2 Corinthians 3:5-8, Ministration of the Spirit
2 Corinthians 3:5-8 5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6Who 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. 7But 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: 8How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? (2 Cor. 3:5-8 KJV)
The Apostle Paul alluded to Exodus 34:29-35 in verse 7 when Moses came down from the Mount Sinai a second time with the tablets of the Ten Commandments written by God following Israel’s rebellion in the worship of the golden calf. Moses’ face glow as a result of His communion with God. To the Israelites who despise the worship of God in their waywardness, the law of God was a rebuke to them – ministration of death. It showed them their sin. Yet, there is a right relationship that brings God’s law to the seeking heart.