MUCH MORE GLORIOUS
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on October 18, 2020 under 2020 |
Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; October 18, 2020 from 2 Corinthians 3:7-11
Theme: The ministry of the new covenant is much more glorious than the ministry of the old.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
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They were telling me that this old friend has a hard time accepting the Christian faith. “What about all the people of other religions?” the old friend said. “I know that there are Christians who are good people. But there are also Buddhists who are very good people. And Muslims. And Hindus. Many people who are not in the Christian faith live good lives and do good things for others. Do you mean to tell me that all those other people of all those other religions who do good works won’t go to heaven? Only Christians?”
That’s a great question; and mostly because there’s much about it that is absolutely true. There are lots of people of other faiths who are very good people and who do very good things for others. Almost all religions teach their adherents to be good people; and many people in those various religions excel in good works.
But I suggested to my friend that the question is based on a mistaken assumption. It’s the assumption that someone is made acceptable before God, and gets into heaven, on the basis of their good deeds. It’s probably one of the most commonly held assumptions in the world. It seems to make sense to lots of people. And very many non-Christian people assume that it’s what the Bible itself teaches about how to get to heaven.
And the remarkable thing is that it’s not what the Bible faith teaches at all. In fact, the Bible teaches the opposite—that if you try to earn heaven on the basis of your own good deeds, you’ll never get there.
The only way to truthfully define ‘good deeds’ in the sight of God is by His commandments. He has set His law down for the whole human race in, in summary form, the Ten Commandments. But the Ten Commandments cannot save us. In the end, all that those commandments can do is show us what sinners we are—no matter what religion we might embrace. They show us that we are all guilty before a holy God, and therefore worthy of the judgment of death. The Bible teaches that the standard of the law is absolute: that “The man who does those things shall live by them” (Romans 10:5). And as fallen human beings, none of us can keep that standard. The apostle Paul put it this way in the Book of Romans:
Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20).
So you see; it doesn’t matter how good we are or how many good deeds we might have done. They can never make us ‘good enough’. The commandments of God cannot save us. They were, in fact, never even meant to save us. They really only show us that we need to be saved. And God has provided the only way for someone to be “justified” before Him—that is, to be declared 100% righteous and acceptable in His sight—apart from those commandments. It’s through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
In that passage in Romans, Paul went on to say;
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:21-23).
That’s why it’s true that no one—even the good people of other religions who do good deeds—will ever get to heaven on the basis of their good works. God is not saving anyone that way. Instead, God is saving people on the basis of the good work of Someone else—Someone who kept His law perfectly on our behalf—Someone who has died for our sins in our place on the cross—Jesus Christ.
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Now; this conversation that my friend was telling me about illustrates something very important to us. The Bible teaches us that there have been two ‘covenants’ or ‘agreements’ that God has entered into with human beings, by which He has told them that they may be acceptable in His sight. The first is the ‘old covenant’. It’s the covenant that God gave through Moses to the Jewish people. He gave Moses a holy law—written down in letters on tablets of stone. They contained His law in the Ten Commandments; and if the Jewish people would obey His law and keep His commandments, then they would be His people and He would be their God.
But the ‘old covenant’ couldn’t save anyone. It was broken by the very ones to whom it was given. The standard was absolute obedience; but not even the Jewish people could keep God’s law perfectly. It only ended up proving that they needed to be saved by Someone else. And so; God, in His love for fallen humanity, has provided a ‘new covenant’—a new agreement. He sent His Son to become one of us—to be born into the human family—and to keep God’s law for us perfectly. He did so for us; and then, He Himself died on the cross to pay the debt for our sins; and then He was raised from the dead to show that God is satisfied with what He has done for us. And now, in God’s ‘new covenant’, we are declared completely righteous before God as a gift of His grace—and made 100% accepted in His sight—by placing our faith in what Jesus did for us.
It’s very important, then, to make sure you’re seeking to be acceptable in God’s sight on the basis of the correct agreement that He has made—on the basis of the new covenant, and not on the basis of the old. To try to be righteous in the sight of God on the basis of the old covenant as so many people do—that is, through our good deeds—is to try to operate in an agreement that God no longer has with humankind. If you were to try to do that, you’d be 2,000 years behind the times; because God no longer accepts anyone on those terms. In fact, no one ever could be righteous before Him on those terms. Now, people are only declared righteous before Him on the basis of the new thing He has done—and on the basis of their faith in Jesus.
And just think of how much better it is to be in a ‘new covenant’ relationship with God! The old covenant was good and holy. It came from God; and it contained His holy laws. But the glory of the new covenant is much more glorious than the glory of old—so much more so, in fact, that the glory of the old is completely paled in comparison to the greater glory of the new.
This is something that the apostle Paul wrote about in the passage we have been studying lately. In 2 Corinthians 3, he wrote about what a privilege he felt it was to be a preacher of the glories of the new covenant. And in 2 Corinthians 3:7-11, he wrote;
But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious (2 Corinthians 3:7-11).
Do you notice the comparisons that Paul makes in this passage? He says that the old covenant was a ‘ministry of death’ because it was based on laws written down that only ended-up putting us to death. But he compares it with the new covenant which is a ‘ministry of the Spirit’; because by it, the Holy Spirit gives us eternal life. He calls the old covenant ‘the ministry of condemnation’, because it only ends up condemning us before God. But he calls the new covenant ‘the ministry of righteousness’; because by it, we are declared righteous in God’s sight by faith. He calls the old covenant ‘glorious’, but says that the glory of the old is dimmed in comparison with the glory of the new. And he calls the old covenant that which is ‘passing away’, but the new covenant that which ‘remains’.
And so, as the apostle Paul shows us in this passage, the ministry of the new covenant is much more glorious than the ministry of the old. I hope that you trust in God’s acceptance on the basis of the ‘new covenant’—that is, on the basis of faith in what God has done for us through His Son Jesus.
And if you have trusted in Jesus, I hope you’ll join me in rejoicing in the glory of that new covenant as Paul explains it to us in this passage.
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Now; to make sense of this passage, we need to go back to a story from the Old Testament. It’s a remarkable story. It’s found in Exodus 34, and it has to do with what happened when Moses came down from the mountain with the two tablets of stone—which contained the Ten Commandments of God. Exodus 34 tells us;
Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. Afterward, all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him (Exodus 34:29-35).
What a remarkable thing this was! When Moses went before God to receive more instructions for the people, he removed the veil. And then, when he came back to the people to speak God’s commandments to them—and after they saw that his face shown with the glory of God—he put the veil back on. This was because the glory of God that reflected on Moses’ face faded away after time. The apostle Paul gave us more information about this in 2 Corinthians 3:13; when he wrote that Moses “put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.” Moses didn’t wear the veil in order to protect the people from the frightening glory of God that shone upon his face. Rather, he wore the veil to hide the fact that the glory was fading away.
And this is meant to be an illustration to us of the fading glory of the old covenant. That covenant was not meant to be permanent. It was not meant to give eternal salvation. It was meant only for a time in history—intended to show us that a greater ‘new covenant’ was needed. And the glory of that new covenant—brought about for us through Jesus Christ—would never fade away.
Look again at our passage and see how Paul shows us this. First—in verses 7-8—he shows us that the glory of the new covenant is greater than the old …
1. AS THE SPIRIT IS THAN DEATH.
He refers to the old covenant and the new covenant as ‘ministries’; meaning that they are services from God that were to meet the need of our soul. And Paul wrote, “But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?”
Now; that old covenant was ministered to us in letters—written in stone by the hand of God. It was outside of us; and when we read it, and we rose up and tried to obey it. And it was very good, because the law of God is good. But that which was good ended up killing us, because it made us guilty sinners before God—sinners who were under the judicial sentence of death. The apostle Paul put it this way in Romans 7;
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good (Romans 7:7-11).
So you see that the law is holy and good. But it cannot save me. Instead, I read it, and then it raises up sin within me so that I end up breaking it. And then, it shows me the holy standard of God that I just violated, and ends up killing me. Don’t believe me? Just read the Ten Commandments some time—read then each slowly, and honestly, and thoughtfully; not just some of them, but all of them; asking God to show you the truth—and then see how you end up!
But in Romans 7, Paul also said this:
“But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter” (v. 6).
When we place our faith in Jesus’ death for us, God counts it that we died with Him. And now, the old covenant law has no more power over us. It can no longer condemn us; because Jesus paid it all for us. Now, we obey—not by the letter of the law on stone—but by the Holy Spirit who indwells us and empowers us to obey.
So; how much greater is the glory of the new covenant than the old? It’s as greater as the Spirit is greater than death. How much more glorious it is to be in that new covenant before God!
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The glory of the new is also greater than that of the old …
2. AS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THAN CONDEMNATION.
Paul went on to write in verse 9, “For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.”
God’s law is glorious and good. And so long as we don’t measure ourselves by it, we seem to do fine. If we are careful to measure our righteousness on the basis of comparisons with one another, we come out looking very righteous. That’s especially true if we are careful to compare ourselves with those who are worse off than we are. But if we hold ourselves up to that holy, good, glorious standard of God’s law under the old covenant, we end up as condemned sinners; because we couldn’t measure up to that holy standard.
But if the glory of the old covenant—the covenant that condemns us—was great, then how much greater is the glory of the covenant that makes us righteous! It, in fact, exceeds the old in glory! As Paul put it in Romans 8;
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1-4).
So; how much greater is the glory of the new covenant than of the old? The difference is as great as the glory of that which makes righteous is over that which condemns us. How much better it is to be under the greater glory of that new covenant in Christ!
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As we read on, we find that the glory of the new is more than the glory of the old …
3. AS GREATER LIGHT IS THAN LESSER.
In verse 10, Paul went on to say, “For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels.”
Do you enjoy looking up at the stars at night? My wife has taken up the habit of going out into the backyard—just before going to bed—to look up and enjoy the stars. Sometimes—when Portland weather permits—she and I even take a blanket out with us and lay on the ground and watch as the sky grows darker and the stars become clearer. Often we see a shooting star. And personally, I love watching the moon as it passes along in the night sky. I love the variety of phases it displays—and the different shades of color it shows. And when morning comes, all of those stars are still there. The moon can sometimes be seen. But it is all made dim and faint by the greater light of the sun. In fact, so long as the glory of the sun shines brightly in the sky, those other lights have no glory at all.
And the same is true when it comes to the old covenant. It had great glory, because it showed us the majesty of God’s law. It caused Moses’ face to shine for a time. But now, a greater light has come. A greater glory shines. It’s the light of the new covenant—which shows us salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. And because of that greater glory, the glory of the old is paled and faint.
There’s a story from the life of our Lord Jesus that illustrates this wonderfully. In Matthew 17, we’re told that
… Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only (Matthew 17:1-8).
What an amazing event that was. And what an amazing lesson it taught. Moses was there. And so was the great prophet Elijah. Moses and Elijah represented the glory of the old covenant. And Jesus was not found talking to them; but rather, they were found talking to Him. Luke’s Gospel tells us that they “spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). And when God said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”, all of the attention was put on Jesus. When the disciples lifted up their heads, they saw Him only.
He, then, is the Mediator of a new covenant for us. And the light of God’s grace toward us through Jesus shines so much brighter than that of the old, that the glory of the old covenant seems darkened and dimmed in comparison. How much better it is to abide in the light of the glory of that new covenant!
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And finally, we see that the glory of the new is more than the old …
4. AS THAT WHICH REMAINS IS THAN THAT WHICH PASSES AWAY.
In verse 11, Paul wrote, “For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.” That old covenant—that old agreement which was by the letter of the law—was truly glorious. But its glory was a passing and fading one; because the old covenant was not meant to last. It was only temporary until the time when Jesus would come to bring us into a greater and more glorious covenant that would endure forever. It was, as Paul wrote elsewhere, “our tutor to bring us to Christ” (Galatians 3:25).
The old covenant had a provision that made it obvious that it was only temporary. It was the offerings for sin that God commanded for the breaking of His law. Those repeated offerings show forth—by contrast—the permanency of the work that our Lord Jesus did for us. As it says in Hebrews 10;
And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:11-14).
“One offering … perfected forever …” It has a wonderful ring to it, doesn’t it? That which remains—the new covenant by faith in Jesus’ one and only sacrifice—is much more glorious than that which fades away.
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So; don’t try to live under that old covenant. Don’t try to earn God’s favor through your good works. Don’t try to earn heaven by keeping the letter of His old covenant law. It’s no longer how God declares us righteous. Trying to do so cannot save you. It will only show how much you need to be saved by Someone else. Instead, make sure you are trusting Jesus in the glories of the new covenant.
For the ministry of the new is—in every way—much more glorious than the ministry of the old!
EA
