the Spirit,” that is, the spiritual holinesswhich lay under the old law, and which the new covenant brings tolight (Mt 5:17-48) withnew motives added, and a new power of obedienceimparted, namely, the Holy Spirit (Ro7:6). Even in writing the letter of the New Testament,Paul and the other sacred writers were ministers not of theletter, but of the spirit. No piety of spirit could exempt a manfrom the yoke of the letter of each legal ordinance under the OldTestament; for God had appointed this as the way in which He chose adevout Jew to express his state of mind towards God. Christianity, onthe other hand, makes the spirit of our outward observanceseverything, and the letter a secondary consideration (Joh4:24). Still the moral law of the ten commandments, being writtenby the finger of God, is as obligatory now as ever; but put more onthe Gospel spirit of “love,” than on the letter of aservile obedience, and in a deeper and fuller spirituality (Mat 5:17-48;Rom 13:9). No literal preceptscould fully comprehend the wide range of holiness which LOVE, thework of the Holy Spirit, under the Gospel, suggests to the believer’sheart instinctively from the word understood in its deepspirituality.
letter killethbybringing home the knowledge of guilt and its punishment, death;2Co 3:7, “ministration ofdeath” (Ro 7:9).
spirit giveth lifeThespirit of the Gospel when brought home to the heart by the HolySpirit, gives new spiritual life to a man (Rom 6:4;Rom 6:11). This “spirit oflife” is for us in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:2;Rom 8:10), who dwells in thebeliever as a “quickening” or “life-giving Spirit”(1Co 15:45). Note, thespiritualism of rationalists is very different. It would admit no”stereotyped revelation,” except so much as man’s own innerinstrument of revelation, the conscience and reason, can approve of:thus making the conscience judge of the written word, whereas theapostles make the written word the judge of the conscience (Act 17:11;1Pe 4:1). True spirituality restson the whole written word, applied to the soul by the Holy Spirit asthe only infallible interpreter of its far-reaching spirituality. Theletter is nothing without the spirit, in a subjectessentially spiritual. The spirit is nothing without theletter, in a record substantially historical.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Who also hath made us able ministers,…. This is an answer to the question in 2Co 2:16 who is sufficient for these things? no man is of himself; we are indeed sufficient for them, but not of ourselves; our sufficiency is of God, he hath made us able, or sufficient ministers: such ministers as are not of men’s, but God’s making, are sufficient ones; and none are sufficient but whom God makes so; and those he makes able and sufficient, by giving them spiritual gifts, fitting them for the ministry: and these are ministers
of the New Testament, or “covenant”; the covenant of grace, of which Christ is the Mediator and surety; called “new”, not because newly made, for it was made with Christ from everlasting; nor newly revealed, for it was made known to Adam after his fall, and to all the Old Testament patriarchs, and was exhibited under the legal dispensation, though but darkly, in types, shadows, sacrifices, c. which therefore waxing old is vanished away and the covenant of grace is now more clearly revealed under the Gospel dispensation, free from all the obscurity it before laboured under; and therefore is called “new”, as well as because it will always continue so, and never give way to another covenant: now the Gospel, and the ministry of it, is nothing else but an exhibition of the covenant of grace, its blessings and promises; and the work and business of those who are ministers of it is not to insist upon the covenant of works, the terms, conditions, obligations, promises, and threatenings of that covenant; but to open and explain the nature, promises, and blessings of the covenant of grace: for such who are fit and proper ministers, are ministers
not of the letter, but of the spirit; which is to be understood, not of any difference between the books of the Old and the New Testament, for a faithful minister of the word may and will bring forth things new and old, out of the one as well as the other; nor of the literal and allegorical, or mystical sense of the Scriptures, as if the latter and not the former was only to be attended to; nor of the difference of communicating the Gospel by letters, and preaching it by word of mouth; since both methods may be used for the spread of it, as were by the apostles themselves; but of the difference there is between the law and the Gospel. The law is “the letter”, not merely because written in letters, for so likewise is the Gospel; but because it is a mere letter, hereby showing what is to be done or avoided, without any efficacy in it, or communicating any to enable persons to obey its commands, to give life to its observers, or either to sanctify or justify any who are under it, or of the works of it; it is a mere letter, as observed by an unregenerate man, who only regards the externals of it, being unacquainted with its spirituality. The Gospel is “the spirit”; see Joh 6:63 it contains spiritual things, and not things merely natural, moral, and civil, as does the law, but spiritual blessings and promises; it penetrates into the spirit and soul of man, and comes from, and is attended with the Spirit of God. The law is
the letter that
killeth, by irritating and provoking to sin, the cause of death, which though not the design and natural tendency of the law, and therefore not to be blamed, yet so it is, through the corruption of human nature; and by convincing of sin when the sinner is killed, and it dead in his own apprehension; and by not only threatening with death, but by cursing, condemning, and punishing with it:
but the Gospel is
the spirit, which
giveth life; it is a means in the hand of the Spirit of God, of quickening dead sinners, of healing the deadly wounds of sin, of showing the way of life by Christ, and of working faith in the soul, to look to him, and live upon him; it affords food for the support of the spiritual life, and revives souls under the most drooping circumstances. The apostle may allude to a distinction among the Jews, between the body and sou] of the law; the words, they say, are
, “the body of the law”; and the book of the law is the clothing; and besides these, there is , “the soul of the law”; which wise men look into w.
w Zohar in Numb. fol. 63. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Law and Gospel Compared. | A. D. 57. |
6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? 9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
Here the apostle makes a comparison between the Old Testament and the New, the law of Moses and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and values himself and his fellow-labourers by this, that they were able ministers of the New Testament, that God had made them so, v. 6. This he does in answer to the accusations of false teachers, who magnify greatly the law of Moses.
I. He distinguishes between the letter and the spirit even of the New Testament, v. 6. As able ministers of the New Testament, they were ministers not merely of the letter, to read the written word, or to preach the letter of the gospel only, but they were ministers of the Spirit also; the Spirit of God did accompany their ministrations. The letter killeth; this the letter of the law does, for that is the ministration of death; and if we rest only in the letter of the gospel we shall be never the better for so doing, for even that will be a savour of death unto death; but the Spirit of the gospel, going along with the ministry of the gospel, giveth life spiritual and life eternal.
II. He shows the difference between the Old Testament and the New, and the excellency of the gospel above the law. For, 1. The Old-Testament dispensation was the ministration of death (v. 7), whereas that of the New Testament is the ministration of life. The law discovered sin, and the wrath and curse of God. This showed us a God above us and a God against us; but the gospel discovers grace, and Emmanuel, God with us. Upon this account the gospel is more glorious than the law; and yet that had a glory in it, witness the shining of Moses’s face (an indication thereof) when he came down from the mount with the tables in his hand, that reflected rays of brightness upon his countenance. 2. The law was the ministration of condemnation, for that condemned and cursed every one who continued not in all things written therein to do them; but the gospel is the ministration of righteousness: therein the righteousness of God by faith is revealed. This shows us that the just shall live by his faith. This reveals the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ, for obtaining the remission of sins and eternal life. The gospel therefore so much exceeds in glory that in a manner it eclipses the glory of the legal dispensation, v. 10. As the shining of a burning lamp is lost, or not regarded, when the sun arises and goes forth in his strength; so there was no glory in the Old Testament, in comparison with that of the New. 3. The law is done away, but the gospel does and shall remain, v. 11. Not only did the glory of Moses’s face go away, but the glory of Moses’s law is done away also; yea, the law of Moses itself is now abolished. That dispensation was only to continue for a time, and then to vanish away; whereas the gospel shall remain to the end of the world, and is always fresh and flourishing and remains glorious.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Who also made us sufficient for such confidence ( ). Late causative verb from (verse 5) first aorist active indicative, “who (God) rendered us fit.” In N.T. only here and Col 1:12.
As ministers of a new covenant ( ). Predicate accusative with . For see on Mt 26:28 and for on Mt 20:26 and for (fresh and effective) on Lu 5:38. Only God can make us that.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Hath made us able ministers [ ] . An unfortunate translation, especially in view of the conventional sense of able. The verb iJkanow from iJkanov sufficient (see on Rom 14:23), means to make sufficient or fit. It occurs only here and Col 1:12. The correct sense is given by Rev., hath made us sufficient as ministers. Compare enabled [] , 1Ti 1:12.
Of the new testament [ ] . See on Mt 26:28, 29. There is no article. Render, as Rev., of a new covenant, in contrast with the Mosaic. See on Heb 9:15. Of course the term is never applied in the gospels or epistles to the collection of New – Testament writings.
Of the letter [] . Depending on ministers, not on covenant. For letter, see on writings, Joh 5:47. Here used of the mere formal, written ordinance as contrasted with the Gospel, which is “spirit and life.” Compare Rom 2:29; Rom 7:6.
Killeth. See on Rom 5:12, 13; Rom 7:9; Rom 8:2. Compare 1Co 14:56. “The living testimony borne to his authority in the Corinthian Church suggests strongly the contrast of the dreary, death – like atmosphere which surrounded the old, graven characters on which his opponents rested their claims” (Stanley).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Who also hath made us able,” (hos kai hikanosen humas hemas) “who also made us competent;” True Christian ability, competence, must always be considered humbly as existing from the Lord, and the ministerial endowment, especially, Eph 3:7; Col 1:25; Col 1:27; 2Ti 1:11.
2) “Ministers of the new testament;” (diakunos kaines diathekes) (as) ministers of a new covenant,” which is a new program of work and worship, initiated in and through the church, and authorized by Jesus Christ, Joh 20:21; Heb 8:6; Heb 8:8; Mat 28:18-20.
3) “Not of the letter,” (ou grammatos) “not of a letter, or writing;” not of the literal “law-letter” or word-letter; These are not the initiative sources of the ministerial call; God puts true men into the ministry, by a Divine Call, 1Ti 1:12.
4) “But of the spirit,” (alla pneumatos) “but of Spirit;” But “out of”, the source of the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit put Jeremiah of the Old Testament and Paul of the New Testament into the ministry, so must every true minister and minis”, be Spirit directed, Jer 1:4-9; Gal 1:11-12.
5) “For the letter killeth,” (to gar gramma apokteinei) “For the letter kills,” indicts, Rom 3:19; Rom 4:15; Rom 5:20.
6) “But the spirit giveth life,” (to de pneuma zoopoiei) Yet the spirit makes alive, quickens to life, Joh 6:63; Rom 8:2. The spirit liberates, sets free from the law of sin and death, every believer in regeneration and in the resurrection, Rom 8:11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
6. Who hath made us competent. (376) He had acknowledged himself to be altogether useless. Now he declares, that, by the grace of God, he has been qualified (377) for an office, for which he was previously unqualified. From this we infer its magnitude and difficulty, as it can be undertaken by no one, that has not been previously prepared and fashioned for it by God. It is the Apostle’s intention, also, to extol the dignity of the gospel. There is, at the same time, no doubt, that he indirectly exposes the poverty of those, who boasted in lofty terms of their endowments, while they were not furnished with so much as a single drop of heavenly grace.
Not of the letter but of the spirit He now follows out the comparison between the law and the gospel, which he had previously touched upon. It is uncertain, however, whether he was led into this discussion, from seeing that there were at Corinth certain perverse (378) devotees of the law, or whether he took occasion from something else to enter upon it. For my part, as I see no evidence that the false apostles had there confounded the law and the gospel, I am rather of opinion, that, as he had to do with lifeless declaimers, who endeavored to obtain applause through mere prating, (379) and as he saw, that the ears of the Corinthians were captivated with such glitter, he was desirous to show them what was the chief excellence of the gospel, and what was the chief praise of its ministers. Now this he makes to consist in the efficacy of the Spirit. A comparison between the law and the gospel was fitted in no ordinary degree to show this. This appears to me to be the reason why he came to enter upon it.
There is, however, no doubt, that by the term letter, he means the Old Testament, as by the term spirit he means the gospel; for, after having called himself a minister of the New Testament, he immediately adds, by way of exposition, that he is a minister of the spirit, and contrasts the letter with the spirit. We must now enquire into the reason of this designation. The exposition contrived by Origen has got into general circulation — that by the letter we ought to understand the grammatical and genuine meaning of Scripture, or the literal sense, (as they call it,) and that by the spirit is meant the allegorical meaning, which is commonly reckoned to be the spiritual meaning. Accordingly, during several centuries, nothing was more commonly said, or more generally received, than this — that Paul here furnishes us with a key for expounding Scripture by allegories, while nothing is farther from his intention. For by the term letter he means outward preaching, of such a kind as does not reach the heart; and, on the other hand, by spirit he means living doctrine, of such a nature as worketh effectually (1Th 2:13) on the minds of men, (380) through the grace of the Spirit. By the term letter, therefore, is meant literal preaching — that is, dead and ineffectual, perceived only by the ear. By the term spirit, on the other hand, is meant spiritual doctrine, that is, what is not merely uttered with the mouth, but effectually makes its way to the souls of men with a lively feeling. For Paul had an eye to the passage in Jeremiah, that I quoted a little ago, (Jer 31:31,) where the Lord says, that his law had been proclaimed merely with the mouth, and that it had, therefore, been of short duration, because the people did not embrace it in their heart, and he promises the Spirit of regeneration under the reign of Christ, to write his gospel, that is, the new covenant, upon their hearts. Paul now makes it his boast, that the accomplishment of that prophecy is to be seen in his preaching, that the Corinthians may perceive, how worthless is the loquacity of those vain boasters, who make incessant noise (381) while devoid of the efficacy of the Spirit.
It is asked, however, whether God, under the Old Testament, merely sounded forth in the way of an external voice, and did not also speak inwardly to the hearts of the pious by his Spirit. I answer in the first place, that Paul here takes into view what belonged peculiarly to the law; for although God then wrought by his Spirit, yet that did not take its rise from the ministry of Moses, but from the grace of Christ, as it is said in Joh 1:17 —
The law was given by Moses; but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
True, indeed, the grace of God did not, during all that time, lie dormant, but it is enough that it was not a benefit that belonged to the law. (382) For Moses had discharged his office, when he had delivered to the people the doctrine of life, adding threatenings and promises. For this reason he gives to the law the name of the letter, because it is in itself a dead preaching; but the gospel he calls spirit, because the ministry of the gospel is living, nay, lifegiving.
I answer secondly, that these things are not affirmed absolutely in reference either to the law or to the gospel, but in respect of the contrast between the one and the other; for even the gospel is not always spirit. When, however, we come to compare the two, it is truly and properly affirmed, that the nature of the law is to teach men literally, in such a way that it does not reach farther than the ear; and that, on the other hand, the nature of the gospel is to teach spiritually, because it is the instrument of Christ’s grace. This depends on the appointment of God, who has seen it meet to manifest the efficacy of his Spirit more clearly in the gospel than in the law, for it is his work exclusively to teach effectually the minds of men.
When Paul, however, calls himself a Minister of the Spirit, he does not mean by this, that the grace of the Holy Spirit and his influence, were tied to his preaching, so that he could, whenever he pleased, breathe forth the Spirit along with the utterance of the voice. He simply means, that Christ blessed his ministry, and thus accomplished what was predicted respecting the gospel. It is one thing for Christ to connect his influence with a man’s doctrine. (383) and quite another for the man’s doctrine (384) to have such efficacy of itself. We are, then, Ministers of the Spirit, not as if we held him inclosed within us, or as it were captive — not as if we could at our pleasure confer his grace upon all, or upon whom we pleased — but because Christ, through our instrumentality, illuminates the minds of men, renews their hearts, and, in short, regenerates them wholly. (385) It is in consequence of there being such a connection and bond of union between Christ’s grace and man’s effort, that in many cases that is ascribed to the minister which belongs exclusively to the Lord. For in that case it is not the mere individual that is looked to, but the entire dispensation of the gospel, which consists, on the one hand, in the secret influence of Christ, and, on the other, in man’s outward efforts.
For the letter killeth. This passage was mistakingly perverted, first by Origen, and afterwards by others, to a spurious signification. From this arose a very pernicious error — that of imagining that the perusal of Scripture would be not merely useless, but even injurious, (386) unless it were drawn out into allegories. This error was the source of many evils. For there was not merely a liberty allowed of adulterating the genuine meaning of Scripture, (387) but the more of audacity any one had in this manner of acting, so much the more eminent an interpreter of Scripture was he accounted. Thus many of the ancients recklessly played with the sacred word of God, (388) as if it had been a ball to be tossed to and fro. In consequence of this, too, heretics had it more in their power to trouble the Church; for as it had become general practice to make any passage whatever (389) mean anything that one might choose, there was no frenzy so absurd or monstrous, as not to admit of being brought forward under some pretext of allegory. Even good men themselves were carried headlong, so as to contrive very many mistaken opinions, led astray through a fondness for allegory.
The meaning of this passage, however, is as follows — that, if the word of God is simply uttered with the mouth, it is an occasion of death, and that it is lifegiving, only when it is received with the heart. The terms letter and spirit, therefore, do not refer to the exposition of the word, but to its influence and fruit. Why it is that the doctrine merely strikes upon the ear, without reaching the heart, we shall see presently.
(376) “ Lequel aussi nous a rendus suffisans ministres;” — “Who also hath made us sufficient ministers.”
(377) It is justly observed by Barnes, that the rendering in our authorized version — “Who hath made us able ministers” — “does not quite meet the force of the original,” as it “would seem to imply that Paul regarded himself and his fellow — laborers as men of talents, and of signal ability; and that he was inclined to boast of it,” while instead of this “he did not esteem himself sufficient for this work in his own strength, (2Co 2:16; 2Co 3:5); and he here says, that God had made him sufficient: not able, talented, learned, but sufficient, ( ἱκάνωσεν ἡμᾶς); he has supplied our deficiency; he has rendered us competent or fit; — if a word may be coined after the manner of the Greek here, ‘he has sufficienced us for this work.’” The unhappy rendering referred to had originated (as is shown by Granville Penn) in the circumstance, that the Vulgate having rendered the expression — qui idoneos nos fecit ministros , Wiclif translated it as follows: which made us also able mynystris, and that, while Erasmus suggested that it should be rendered — qui idoneos nos fecit ut essemus ministri, quasi dicas, idoneavit — who fitted or qualified us to be ministers — and while, besides, in the first translation from the original Greek, in 1526, Tyndale rendered — made us able to minister, Wiclif’s original version from the Latin was recalled, and is now the reading of our authorized version. — Ed.
(378) “ Mauuais et inconsiderez;” — “Wicked and reckless.”
(379) “ Il auoit affaire auec des gens qui sans zele preschoyent l’Euangile, comme qui prononceroit vne harangue pour son plaisir, et n’ayans que le babil, pourchassoyent par cela la faueur des hommes;” — “He had to do with persons, who without zeal preached the gospel, like one that makes a harangue according to his own liking, and while they had nothing but mere talk, endeavored by this means to procure the applause of men.”
(380) “ Es cœurs des auditeurs;” — “In the hearts of the hearers.”
(381) “ Crient et gazouillent;” — “Cry and chirp.”
(382) “ Il suffit, que ce n’estoit point par le moyen de la loy: car elle n’auoit point cela de propre;” — “It is enough that it was not by means of the law; for it did not belong peculiarly to it.”
(383) “ Au ministere de l’homme qui enseigne;” — “To the ministry of the man that teaches.”
(384) “ La doctrine de l’homme, c’est à dire, son ministere;” — “The doctrine of the man, that is to say, his ministry.”
(385) The reader will find the same subject largely treated of by Calvin, when commenting on 1Co 3:6. See Calvin on the Corinthians, vol. 1, pp. 128-9. — Ed.
(386) “ Dangereuse;” — “Dangerous.”
(387) “ De corrompre et desguiser le vray et naturel sens de l’Escriture :” — “Of corrupting and disguising the true and natural meaning of Scripture.”
(388) “Can you seriously think the Scriptures,” says Revelation Andrew Fuller, in his Thoughts on Preaching, “to be a book of riddles and conundrums, and that a Christian minister is properly employed in giving scope to his fancy in order to discover their solution? […] All Scripture is profitable in some way, some for doctrine, some for reproof, some for correction, and some for instruction in righteousness, but all is not to be turned into allegory. If we must play, let it be with things of less consequence than the word of the eternal God.” — Fuller’s Works, volume 4, p. 694. The attentive reader cannot fail to observe, how very frequently our author exposes, in the strongest terms, the exercise of mere fancy in the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. See Calvin on the Corinthians, vol. 1, p. 294. — Ed.
(389) “ Vn propos et vn mot;” — “A passage and a word.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) Able ministers of the new testament.Better, perhaps, as keeping up the stress on the word that had been used in 2Co. 2:16, in the English as in the Greek, sufficient ministers. The noun is used as carrying out the thought implied in the ministered by us in 2Co. 3:3. In the new covenantnew, as implying freshness of life and energywe have a direct reference, both to our Lords words, as cited in 1Co. 11:25, and given in the Gospel narrative of the Last Supper (see Notes on Mat. 26:28), and to Jer. 31:31. The Greek omits the article before all three words, of a new covenant, one not of a written letter, but of spirit. The idea of spirit comes from Eze. 11:19; Eze. 36:26-27.
For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.The word letter (gramma) stands, not for what we call the literal meaning of Scripture, as contrasted with one which is allegorical or spiritual, but for the whole written code or law of Judaism. St. Paul does not contrast the literal meaning of that code with the so-called mystical exposition of it (a view which has often led to wild and fantastic interpretations), but speaks of the written code as such. So the plural the writings, the Scriptures (grammata), are used of the sacred Books of Israel (Joh. 5:47; 2Ti. 3:15), and the scribes (grammateis) were those who interpreted the writings. The contrast between the letter in this sense and the spirit is a familiar thought with St. Paul (Rom. 2:27-29; Rom. 7:6). Of this written code St. Paul says that it killeth. The statement seems startlingly bold, and he does not here stop to explain its meaning. What he means is, however, stated with sufficient fulness in the three Epistles written about this time (1Co. 15:56; Gal. 3:10; Gal. 3:21; Rom. 7:9-11; Rom. 8:2-3, the references being given in the chronological order of the Epistles). The work of the Law, from St. Pauls view, is to make men conscious of sin. No outward command, even though it come from God, and is holy, and just, and good (Rom. 7:12), can, as such, do more than that. What was wanting was the life-giving power of the Spirit. The word here (as in Rom. 2:27; Rom. 7:6) appears to hover between the sense of spirit as representing any manifestation of the Divine Life that gives lifein which sense the words of Christ are spirit and life (Joh. 6:63), and Christ Himself is a quickening spirit (1Co. 15:45, and 2Co. 3:17 of this chapter)and the more distinctly personal sense in which St. Paul speaks of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and to which we commonly limit our use of the name of the Holy Ghost in His relation to the Father and Son. Of that Spirit St. Paul says that it quickens: it can rouse into life not only the slumbering conscience, as the Law had done, but the higher spiritual element in mancan give it strength to will, the healthy energy of new affections, new prayers, new impulses. If we cannot suppose St. Paul to have been acquainted with our Lords teaching, as recorded in Joh. 6:63 (where see Note), the coincidence of thought is, at any rate, singularly striking.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Able Same word as sufficient, 2Co 3:5.
The new testament Rather, of a new covenant. To the popular reader the phrase the new testament suggests the idea of a book. But the meaning is, that whereas under Moses there was what is now an old covenant or compact between God and the Jewish people, so now, in the place of that, is substituted a new covenant or compact, by which God, in consideration of Christ’s mediation, engages to pardon and save all who place obedient faith in Christ. Note on Luk 22:20. Thus has God made us, the apostles and preachers in the Christian Church, efficient ministers of a new covenant.
Not of the letter Prescribing a complex ritual, as recorded in the Pentateuch, to be obeyed with a mechanical precision.
But of the Spirit Which Spirit, accepted by our faith, breathes into our hearts, and creates in us a spirit of love, emancipated from rituals, and running into the path of a free and joyous obedience. This letter, however once effective to salvation, now pertinaciously adhered to, as by these Judaists, killeth. That circumcision prescribed by this letter, which they claim as necessary for our future Christianity, cramps its true free life, and killeth it. And claimed as necessary to the salvation of the soul, it crowds out Christ, and killeth the soul. It is emancipation from their letter into the freedom of the spirit that alone giveth life.
This superiority of the new over the old covenant, St. Paul now (2Co 3:7-18) illustrates with rich Old Testament imagery, and with much power, against the factious advocates of the old.
2Co 3:6. Not of the letter, &c. By expressing himself as he does here, St. Paul may be understood to intimate, that the New Testament, or Covenant, was also, though obscurely, held forth in the law; for he says he was constituted a minister of the Spirit, or spiritual meaning of the law, which was Christ, (as he tells us himself, 2Co 3:17.) and giveth life, while the letter killeth. But both letter and Spirit must be understood of the same thing,viz. the letter of the law, and the spirit of the law: and, in fact, we find St. Paul truly a minister of the spirit of the law, especially in his epistle to the Hebrews, where he shews what a spiritual sense ran through the Mosaical institutionandwritings.Theletter killeth by pronouncing death, without any way of remission, on all transgressors; it leaves them under an irrevocable sentence of death: but the Spirit, that is Christ, (2Co 3:17.) who is a quickening Spirit, (1Co 15:45.) giveth life.
2Co 3:6 . ] , he who , in the sense of . See Khner, ad Xen. Mem. i. 2. 64; van Hengel, Annot . 220. And is the also of the corresponding relation (Baeumlein, Partik. p. 152), so that there is expressed the agreement between what is contained in the relative clause and what was said before: who also ( qui idem , comp. Klotz, ad Devar. p. 636) has made us capable ( , Theodoret) as ministers , etc. According to Bengel, Rckert (comp. also de Wette, Osiander, Hofmann), the sense is: “that God has bestowed on him not only the ability mentioned in 2Co 3:5 but also the more comprehensive one of a . . .” But in that case the words must have stood thus: . The notion of is thrice put in front with the same emphasis. Of (Col 1:12 ) only the passive, in the sense of to have enough , occurs in the (later) Greek writers, such as Dion. Hal. ii. 74, and in the LX.
.] as ministers of a new covenant (comp. Eph 3:7 ; Col 1:23 ; 2Co 11:15 ; Luk 1:2 ), i.e. to be such as serve a new covenant, as devote to it their activity. . ., without the article, is conceived qualitatively . The new covenant (Heb 12:24 ) of God with men, which is meant, is in contrast to the one founded by Moses that established by Christ, in which the fulfilling of the law is no longer defined as the condition of salvation, but faith on the atonement in Christ, 1Co 11:25 ; Rom 10:5 ff.; Gal 4:24 ff.; Mat 26:28 .
, .] is since Heumann usually (also by Billroth, Rckert, Ewald) regarded as governed by (Rckert, “of a covenant, which offers not , but ”), but without reason, since the sequel, by and . (2Co 3:7-8 ), rather points to the fact that Paul has conceived . . as dependent on (so also de Wette, Neander, Osiander, Hofmann), as an appositional more precise definition to the : to be ministers not of letter (which we would be as ministers of the old covenant), but of spirit . characterizes the Mosaic covenant according to the specific manner in which it occurs and subsists , for it is established and fixed in writing (by means of the written letter), and thereby although it is divine, yet without bringing with it and communicating any principle of inward vital efficacy settled as obligatory. On the other hand, characterizes the Christian covenant, in so far as its distinctive and essential mode of existence consists in this, that the divine living power of the Holy Spirit is at work in it; through this, and not through a written instrument, it subsists and fulfils itself. Comp. Rom 2:29 ; Rom 7:6 ; Heb 10:29 ; Heb 8:7 ff. Not letter therefore, but spirit , is that to which the teachers of the gospel minister, the power, whose influence is advanced by their labours; [159] , , Theodoret. It is true that the law also is in its nature (see on Rom 7:14 ), and its are (see on Act 7:38 ), but it is misused by the power of sin in man to his destruction, because it does not furnish the spirit which breaks this powe.
, ] specifies quite simply the reason , why God has made them capable of ministering not to the letter , but to the spirit . It is therefore quite unnecessary to presuppose, with Fritzsche, Billroth, and Rckert, a suppressed intermediate thought (namely, that the new covenant is far more excellent). We may add that the does not extend also to what follows (2Co 3:7-8 ), so as to make the sentence . . . merely introductory to the sequel, and the whole a vindication of the apostle’s referring his capacity of judgment to God. This view of Hofmann is connected with his interpretation of . , 2Co 3:5 , and has besides against it the fact, that the weighty antithesis . . . . is neither adapted to be a mere introductory thought, nor betokened as being such, the more especially as it contains completely in itself the ground establishing what immediately precedes, and with 2Co 3:7 a new discussion begins, which runs on to the end of the chapter without a brea.
] does not refer to the physical death (Kuffer; . p. 75), in so far as that is the consequence of sin (Rom 5:12 ), and sin is occasioned and furthered by the law (Rom 7:9 ff; Rom 6:23 ; 1Co 15:56 , al. ). Against this interpretation it is decisive that according to Rom 5:12 ff. (see in loc. ) bodily death is the consequence, extending to all, of Adam’s sin , and has, since Adam, reigned over all even before the law . Nor yet are we to understand spiritual (Billroth), ethical (de Wette, Krummel), or spiritual and bodily death (Rckert), or the mere sensus mortis (Bengel, comp. Neander), but according to Rom 6:21 ; Rom 6:23 ; Rom 7:5 ; Rom 7:9-11 ; Rom 7:13 ; Rom 7:24 , eternal death , [160] the opposite of the eternal life , which, by means of the Holy Spirit becoming operative in the heart through the gospel, is brought about for man who is liable to eternal death (Rom 8:2 ; Rom 8:6 ; Rom 8:10-11 ) which here (comp. Joh 6:63 ) is expressed by , comp. on 2Co 2:16 . How far the law works eternal death, is shown from Rom 7:5 ; Rom 7:7 ff.; comp. 1Co 15:56 . Through its prohibitions, namely, it becomes for the power of sin in man the occasion of awakening evil desire, and therewith transgression sets in and the imputing of it for condemnation, whereby man is liable to eternal death, and that by means of the curse of the law which heaps up sin and produces the divine anger, see on 2Co 3:9 ; Gal 3:10 . Comp. Rom 4:15 ; Rom 5:20 . After Chrysostom and his followers (also Ambrosiaster), Grotius explains it as. “morte violenta punit peccatores,” and Fritzsche: “lex supplicia sumit.” This is to be rejected, because in this way the law would not be the very thing that kills, but only that which determines death as a punishment; and consequently no corresponding contrast to would result. Finally, we can only consider as historically remarkable the interpretation of Origen regarding the literal and mystical sense of Scripture , the former of which is injurious, the latter conducive, to salvation. Something similar is still to be found in Krause and Royaards. Against the visionaries, who referred to the outward and to the inward word, see Calovius.
[159] Bengel acutely and justly remarks: “Paulus etiam dum haec scripsit , non literae, sed spiritus ministrum egit. Moses in proprio illo officio suo, etiam cum haud scripsit , tamen in litera versatus est.”
[160] With this is connected certainly moral death (the negation of the moral life), but only the eternal death is here meant , which is the consequence of the , ver. 9. This in opposition to Osiander. Nor is the meant of the letter conditionally (“so soon as we abide by it alone and deify it”), but the killing is the specific operation of the law; how? see Rom 7:9 f.; 1Co 15:56 . This in opposition to Ewald. Hofmann unites the various meanings of the death to which the sinner is liable, inasmuch as he defines the notion as “ the existence of the whole man shut out from the life of God and for ever .” This collective definition of the notion, however, does not relieve us from the labour of showing from the various contexts in what special sense death and dying are conceived of in the several passages.
DISCOURSE: 2007 2Co 3:6. Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
IN the Holy Scriptures there is often incidentally introduced some information of the deepest and most important nature, where the subject did not immediately appear to call for it. In a parenthesis, as it were, a world of instruction is often conveyed. The fact is, that the inspired writers, and especially St. Paul, had so full an insight into the mysteries of our holy religion, that they spake of them as persons familiar with the truths they uttered, and scarcely conscious, as it were, of the depths into which they so abruptly led the minds of their readers. St. Paul, vindicating himself against a supposed charge of egotism and of boasting, here acknowledges, that all his sufficiency, for every part of his ministerial duty [Note: This is the precise idea, not of the context only, but of the text itself. See the Greek.], was of God. But, together with this, he gives, in few words, his entire view of the Gospel which he preached, and of the effects which he expected to follow from his labours. To set before you the precise import of his words, I will shew,
I.
What is that Gospel which we minister
St. Paul calls himself a minister of the new testament, or, as the word also means, the new covenant: and, for the purpose of explaining himself more clearly, he contrasts that new covenant with the old covenant, which was superseded by it. In opposition to this, the Gospel is set forth as a new covenant, given to us to remedy the defects of the former covenant. In this new covenant a Saviour is provided for us; and the Holy Spirit also is promised to us, to effect in our hearts all that our necessities require. Are we blind? this blessed Spirit will enlighten us. Are we weak? He will give us strength. Are we polluted? He will sanctify us throughout: and thus will he impart to us all that the Saviour has obtained for us, even peace, and righteousness, and life. Hence the Apostle calls the Gospel, the spirit that giveth life; and represents the ministration of it as a ministration of the spirit, and of righteousness [Note: ver. 8, 9.].
In the Epistle to the Hebrews this contrast is more fully opened: Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt: for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousnesses, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more [Note: Heb 8:8-12.]. Here, then, the defects of the former covenant are completely supplied. The law issued commands without aid, and menaces without hope: but the Gospel offers a free pardon of all sin, and communicates strength for future obedience. Thus the one is a letter which killeth; the other is a spirit, which giveth life.]
This is the Gospel which we also preach Having thus declared what the Gospel is which we preach, let me also declare,
II.
What we look for as the fruit of our ministrations
St. Paul had spoken of himself as a savour of life unto life and salvation to many [Note: 2Co 2:16.]. And this is what we also hope to be, and what we aim at in all our ministrations. We hope, and, so far as God shall render our word effectual, expect,
1.
To deliver you from all legal bondage
[Every man by nature is under the law, and expects to be saved by his obedience to it. Hence arise those self-denying efforts which unenlightened heathens make to commend themselves to their deities; and hence also spring those laborious exertions which Christians of a Pharisaic cast put forth to purchase the favour of the Most High. But, however much they labour, they cannot attain solid peace. There always remains upon their mind, as well there may, a doubt, whether they have done enough to purchase the remission of their sins, and enough also to secure a title to heaven. Hence they spend their days in a state of bondage, labouring incessantly to acquire such a measure of righteousness as shall serve as a foundation of hope, and yet are unable so to satisfy their conscience as to find peace in their souls. But, in bringing before you the new covenant, we shew that you may dismiss all your fears, and indulge a better hope; since the Lord Jesus Christ has suffered for your sins, and has wrought out a righteousness wherein you may stand accepted before God. Thus you may be brought at once into the condition of a prisoner, who, having been long shut up under a state of condemnation, has at last had his pardon sealed, and is permitted to live free from all fear or painful restraint.]
2.
To bring you into perfect liberty
[A mere hope of pardon is by no means the full extent of the mercy accorded to us under the new covenant. There is a perfect peace, into which they are introduced who believe in Christ; yea, they possess a joy unspeakable and glorified. The Spirit of God is to the believer a Comforter, who sheds abroad the love of God in his heart, and seals him unto the day of his final redemption. O, who can declare the full liberty of the children of God; the sweet confidence which they have in God; and the exquisite delight they feel in communion with him? Who can adequately declare the foretastes which they enjoy of their heavenly inheritance? Now, to these blessings we hope to introduce you: nor do we ever consider our ministry as fully answering the ends which God has ordained, till we see you rejoicing in hope of the glory of God; and longing to be dissolved, that you may be with Christ. Wherever the Gospel has its proper work, there is the liberty which I have here described [Note: Cite ver. 17.].]
3.
To effect in you such a change as shall commend our doctrine to the whole world by your life and conversation
[No other commendation do we desire either to you or from you [Note: ver. 1.]. Applaud us as much as you please, and we shall regard that as, at best, a very doubtful evidence of our real usefulness. But let us see you changed both in heart and life; let us see you so changed, as to be epistles of Christ, known and read of all men; and we shall desire no better testimony, either from God or man. If we see you crucified to the world by the cross of Christ; if we behold you dedicating yourselves to the service of your God, and renewed after his image in righteousness and true holiness; if your spirit and temper in your families; your meekness, your gentleness, your patience, your forbearance, and your conformity to the mind that was in Christ Jesus, be visible to all around you; that, that is the object which we aim at; that so, if our doctrine be condemned, we may challenge the world to produce such effects wrought by any other means than those which we use,an exhibition of Christ crucified, and an unqualified offer of salvation to all who will believe in him.]
Application Inquire, then, I pray you, what reception you have given to this Gospel
[It is not a mere outward approbation of it that will suffice. You must embrace it with your whole souls. You must be delivered into it, as into a mould [Note: Rom 6:17. The Greek.]; and assume the features of it, in every part of your character and conversation. There is found in many a very considerable change, as wrought by legal doctrines. The Pharisees of old were very abundant in outward acts of righteousness: but their services were altogether performed on self-righteous principles, and not from love; and were wrought for their own glory, and not for the glory of their God. But you must render a far higher obedience: for you are delivered from the law; that being dead wherein you were held; and therefore you are expected to serve God in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter [Note: Rom 7:6.]. The works which proceed from self-righteous principles are such as please men: but those which are expected from you, will please God only: they proceed from the heart; and they alone prove you to be Christians indeed: as God has said, He is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God [Note: Rom 2:29.].]
2.
Beg of God a blessing on our ministrations
[It is God alone who can instruct ministers to proclaim his Gospel; as St. Paul has said in my text: Our sufficiency is of God, who has made us able ministers of the new testament. Hence St. Paul so often entreated his brethren to pray for him, that utterance might be given him to speak truly and faithfully, as he ought to speak. And it is God alone who can render the word effectual for the good of those who hear it. Paul may plant, and Apollos water, to no purpose, unless God himself shall give an increase. Pray, then, that the word may come to you, not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance: for it will then only be profitable to your souls, when it comes to you in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.]
DISCOURSE: 2008 2Co 3:6. The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
THE Gospel is that weapon, whereby God subdues a rebellious world to the obedience of faith: and the Apostle Paul, when his commission to preach it was called in question, appealed to the effects wrought by it on the hearts of his hearers, as a decisive evidence that he was sent of God to proclaim it, and that the word he preached was the true Gospel. But, though constrained thus to vindicate his apostolic character, he would not arrogate to himself any praise, as though the work had been wrought by any wisdom or power of his own: he disclaimed all power even to think a good thought, and much more to produce such a wonderful change on the hearts of others: this change was effected by a simple exhibition of Gospel truth; yet not by the mere promulgation of it as a record, but by a representation of it as Gods appointed instrument to save the world. In this respect, his ministry differed widely from that of the priests under the Law, and from that of the false teachers under the Gospel: for both the one and the other of those, resting in externals, betrayed their hearers to their ruin; whereas he, by setting forth the true Gospel according to its spiritual import, was instrumental to their salvation: He was a minister of the new testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit: for, says he, the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. I.
By contrasting the new testament with the old
The old-testament dispensation had no power to give life Its commands are such as fallen man cannot obey. It requires us to love God with all our heart, and all our mind, and all our soul, and all our strength, and our neighbour as ourselves. But who can do this? Who, except the Lord Jesus Christ himself, has not failed in some particular?
At the same time that its commands are so difficult, it affords no strength whatever for the performance of them. It simply says, Do this, and live: but it contains no promise of assistance for the doing of it, nor any intimation of pardon for one single act of disobedience. Thus, in itself, the law is, as the Apostle justly calls it, a ministration only of death and of condemnation [Note: ver. 7, 9.].
But, in the manner in which it is promulgated, it has yet a further tendency to kill. For it is promulgated now exactly as it was in Paradise: and there is no notice given in the decalogue that we are not to trust in it for acceptance: so that a person who does not inquire diligently into the design of God in giving it, is but too likely to misapprehend its real use, and to rest in it, instead of looking out for some other law in which he may rest.
Further, the ceremonial law also has, through the ignorance of man, the same tendency to kill those who are placed under it. For, whilst it prescribes certain observances, as means of expiating transgression, it gives no direct information concerning the precise nature and extent of the remission obtained by them: so that a person performing the appointed ordinances would be likely to conceive that his sins were actually pardoned in the sight of God; whilst, in reality, the annual repetition of the same sacrifices might teach him that they were not completely and finally forgiven [Note: Heb 10:1-4.].
The truth is, that neither the moral nor ceremonial law was given for the purpose of enabling any one to obtain, by means of it, a justifying righteousness. They were both given with a view to prepare men for that better dispensation which was in due time to be introduced; the moral law shutting them up under condemnation; and the ceremonial law opening to them a door, whereby they might find access to that better dispensation, which should in due time be revealed [Note: Gal 3:21-24.].
It will naturally, then, be asked, Did the legal dispensation actually kill all who lived under it? I answer, God forbid. There were multitudes saved under that dispensation; not, however, through any influence of the law itself, but by looking forward to the Gospel, and by apprehending that Saviour who was held forth to them in their types and shadows. Abraham by faith beheld the day of Christ, and rejoiced; and so did thousands of his believing posterity. The giving of the law made no difference in that respect. The use of the law was to shew men their need of a better dispensation, and to prepare them for it; that, when the time for the full manifestation of the Gospel should arrive, the Saviour might be welcomed by his own people, and the whole world be made partakers of his salvation [Note: Gal 3:19.].]
The office of giving life was reserved for the Gospel If it he asked, Whether the Gospel produces this effect on all to whom it is sent I must answer, No: and this will lead me to make distinctions in reference to the Gospel itself,
II.
By contrasting the new testament as externally administered, with the same as internally and spiritually received
The new testament itself, as a letter, has no other effect than that of killing those to whom it is proclaimed
[The new-testament dispensation is, in its very nature, calculated to offend the pride of man, and to prove a stumbling-block to the unhumbled spirit. It was declared, by the Prophet Isaiah, that it should be so: Sanctify, says he, the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread: and he shall be to you for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken [Note: Isa 8:13-15.]. And when the Saviour came into the world, the holy man, who took him up in his arms, declared, that he was set no less for the fall than for the rising again of many in Israel [Note: Luk 2:34.]. And did not the event correspond with these predictions? St. Peter tells us, that, whilst to some he was precious, to others he was a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence, even to those who stumbled at the word, being disobedient [Note: 1Pe 2:7-8.]. It was from foreseeing these effects, that our blessed Lord gave that solemn caution to his hearers, Blessed is he that shall not be offended in me [Note: Mat 11:6.]. If it be thought that this offence arose only from his person, as appearing in a low and degraded state, I answer, that it arose from the entire constitution of the Gospel altogether. The whole doctrine of salvation by the cross of Christ was to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness [Note: 1Co 1:23.]. The Jews could not conceive how the Mosaic law should be superseded, and how they should be required to look for salvation otherwise than by their obedience to it: and the Greeks thought it perfectly absurd to expect salvation from one, who, in appearance, Was not able to save himself. So, at this day, thousands who hear the Gospel are offended at being told that they must renounce all dependence on their own works, and be saved simply by faith in Christ. They cannot comprehend how we are to be dead to the law as a covenant, and yet alive to it as a rule of life: and the being saved entirely by the righteousness of another appears to supersede all occasion for any righteousness of their own. They can see no more suitableness or sufficiency in such a Gospel, than Naaman could see in the direction given him to wash in Jordan in order to cure his leprosy.
Thus, in the very constitution of the Gospel, there is much which has a tendency to kill those who are not of a humble mind. But, besides these, there are others, who take occasion from the precepts of the Gospel, to make their obedience to them a joint ground of their hope. They see rewards promised to obedience; and they know not how to distinguish between a reward of grace, and a reward of debt; or between that which forms their justifying righteousness before God, and that which shall be approved in those who are already justified. Thus, by uniting their own righteousness with that of Christ, they make void all that Christ has done, and perish without any interest in his salvation.
Thus even the new testament, as externally administered, but not rightly and vitally apprehended, may kill, no less than the law itself. And so St. Paul has told us, that the word which he preached, whilst to some it was made a savour of life unto life, became to others a savour of death unto death [Note: 2Co 2:16.].]
But, when internally and spiritually received, it giveth life Learn, then, from hence, What the hearers of the Gospel should more especially guard against
[Of those who hear the Gospel, many think, that if they receive the truths of Christianity into their minds, so as to be orthodox in their sentiments, they have no need of any thing further to make them partakers of its benefits. But God forbid that any of you, brethren, should be left under any such delusion. You must not be satisfied with hearing the truth, but must consider how you hear it; whether you give merely a speculative assent to it; or whether you receive it into your hearts, as the ground of all your hopes, and as the well-spring of all your joys. Dearly beloved, it is for this end that, as a minister of the new testament, I would impress on your minds the truths which I declare. And, if at any time I manifest a jealousy over you in relation to these matters, know, that, it is not an uncharitable, but a godly, jealousy; which I am bound to exercise over you for your good. I am bound to stand in doubt of you, till I can see Christ formed in your hearts, the hope of glory. Concur then with me in this important work. Bear in mind that you are in danger, even from the Gospel itself; in danger of deceiving your own souls by means of it; and of causing that which is ordained to life, to be found at last unto death. You may possibly delight in the ministry of the word, like Ezekiels hearers; who came to him, just as those who were truly pious did; and he was to them as a very lovely song of one that had a pleasant voice, and played well upon an instrument: but though they heard his words, they would not do them; for their heart went after their covetousness [Note: Eze 33:31-32.]. Beware, lest by any means the Gospel prove but a dead letter: for if it bring not your whole soul into captivity to Christ, it will be preached, as it respects you, in vain. Beware, I say, of this: for our Lord himself gives you this very caution; It is the spirit, says he, that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life [Note: Joh 6:63.].]
2.
What fruit a minister expects to find from his labours
[The Apostle spoke of the Corinthians themselves as bearing the best testimony to his ministrations: and that is the return which we hope to receive from you. Beloved brethren, you yourselves are to be as epistles of Christ, known and read of all men. Let it be seen that you are such indeed; that you are epistles, written, not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God [Note: ver. 2, 3.]. The Gospel, whilst it saves you from condemnation, must save you also from sin; and, whilst you are delivered by it from the law, as a covenant of works, you are to be serving God, in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter [Note: Rom 7:6.]. Let us, then, behold this change in you: let us see that the Son of God hath made you free indeed; free from carnal desires; free from legal hopes or fears; free to run, with enlarged hearts, the way of Gods commandments. Then shall we know that we have not laboured in vain; and that God has set his seal to our ministry for your good: for he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God [Note: Rom 2:28-29.].]
6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Ver. 6. Not of the letter ] To wit, of the law, which requireth perfect obedience, presupposing holiness in us, and cursing the disobedient; but the gospel (called here the Spirit) presupposeth unholiness, and, as an instrument, maketh us holy,Joh 17:17Joh 17:17 ; Act 10:32 . For we preach Christ,1Co 1:231Co 1:23 . We give what we preach. The Spirit is received by the preaching of faith, Gal 3:2 . This manna is rained down in the sweet dews of the ministry of the gospel, 1Pe 1:22 .
For the letter killeth ] Many popish priests, that hardly ever had seen, much less read, St Paul’s writings, having gotten this sentence by the end, “The letter killeth,” took care of being killed, by not meddling with good literature. Hence that of Sir Thomas Moore to one of them,
” Tu bene cavisti, ne te ulla occidere possit
Littera: nam nulla est littera nota tibi. 6.] Who also (= ‘qui idem;’ so Eur. Bacch. 572, , ‘hc eadem illi exprobravi.’ See Hartung, Partikellehre, i. p. 132) enabled us as ministers of the (or, as Stanley, “a:” but not necessarily from the omission of the art.: cf. Heb 12:24 , ) new Covenant (i.e. the gospel , Eph 3:7 ; Col 1:23 , as distinguished from the law ; see 1Co 11:25 ; Gal 4:24 : the and are still borne in mind, and lead on to a fuller comparison of the two covenants), not of (governed by , not by . ‘ ministers, not of ’.) letter (in which, viz. in formal and literal precept, the Mosaic law consisted), but of Spirit (in which, viz. in the inward guiding of the Spirit of God, the gospel consists. Bengel remarks: ‘Paulus etiam dum hc scripsit , non liter, sed spiritus ministerium egit. Moses in proprio illo officio suo, etiam cum haud scripsit, tamen in litera versatus est’): for the letter (mere formal and literal precept, of the law) killeth (as in Rom 7 , brings the knowledge of sin, its guilt and its punishment. The reference is not, as Meyer, to natural death , which is the result of sin even where there is no law ; nor as Chrys. to the law executing punishment ), but the Spirit (of the gospel, i.e. God’s Holy Spirit, acting in and through Christ, Who , 1Co 15:45 . See also below, 2Co 3:17 ) giveth life (not merely life eternal, but the whole new life of the man of God, see Rom 6:4 ; Rom 6:11 ; Rom 8:2 ; Rom 8:10 ). On the history of this meaning of , see Stanley’s note.
2Co 3:6 . . . .: who also (“qui idem”; cf. 1Co 1:8 ) made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant [ministers] not of the letter ( i.e. , the Law), but of the Spirit; for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life . The Apostle’s opponents at Corinth were probably Judaisers (2Co 11:22 ), and thus the description of his office as the leads him to a comparison and a contrast of the Old Covenant and the New. The “covenants” (Rom 9:4 , Eph 2:12 ) between Jehovah and Israel were the foundation of Judaism. They began (not to speak of the Covenant with Noah) with the Covenant of Circumcision granted to Abraham (Gen 17:2 ) and repeated more than once (Gen 22:16 ; Gen 26:3 ), which is often appealed to in the N.T. (Luk 1:72 , Act 3:25 ; Act 7:8 , etc.). This was not abrogated (Gal 3:17 ) by the Covenant of Sinai (Exo 19:5 ; cf. , for its recapitulation in Moab, Deu 29:1 ), which, as the National Charter of Israel, was pre-eminently to a Hebrew “the Old Covenant”. The great prophecy of a Deliverer from Zion (Isa 59:21 ) is interpreted by St. Paul (Rom 11:27 ) as the “covenant” of which the prophet spoke in the next verse; and Jeremiah, in a passage (Jer 31:31-33 ) from which the Apostle has just now (2Co 3:3 above) borrowed a striking image, had proclaimed a New Covenant with Israel in the future. The phrase had been consecrated to the Gospel, through its employment by Christ at the Institution of the Eucharist (Mat 26:28 , Luk 22:20 , 1Co 11:25 ); and in that solemn context it bore direct allusion to the Blood of Sprinkling which ratified the Old Covenant of Sinai (Exo 24:8 ). It is of this “New Covenant” that St. Paul is a (Christ is its , Heb 9:15 ); i.e. , he is a , not of the letter of the Law (as might be wrongly inferred from his statement in 2Co 3:3 that the was “ministered” [ ] by him), but of the “Spirit of the living God” (2Co 3:3 ). This is a much more gracious , inasmuch as the Law is the instrument of Death ( cf. Rom 5:20 ; Rom 7:9 ; Rom 8:2 , in all which passages the Apostle brings into closest connexion the three thoughts of the Law, Sin , and Death ), but the Spirit of God is the Giver of Life (see reff. and cf. Gal 3:21 , where he notes that the law is not able, , “to give life”). It will be observed that the article is wanting before , as it is before and ; but we need not on that account with the Revisers translate “ a new covenant”. The expression “New Covenant,” like the words “Letter” (for the Law) and “Spirit” for the Holy Spirit, was a technical phrase in the theology of the day; and so might well dispense with the article. The contrast between “letter” and “Spirit” here (so often misunderstood, as if it pointed to a contrast between what is verbally stated and what is really implied, and so justified an appeal from the bare “letter” of the law to the principles on which it rests) is exactly illustrated by Rom 7:6 , where St. Paul declares that the service of a Christian is , i.e. , “in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter”. And (though not so plainly) the same contrast is probably intended in Rom 2:29 . In St. Paul’s writings , when used for the human spirit, is contrasted with (1Co 5:3 ), (2Co 7:1 ) and (1Co 14:14 ), but never with . This is a technical term for the “Law” (like , Scripture; cf. 2Co 3:7 , ), and is properly set over against the “Spirit” of God, whose office and work were first plainly revealed in the Gospel.
also. Road after “ministers”.
hath made us able = enabled us, or made us efficient as. Greek. hikanoo. Only here and Col 1:12.
ministers. Greek. diakonos. App-190.
the = a.
new. Greek. kainos. See Mat 9:17.
testament = covenant. Greek. diatheke. See Mat 26:28. This is the covenant of Jer 31:31. Compare Heb 8:6-13.
the. Omit.
letter. Greek. gramma. This is the Sinaitic covenant, called “theministration of death” in 2Co 3:7.
spirit. The old covenant could not give life. It was like a dead body, for lack of the spirit (Jam 2:26). Compare Joh 6:63. Christ is the Spirit of the new covenant. See 2Co 3:17,
giveth life = quickeneth. Greek. zoopoieo. See Rom 8:11 and 1Co 15:45.
6.] Who also (= qui idem; so Eur. Bacch. 572, , hc eadem illi exprobravi. See Hartung, Partikellehre, i. p. 132) enabled us as ministers of the (or, as Stanley, a: but not necessarily from the omission of the art.: cf. Heb 12:24, ) new Covenant (i.e. the gospel, Eph 3:7; Col 1:23, as distinguished from the law; see 1Co 11:25; Gal 4:24 :-the and are still borne in mind, and lead on to a fuller comparison of the two covenants),-not of (governed by , not by .-ministers, not of.) letter (in which, viz. in formal and literal precept, the Mosaic law consisted), but of Spirit (in which, viz. in the inward guiding of the Spirit of God, the gospel consists. Bengel remarks: Paulus etiam dum hc scripsit, non liter, sed spiritus ministerium egit. Moses in proprio illo officio suo, etiam cum haud scripsit, tamen in litera versatus est): for the letter (mere formal and literal precept, of the law) killeth (as in Romans 7,-brings the knowledge of sin, its guilt and its punishment. The reference is not, as Meyer, to natural death, which is the result of sin even where there is no law; nor as Chrys. to the law executing punishment), but the Spirit (of the gospel, i.e. Gods Holy Spirit, acting in and through Christ, Who , 1Co 15:45. See also below, 2Co 3:17) giveth life (not merely life eternal, but the whole new life of the man of God, see Rom 6:4; Rom 6:11; Rom 8:2; Rom 8:10). On the history of this meaning of , see Stanleys note.
2Co 3:6. , also) An emphatic addition [to the previous assertion. Epitasis. Append.] He has given sufficiency to us, even the sufficiency of ministers of the New Testament, which demands much more in order to realize it [than ordinary sufficiency].- , us ministers) Apposition.-, new) An antithesis to old, 2Co 3:14.-, not) of the New Testament, i.e., not of the letter, but of the spirit, see Rom 7:6, and the following verses, with the annot.-, of the letter) Even while Paul wrote these things, he was the minister not of the letter, but of the spirit. Moses in that his peculiar office, even when he did not write, was yet employed about the letter.-, of the Spirit) whose ministry has both greater glory, and requires greater ability [sufficiency].-, kills): the letter rouses the sinner to a sense of death; for if the sinner had life, before the letter came, there would have been no need of quickening by the Spirit. With this comp. the following verse, of death.
2Co 3:6
2Co 3:6
who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant;-He had no ability or knowledge save as God bestowed on him the Holy Spirit to guide him into the truth and make him an able minister to set forth the truths of the new covenant. [To appreciate the real force of this passage, we must bear in mind that the ones whom Paul had in view are Judaizers (2Co 11:20-22) who championed the Mosaic covenant. With Jesus, a new covenant came into the world. Paul was fully aware of the tremendous difference that Jesus made to history (1Co 15:22), and his words cut right into the heart of the contrast, and lay it bare.]
not of the letter, but of the spirit:-The contrast is between the epistle written in the heart and that written on stones. [The letter is the law, which found its most characteristic expression in the commandments engraven upon the tablets of stone, while the contrast with this is the Spirit, the source of that new order or constitution of things which was established by Jesus Christ. The contrast is between the law and the gospel, between Moses and Christ, between laws imposed from without and from within.]
for the letter killeth,-This evidently refers to the old covenant because it brought the knowledge of sin and death, but did not give life, because none kept its requirements. [The law imposed a command to which men were not equal; it virtually condemned them (verse 9)-condemned them to death. As men could only disobey the law, and life lay alone in obedience, the law could only lead to death. (Rom 7:9-11). In this sense, therefore, the letter kills.]
but the spirit giveth life.-this was the ministration of life because it provided for pardon and life in Christ. [The soul that was slain-shut up to despair and death-by the law is quickened into life when touched by the Spirit of Jesus. These words are a vivid summary of Pauls experience under the two dispensations, both of which he knew so well.] The Spirit is the author of all true spiritual life. Jesus said: It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. (Joh 6:63). This conveys to us the truth that the word and the Spirit are closely and essentially associated. He did not say that the Spirit dwells in the word, but that the words which he spoke are spirit, and are life. This expresses a closer relationship than a mere dwelling in the word; it implies that the Spirit and the life principle dwell in the word, and, further, that they
are associated and combined as one in work and influence-just as the seed is composed of the material substance and the immaterial life germ that dwells within and is an essential part of the seed.
for the letter killeth
(See Scofield “Rom 7:6”).
hath: 2Co 5:18-20, Mat 13:52, Rom 1:5, 1Co 3:5, 1Co 3:10, 1Co 12:28, Eph 3:7, Eph 4:11, Eph 4:12, Col 1:25-29, 1Ti 1:11, 1Ti 1:12, 1Ti 4:6, 2Ti 1:11
the new: 2Co 3:14, Jer 31:31, Mat 26:28, Mar 14:24, Luk 22:20, 1Co 11:25, Heb 7:22, Heb 8:6-10, Heb 9:15-20, Heb 12:24, Heb 13:20, *marg.
not: Rom 2:27-29, Rom 7:6
for: 2Co 3:7, 2Co 3:9, Deu 27:26, Rom 3:20, Rom 4:15, Rom 7:9-11, Gal 3:10-12, Gal 3:21
but the: Joh 6:63, Rom 8:2, 1Jo 1:1
giveth life: or, quickeneth, Joh 5:21, Rom 4:17, 1Co 15:45, Eph 2:1, Eph 2:5, 1Pe 3:18
Reciprocal: 1Ch 26:8 – able men Psa 78:72 – guided Psa 119:125 – give Joe 1:13 – ye ministers Rom 2:29 – spirit Rom 6:14 – under Rom 7:5 – which 2Co 2:16 – who 2Co 3:8 – the ministration 2Co 3:11 – much 2Co 3:17 – the Lord 2Co 4:1 – seeing 2Co 4:7 – that 2Co 5:15 – that they 2Co 5:20 – ambassadors 2Co 6:4 – as 2Co 11:23 – ministers 2Co 12:9 – My grace Gal 5:25 – we Col 1:23 – whereof Col 2:13 – he 1Th 1:5 – in word 2Ti 2:15 – a workman Heb 8:8 – a new
THE ABLE OR SUFFICIENT MINISTER
Able ministers of the new testament.
2Co 3:6
The Revised Version renders this, Sufficient as ministers of a new covenant. The ministers are those who proclaim and represent and commend the covenant. There is required a certain sufficiency on the part of its ministers. They must have certain adaptations. They may, from their character and spirit and mode of operation, do justice or injustice to the covenant with which they are entrusted. The man cannot be severed from the minister.
The able or sufficient minister of the new covenant must be one who has
I.A settled belief in it as a revelation.
II.Genuine sympathy with its designs.
III.Strong faith in its power.
IV.Real harmony with its spirit.
Illustration
The trustees of a will could not honestly and energetically carry out its provisions if they had the uneasy suspicion that it was forged, or had been tampered with in important details. And no man can with sufficiency and power proclaim the Gospel of Christ if he is haunted with doubts concerning the genuineness of the records which contain its facts and principles. We have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Co 3:6. Ministers is from the same Greek word as “deacon.” Thayer’s general definition is, “one who executes the commands of another, especially of a master; a servant, attendant, minister.” Paul was made able to administer the commands of Christ by the Spirit of God as stated in verse 3. New is from KAINOS. which Thayer defines at this place, “new, which as recently made is superior to what it succeeds.” Testament is from DIATHEKE, which Thayer defines, “a compact, covenant.” In connection with our present passage he says, “we find in the New Testament two distinct covenants spoken of, namely, the Mosaic and the Christian, with the former of which the latter is contrasted.” The latter covenant is the one of which Paul was made an able minister. Letter . . . spirit. Any document intended for the guidance of human beings would have to be expressed in some language and hence would need to use letters. However, some special sense is here attached to the term which will be seen in the following verses. Letter killeth. In Rom 8:2 Paul calls the first covenant the “law of sin and death,” because it inflicted physical death upon those who committed serious violation of it (Heb 10:28). Under the law of the Spirit men are suffered to live physically in spite of their sins, and also may live eternally if they will make the necessary reformation of.life.
2Co 3:6. who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant. The same word is in the original thrice repeated in different forms, and it might be rendered not we are fit of our-selves. . . but our fitness is from God, who also fitted us to be ministers, etc. The expression able ministers in the Authorised Version is now unsuitable from its ambiguity,not of the lettermeaning, not the letter of the law, as opposed to the spirit of the same law; but not of the law itself, considered as a code of duty, to be obeyed on pain of death,but of the spiritthat word of the Gospel which, instinct with quickening power, is spirit and life,for the letter killethcf. Rom 4:14, the law worketh wrath, and 2Co 7:9-10, When the commandment came, gin revived, and I died; and the commandment which was unto life (in its primary intention) I found to be unto death (through my breach of it).
From this the apostle is led into a lengthened contrast, extending to the end of the chapter, between the two dispensations, both in their essential characteras killing and as quickeningand, as a consequence from this, in that freedom and openness which are distinctive of the Gospel and its ministry, and the reverse of the law.
who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit [i. e., not a minister of the old, legal dispensation, but of the new, spiritual dispensation]: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. [And I have such bold assurance through Christ that God will thus consider you to be my epistle. Not that I am sufficient of myself to account myself as having truly done any part of that which makes you an epistle, save as I have received the power from God. The truth which, written in your hearts, has thus transformed you, is wholly of God; so that our ability or sufficiency to write such an epistle as ye are, is all from God, who made us thus sufficient by calling us to be ministers of that new covenant which performs such wonders of regeneration, instead of calling us to be (as my Judaizing opponents ever seek to coerce me to be) a minister of the old covenant. This old covenant was given in letters graven on stone, and hence was a law of letters governing us wholly from without. But the new covenant, though also committed to writing, and hence in a sense external to us, is a code of principles governing us from within, through the power of the Holy Spirit. This law of letters without could only bring upon us condemnation and death (Rom 7:7-11; 1Co 15:56); but this law of the spirit within us (2Co 3:2) gives us life (Rom 2:27-29; Rom 6:4; Rom 6:11; Rom 8:2; Rom 8:10-11; 1Co 15:45; Gal 5:18). The contrast in 2Co 3:6 is not between the outward and inward sense of Scripture, but between the outward and inward power of those two great dispensations, Jewish and Christian. That perversion of the passage which gave it the former meaning, has been used to countenance those baneful allegorical interpretations of Scripture which have been the pest of the church from the days of Origen to the present time. Having shown that the minister of the new covenant had a power not enjoyed by that of the old, Paul proceeds to show that he likewise has a glory (and Paul’s enemies were criticizing him for glorying) not enjoyed by any minister of the old dispensation; no, not even by Moses himself.]
Verse 6
Not of the letter; not of the written law, that is, of the Old Testament dispensation.–Of the spirit; off the gospel, which had yet been communicated thus far chiefly by direct spiritual influences, and not by written records.–Killeth; denounces death.
SECTION 5. THE MORE GLORIOUS COVENANT CH. 3:6-11.
Ministers of a New Covenant, not of Letter but of Spirit. For the Letter kills: but the Spirit gives life. Moreover, if the ministry of death, engraven on stones, in letters, became glorious, so that the sons of Israel were not able to gaze at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, the glory which was coming to nought, how shall not the ministry of the Spirit be the more in glory. For indeed the glorified is not glorified in this matter, because of the surpassing glory. For if that which comes to nought was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
While giving proof that he is a minister of God Paul has incidentally given proof of the exceeding greatness of the ministry commended to him. For he has said that his credentials are written, not like those of Moses on tablets of stone, but on human hearts; and that as minister of the New Covenant he imparts, not a written word, but a living Spirit. This contrast of the Old and New Covenants he will now develop.
2Co 3:6 b. Reason why God has made Paul a minister of Spirit not of Letter, a reason revealing the essential and infinite superiority of the New Covenant.
The letter: the written word which Moses, as minister, and mediator, of the Old Covenant, gave to Israel and to the world. Cp. Joh 1:17.
The letter kills: exactly parallel to Rom 7:10 ff. Had there been no commandment, sin would (Rom 4:15) have been impossible: and had there been no sin, death, its punishment, would never have been. Thus death was an inevitable consequence of the Law. For man born in sin could not obey it; and therefore could not escape the condemnation it pronounced and the penalty it threatened. Moreover, to bring men under condemnation to death was a specific and immediate aim of the Law: Rom 3:19; Rom 5:20; Rom 7:9 ff. In this sense the Letter of the Law kills. The written command causes first sin, then (Rom 6:16; Rom 6:23; Rom 7:5; Rom 7:9) death. And of this condemnatory and destroying letter Moses was the minister. For through his agency it was given. This does not imply that there was no disobedience before Moses. For the Law was written from the beginning in every mans heart. And by this inward law they who have not heard of Moses will be judged: Rom 2:12. But at Sinai this universal law took visible and historic form. Consequently, what is true of the Law as a universal principle may be said of its historic form. For the historic form was in harmony with the inward reality of the Law. Moses gave to Israel a written embodiment of a command which, instead of saving, could of itself only destroy. Paul was an agent through whom his readers received the Spirit, i.e. the Holy Spirit, whose presence in the heart gives life, and his a pledge of life eternal.
Life: the normal state of intelligent creatures, viz. union with God, an immediate outworking of the Spirit in the heart developing into eternal life; in absolute contrast to that separation from God which is an immediate result of sin, and which, unless arrested by Him who raises the dead, will develop into eternal death. See under Rom 7:9.
Notice carefully the infinite superiority which Paul claims for the New Covenant. It brings life; whereas the Old Covenant brought death. This contrast is not obscured by the truth that the death brought by the Law is designed by God to be the way to life. See under Rom 7:14. For, had not the Law been followed by the Gospel, it could not, even indirectly, have led to life. And that the Old Covenant was preparatory to, and receives its entire value from, the New which gives life at once to all who accept it, proves the infinite superiority of the latter.
2Co 3:6 a would be utterly meaningless to us if we had not the Epistle to the Romans. It is therefore a mark that the two epistles came from the same pen, and that Paul had spoken at Corinth the truths afterwards embodied in his letter from Corinth to Rome.
2Co 3:7-8. Argument based on the foregoing contrast.
The ministry of death: that of Moses who gave to Israel the death-bringing Law. It is explained by ministry of condemnation, 2Co 3:9.
Engraven on stones with letters: a full and graphic delineation of the ministry of Moses. The whole Law was but an amplification of the words brought down from the mountain. Consequently, in the letters engraven on the stones the whole work of Moses found visible and conspicuous embodiment.
Became glorious: literally, in glory. In the course of its development it became surrounded with glory.
So that could not etc.: proof and measure of the glory. This is implied clearly in Exo 34:30. [The distinction between with infinitive and with indicative is rightly given by Canon Evans in the Expositor, and series vol. iii. p. 3; but cannot here be reproduced in English. The infinite presents the inability to behold, not as simple fact, but as giving to the reader a measure of the greatness of the glory. Cp. 1Co 1:7; 1Co 5:1; 1Co 13:2; 2Co 1:8; 2Co 2:7; 2Co 7:7.]
Glory of his face: its supernatural brightness. This illustrates the central idea of the word glory. See under Rom 1:21. The word shone in Exo 34:29-30; Exo 34:35, the LXX. render glorified, the exact word and tense used here in 2Co 3:10. This may have suggested the words before us.
Coming-to-nought or passing-away; (see 1Co 1:28;) suggests in anticipation the argument of 2Co 3:11 and of 2Co 3:13-18. Without doubt the brightness on Moses face did not continue, but gradually and totally vanished. This is very suggestive. Though the brightness was more than Israel could bear, it was nevertheless a fading glory.
How shall not etc.: same form of argument as Rom 8:32.
The ministry of the Spirit: the ministry of the Gospel, which conveys the Spirit to those who believe. Cp. Gal 3:4 : he that supplies to you the Spirit.
Shall be in glory: inference from the splendor of the ministry of Moses. From the supernatural brightness which encompassed Moses as he gave to Israel the death-bringing letters, Paul infers that a still greater splendor awaits those through whom is imparted the life-giving Spirit. And, since no such splendor surrounds them now, he speaks of it as something which shall be. He refers (cp. hope in 2Co 3:12) to the brightness in the world to come of those who (Dan 12:3) now turn many to righteousness.
2Co 3:9. Develops and thus supports the argument of 2Co 3:7-8.
Condemnation: the link connecting letter with Kills in 2Co 3:6. The Law pronounces the condemnation (Deu 27:26) of all who disobey it; and therefore of all men. For none can obey it. Consequently, the only immediate effect of the Law is that just so far as we know it we are condemned by it. For through law comes understanding of sin: Rom 3:20. By conveying to men such a law Moses was a minister of condemnation. Cp. minister of sin, Gal 2:17.
Of righteousness: manifested in the Gospel by faith for all who believe, Rom 1:17; Rom 3:21 f. As minister of the Gospel Paul was a means of imparting to men this righteousness. It is the link connecting the Gospel preached by Paul and the Holy Spirit received by those who believe it. The immediate effect of the Law is to bring men under Gods frown: the immediate effect of the Gospel is that they rejoice in the smile of God. And Paul argues that if, as recorded in Exo 34:29, glory pertains to the former then more abundant glory pertains to the latter.
2Co 3:10. Supports 2Co 3:9 by a statement which goes beyond it, and which we are compelled to admit.
In this matter: in the comparison of the two Covenants.
The glorified: general term including any glorious object. The Old Covenant belongs to the category of objects glorious in themselves which lose their glory by the surpassing splendor of some brighter object. Just so the moon is as bright after sunrise as before: but, practically, its brightness is completely set aside by that of the sun. It is so in the matter of the Old Covenant. In it is illustrated the general principle, the glorified is not glorified because of the surpassing glory. The brightness of Moses face revealed the splendor of his ministry. And while we look at his ministry alone, amid the darkness of surrounding night, it is in our eyes covered with glory. But when we compare it with the ministry which proclaims righteousness for men whom the Law condemned, and which imparts, not letters graven on stones, but the abiding presence of the life-giving Spirit, the glory of the former covenant fades utterly; and we think only of the greater splendor of the ministry of the New Covenant. This strengthens immensely the argument of 2Co 3:7-8. If a supernatural brightness attested the grandeur of the Old Covenant, and if the Old Covenant now sinks into insignificance in presence of the New, surely an infinite splendor belongs to, and therefore awaits, the ministry of the New Covenant. For nothing less than infinite splendor can throw into the shade the splendor of the Old Covenant.
2Co 3:11. A reason of this greater splendor, suggested at the end of 2Co 3:7, and supporting the argument of 2Co 3:7 f. It also prepares the way for 6.
That which is coming to nought: the ministry of the Law, which is valid only till (Gal 3:22 ff; Rom 10:4; Rom 6:14) the Gospel comes.
That which remains: i.e. the Gospel. In the history of the world, as in the experience of each individual God speaks first in the form of Law, Do this or die. When we hear the good news, He that believes shall not die, the voice of condemnation loses its dread power, and comes to nought. But the good news of life will remain sounding in our ears for ever. Paul argues, If the temporary dispensation was accompanied by splendour, of which splendour the brightness on Moses face was a conspicuous example, surely the abiding voice of the Gospel is or will be surrounded by still greater splendour. [Notice the appropriate use of and , as in Rom 1:2, for the temporary and the permanent.] With the passing nature of the Covenant of which he was Mediator, the passing brightness of Moses face was in beautiful though incidental agreement. Even the little outward details of the two Covenants were in harmony with their inward essence.
SECTION 5 proves how infinitely superior is the New Covenant to the Old; thus increasing Pauls claim, as a minister of this Greater Covenant, to his readers respect. At the end of (4 he asserted the contrast of the Covenants in the contrasted words letter and spirit, which he gave as their characteristics. This contrast he develops forcibly by stating the reason of it, viz. that the letter works death, the Spirit works life. In other words, God has made him minister of a New Covenant because the Old one could not attain His purposes of mercy. Whereas the Old Covenant consisted only in letters graven in stones, and in words of condemnation, words producing death, (for none can obey them, and death is the penalty of disobedience,) the New Covenant conveys righteousness, and the Holy Spirit, and life. The Old Covenant set up a relation between God and man destined to be only for a time: the New Covenant sets up a relation destined to continue for ever. When placed in contrast, the grandeur of the Old Covenant fades utterly before the infinitely greater brightness of the New. Nevertheless, the Old Covenant was accompanied by splendor so great that the Israelites could not look on the face of Moses: and that splendor bore witness to its real worth. From this Paul argues triumphantly that to the New Covenant, before whose greatness the Old Covenant sinks into insignificance, belongs a splendor infinitely surpassing that which dazzled the eyes of Israel. And of this splendor he is content to speak as a thing of the future.
Under the above argument lies an important principle, viz. that with inward reality outward manifestation must always eventually correspond; that power, however veiled for a time, must sooner or later clothe itself in appropriate glory. The Old Covenant was at once surrounded by splendor appropriate to its importance. The New Covenant was not. The appearance neither of Christ nor of His servants revealed the grandeur of the kingdom they were setting up. And the contrast between what they were and what they seemed to be proclaimed unmistakably the glory awaiting them.
Although Pauls relation to the Gospel is shared by no one living now, yet the glory of the better Covenant remains; and gives infinite importance to the work of every one who, officially as preacher or teacher, or casually, announces the good news of salvation. In a true sense the humblest Sunday School teacher who tells with effect the story of the cross is greater, i.e. in privilege, than Moses. For his word imparts at once the Spirit of eternal Life for which the words of Moses did but prepare the way.
These arguments are quite consistent with the infinite importance of the Law as the absolutely necessary preparation for the Gospel. As subordinate to the Gospel the value of the Law cannot be overestimated. Apart from the Gospel it has no value. Paul has really in view, men who set up the Law as independent of, and greater than, the Gospel. Against such, his argument has full force. And, that the one is preparatory, the other final, proves, from every point of view, the infinite superiority of the Gospel.
3:6 {2} Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the {f} letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
(2) He amplifies his ministry and his fellows: that is to say, the ministry of the Gospel comparing it with the ministry of the Law, which he considers in the person of Moses, by whom the Law was given: against whom he sets Christ the author of the Gospel. Now this comparison is taken from the very substance of the ministry. The Law is as it were a writing in itself, dead, and without efficacy: but the Gospel, and new Covenant, as it were the very power of God itself, in renewing, justifying, and saving men. The Law offers death, accusing all men of unrighteousness: the Gospel offers and gives righteousness and life. The administration of the Law served for a time to the promise: the Gospel remains to the end of the world. Therefore what is the glory of the Law in comparison of the majesty of the Gospel?
(f) Not of the Law but of the Gospel.
Paul proceeded to identify seven contrasts between the New Covenant (agreement, Gr. diatheke) under which Christians serve God and the Old Covenant under which believing Israelites served God. He did so to heighten understanding of and appreciation for the ministry of Christians. The Old Covenant in view is the Mosaic Covenant, and the New Covenant is the covenant that Jesus Christ ratified by His death (Luk 22:20; 1Co 9:21; 1Co 11:25; Gal 6:2; Heb 13:20). [Note: See Rodney J. Decker, "The Church’s Relationship to the New Covenant," Bibliotheca Sacra 152:607 (July-September 1995):290-305; 608 (October-December 1995):431-56.]
The New Testament uses diatheke exclusively for "covenant." It always refers to an arrangement that one person makes, as in a last will and testament, which another party may accept or reject but cannot alter. The Greek word that describes a mutual agreement reached between two parties is syntheke.
The Old Covenant was very specific concerning human responsibilities. It was essentially an objective, external standard that God revealed for His people Israel without any special enabling grace. However the New Covenant rests on promises that include the indwelling and empowering presence of God’s Holy Spirit who enables the believer to obey (Joh 14:17; Joh 16:13; Act 1:4-5; Act 1:8; Rom 8:4). It is also more general in its demands.
The outcomes or results of each covenant differ too. The Old Covenant slew people in the sense that it showed how impossible it was to measure up to God’s requirements. Moreover it announced a death sentence on all who fell short (cf. Rom 7:9-11; Gal 3:10). The New Covenant, on the other hand, leads to fullness of life because God’s Spirit helps the believer do God’s will (cf. Rom 7:6; Rom 8:3).
Paul used "Spirit" in this passage in a double sense. On the one hand, he contrasted the letter (exact wording) of the Old Covenant with the spirit (true intention) of the New Covenant. On the other hand, he contrasted the non-enabling, external words of the Old Covenant with the enabling, internal Holy Spirit of the New Covenant (cf. Rom 2:28-29; Rom 7:6). [Note: See Paul R. Thorsell, "The Spirit in the Present Age: Preliminary Fulfillment of the Predicted New Covenant According to Paul," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 41:3 (September 1998):397-413.] The second of these senses is more primary.
"’The letter’ is a Paulinism for the law, as ’spirit’ in these passages is his word for the relationships and powers of new life in Christ Jesus. Here in ch. 3 is presented a series of contrasts between law and spirit, between the old covenant and the new. The contrast is not between two methods of interpretation, literal and spiritual, but between two methods of divine dealing: one, through the law; the other, through the Holy Spirit." [Note: The New Scofield Reference Bible, p. 1254.]
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
THE LETTER THAT KILLETH, AND THE SPIRIT THAT GIVETH LIFE
His view of the Gospel may be thus explained
[The old covenant, as published by Moses, was written in ten commandments, upon tables of stone. The substance of those ten commandments is by our Lord comprised in two: the one of which is, Thou shalt love God with all thy heart, and mind, and soul, and strength; and the other, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. For the performance of these commandments the law afforded no strength, whilst yet it made no allowance whatever for the smallest defect in our obedience. The terms it prescribed were plain and positive, Do this, and live. On the other hand, it said, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them. Hence the Apostle calls this law, The letter that killeth: for though as given originally to Adam, it was ordained to life, to his fallen descendants it has been found only to death [Note: Rom 7:10.]. Hence he calls it also a ministration of death, and of condemnation [Note: ver. 7, 9.], because nothing but condemnation and death can result from it to fallen man. So true is that declaration of his, that as many as are under the law, are under the curse [Note: Gal 3:10.].
[We are careful to distinguish between the two covenants; well knowing, that all who remain under the former covenant must perish; and that there is no salvation for any man, but on the terms prescribed I the new covenant, the covenant of grace. In accordance with this, it is our constant labour to mark the danger of trusting to any works of righteousness which we can perform, and to shew the indispensable necessity of looking to Christ as all our salvation and all our desire. In a word, St. Pauls views, as declared by himself, are those which we endeavour both to adopt and follow. He says, Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That he that doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, (and consequently, that he is the promised Messiah,) thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed [Note: Rom 10:5-11.].]
1.
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL COMPARED
How any revelation from God should have the effect of killing those to whom it was given, and, more especially, how the new testament should be attended with any such consequences, does, it must he confessed, at first sight appear strange and incredible. But the Apostles declaration is true: the letter does kill; and the spirit alone makes alive. This will be seen,
[The Law, as given to man in Paradise, was undoubtedly ordained unto life: and was capable of giving him life, if he had continued obedient to it: but to fallen man it never has been, or can be, a source of life.
It moreover enforces its commands with a most awful sanction, denouncing a curse against every man who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them: so that if there be in our obedience no absolute dereliction of duty, but only a defect; and if that defect be of the slightest kind, and occur only once in the whole course of our lives; the penalty instantly attaches to us, and is irreversibly denounced against us [Note: Gal 3:10.].
[The Gospel contains the substance, of which the law was the shadow. The commands of the Gospel are different: the law says, Do: the Gospel says, Believe [Note: Rom 10:5-13.]. The promises of the Gospel are different. Under the law no mention was made of spiritual assistance to anyone: but under the Gospel, the Spirit is promised to every believer [Note: Act 2:38-39.]: and grace sufficient for him, how great soever his necessities may be [Note: 2Co 12:9.]. In fact; the Gospel provides a remedy for every want of man. Is he guilty? it provides a righteousness wherein he may stand faultless in the presence of his God, even the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Is he a polluted creature? it provides, that through the operations of the Holy Spirit he shall be sanctified wholly in body, soul, and spirit. However weak he may be in himself, Gods strength shall be perfected in his weakness; so that he may boldly say, I can do all things through Christ who strengthened me. Is he deserving of the lowest hell? by embracing this Gospel he shall obtain all the glory and felicity of heaven.]
But the Gospel is thus fatal, not only to those who reject it, but to many, also, who imagine that they have received it. For, through the corruption of the human heart, the very principles of the Gospel are themselves often perverted; so that even the grace of God is turned into lasciviousness, and Christ himself is made a minister of sin. This was the case with some in the apostolic age: and it is the case with some at this time also. There are at the present day some who so embrace the letter of the Gospel, as altogether to overlook its spirit; and who so glory in a salvation finished for them, as to disregard the salvation that remains to be accomplished in them: and thus they take occasion, from the freeness and fulness of the Gospel salvation, to represent all demands of labour and watchfulness on their part as legal: and because God has undertaken to work in them both to will and to do his will, they cannot see any necessity for them to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. Thus, I say, some take occasion, even from the promises, to rest satisfied without attaining the things promised.
[To some the word comes, not in word only, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: and to them it is a source of life. It conveys to them a new and vital principle, whereby they are enabled to live unto their God: or, as the Scripture expresses it, they, by means of it, are made partakers of a divine nature, and have all things given them that pertain unto life and godliness. They now, from their own experience, know the meaning of that declaration of our Lord, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die [Note: Joh 11:25-26.]. Their whole conduct now evinces the change that has been wrought in them. Being quickened from the dead, they henceforth live no more unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them, and rose again. And now they can look forward to the eternal state with sweet assured confidence, that, because their Saviour lives, they shall live also; and that when He, who is their life, shall appear, they also shall appear with him in glory.]
1.
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)