“How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?”
The full verse · 2 Corinthians 3:8 · KJV
the of the ?
Asked by
Paul: the apostle describing himself and his companions as "able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:6)
Asked to
Corinthians: the church of God at Corinth, the believers on whose hearts the Spirit had written (2 Corinthians 3:3)
The Scene
Paul has just recalled that the law "written and engraven in stones" came with such glory that Israel "could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance" (2 Corinthians 3:7).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionPaul wants the Corinthians to see how great the gospel is. He starts with something everyone agreed was glorious: the giving of the law, when Moses' face shone. Then he asks: if that was glorious, how could the ministry of the Spirit not be more so? Barnes calls this "an argument from the less to the greater." Barnes also notes that Paul could have said "ministration of life" to match "ministration of death," but chose "of the spirit," naming the source of life itself. Gill says the gospel is called this because "it ministers the Spirit of God himself."
The Response
What Scripture recordsPaul answers with two more comparisons. "For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory" (2 Corinthians 3:9). Next to the gospel, the old glory "had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth" (2 Corinthians 3:10). And "if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious" (2 Corinthians 3:11). The implied answer is that it is far more glorious.
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsPaul is drawing on Exodus 34. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with "the two tables of testimony," "the skin of his face shone," and the people "were afraid to come nigh him" (Exodus 34:29-30). Moses then put a veil on his face (Exodus 34:33). Paul calls the law the "ministration of death" because, as he says, "the letter killeth" (2 Corinthians 3:6). Barnes explains that the shining on Moses' face was not meant to last, which is why Paul says that glory "was to be done away" (2 Corinthians 3:7).
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThis question shows that God's glory in the new covenant does not shrink compared to Sinai. It grows. Barnes lists why the ministry of the Spirit is greater: "that of Moses tended to death; this to life," that was engraved on stone and this on the heart, that was soon to pass away and this remains. Matthew Henry puts the contrast warmly: the law "showed us a God above us, and a God against us; but the gospel makes known grace, and Emmanuel, God with us."
Paul is not saying the law was bad. He calls it glorious (2 Corinthians 3:7, 9). The difference is in what each ministry brings. The new covenant brings the Spirit writing on "fleshy tables of the heart" (2 Corinthians 3:3), and believers "changed into the same image from glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Look Closer
What made the law's ministry glorious, according to Paul?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Father, You have given Your Spirit through the gospel; what part of Your glory in the new covenant have I been overlooking?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Do you think of following God more as keeping rules on stone or as the Spirit changing your heart? What shapes that view?
- Share a way you have seen the Spirit change someone from the inside, something rules alone could not do.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
The gospel you have received is not a smaller, softer version of the law. It is greater. Through it, God gives His Spirit to change hearts.
That means your growth does not depend on willpower alone. The same Spirit who wrote on the Corinthians' hearts is at work in believers today, changing them "from glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18).
This doesn't mean God's law no longer matters. Paul calls it glorious. But you don't relate to God through letters carved in stone. You relate to Him through His Spirit, who "giveth life" (2 Corinthians 3:6).
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
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“When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?”