2 Corinthians 3:12

12 Since we have confidence [in the new promise], we speak very boldly.

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 In fact, the ministry that brings punishment lost its glory because of the superior glory of the other ministry.
11 If that former ministry faded away despite its glory, how much more does that ministry which remains continue to be glorious?
12 Since we have confidence [in the new promise], we speak very boldly.
13 We are not like Moses. He kept covering his face with a veil. He didn't want the people of Israel to see the glory fading away.
14 However, their minds became closed. In fact, to this day the same veil is still there when they read the Old Testament. It isn't removed, because only Christ can remove it.
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