2 Corinthians 3:12-13
Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech — unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.
What of Today’s Verse…
Living by the old covenant of law requires a “performance based life,” which depends upon man’s sufficiency. This produces spiritual bondage. Living by the new covenant of grace provides a “relationship based life,” which depends upon God’s sufficiency. This results in spiritual liberty.
Moses was a great servant of the Lord. He is a wonderful example to us in many ways. However, in our present verses, we see him living by His own sufficiency, thereby exemplifying life under the law. As Moses met with the Lord for the giving of the law, his face would shine. For the benefit of the people, he would place a veil over this shining glory: “Moses, who put a veil over his face.” When this glory began to fade away (as it was designed to do), Moses kept the veil on “so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.” In this, Moses was in a caught in the bondage of secrecy. He did not want others to see the glory fade. He wanted others to think that his face was still aglow.
All of us are tempted at times to hide behind a veil of secrecy. This is particularly the case when we are trusting in our own sufficiency. When drawing upon our insufficient resources, we generally sense that we are not doing as well as we should be “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves” (2Co_3:5). So, we try to hide it. We want others to think that our spiritual walk is more glorious than it actually is. So we put on veils of pretence, self-righteousness, or self-justification. The remedy for this bondage of secrecy is living by new covenant grace.
We are new covenant servants: “God, who also made us sufficient as ministers [i.e., servants] of the new covenant” (2Co_3:5-6). God makes us sufficient by sharing His fully adequate resources with us. “Our sufficiency is from God” (2Co_3:5). This is our effective hope for avoiding the bondage of secrecy that overtook Moses. “Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech — unlike Moses.” Those who live by the grace of God have such great hope. Their expectations are anchored in the Lord, not in self. Thus, they can be bold, open, and candid. If they fail, they humbly confess their insufficiency. If they succeed, they openly credit His adequacy.
Let us Pray:
Lord, You are my only hope and my sufficiency. You alone can liberate me from the bondage that results from trusting in myself. So, in line with Your word, I again look to You to supply daily what I need for godly living, Amen.
Words of Wisdom
Christ In You
United to Jesus Christ as your Redeemer, you are accepted in the Beloved. He does not merely take my place as a man and settle my debts. He does that and more.
He comes to give a perfect ideal of what a man should be. He is the model man, not for us to copy, for that would only bring discouragement and utter failure; but He will come and copy Himself in us. If Christ lives in me, I am another Christ. I am not like Him, but I have the same mind.
The very Christ is in me. This is the foundation of Christian holiness and Divine healing. Christ is developing a perfect life within us. Some say man can never be perfect. “It is not in man that walked to direct his steps.” We are all a lot of failures. This is true, but we should go further.
We must take God’s provision for our failure and rise above it through His grace. We must take Jesus as a substitute for our miserable self. We must give up the good as well as the bad and take Him instead. It is hard for us to learn that the very good must go, but we must have Divine impulses instead of even our best attainments.
O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: “It is not in man that walked to direct his steps.” Jeremiah 10:23
