- Ministration of Righteousness
2 Corinthians 3:8, 9, 11 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory…For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
The ministry of the spirit is the ministry of righteousness. This ministry is the dispensing, or the giving, or the serving of the Gospel of the New Testament. The promise is that it is exceeding in glory and it is permanent. This promise is fulfilled in the New Testament of Jesus Christ. It is fulfilled in us who believe in Christ. We who have received the Gospel have received a permanent and exceeding glory.Every time we hear the gospel we are standing in awesome glory and reflecting shining glory, the same glory that Jesus showed in the Transfiguration.
The ministry of righteousness is served up to you when you hear the Gospel or read the Word and the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. This ministry of the Spirit through the Gospel plants in you an exceeding bright glory, which you cannot ever see, although on rare occasions you may catch a slight tingling feeling. Therefore, we see by faith what Paul is talking about here when we receive this ministry of the gospel. And faith is enough, for by the power of the Spirit we are able to walk by faith. The promise we have received is that walking by faith is living in the exceeding bright shining glory of the Gospel of God. This promise of glory is permanent (“that which remaineth”), that is, it is eternal; it is more real and substantial than anything else.
Moses brought to us a ministry of death, or a ministry of condemnation, when He received and transmitted the awesome Law of God, the Ten Commandments written on stone by the finger of God. The glory of God was so powerful that the reflected and fading glory that was left on Moses’ face was too much for the people to bear that he had to wear a veil over his face. How much more is the ministry of Life!
The ministry of the Law is Deathbecause it exposes our sin and guilt and condemnation; it is glorious. Much more, the ministry of the Gospel is Lifebecause it exposes the forgiveness of sin and the righteousness of God granted freely on account of Christ. Imagine! We bask in that glory every day.