2 Corinthians 3:18
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
And we, who with unveiled faces
The phrase "unveiled faces" draws a direct contrast to the veil that Moses wore after encountering God, as described in Exodus 34:29-35. In the Greek, "unveiled" (ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ) signifies openness and transparency. This openness is symbolic of the new covenant believers have through Christ, where there is no longer a barrier between God and humanity. Historically, the veil represented separation and the inability to fully perceive God's glory. In Christ, this separation is removed, allowing believers to approach God directly and intimately.

all reflect the glory of the Lord
The word "reflect" (κατοπτριζόμενοι) can also be translated as "behold" or "contemplate," indicating a dual action of both seeing and reflecting. This suggests that as believers gaze upon the Lord's glory, they are simultaneously transformed to mirror it. The "glory of the Lord" refers to the divine presence and majesty of God, which in the Old Testament was often associated with the Shekinah glory that filled the temple. In the New Testament context, this glory is fully revealed in Jesus Christ, and believers are called to reflect this glory in their lives.

are being transformed into His image
The Greek word for "transformed" (μεταμορφούμεθα) is the same root used in Romans 12:2, indicating a profound change in form or nature. This transformation is not merely external but involves a deep, internal change that aligns believers with the character and likeness of Christ. The concept of being made into "His image" echoes Genesis 1:27, where humanity is created in the image of God. Through Christ, this image is being restored and perfected in believers.

with intensifying glory
The phrase "intensifying glory" (ἀπὸ δόξης εἰς δόξαν) suggests a progressive and continual increase in the manifestation of God's glory in the believer's life. This reflects the journey of sanctification, where believers grow in holiness and Christlikeness. The historical context of this phrase can be linked to the increasing revelation of God's glory throughout biblical history, culminating in the person of Jesus Christ.

which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit
This final phrase emphasizes the source of transformation and glory: the Lord, identified here as the Spirit. The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in the believer's transformation, acting as the agent of change and empowerment. The identification of the Lord with the Spirit highlights the unity and work of the Trinity in the life of the believer. The Spirit's indwelling presence is a guarantee of the believer's ongoing transformation and ultimate glorification.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul the Apostle
The author of 2 Corinthians, writing to the church in Corinth to address various issues and to provide theological teachings.

2. The Corinthian Church
The recipients of the letter, a diverse group of believers in the city of Corinth, dealing with internal and external challenges.

3. The Lord (Jesus Christ)
Central to the transformation process described in the verse, reflecting His glory.

4. The Spirit (Holy Spirit)
The agent of transformation, enabling believers to reflect the glory of the Lord.

5. Moses
Referenced earlier in the chapter, whose face shone with God's glory after receiving the Law, but was veiled to prevent the Israelites from seeing the fading glory.
Teaching Points
Unveiled Faces
Believers have direct access to God through Christ, unlike Moses who veiled his face. This access allows for an open and transformative relationship with God.

Reflecting the Glory
As Christians, we are called to reflect the glory of the Lord in our daily lives. This reflection is not static but dynamic, growing in intensity as we mature in faith.

Transformation Process
The transformation into Christ's image is ongoing and progressive. It involves the work of the Holy Spirit, who empowers and guides us in this journey.

Role of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is essential in the transformation process, providing the power and presence of God in our lives to effect change.

Living with Purpose
Understanding that we are being transformed into Christ's image gives purpose to our lives. It encourages us to live in a way that honors God and reflects His character to the world.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the concept of "unveiled faces" change your understanding of your relationship with God?

2. In what ways can you actively reflect the glory of the Lord in your daily interactions?

3. What role does the Holy Spirit play in your personal transformation, and how can you be more receptive to His work?

4. How does the idea of being transformed into Christ's image influence your goals and priorities?

5. Can you identify areas in your life where you see the "intensifying glory" of God at work, and how does this encourage you in your faith journey?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 34:29-35
Describes Moses' face shining after speaking with God, which Paul contrasts with the unveiled faces of believers.

Romans 8:29
Speaks of believers being conformed to the image of Christ, similar to the transformation mentioned in 2 Corinthians 3:18.

Philippians 3:21
Discusses the transformation of our lowly bodies to be like Christ's glorious body, echoing the theme of transformation.

1 John 3:2
Highlights the future revelation of believers as they will be like Christ, seeing Him as He is.

Galatians 5:22-23
Lists the fruit of the Spirit, which is part of the transformation process into Christ's image.
Mirrors of ChristM. Dods, D. D.2 Corinthians 3:18
Mirrors of ChristW. Hay-Aitken, M. A.2 Corinthians 3:18
Mortal AssimilationT. R. Stevenson.2 Corinthians 3:18
The Change Produced by Faith in JesusJ. McCosh, D. D.2 Corinthians 3:18
The Christian TransfigurationD. Fraser 2 Corinthians 3:18
The Christian's TransfigurationG. Walker, B. A.2 Corinthians 3:18
The Glorious TransformationJ.R. Thomson 2 Corinthians 3:18
The Gospel the Reflective Mirror of the Glory of the LordW. Jones.2 Corinthians 3:18
The Great ChangeE. Hurndall 2 Corinthians 3:18
The ImageJ. Wells, M. A.2 Corinthians 3:18
The Physiognomy and Photography of ChristianityA. J. Parry.2 Corinthians 3:18
The Transfiguring VisionA. Wilson, B. A.2 Corinthians 3:18
The Transforming Influence of FaithGeo. Robson.2 Corinthians 3:18
The Unfolded GloryT. Davis, Ph. D.2 Corinthians 3:18
The Vision of God in ChristianityR. Tuck 2 Corinthians 3:18
Transformation by BeholdingA. Maclaren, D. D.2 Corinthians 3:18
True Human GreatnessD. Thomas, D. D.2 Corinthians 3:18
Boldness of Speech; the Two Ministries; from Glory to GloryC. Lipscomb 2 Corinthians 3:12-18
Moral Insensibility of SinnersD. Thomas, D. D.2 Corinthians 3:12-18
Our Study of God's Truth Must be with the HeartDean Goulburn.2 Corinthians 3:12-18
The Duty of Outspokenness on Religious QuestionsProf. Lewis Campbell.2 Corinthians 3:12-18
The Shining of Moses' FacePlain Sermons by Contributors to the Tracts for the Times2 Corinthians 3:12-18
Truth UnveiledR. Brydon.2 Corinthians 3:12-18
VeilsE. Mellor, D. D.2 Corinthians 3:12-18
People
Corinthians, Israelites, Paul
Places
Achaia, Corinth
Topics
Beholding, Bright, Changed, Degree, Derived, Ever-increasing, Face, Faces, Giving, Glass, Glory, Holiness, Image, Likeness, Lord's, Mirror, Mirrors, Open, Radiant, Reflect, Reflecting, Spirit, Transformed, Unvailed, Unveiled
Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Corinthians 3:18

     1045   God, glory of
     1193   glory, revelation of
     1194   glory, divine and human
     1352   covenant, the new
     2024   Christ, glory of
     2063   Christ, perfection
     3233   Holy Spirit, and sanctification
     3254   Holy Spirit, fruit of
     4018   life, spiritual
     5013   heart, divine
     5023   image of God
     5034   likeness
     5104   Moses, foreshadower of Christ
     5150   face
     5411   mirror
     6214   participation, in Christ
     6627   conversion, nature of
     6745   sanctification, nature and basis
     6746   sanctification, means and results
     8115   discipleship, nature of
     8162   spiritual vitality
     8164   spirituality
     8206   Christlikeness
     8244   ethics, and grace
     8313   nurture
     8347   spiritual growth
     8349   spiritual growth, means of
     8441   goals
     8465   progress
     8738   evil, victory over
     9414   heaven, community of redeemed

2 Corinthians 3:13-18

     5195   veil

2 Corinthians 3:17-18

     1170   God, unity of
     6661   freedom, and law

Library
Twelfth Sunday after Trinity Gospel Transcends Law.
Text: 2 Corinthians 3, 4-11. 4 And such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward: 5 not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 7 But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly upon
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Transformation by Beholding
'We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image.'--2 COR. iii. 18. This whole section of the Epistle in which our text occurs is a remarkable instance of the fervid richness of the Apostle's mind, which acquires force by motion, and, like a chariot-wheel, catches fire as it revolves. One of the most obvious peculiarities of his style is his habit of 'going off at a word.' Each thought is, as it were, barbed all round, and catches and draws into
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Spiritual Liberty
Liberty is the heirloom of all the sons and daughters of Adam. But where do you find liberty unaccompanied by religion? True it is that all men have a right to liberty, but it is equally true that you do not meet it in any country save where you find the Spirit of the Lord. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Thank God, this is a free country. This is a land where I can breathe the air and say it is untainted by the groan of a single slave; my lungs receive it, and I know there has
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

The Letter and the Spirit
(Twelfth Sunday after Trinity.) II COR. iii. 6. God, who 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. When we look at the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for to-day one after the other, we do not see, perhaps, what they have to do with each other. But they have to do with each other. They agree with each other. They explain each other. They all three tell us what God is like, and what we are to believe
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity
(From the Epistle for the day) Teaching us that we ought to receive God, in all His gifts, and in all His burdens, with true long-suffering. 2 Cor. iii. 6.--"The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." THERE are two sorts of men among God's friends; those of the Old Testament, and those of the New. All the men who should be saved before the birth of Christ had to observe the old dispensation with all its rites, until the new dispensation came with its laws and its rites. The old law served as
Susannah Winkworth—The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler

How to Become Like Christ.
"But we all, with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."--2 COR. iii. 18 (Revised Version). I suppose there is almost no one who would deny, if it were put to him, that the greatest possible attainment a man can make in this world is likeness to The Lord Jesus Christ. Certainly no one would deny that there is nothing but character that we can carry out of life with us, and that our prospect
Marcus Dods—How to become like Christ

That the Body and Blood of Christ and the Holy Scriptures are Most Necessary to a Faithful Soul
The Voice of the Disciple O most sweet Lord Jesus, how great is the blessedness of the devout soul that feedeth with Thee in Thy banquet, where there is set before it no other food than Thyself its only Beloved, more to be desired than all the desires of the heart? And to me it would verily be sweet to pour forth my tears in Thy presence from the very bottom of my heart, and with the pious Magdalene to water Thy feet with my tears. But where is this devotion? Where the abundant flowing of holy
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

The Ministry of the New Covenant
"Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men; being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God: not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh. And such confidence have we through Christ Godward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God: who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

The New Covenant: a Ministration of the Spirit
"Ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not on tables of stone, but on tables that are hearts of flesh . . . Our sufficiency is of God; who also made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. For if the ministration of death came with glory, how shall not rather the ministration of the Spirit be with glory? For if the ministration of
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

General Notes by the American Editor
1. The whole subject of the Apocalypse is so treated, [2318] in the Speaker's Commentary, as to elucidate many questions suggested by the primitive commentators of this series, and to furnish the latest judgments of critics on the subject. It is so immense a matter, however, as to render annotations on patristic specialties impossible in a work like this. Every reader must feel how apposite is the sententious saying of Augustine: "Apocalypsis Joannis tot sacramenta quot verba." 2. The seven spirits,
Victorinus—Commentary on the Apocolypse of the Blessed John

Let not Country Presbyters Give Letters Canonical, or Let them Send Such Letters Only To...
Let not country presbyters give letters canonical, or let them send such letters only to the neighbouring bishops. But the chorepiscopi of good report may give letters pacifical. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon VIII. A country presbyter is not to give canonical letters, or [at most] only to a neighbouring bishop. These "letters canonical" were called in the West letters "formatæ," and no greater proof of the great influence they had in the early days of the Church in binding the faithful together
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

Note F. Note from Bengel on Rom. I. 4.
According to the Spirit of Holiness. The word hagios, holy, when God is spoken of, not only denotes the blameless rectitude in action, but the very Godhead, or to speak more properly, the divinity, or excellence of the Divine nature. Hence hagiosune (the word here used) has a kind of middle sense between hagiotes, holiness, and hagiasmos, sanctification. Comp. Heb. xii. 10 (hagiotes or holiness), v. 14 (hagiasmos or sanctification). So that there are, as it were, three degrees: sanctification,
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

The Authority and Utility of the Scriptures
2 Tim. iii. 16.--"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." We told you that there was nothing more necessary to know than what our end is, and what the way is that leads to that end. We see the most part of men walking at random,--running an uncertain race,--because they do not propose unto themselves a certain scope to aim at, and whither to direct their whole course. According to men's particular
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Of the Effects of those Prerogatives.
From these prerogatives there will arise to the elect in heaven, five notable effects:-- 1. They shall know God with a perfect knowledge (1 Cor. i. 10), so far as creatures can possibly comprehend the Creator. For there we shall see the Word, the Creator; and in the Word, all creatures that by the Word were created; so that we shall not need to learn (of the things which were made) the knowledge of him by whom all things were made. The most excellent creatures in this life, are but as a dark veil
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Two Covenants: the Transition
"Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of the everlasting covenant, even our Lord Jesus, make you perfect in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ."--HEB. xiii. 20, 21. THE transition from the Old Covenant to the New was not slow or gradual, but by a tremendous crisis. Nothing less than the death of Christ was the close of the Old. Nothing less than His resurrection
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

The Image of God in Man.
"As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."--1 Cor. xv. 49. One more point remains to be discussed, viz., whether the divine image refers to the image of Christ. This singular opinion has found many warm defenders in the Church from the beginning. It originated with Origen, who with his brilliant, fascinating, and seducing heresies has unsettled many things in the Church; and his heresy in this respect has found many defenders both East and West. Even
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Scripture.
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."-- 2 Tim iii. 16, 17. Among the divine works of art produced by the Holy Spirit, the Sacred Scripture stands first. It may seem incredible that the printed pages of a book should excel His spiritual work in human hearts, yet we assign to the Sacred scripture the most conspicuous place
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Bible in the Days of Jesus Christ
[Illustration: (drop cap S) Reading from a Roll--old Roman Painting] Slowly but surely, as time went on, God was adding to His Book, until about four hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ the Old Testament Scriptures, in their present shape, were completed. Many questions have been asked as to how the canon of the Old Testament was formed--that is, how and when did the Jews first begin to understand that the Books of the Old Testament were inspired by God. About the first five Books--the
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

Faith an Assurance and a Proof.
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the proving of things not seen. For therein the elders had witness borne to them. By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which do appear."--HEB. xi. 1-3 (R.V.). It is often said that one of the greatest difficulties in the Epistle to the Hebrews is to discover any real connection of ideas between the author's general purpose in the previous discussion and the
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

The Unsatisfied Life and Its Remedy
Cant. i. 2-ii. 7 There is no difficulty in recognizing the bride as the speaker in verses 2-7. The words are not those of one dead in trespasses and sins, to whom the LORD is as a root out of a dry ground--without form and comeliness. The speaker has had her eyes opened to behold His beauty, and longs for a fuller enjoyment of His love. Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth: For Thy love [1] is better than wine. It is well that it should be so; it marks a distinct stage in the development
J. Hudson Taylor—Union and Communion

How those who Fear Scourges and those who Contemn them are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 14.) Differently to be admonished are those who fear scourges, and on that account live innocently, and those who have grown so hard in wickedness as not to be corrected even by scourges. For those who fear scourges are to be told by no means to desire temporal goods as being of great account, seeing that bad men also have them, and by no means to shun present evils as intolerable, seeing they are not ignorant how for the most part good men also are touched by them. They are to be admonished
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Blessed and Tragic Unconsciousness
'... Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.'--EXODUS xxxiv. 29. '... And Samson wist not that the Lord had departed from him.'--JUDGES xvi. 20. The recurrence of the same phrase in two such opposite connections is very striking. Moses, fresh from the mountain of vision, where he had gazed on as much of the glory of God as was accessible to man, caught some gleam of the light which he adoringly beheld; and a strange radiance sat on his face, unseen by himself, but
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Of the Necessity of Divine Influences to Produce Regeneration in the Soul.
Titus iii. 5, 6. Titus iii. 5, 6. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour. IF my business were to explain and illustrate this scripture at large, it would yield an ample field for accurate criticism and useful discourse, and more especially would lead us into a variety of practical remarks, on which it would be pleasant
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

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