2 Corinthians 3:12

12 Therefore, [because we] have such a hope, we use much boldness,

2 Corinthians 3:12 Meaning and Commentary

2 Corinthians 3:12

Seeing then that we have such hope
Having this confidence, and being fully persuaded that God has made us able and sufficient ministers of the Gospel, has called and qualified us for such service; and since we have such a ministry committed to us, which so much exceeds in glory the ministry of Moses, a ministry not of death and condemnation, but of the Spirit and of righteousness; not which is abolished and done away, but which does and will remain, in spite of all the opposition of hell and earth:

we use great plainness of speech;
plain and intelligible words, not ambiguous ones: or "boldness"; we are not afraid of men nor devils; we are not terrified by menaces, stripes, imprisonment, and death itself: or "freedom of speech"; we speak out all our mind, which is the mind of Christ; we declare the whole counsel of God, hide and conceal nothing that may be profitable to the churches; we are not to be awed by the terror, or drawn by the flatteries of men to cover the truth; we speak it out plainly, clearly, with all evidence and perspicuity. The apostle from hence passes on to observe another difference between the law and the Gospel, namely, the obscurity of the one, and the clearness of the other.

2 Corinthians 3:12 In-Context

10 For indeed what had been glorified has not been glorified in this case, on account of the glory that surpasses [it].
11 For if what was transitory [came] with glory, by much more what remains [is] with glory.
12 Therefore, [because we] have such a hope, we use much boldness,
13 and not as Moses used to place a veil over his face, in order that the sons of Israel would not stare at the end of what was transitory.
14 But their minds were hardened. For until this very day, the same veil remains upon the reading of the old covenant, not being uncovered, because it is done away with in Christ.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. *Here "[because]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("have") which is understood as causal
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