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the day when the whole nation shall be saved and the hope of the New Covenant fulfilled
and the earthly kingdom of the Lord established.
The closing verses of the chapter deal with the transformation that is being daily
effected in the lives of those who have no veil coming between them and the Lord:
"But we all, with unveiled face reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are
transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit"
(3: 18 R.V.).
The R.V. `unveiled face' is more accurate than the `open face' of the A.V. and shows
the connection inspired Scripture is making with the `veil' of the context. This
`beholding of the glory of the Lord' is expressed in 4: 6 as the `light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ'. The Lord Jesus sums up and fully
expresses the glory of God which has been fully expressed in His redemptive work at
Calvary. The more we experience this by faith and practical outworking, the more we
progress `from glory to glory' and come into a deeper knowledge and response. The
Holy Spirit, Who is one with the Lord ("the Lord the Spirit", or "the Spirit which is the
Lord", R.V. margin) alone makes all this possible.
No.4.
4: 1 - 18.
pp. 109 - 114
The Apostle Paul has made plain the superiority of the New Covenant of Jer. 31:
over the old one of Exodus by a series of comparisons (II Cor. 3: 16-18). The nation of
Israel was the centre of this New Covenant from a human standpoint and thus had first
place in the Acts period during which II Corinthians was written. Paul and those with
him were made `able ministers' of this covenant (3: 6) and they fully realized the
responsibility that this divine appointment brought upon them. It may be in the opening
of chapter 4: that he has in mind the evil work of his opponents at Corinth:
"Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we faint not: but
we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling
the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves
to every man's conscience in the sight of God" (4: 1, 2 R.V.).
This great service in connection with the New Covenant had been committed to Paul
by the mercy of God. This mercy had touched him at the very beginning of his Christian
life (I Tim. 1: 12, 13) and followed him all the way through together with God's abundant
grace. Because of this he does not faint, or shrink from the duties this ministry brought
upon him; he rather discharges them with frankness and courage, as opposed to some
whose disgraceful underhanded ways (R.S.V.), craftiness and deceitful handling of the
Word of God, played into Satan's hands. He knew, needless to say, that not all who hear
the gospel respond to its claims. They hear with their ears, but that is as far as it goes. It
does not touch their mind or conscience: