The ministry described in 2 Cor. 2:12-17; 3:1-18, that is, the unique ministry common to all the apostles of Christ. Although they are many, they have only one ministry — the ministry of the new covenant for the accomplishing of God's New Testament economy. All the apostles' works are to carry out this unique ministry, the ministering of Christ to people for the building up of His Body.

In 2 Cor. 3:12-18 the apostle depicted how the ministers of the new covenant are constituted. In this chapter, from v. 1 through v. 6 he went on to tell how they as the ministers of the new covenant conducted themselves for the carrying out of their ministry; from v. 7 through v. 18 he described the kind of life they lived, a life that made them one with their ministry. This chapter mentions several aspects of their experience that correspond with and confirm what was spoken in ch. 3 concerning the ministry of the new covenant:
1) the peace the apostle experienced as a result of the manifestation of life in the midst of turmoil in vv. 8-9 corresponds with the righteousness as the fruit of peace (James 3:18), i.e., the expression of the image of God in a proper and orderly way, mentioned in 2 Cor. 3:9;
2) the life in vv. 10-12 corresponds with the Spirit in 2 Cor. 3:6, 8, 17-18;
3) being renewed in v. 16 corresponds with being transformed in 2 Cor. 3:18;
4) the eternal weight of glory in v. 17 corresponds with the degrees of glory in 3:18.

Christ Jesus as Lord comprises Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever (Rom. 9:5), the eternal Word incarnated to be a man (John 1:14), Jesus crucified as a man to be our Savior (Acts 4:10-12) and resurrected to be the Son of God (Acts 13:33), and Christ exalted to be the Lord (Acts 2:36), even the Lord of all men (Acts 10:36; Rom. 10:12; John 20:28; 1 Cor. 12:3), who is the image of God, the effulgence of God's glory (Heb. 1:3). This is the very content of the gospel. Hence, the gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ, which illuminates, radiates, and shines in the heart of man (v. 6). If man's heart is not veiled with anything or blinded by Satan, the god of this age, man can see the illumination of the gospel (v. 4).

In our hearts is much deeper than on the skin of Moses' face (2 Cor. 3:7; Exo. 34:29-30). This presents a comparison between the glory of the apostolic ministry of the gospel and that of the Mosaic ministry of the law. In the heart is related to the inner life, whereas on the skin of the face has nothing to do with the inner life. The glory of the old covenant is on the surface, but the glory of the new covenant has great depth.

The apostles' hearts. The apostles represent all the believers of the new covenant.

The illumination here, which refers to the shining of God's light on others out from those whose hearts have been enlightened by God, corresponds with the manifestation in v. 2 and is the same as the shining in Matt. 5:16 and Phil. 2:15. God shines in our hearts that we may shine on others so that they may have the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that is, the knowledge of Christ, who expresses and declares God (John 1:18).

This explains why the apostles' gospel, which is the gospel of the glory of Christ, should not have been veiled: they did not preach, exalt, themselves but Christ Jesus as Lord of all, and they conducted themselves as the believers' slaves for Jesus' sake.

The Greek word means
1) to see distinctly, to discern,
2) to shine.

The truth is another expression for the word of God (John 17:17 and notes). It means the reality, denoting all the real things revealed in God's word, which are mainly Christ as the reality of all the things of God. The manifestation of the truth refers to the apostles' living of Christ. When they lived Christ, who is the truth (John 14:6), they manifested the truth. As Christ was lived out of them, the truth was manifested in them. By this, they commended themselves to every conscience of men before God. The apostles behaved themselves not in the way of adulterating the word of God but in the way of manifesting the truth for the shining of the gospel of the glory of Christ, by the excellent power of the priceless treasure, the very Christ who entered into them and became their content (v. 7) through the enlightenment of God's shining (v. 6).

The original meaning of the Greek word was to ensnare; later, to corrupt, as in the adulterating of gold or wine. The meaning is narrower than adulterating in 2 Cor. 2:17, which adds the sense for gain's sake.

See note 1 Tim. 1:13^3b.

In contrast to Lord. The apostles exalted Christ as Lord but considered themselves merely slaves to serve the believers.

This explains what is mentioned in the preceding verse. The apostles preached Christ as Lord and themselves as the believers' slaves because the very God who commanded light to shine out of darkness had shined in their hearts. His shining in the universe produced the old creation. Now His shining in their hearts made them a new creation. Therefore, in their preaching they were able to exalt Christ as the Lord, and in their ministry, to conduct themselves as slaves of the believers. What they did for Christ and what they were to the believers were the issue of God's shining. God's shining produces the new covenant ministers and their ministry.

The face of Jesus Christ is in comparison with the face of Moses (2 Cor. 3:7). The glory of the gospel in the face of Jesus Christ is much superior to the glory of the law in the face of Moses. The former shines in the face of One through whom grace and reality came, issuing in righteousness and the Spirit — life (2 Cor. 3:8-9); the latter shone in the face of one through whom the law was given (John 1:17), resulting in condemnation and death (2 Cor. 3:7, 9). The shining of God in our hearts is to illumine us that we may know not the glory on Moses' face but the glory in Christ's face; it is to enlighten us that we may know not the law of Moses of the old covenant but the gospel of Christ of the new covenant. The glory of God manifested in the face of Jesus Christ is the God of glory expressed through Jesus Christ, and it is Jesus Christ, who is the effulgence of the glory of God (Heb. 1:3); to know Him is to know the God of glory.

God's shining in our hearts brings into us a treasure, the Christ of glory, who is the embodiment of God to be our life and our everything. But we who contain this treasure are earthen vessels, worthless and fragile. A priceless treasure is contained in worthless vessels! This has made the worthless vessels ministers of the new covenant with a priceless ministry. This has been accomplished by the divine power in resurrection. The excellency of the power is surely of God and not out of us.

In the apostles' speaking concerning their ministry for God's new covenant, five very significant and expressive metaphors were used to illustrate how they, as the ministers of the new covenant, and their ministry were constituted, how they behaved and lived, and how their ministry was carried out:
1) Captives in a triumphal procession for the celebration of Christ's victory (2 Cor. 2:14a);
2) Incense-bearers to scatter the fragrance of Christ (2 Cor. 2:14-16);
3) Letters written with Christ as the content (2 Cor. 3:1-3);
4) Mirrors beholding and reflecting the glory of Christ in order to be transformed into His glorious image (2 Cor. 3:18);
5) Earthen vessels to contain the Christ of glory as the excellent treasure (v. 7).
These vessels are like today's camera, into which Christ the figure enters through the flash of God's shining (vv. 4, 6).

Christ as the image of God is the effulgence of His glory (Heb. 1:3). Hence, the gospel of Christ is the gospel of His glory that illuminates and shines forth. Satan, the god of this age, has blinded the thoughts and the minds of the unbelievers so that the illumination of the gospel of Christ's glory might not shine into their hearts. This is similar to a camera lens's being covered so that the light cannot shine into the camera to bring in the image. It is also like a blind man, or a man with his eyes veiled, into whom the light of the sun is unable to shine.

Or, minds. See note 2 Cor. 3:14^1a.

I.e., has veiled men's understanding.

Satan, the deceiver, the ruler of the present age, who dominates today's world and hunts for man's worship by blinding his mind and his thoughts.

Veiled by old concepts, especially the concept concerning the law (2 Cor. 3:14-15). In principle, anything such as philosophy, religion, or cultural traditions that hinders people from apprehending the gospel of Christ is a veil. Hence, the preaching of Christ must unveil them, just as in photography the cover is removed from the lens that it might take in the view.

This treasure, the indwelling Christ, in us, the earthen vessels, is the divine source of the supply for the Christian life. It is by the excellent power of this treasure that the apostles as the ministers of the new covenant were capable of living a crucified life that the resurrection life of Christ, whom they ministered, might be manifested. Thus, they manifested the truth (v. 2) for the shining of the gospel.

Or, transcendence, surpassing greatness, exceeding greatness.

Or, afflicted. The description of their life, from this verse through v. 18, shows that the apostles lived a crucified life in resurrection, or lived the resurrection life under the killing of the cross, for the carrying out of their ministry.

Or, restricted.

Or, pursued (by enemies).

Or, deserted, forsaken; lit., left behind (in some terrible plight).

Or, struck down.

I.e., the killing, the deadening; referring to the working of death, the working of the cross, which the Lord Jesus suffered and went through. In our experience this is a kind of suffering, persecution, or dealing that comes upon us for the sake of Jesus, for the sake of the Body of Christ, and for the sake of the new covenant ministry. This does not refer to sufferings and troubles that are common to all human beings in the old creation, such as illness or calamity, or to punishment, correction, or discipline suffered because of sins, mistakes, or failure to fulfill one's responsibility. This putting to death of Jesus consumes our natural man, our outward man, our flesh, so that our inward man may have the opportunity to develop and be renewed (v. 16).

In order that, with the result that. The killing of the cross results in the manifestation of the resurrection life. This daily killing is for the release of the divine life in resurrection.

The resurrection life, which the Lord Jesus lived and expressed through the working of the cross.

The title Jesus in these two verses implies that the apostles lived a life like the one the Lord Jesus lived on earth. The Lord's life was a life under the killing of the cross for the manifestation of the resurrection life, a life lived in such a way that His person was one with His ministry and His life was His ministry (John 6:14-15; 12:13, 19, 23-24).

I.e., killed. The same Greek word as for perishing in v. 3.

The expression of God as resurrection life. Glory is in contrast to affliction.

Things of the temporary affliction.

Things of the eternal glory.

The outer man consists of the body as its organ with the soul as its life and person. The inner man consists of the regenerated spirit as its life and person with the renewed soul as its organ. The life of the soul must be denied (Matt. 16:24-25), but the faculties of the soul — the mind, will, and emotion — must be renewed and uplifted by being subdued (1 Cor. 10:4-5) so that they can be used by the spirit, the person of the inner man.

The same spirit as set forth in the words quoted later in this verse.

"Not distinctly the Holy Spirit, — but still not merely a human disposition: the indwelling Holy Spirit penetrates and characterizes the whole renewed man" (Alford). "Spirit of faith: not distinctly the Holy Spirit, nor, on the other hand, a human faculty or disposition, but blending both" (Vincent). The spirit of faith is the Holy Spirit mingled with our human spirit. We must exercise such a spirit to believe and to speak, like the psalmist, the things we have experienced of the Lord, especially His death and resurrection. Faith is in our spirit, which is mingled with the Holy Spirit, not in our mind. Doubts are in our mind. Here spirit indicates that it is by the mingled spirit that the apostles lived a crucified life in resurrection for the carrying out of their ministry.

Or, being consumed, being wasted away, being worn out. By the continued killing, the working of death, our outer man, that is, our material body with its animating soul (1 Cor. 15:44 and note), is being consumed and worn out.

The outer man consists of the body as its organ with the soul as its life and person. The inner man consists of the regenerated spirit as its life and person with the renewed soul as its organ. The life of the soul must be denied (Matt. 16:24-25), but the faculties of the soul — the mind, will, and emotion — must be renewed and uplifted by being subdued (1 Cor. 10:4-5) so that they can be used by the spirit, the person of the inner man.

The use of flesh and body interchangeably in vv. 10-11 indicates that our mortal flesh is our fallen body.

This indicates that the apostles considered themselves dead persons (2 Cor. 1:9), for they were always being delivered unto death for the Lord's purpose (v. 11).

Grace, according to the context, is the very Christ, who lived in the apostles as their life and life supply for them to live a crucified life for the manifestation of the resurrection life that they might carry out their ministry for God's new covenant. See note 1 Cor. 15:10^1a.

When we are under the killing of the Lord's death, His resurrection life is imparted through us into others. The impartation of life into others is always the issue of our suffering the killing of the cross.

By being nourished with the fresh supply of the resurrection life. As our mortal body, our outer man, is being consumed by the killing work of death, our inner man, that is, our regenerated spirit with the inward parts of our being (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10; Rom. 7:22, 25), is being metabolically renewed day by day with the supply of the resurrection life.

Referring to the putting to death, the working of the cross (v. 10).

Lit., excessively unto excess.

In contrast to momentary lightness.