Old and New Testament Ministries

Q: What does the Bible say about the New Covenant?

The New Covenant represents a ministry of the Spirit that gives life, contrasting with the Old Covenant which was a ministry of the letter that kills. The New Covenant, as discussed in 2 Corinthians 3, is characterized by a ministry of the Spirit, which grants life and righteousness, unlike the Old Covenant that demanded perfect obedience under the law. The apostle Paul highlights that the ministry of the Spirit does not just command but empowers believers to fulfill God's law through regeneration. This transformative work of the Spirit enables believers to experience true fellowship with God, revealing that Christ is the fulfillment of the law's purpose, thereby providing hope and liberty to those who believe.

Q: How do we know the Gospel provides life?

The Gospel provides life by revealing God's imputed righteousness through Christ, which delivers us from condemnation and empowers us to believe. In 2 Corinthians 3, the apostle Paul contrasts the effects of the Old Covenant, described as a ministry that kills, with the life-giving nature of the Gospel. The Gospel reveals a righteousness apart from our works, provided by Christ's perfect obedience. This imputed righteousness delivers us from the wrath of God, allowing us to stand justified. Moreover, the ministry of the Spirit regenerates our hearts, enabling us to believe and trust in Christ. Thus, the Spirit's work in bringing the Gospel to life in our hearts is essential for salvation and empowerment in the Christian life.

Q: Why is understanding the Old Covenant important for Christians?

Understanding the Old Covenant helps Christians appreciate the depth of grace found in the New Covenant and the significance of Christ's fulfillment of the law. The Old Covenant serves as a foundation that highlights our need for a Savior and the weight of the law's demands, described in 2 Corinthians 3 as a ministry of condemnation. By grasping the impossibility of achieving perfection under the law, Christians can understand the grace afforded to them through Christ's sacrificial death. The beauty of the New Covenant, where the Spirit writes God's law on our hearts, enriches the belief that through Christ, believers are not only forgiven but are also transformed. This understanding enhances our appreciation for God’s redemptive plan throughout Scripture.

Q: What does it mean that the veil is taken away in Christ?

The veil being taken away in Christ means that believers can now clearly see and understand God's revelation of truth and grace. In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul illustrates that a veil obscured the understanding of the truth within the Old Covenant. He affirms that when one turns to the Lord, that veil is removed, allowing them to behold the fullness of Christ revealed in the Scriptures. This signifies a shift from obscured understanding to clear revelation, where believers can now see and experience the glory of God through the Spirit. The unveiled truth empowers believers to recognize Christ as the culmination of the law and deepens their relationship with God, reinforcing the necessity of faith in the Christian journey.

...in our Bibles this evening
to 2 Corinthians chapter 3. 2 Corinthians chapter 3. I want
to read our verses tonight, beginning with verse 6 through the end
of this chapter. who also hath made us able ministers
of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit. For the letter killeth, but the
spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death,
written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children
of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for
the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away
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 even that which was made
glorious had no glory in this respect by reason of the glory
that excelleth. For if that which is done away
was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness
of speech, and not as Moses, which put a veil over his face,
that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end
of that which is abolished. But their minds were blinded,
for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in
the reading of the Old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when
Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when
it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now
the Lord is that spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face, beholding,
as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same
image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. I ended my message last time
with verse six, where the Apostle Paul confessed himself and those
who traveled with him, other ministers who were his labors,
that they were made able ministers of the New Testament. Notice
he says, who also hath made us. God had made Paul and those who
traveled with him able ministers of the New Testament or the New
Covenant. Now, he's not boasting in himself
as being an able minister, but he gives all the glory and all
the praise to God because God is the one who had made him an
able minister of the New Testament. And we must keep in mind that
the teachers, the teachers that Paul was compelled to answer,
those who would undermine his authority as an apostle, that
they were Judaizers. Now, in effect, these Judaizers,
they were interested in making Jews out of Gentile believers,
bringing them under the old covenant. They were zealous for the law
of Moses. They confessed to be believers
in Christ, but they were zealous for the law of Moses, and their
intention was to bring these new converts, Gentile believers
for the most part, under that law, that old covenant. But Paul declares himself to
be a minister of the new covenant, the New Testament. Now in the
verses we're looking at tonight, the Apostle gives a comparison. It's not a contrast so much as
it is a comparison between ministries. Ministries under the Old Covenant
and ministries under the New Covenant. Paul and his companions
were ministers of the New Covenant, the New Testament. While the
Judaizers, this is the implication, while these Judaizers, those
who confessed to be believers in Christ, but they was intending
and trying to bring believers under that old covenant, that
they were ministers of an old covenant. The apostle and those
who traveled with him. They were able ministers of the
new covenant. Those Judaizers were ministers
of an old covenant, the old covenant. And so there's a comparison that
begins in verse 6 and runs through the remainder of the chapter. And I have three things, three
points I want to make in this comparison. First, An Old Testament
ministry, and I'm going to use that word interchangeably, testament
and covenant, because it's the same word. Sometimes it's translated
covenant, sometimes it's translated testament. But we know what it
means. But the first thing is an Old
Testament ministry is of the letter. Old Testament ministry
is of the letter, but the New Testament ministry is of the
Spirit. And you see that in verse 6,
when the Apostle said, Who also hath made us able ministers of
the New Testament, not of the letter. The implication is that
a minister of the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, was a minister
of the letter. Now the letter It commands man
what he must and what he must not do. But it does not communicate
any power to do those things which it commands. It does not
communicate any ability to do what it commands. But the ministry
of the New Covenant, the New Testament, is that of the Spirit. Notice that again. who also hath
made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter. If it was a ministry of the old
covenant, it was a ministry of the letter. But a minister of
the new covenant is of the Spirit. And then he states, for the letter
killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. An Old Testament ministry is
a ministry of The letter. Remember the letter. The words
which were written on tablets of stone. The Ten Commands. That's what he has reference
to. The Old Covenant was written on tablets of stone. Letters written on the stone.
God wrote those letters upon the stone. We know that. But
the New Covenant, the Spirit of God writes the message, the
law of God, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, not on a table
of stone, but on a table of the heart. And it is a new heart,
the new heart which God gives in regeneration. When He quickens
and calls His people, He takes away the stony heart and gives
a heart of flesh. So we've got the letter And Paul
tells us this about the letter. He says the letter kills. The letter kills. The ministry
of the letter kills. How? We might ask this question
tonight. How does the ministry of the
letter kill? It does so in three ways. The
ministry of the letter, it kills and it does so in three ways.
First of all, the letter demands perfect obedience. It demands
perfect obedience. It says, do this and live. It also says, cursed is everyone
who continues not in all things written in the book of the law
to do them. And no man is able to obey God's
law perfectly. So it pronounces the sentence
of death upon every person. When a person sits under the
ministry of the letter, the old covenant, it kills. It demands
perfection. But man is not able. He is unable
to render the obedience, the perfect obedience that it commands. And so it pronounces the sentence
of death. The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. And secondly, it produces the
knowledge or consciousness of sin, which produces guilt. and the realization that we deserve
the wrath of God. The ministry of the letter, it
kills. It brings guilt upon the conscience
and it makes us realize that we deserve the wrath of God.
And number three, it makes us aware of our duty and our obligation
to obey, but it gives no real desire or ability to obey. But notice the opposite, the
ministry of the Spirit. The ministry of the letter kills,
for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. And so we would ask that same
question. How does the ministry of the
Spirit, the gospel, give life? Well, it does so in three ways
as well. First of all, it reveals a righteousness
by which we may be justified and delivered from the wrath
of God. The Spirit gives life. The Gospel,
it reveals a righteousness that God has worked out that by sending
his Son into this world that he has perfectly obeyed God's
law. He has established a righteousness
and being justified by that imputed righteousness of Christ, then
we are delivered from the wrath of God. Now the psalmist said,
blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute iniquity. Blessed is the man whose sins
are forgiven. Now that's, the spirit giveth
life. Blessed is the man. If our sins
are not imputed to us, Then to whom are they imputed? Well,
they're imputed to the substitute, to our head, to our representative,
to the second Adam, to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the ministry
of the Spirit, that is the ministry of the gospel, it gives life.
And secondly, it reveals God's great love. And God's great love
replaces that dread of His wrath. We sang that hymn just a few
minutes ago. I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus, the Nazarene, and wonder how he could love me, a sinner
condemned, unclean. Oh, how marvelous, oh, how wonderful
is his love for me. The gospel, the spirit, gives
life. It shows us, it reveals God's
great love, and that love is a love which can never be forfeited,
and it is an eternal, everlasting love. Nothing can separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And
third, by or through the gospel, the Holy Spirit quickens dead
sinners and works faith in their soul to look to Christ, who is
our life. A new heart is given in regeneration. The spirit, the gospel, the ministry
of the gospel, it gives life. We believe and know the importance
of preaching the gospel. Because God has determined and
purposed to use the preaching of the gospel to call out his
people, to quicken, to regenerate, to save his people. It's very important. Many times
over the years we've run into people who believe that if God
has chosen a people and elected a people to salvation that they
will be saved regardless But the truth is, man must hear the
gospel. Man must believe in Christ. Absolutely
necessary that a person trust in Christ. And you cannot believe
in one of whom you've never heard. And so, God uses the Spirit,
the gospel gives life. God, the Holy Spirit, He communicates
Himself into the hearts of His people. as the gospel is preached. It's an amazing thing. It's a
wonderful thing. It's a thing that none of us
are able to explain how the Holy Spirit works in calling out His
people. But those of us who are saved
tonight, we know by experience that somehow, hearing the gospel,
we came to believe and trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and
Savior. How is that possible? It's possible
because God did it, that's how. And God used the ministry of
the Spirit, the gospel. Another comparison here in this
passage of Scripture, Paul tells us that the Old Testament ministry
was glorious. It really was, it was glorious.
But the New Testament ministry exceeds in glory, excels in glory,
he says. Verses 7 through 11, he said,
but if the ministration of death, that's the letter, right, the
ministry of the letter, the letter killeth, if the ministry
or ministration of death written and engraven in stones was glorious,
and it was, there's no question about it, God came down on that
mountain, It was glorious. There's no doubt about that.
It was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not
steadfastly behold the face of Moses. For the glory of his countenance,
which glory was to be done away? How shall not the ministration
of the Spirit be rather glorious? You see, his point, if the ministry
that kills, if it was glorious, and it was, then how much more
glorious is the ministry that gives life, the ministry of the
Spirit. For if the ministration of condemnation
be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness
exceed in glory. For even that which was made
glorious had no glory in this respect by reason of the glory
that excelleth. For if that which is done away
was glorious, and it was, much more that which remaineth is
glorious. The ministry of the letter is,
as Paul says here, a ministry of condemnation, a ministry that
kills. And yet, he says it was glorious. It was glorious. But the ministry
of the Spirit, the gospel, exceeds, excels, in glory. Now the glory of the letter,
the letter that kills, that glory may be likened to the glory,
the brightness of Moses' face, his countenance. The glory that
attended the ministry, Old Covenant ministry, might be likened to
the glory of Moses' face. The glory of Moses' countenance,
it was all outward. It was all outward. The glory
that was upon His face, the shining, was all outward. And the glory
of the Old Testament, it was all outward. It was all in rituals,
in ceremonies. The priesthood, you know, the
high priest with his beautiful garments. And I've read this,
and I've mentioned this before, but Josephus and his history
of the Jews tells us that when Alexander the Conqueror, when
he approached Jerusalem, And he would have destroyed the city
that the high priest went out and Alexander was so impressed
with his beautiful robes that he spared the city. It was all
outward. The glory of that old covenant,
it was all outward in rituals and ceremonies and the priesthood
and the temple. First of all, the tabernacle,
but then when Solomon built the temple, how glorious was that
temple. I mean, gold, the walls, the
ceilings, the floor was just laid in gold. And those two cherubim
that he made, their wings touched from one side of the room to
the other side, and they were all covered with gold. It was
glorious, but it was all outward. And the most glorious thing about
that old covenant was the Shekinah. The Shekinah, which stands for
the glory of the Lord. That glory, that light, the Shekinah
that appeared above the mercy seat in the tabernacle. And many
times, you know, when Moses would go out to the tabernacle, the
glory of God would just cover the tabernacle. But it was all
outward. It was all outward. And the glory
of Moses's face, it was temporary. It passed away. And that was
the same thing that the glory of that old covenant, it was
never to last forever. It was a temporary covenant. It was a temporary testament
that God had made until the New Covenant, the New Testament was
brought in through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
the glory of the Spirit or Gospel exceeds, it excels that glory. The glory of the Spirit when
compared to the glory of the letter It could be compared to
what happens to the moon. The other morning I was out,
it's probably about 7 o'clock in the morning, and I looked
up and I could see the moon out there, just as visible as it
could have been. Now, in the darkness, the moon
has a lot of glory, doesn't it? It sure does. But what happens
when the sun comes out? And the sun is shining in its
brightness. Well, all the glory of the moon
is gone. It's gone. And the glory of that
old covenant might be like the glory of the moon. But when the
glory of the sun comes out, when the new covenant, then that old
covenant, that glory is just done away. Oh yeah, it was glorious. The apostle Paul makes that very
clear. But the glory of the new covenant
of the Spirit, it exceeds, it excels in glory. The glory of
the moon is eclipsed when the glory of the sun shines. And
even so, the glory of that old covenant is eclipsed by the bringing
in of the new covenant. And the glory of the Spirit is
unlike that of the letter. It's not outward. All of the
glory of that Old Testament, it was all outward. You could
see it in all the symbols and rituals and all of those things.
But the glory of the New Covenant, it's all inward. The Spirit of
God shining in our heart, the presence of God filling our soul,
it's all inward. And the glory of that Old Covenant,
it passed away. But the glory of this new covenant
shall never be superseded by another covenant. This is the
covenant. There'll never be another covenant.
And the glory of this covenant will never be done away. And then a third comparison.
An Old Testament ministry is one of obscurity. A New Testament
ministry is one of clearness. Seeing then, Paul says in verse
12, seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness
of speech. And not as Moses, which put a
veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not
steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. But
their minds were blinded, for until this day remaineth the
same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament,
which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when
Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when
it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away." Moses
put a veil over the glory, not to hide it entirely. He didn't
put that veil over that glory to hide it entirely, but to obscure
the brightness. His ministry was not to communicate
openly, but in types and ceremonies the truth of redemption. As Paul
says in Ephesians 3 and verse 5, the truth concerning man's
redemption was not Now listen, "...not in other ages made known
unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto the holy
apostles and prophets by the Spirit." The redemption of man,
it was revealed in the Old Covenant, wasn't it? We see that, but it's
a whole lot easier for us to see that now, that all of those types and shadows have been fulfilled. It's much easier for us to see
that now, but living back under that old covenant, to see how
that scapegoat, for instance, how that scapegoat pictured the
Lord Jesus Christ carrying our sins away, never to be remembered
again, never to be heard from again. It's easy for us, isn't
it, to look back and say, well, what a beautiful picture of Christ
carrying our sins, taking them away. But as the Apostle Paul
says, in other ages, man's redemption in other ages was not made known
unto the sons of men as it is now, as it is now revealed. How is it now revealed? Openly,
clearly. Paul says we use Seeing then
we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. He used
great plainness of speech. He was, Paul was fully persuaded. And every man who preaches the
gospel, every preacher, he must be fully persuaded of the truth
and the glory of the gospel. And Paul was, and so he preached
it fully. He tells us, for instance, in
1 Corinthians chapter 1, that the Greeks, the Greeks, they
were the philosophers, the very learned people of that day. When
they heard Paul preach, they thought, that's the most foolish
thing I've ever heard. That's the most foolish thing
I've ever heard. That one man died in the place
of another. that one man satisfied God for
the sins of another. That that one man is God, the
God-man. And of course, the Greeks, they
especially thought that anything tangible was sinful, evil. And when they heard Paul preach,
they thought, that's crazy. When the Jews, Paul said, the
Jews When they heard him preach, it was a stumbling block. It
was a stumbling block to them to tell them that their long-promised
Messiah died on a cross outside the walls of Jerusalem like a
common felon? Well, change your message, Paul. No. Paul, as I said, he was fully
persuaded of the truth of the gospel, the glory of this new
covenant, and he preached it. Let the Greeks believe what they
wanted to believe and the Jews believe what they wanted to believe.
He preached Christ and Him crucified. And he said, but to them which
are called. Some of the Greeks were called.
Some of the Jews were called, but to them which are called
Christ, the power and wisdom of God. When a person turns to the Lord,
Paul says, that veil which is upon his heart. Now, I think
he's speaking especially of the Jewish people here, and he may
be talking about them collectively, There may be a day when many
of the Jews will be converted, but whether it's an individual
or a body of people, the same is true. When a person turns
to the Lord, then the veil is taken away. The veil on the heart. They read the Old Testament just
like you read the Old Testament, but they did not see Christ.
They could not see Christ. But when a person turns to the
Lord, then, by the grace of God, he is enabled to see that the
end of the law, the end of the law was always Christ, is Christ. The end of the old covenant was
Christ. That's what Paul says in Romans
chapter 10 and verse 4. But the end of the law is Christ. In other words, the goal of the
law. The purpose of the law. It does
these three things, I believe. First of all, it shows us our
need. It kills us. The law. It demands perfect obedience. but we cannot render perfect
obedience. It kills us. It shows us our
need, but then it serves as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, to lead
us to Christ. And Paul is saying here that
when a person turns to the Lord, then that veil is taken off the
heart, and a man is enabled then to see Christ. When we read the
Old Testament, we look for Christ, don't we? We see Him in those
types and in those figures and shadows. And then Paul, as this
chapter concludes, he tells us that all believers, every believer,
we all behold the glory of the Lord as in a mirror. The image,
when a person is regenerated, the image of Christ is stamped
upon us, and that image is changed from glory to glory. Beholding
Christ as in a mirror. It says, I believe, in a glass.
Yes, in a glass, but it is a mirror. It has reference to a mirror.
Now, when you behold something in a glass, in a mirror, it's
not like looking directly upon the image, is it? But that's
the way we behold Christ, as looking at him in a glass, mirror
as we read the Word of God and we grow. And we are changed,
as he said, into the same image from glory to glory. This speaks
of growing the believer, the child of God, who grows in the
grace and knowledge of the Lord. We are changed from glory to
glory, from glory to glory, until one day we wake up in glory. One day we wake up in glory and
we are like Christ. We are in the image of Christ. That's what 1 John 3 tells us. Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. And, notice, and every man that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. I pray that the Lord would bless
this message to all of us here tonight. We give thanks unto
the Lord for a New Testament ministry, ministry of the Spirit
and not of the letter. Let's sing a

Old and New Testament Ministries

What does the Bible say about the New Covenant?

How do we know the Gospel provides life?

Why is understanding the Old Covenant important for Christians?

What does it mean that the veil is taken away in Christ?

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Old and New Testament Ministries

What does the Bible say about the New Covenant?

How do we know the Gospel provides life?

Why is understanding the Old Covenant important for Christians?

What does it mean that the veil is taken away in Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About David Pledger

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