There is Freedom
“Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.”
What Paul is referring to in 2 Cor 3 is the Old Testament law. When Moses went up the mountain to receive the law in Exodus, he was up there for forty days, and he came back down glowing with the glory of God, just from being in His presence.Moses would wear a veil “to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside.”
Moses would keep the people from seeing that moment where God’s “glory” seemed to wear off of Him -- the boundary between humanity and God. Because with the Law, God’s glory was only available to humans perfectly “right” with Him through atoning sacrifice and following each law to the letter.
There was ALSO a veil separating the Holy of Holies (where God’s presence dwelt in the Hebrew temple) from people. “And behold (at the moment of Jesus’ death), the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split” (Matthew 27:51).
The veil Moses wore was not the exact same thing as the veil in the temple, but both represent the limits of the human relationship to God’s glory before Jesus.
What Paul is explaining, then, is that BECAUSE of Jesus, the Spirit of God -- from which we once required separation -- now dwells INSIDE OF US, on the deepest possible level. Once on the mountain, then in a room we weren’t allowed in, now WITHIN US.
So when you look at your OWN FACE in a mirror, we see glimpses of God’s very glory, as it shines out. It’s important to note that New Testament era mirrors were NOT HD resolution... mirrors were a foggy reflection of the viewer’s appearance.
So what Paul is saying is that, as we allow God to do sanctifying work in our life -- bringing us “from one degree of glory to another” -- we will see more of the image of God, dwelling inside us, when we look at our own lives.
What grace!
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
So here’s the point I want to land on: YES, Jesus brings freedom from legalistic rule following. But Jesus brings freedom INTO lives of righteousness, that point to the completely HOLY glory of God. NO, you don’t have to be perfect to be loved by God, but as you are sanctified by His presence within you, your life WILL by its essence reflect His righteousness.
I know it’s trendy to be an edgy Christian who cusses and drinks whiskey and redefines “church” and publicly curses our leaders and fill-in-the-blank. Honestly, many of those things DO have at least (albeit sometimes weak) Scriptural basis: Paul cussed!, Jesus drank wine!, the church in Acts wasn’t a building but a social movement, MOST of the NT writers were *extremely* critical of Rome. Disclaimer: NOT ALL OF THESE THING ARE THE SAME AND NOT ALL OF THEM ARE SINFUL; they are just examples of things I have witnessed in the Christian community of believers trying to prove their relevance to the world.
And yet: Holiness -- looking like Jesus -- is STILL just as much the goal now as it was in the Old Testament!
The difference is that now, because of Christ, God has given us the freedom of being close to Him like Moses -- the ability to absorb His righteousness from just being in His presence. HE DOES ALL THE WORK FOR US!
But freedom was never intended to make room for more sin. This freedom Paul talks about makes it so that, as we surrender to God’s presence working out our sanctification, every time we look in a mirror, we look more like Jesus than before.
“By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. ”