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Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Some people need letters that speak well of them. Do we need those kinds of letters, either to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter. You are written on our hearts. Everyone knows you and reads you. 3 You make it clear that you are a letter from Christ. You are the result of our work for God. You are a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. You are a letter written not on tablets made out of stone but on human hearts. 4 Through Christ, we can be sure of this before God. 5 In ourselves we are not able to claim anything for ourselves. The power to do what we do comes from God. 6 He has given us the power to serve under a new covenant. The covenant is not based on the written Law of Moses. It comes from the Holy Spirit. The written Law kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7 The Law was written in letters on stone. Even though it was a way of serving God, it led to death. But even that way of serving God came with glory. The glory lasted for only a short time. Even so, the people of Israel couldn't look at Moses' face very long. 8 Since all this is true, won't the work of the Holy Spirit be even more glorious? 9 The law that condemns people to death had glory. How much more glory does the work of the Spirit have! His work makes people right with God. 10 The glory of the old covenant is nothing compared with the far greater glory of the new. 11 The glory of the old lasts for only a short time. How much greater is the glory of the new! It will last for ever.
12 Since we have that kind of hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses. He used to cover his face with a veil. That was to keep the people of Israel from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were made stubborn. To this day, the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. The veil has not been removed. Only faith in Christ can take it away. 15 To this day, when the Law of Moses is read, a veil covers the minds of those who hear it. 16 But when anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Holy Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, freedom is also there. 18 None of our faces are covered with a veil. All of us can see the Lord's glory and think deeply about it. So we are being changed to become more like him so that we have more and more glory. And this glory comes from the Lord, who is the Holy Spirit.
3:1–18 Some people wanted proof that Paul was a real apostle. They wanted to see letters from other leaders that proved he could be trusted. But Paul's authority as an apostle came from God and not from other leaders. Paul described the Corinthian church as a letter that Jesus had written. He meant that their lives showed that Paul was teaching the truth about the Messiah. Paul didn't claim to be important. He only claimed to follow Jesus' example of being a leader who serves. As God's servant, Paul taught people the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. The old covenant was the Mount Sinai covenant. The promises of that covenant pointed to Jesus. The new covenant changes people's hearts and makes them right with God for ever. Many people don't understand this. It's like their minds are covered with a veil that keeps them from understanding. But God's Spirit makes people who turn to God understand it. He gives them eternal life and helps them become like Jesus.