2 Corinthians 3:12

12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold,

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 Indeed, in this case, what once had splendor has come to have no splendor at all, because of the splendor that surpasses it.

11 For if what faded away came with splendor, what is permanent must have much more splendor.

12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold,

13 not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not see the end of the fading splendor.

14 But their minds were hardened; for to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.