Grace 101, week 11, removing the veil and beholding jesus

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

Week 11, Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus 2 Corinthians 3 Paul has been called the “apostle of grace.” Perhaps he was chosen to write two-thirds of the New Testament because he knew more than anyone of his time the difference between the old and the new.

He had been the “pharisee of pharisees.” He was an expert in the law, and then became the preacher of grace for the early church and then to billions of people who would come after him. It seems that God chooses the least likely for His purposes! In Paul’s last epistle, he wrote, 2 Timothy 1:7-8 - For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,...

Verse 8 start with “therefore.” What the therefore there for? This is why Paul told Timothy that God didn’t give him a spirit of fear, but of love, power, love, and a sound mind! It’s because of the SHAME put on him because he shared “the testimony of our Lord.” The persecution was so great that Paul encouraged Timothy that God had given him a sound mind. In other words, don’t let the suffering overcome you. The context of this passage is all about the GOSPEL and the calling to spread the Good News!!

2 Timothy 1:9-12 - ...who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, 10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel 11 to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.12 For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day. 2 Timothy 2:9 - Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, 9 for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but THE WORD OF GOD IS NOT CHAINED. The word of God is the incorruptible seed of God. The only thing on this earth that is not susceptible to the forces of death and decay is the word of God. 1 Peter 1:23-24 - ...having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 24 because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever.”

We were born again of this incorruptible seed of God’s word. What is this word of God? It the word of the Gospel: Jesus Christ laid down His life for you and you are born again of Him. The Gospel, the Good News of what Jesus has done for us, is the truth that sets us free and gives us life. The more we feed on this truth, the more we manifest life and the more we become living epistles to all we come in contact with.

3:2-6a 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 - You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

143

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

We are all living love letters from Christ, written by the Holy Spirit. The world doesn’t read the Bible - they read us. We are a living letters to a lost and dying world that wants to read hope, love, faith, joy, and a bright future.

2 Corinthians 3:4-6 - And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant,...

God will always make us adequate as ministers of the New Covenant - not of the Old Covenant. We can take risks knowing that God will supply. We can take leaps of faith like Peter who seized the right hand of the lame beggar at the temple and said, Acts 3:6 - ...what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

And the man was healed! When the people marveled, Peter made sure everyone knew that what he had was NOT of himself: Acts 3:12, 15-16 - “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?... 15 [You] killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

This is the power of the Gospel! This is the sufficiency we have as ministers of the New Covenant of grace!

3:6b 2 Corinthians 3:6, cont. - NOT of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit GIVE LIFE. What is the letter that kills? To find out, we need to go back to the first Pentecost which was fifty days after the first Passover. As always, context is very important.

The night before God delivered the Israelites from the hand of the Egyptians, He instructed them through Moses to paint the blood of a spotless lamb over the doorposts of their homes. The last plague that came upon the Egyptians was the death of the firstborn. That night the angel of death passed through the streets entering every home that did not have the blood over the doorposts, and the firstborn died.

However, if the house was covered in the blood, the angel passed over. Hence, the name “Passover.”

God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over.” (Exodus 12:12) He didn’t say, “When I see your standing in the community; when I see your good deeds; when I see how faithful you are...” No, it had nothing to do with the people on the other side of the door. It was the blood that saved them. In the same way, God’s deliverance, His favor, His blessing, and His salvation come upon us when He sees the blood of His Son which has washed away all of our sins. We have been delivered from the law of sin and death!

Fifty days after the Passover, the Israelites came to the foot of Mt. Sinai, and on that day God gave “the letter” - the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20). However, before He gave “the letter,” He said these words:

144

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

Exodus 19:4-6 - “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

He was saying, “Continue in the covenant of grace that I made with your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! Remain the beneficiary. Let Me be your Benefactor. Stay in the place of the blessed, and let Me be your Blesser. Allow Me to work for you! Allow Me to fight for you like I did at the Red Sea.” It was always God’s desire that they keep the covenant that He had made with Abraham, the covenant of grace. That covenant had brought them out of Egypt. He bore them on eagles’ wings without any effort of their own. He wanted them to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation of people who could enjoy His presence and receive His favor and love. That desire has been manifested in the body of Christ today: 1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

God took them out of Egypt and wanted them to walk in the blessing of Abraham after 430 years of backbreaking labor and slavery.

However, the Israelites did not choose that system of grace at the foot of Mount Sinai. Instead they chose a system where each of them would be personally liable for every single sin they committed. They agreed to a covenant based 100% on their ability to keep it. The problem: man is bankrupt in and of himself. But they promised God, Exodus 24:3 - All that the Lord has commanded us, we will do.

In Hebrews 12, the writer describes what happened on that day when God gave the law at Mount Sinai: Hebrews 12:18-21 - For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” 21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”

Mount Sinai is the mountain that represents the Old Covenant. We have not come to that mountain! If under the law when God gave the 10 Commandments and forbid even an animal to touch the mountain, do you think you can touch the law and live? No wonder believers are being shot with the fiery darts of the enemy who still tries to use the one weapon of the law. They are touching Mount Sinai again, trying to do their best, and the accuser is wearing them out. We expose ourselves to fiery darts when we try to go back to our own efforts and performance.

Moses was exceedingly afraid which goes to show that the law condemns the best of us. Moses was the best person in the entire nation of Israel. God Himself said of Moses, Numbers 12:3 - “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.”

The law will condemns the best of men, but the Good News is that grace saves the worst of us!

Here’s more of the scene from Mount Sinai in Exodus 19:

145

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

Exodus 19:16-18 - ...there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.

Never before had God appeared to His people in this way. With the law came a terror that kept the people far from God. Exodus 19:21 - And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish.”

Exodus 24:2 - And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.”

When they boasted upon their own strength and presumed upon their own righteousness, God withdrew.

All of a sudden God had changed His tone with His people. From Egypt to Mount Sinai God had been near. Previously, when they sinned and complained against Him, it brought more demonstrations of grace and provision. God was showing His heart of grace: “Where sin abounds, grace superabounds.” (Romans 5:20) Under the Old Covenant of law, no human being except the High Priest could approach God because no one measured up to the glory of God. All have sinned and fallen short.

The words “Don’t come near” are unheard of on this side of the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Under the New Covenant it’s a new and living way: Hebrews 10:22 - ...let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith...

However, after the law was given, if they murmured, they died. When they said things like, “Did God bring us out here to die?!” - their corpses were left to rot in the desert.

Which covenant would you prefer?

We see in Exodus 20-31 that God spoke the 10 Commandments from the mountain, and then Moses went up the mountain for forty days to receive the entire law and the instructions for building the tabernacle. The tabernacle showed that God always had a plan to redeem His people. In the tabernacle, blood sacrifices would be offered for the sins of the people, and a high priest would stand in the place of the people to go into the presence of God each year so that they could be blessed and protected. All of these things were a shadow of the better things to come in Jesus.

Exodus 31:35 - And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God. When Moses came down the mountain with the two tablets containing the 10 Commandments, he stopped short of coming to the bottom. Why? Because he saw the people breaking the first commandment, “You shall have no other Gods before Me. You shall not make any graven image” (Exodus 20:4).

The Israelites had formed a golden calf from the gold they had brought out of Egypt. In righteous anger, Moses broke the two tablets of stone (Exodus 32:19). Because of the judgment of the law, 3000 people 146

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

had to die in judgment at the hands of the Levites (the priests). Because of God’s mercy, Moses didn’t come all the way down the mountain lest they all would have had to die. God told him to go back up and receive another set of stones.

Fast forward to the New Covenant. On the day of Pentecost fifty days after the Passover when our Lamb of God was slain, a hundred and twenty disciples were in the upper room waiting for the promise of the Spirit, and all of a sudden a mighty rushing wind blew through, tongues of fire landed on each of them, and the Holy Spirit filled the house - and filled the people! The next thing we see is Peter preaching the Gospel, and 3000 people were saved!

On the Pentecost when the law was given, 3000 died. (Exodus 32:28) On the Pentecost when the Spirit was given, 3000 were saved. (Acts 2:41) That goes to show that the letter kills (the law, 10 Commandments), but the Spirit gives life (the New Covenant of Grace).

3:7a After 2 Corinthians 3:6, Paul goes into an explanation of the contrast between the two covenants. He explains the different between the “letter that kills” and the “Spirit that gives life.” Verses 7 to 16 in the original grammatical structure would be set off by parentheses. And then on the other side of the parentheses is verse 17 which has the very famous statement, “For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

We have heard that verse recited in songs and in “deliverance” meetings and in “inner healing” books.

We’ll see what it means IN CONTEXT. You might be surprised...

Now to the first verse within the parentheses: 2 Corinthians 3:7 - But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones,...

Paul was talking about the 10 Commandments here. It was the only part of the law hand-written by God Himself and engraved on stones (Exodus 34:28). The ceremonial law, the 7 feasts, the detailed statutes for moral living, and the instructions for the killing of animals were given by God to Moses who wrote them down (Exodus 24:4). All of those laws were written most likely on parchments by Moses. Later on the law of Moses was copied on stones by Joshua (Joshua 8:32). But the only part written by the finger of God on stones was 10 Commandments, which God called “the ministry of death” because it ministered death.

In Galatians 4 Paul said, Galatians 4:21 - Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?

God never designed the law to bring out the best in you. It’s purpose was to bring out the worst in you. In Romans is a passage we have become familiar in Grace 101: Romans 3:19-20 - Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

However, in Christ we are complete...from the first day we are born again (Colossians 2:9-10). We are seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:4-6). The more we know about our identity in Him, the more we will walk 147

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

out this identity. Yes, there are exhortations in the epistles written to the church - in fact, there are over 1000 of them! However, until we are established in our completeness, we will fall from grace and toil in self-effort to obey the exhortations.

Believer, you are not DOING to become. You have become.

The greatest lie of satan was “your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). Man was already made in His image!! When they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, their eyes were opened alright! Opened to their nakedness! Opened to shame and condemnation! That tree is the tree of law, death, and guilt.

Stop trying to become something that you already are! As a believer in Jesus Christ you are loved, accepted, approved of, and righteous. The more you believe that, the more your character and behavior will catch up to the reality of it! You cannot ACHIEVE righteousness by performance. You can only RECEIVE it by faith!

Knowing this is the difference between heaven and hell on earth.

For instance, why do you pray? To get close to God? If that’s true, your prayer life will be very frustrating.

The more you pray to get close to God, the more He will seem a million miles away. Why? Because you are trying to BECOME something you already are! You are already close to God because Jesus has removed every barrier! You are in Christ, close to God, seated in heavenly places in Christ!

Now we pray BECAUSE WE ARE CLOSE TO GOD! We take advantage of our position in Him! We bring heaven to bear on our circumstances. We speak down from heaven and bring heaven to earth!

We are now crowned in glory because the blood of Jesus has washed away our sins and made us kings!

Revelation 1:5-6 - To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

We displace all governing authorities in the realm of the enemy! Heaven invades earth as we exercise the authority that we have been given.

Jesus hung between the highest heaven and the earth and cried, “Why have you forsaken Me?” and He closed the gap of separation so that we could be close to God! We go to church, pray, serve one another, worship, and give because WE ARE RIGHT WITH GOD, not because we are trying to be right.

We’re all advocates of holly living. The question is how do we get there: by law or by grace?

As a reminder that the believer in Christ today is no longer under the law, we’ll review a passage in Romans 7: Romans 7:6-11 - But now we have been DELIVERED FROM THE LAW, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. 7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. 9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.

148

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

It’s the “letter that kills” and the “ministry of death.”

And here are a few more reminders: 1 Corinthians 15:56 - the strength of sin is the law.

Romans 10:4 - For Christ is the END OF THE LAW for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Galatians 4:30 - Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “CAST OUT the bondwoman [law] and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free [grace].

Galatians 2:16 - A man is NOT JUSTIFIED BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

3:7b-8 2 Corinthians 3:7-8 - But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?

Paul said that the law had glory. It was perfect and unbending, but its perfection was a glory that caused the people to run away instead of drawing near.

When Paul refers to the “ministry of death” and the glory of Moses’ countenance being so brilliant that the people couldn’t look at him, he was referring to the time when Moses came down the mountain the second time with the second set of stones. Why was his face shining? Why was this time different than the first time? We find the answer in Exodus where God revealed Himself to Moses that second time on the mountain: Exodus 34:6 - And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth...”

The second giving of the 10 Commandments was tempered with grace and mercy. God revealed Himself as the Lord, merciful and gracious even though He was giving Moses the law. This is the mixture that the Paul called the “ministry of death.”

Because of grace, his face shone. Because of law, that glory was passing away. When Moses came down the mountain, the people ran away, and he had to put a veil over his face and call them back. Even his brother Aaron ran away from him. Moses’ shining face while holding the law was a ministry that demanded righteousness from people who had none to offer.

The 1st time Moses went up the mountain, God showed him the instructions for the Tabernacle (Exodus 25-27). The 2nd time that Moses came down the mountain with the two tablets of stone, God said to put them the in the tabernacle in the ark under the cover of the Mercy Seat where blood would be sprinkled every year on the Day of Atonement (Deuteronomy 10:5).

149

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

God’s eyes could not see through the blood of the lamb. When God would see the blood, He would see the innocence of the lamb, not the law-breaking of His people.. The 10 Commandments were put in the ark, under the Mercy Seat, behind the veil of the Holy of Holies.

Mercy is higher than the law. We see Jesus all through the tabernacle. The Mercy Seat is Jesus. The Ark is Jesus. The Lamb is Jesus.

James 2:13 - Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Only one Person could keep the law: Jesus. When you accept Jesus, you get an A+ for law keeping because you are in Him. Today we live under the “ministry of the Spirit.” We live by the newness of the Spirit, not in the oldness of the letter.

3:9 2 Corinthians 3:9 - For if the ministry of condemnation had glory...

The people ran from Moses because of the mixture: his face was shining from the glory of the God’s mercy and grace, but he was holding the two tablets of stone. It’s the “ministry of condemnation.”

It’s when you mix law and grace that you get the ministry of death! No one preaches pure law. In fact, most Christians would say that we are under grace and not under law. They don’t circumcise all newborn babies on the 8th day. They don’t celebrate the 7 feasts. They don’t believe in stoning or sacrificing animals. Most don’t obey the Old Covenant dietary laws or the Sabbath.

However, most in the church today will say that we’re saved by grace, but we after we are saved we must maintain our righteousness by keeping the 10 Commandments. This is Galatianism! If pure law was preached, the people would be better off because at least they would scream for mercy! It would drive them to the end of themselves and onto their knees and destroy their pride. It was designed by God for this purpose.

The mixture of grace and law says, “Do your best, but if you fail, God still loves you. Now get back up and do better. Here are 7 steps to help you. Come back and report on your progress.” After you fail and come back, you hear, “God still loves you and He forgive you if you ask Him to. Now get back up and try again.

Here’s a book to read and a conference to attend and a Bible study to join and a few more folks to keep you accountable...”

It’s the ministry of death. You start out with your new Husband, Jesus, and then go back and forth dating Mr. Law again. It’s spiritual adultery!

There is no place for the law in the life of a New Covenant believer. We have the Holy Spirit inside today.

He is enough. We don’t need the external demands of the law because we have the supply straight from God. For those who advocate the law, remember this: the law cannot bend. If you make the law bend to where you can keep it, you have dishonored it. For the law to be the law, it must remain in its total inflexible perfection.

For those who advocate principles of the law mixed with grace: you are robbing the law of its majesty and robbing grace of heavenly sweetness and purity. You rob both of their power. A mixture of law and grace dishonors both.

For those of us who advocate pure grace: we honor the law for the purpose that God gave it. It was to bring people to the God of grace and mercy.

150

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

In the church today we see the “ministry of condemnation” having glory. People get saved out of utter fear. The wrath of God is preached and people come running. But Paul goes on to say, 2 Corinthians 3:9, cont. - ...the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.

Today the “ministry of righteousness” far exceeds the “ministry of condemnation” in glory. Now across the whole world eyes are being enlightened to this glorious Gospel of grace. The coming revival of God’s “abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness” will be like nothing we have ever witnessed. The “ministry of righteousness” is the “ministry of the Spirit” who guides us into the truth: we are sons of God like our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ! When we have a revelation of that truth, nothing will be impossible for us!

John 14:12-13 - “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

Today Jesus’s face shines on us just as it shone when He came down the Mount of Transfiguration (Mark 9:2). God revealed Jesus in His glorified state and what happened? The people ran to Him (Mark 9:15). It is the glory of God for people to run to Him! There are two glories: the glory of the law and the glory of grace. The glory of the law is passing away.

The glory of grace excels and is much more glorious and will never pass away!

3:10-16 2 Corinthians 3:10-12 - For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. 11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. 12 Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech...

“Boldness of speech” literally means “plainness of speech, not hidden.” In the Old Testament everything was hidden in the types and shadows. Today there are plenty of people teaching the “type” but not the “substance.”

There are people who read the Bible, and all they see is “I have to do this, I have to do that,...” They don’t see Jesus. The Bible is not a book of rules! It’s a book of spiritual bread to feed on. Jesus is the Word.

Jesus is the Bread of life!

Jesus is throughout the Old Testament! Story after story He is foreshadowed. Looking for Jesus is a treasure hunt!

“The Old is the New concealed. The New is the Old revealed!”

2 Corinthians 3:13-14 - ...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. 14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.

“Until this day” the veil is covering the eyes of those who see the Old Testament with Old Covenant lenses. In the context, what is the veil? It’s the condemnation that comes from the law that says they don’t measure up to the standard, and they are guilty and cursed because of it! The veil had to cover the glory of God which emanated from Moses. The the law whose purpose is to shine a light on sin produced 151

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

death in the presence of the glory of God. Even to this day, people’s minds are blinded because of the veil. They don’t see Jesus! The veil was torn from top to bottom when our Lord was crucified! Now we can be in the presence of God’s glory and live! The veil is taken away in Christ!!

So who is putting the veil there today? Is it God? NO! If we skip down a few verses to the next chapter of 2 Corinthians, we can read IN CONTEXT who us putting the veil there: 2 Corinthians 4:3 - But even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing..

Paul says the “Gospel is veiled.” What is the Gospel? The “ministry of condemnation” has been replaced with the “ministry of righteousness!” If you don’t know this, you are perishing! We all know people who are perishing - not just unbelievers. Believer or unbeliever, many are perishing from destructive lifestyles, depression, and disease. If there is a perishing person, the Gospel is being veiled somehow. The next verse tells us WHO has put the veil there: 2 Corinthians 4:4 - ...whose minds the god of this age has blinded, [these are the same words used in verse 3:14! Satan has blinded their eyes!] who do not believe, lest the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

Satan is the one who blinds the minds of the unbelieving! Why is the devil blinding their minds? Because he’s so afraid that the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ will shine on people! If the Gospel were unattractive, the devil wouldn’t be working so hard to blind people’s eyes to it. What we have is so attractive: Jesus is so attractive! If the true Jesus is preached, people will just run to Jesus and enjoy Him forever!

The devil does not want people to know that Jesus is the very image of the Father! The devil wants you to think that the Father is a mean judge who is angry with you! God is not angry with you!! Jesus is the exact representation of the Father! Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil. ALL! Not just those who repented. Not just those who confessed their sins. Not just those who were at peace with all men. Not just those who ate organic food. Not just those who obeyed their parents. Not just hose who behaved themselves! That’s the Father’s heart! The compassion and love that Jesus demonstrated when He took children in His arms, protected the woman caught in adultery, defended the woman with the alabaster box, healed the man with the withered hand, and calmed the storm is the same compassion and love that the Father has for you today!!

2 Corinthians 3:15-16 - But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.

16 Nevertheless WHEN ONE TURNS TO THE LORD, THE VEIL IS TAKEN AWAY. When we turn to Jesus, the veil of condemnation is removed. We are His bride, and when He lifts the veil and says to us: Song of Solomon 4:7 - “You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you.”

Pray, “Lord, open my eyes to see You. Speak to me through Your word.” Never depend on your own understanding. See your Husband, Mr. Grace, and never let the veil cover your eyes again.

3:17 Now the parentheses that began after verse 6 end. If you recall, verse 6: 2 Corinthians 3:6 - ...for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

152

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

The next ten verses explain the difference between the letter that kills and the Spirit that gives life. Now we come to the end of the parentheses and verse 17: 2 Corinthians 3:17 - Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

There’s our phrase: “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty!” What is the context? We are no longer under the law! The veil of condemnation has been removed, and now we can look into the face of Jesus without shame! We are free from the limiting thoughts, from the accusations, and from all the fears of the enemy! We are under grace!

The work is finished. We are free.

We should always look at scriptures IN CONTEXT! How many Christians are frustrated because they are engaging in “spiritual warfare” trying to defeat the devil and reciting verses out of context? Our freedom is from the condemnation of the law! We can say the same thing that Jesus said: John 14:30 - The ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. Why can we say the same thing?

1 John 4:17 - Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

Following are some of our famous “deliverance” scriptures. When read in context, EVERY ONE OF THEM IS IN A PASSAGE THAT CONTRASTS LAW WITH GRACE. John 8:36 - If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

Galatians 5:1 - Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

John 8:32 - And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Romans 8:15 - For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

We could simplify inner healing and deliverance ministry if we just understood 2 Corinthians 3! Remove the veil and show people Jesus!

In verse 17 of 2 Corinthians 3, we see the phrase, “Now the Lord is the Spirit.” The literal translation of the phrase would be “Now the Spirit Lord.” This is not referring to the person of the Holy Spirit per se, although we know that the trinity is one God. No where else in the scriptures is this word structure used for the Holy Spirit. This is speaking of Jesus. The King James Version translates it “Now the Lord is that Spirit.” In the context of 2 Corinthians 3, Paul is speaking of two different ways of reading the Bible: one is when Moses is read; the other is when one turns to Jesus. The “Spirit Lord” is the Spirit of Jesus throughout the Bible.

When you read your Bible who do you see? Moses who is giving you a list of instructions on how to be a better Christian? Or do you see Jesus who wants to reveal Himself to you by showing you the story of redemption throughout the Bible.

In Luke 24 we see the account of Jesus walking on the road to Emmaus with two people who were sad that Jesus had died. They didn’t know He had been resurrected. He restrained them from recognizing

153

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

Him, and then for the next seven miles, “He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:27) What was the result?

Luke 24:32 - “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”

Does your heart burn within you when you read the Bible? Is it good instruction or Good News? Jesus wants to open the scriptures to you and expound the word concerning Himself! Without Jesus, the scriptures are a mystery that is shut tight, and no one can understand them!

If we read the Old Testament with man-centered Old Covenant lenses, we will miss the primary teachings about Jesus and think it’s all about us.

If we read the Old Testament with New Covenant lenses, the Holy Spirit will reveal Jesus on every page!

Abraham and Isaac Ask the Lord to reveal to you New Covenant truths in the Old Testament stories. A beautiful example is in account of Abraham laying Isaac on the altar.

Perhaps you’ve heard this spin on the story: “Abraham laid Isaac, the son that he loved, on the altar. Isaac was his only son, but he laid him down! Have you laid down your Isaacs?! Those Isaacs are standing between you and God! They’re idols! Consecrate yourself!Lay it down for Him! What is it? Is it money? A child? Your career? Bring your Isaac to the altar! Come lay it down now!”

You either walk away under condemnation because you couldn’t lay down your Isaac. Or maybe you don’t even know what your Isaac is. Or maybe you run to the front and lay it down, only to pick it back up tomorrow in defeat.

It’s not that we can’t draw some principles for holy living from these Old Testament stories, but the primary meaning should be Christ-centered, not man-centered. We should focus primarily on finding the “Spirit Lord” in the Old Testament, the Spirit of Jesus.

The “Spirit Lord” here is that Isaac is a type of Jesus.

Genesis 22:2 - “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

This is the first mention of love in the Bible. Every time you see the first mention of something, take note because there is a significant meaning behind it. God was saying to Himself, “I’m going to give My Son, My only Son, the Son that I love and bring Him to Mount Moriah.” Why Mount Moriah? Because the highest peak of Mount Moriah is Mount Calvary, also called “the Place of the Skull” (or Golgotha) where Jesus was crucified! And Isaac, a shadow of Jesus, carried the wood on his back (the cross).

Genesis 22:6 - So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son...

There we see Jesus: John 19:17 - He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.

Back to Genesis: 154

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

Genesis 22:7-8 - Isaac said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”

A ram was caught for Abraham, but the Lord said He would “provide for Himself.” The actual Hebrew says it like this: “The Lord will PROVIDE HIMSELF a lamb for the burnt offering.” The Lord gave Himself for us!!

The angel of the Lord came and said to Abraham, Genesis 22:12 - “For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” In the desert temptation of Jesus, He translated “fear God” as “worship God.” (Luke 4:8) In other words, the angel was saying to Abraham, “You worship God; you love God.” How did God know this? Because Abraham was willing to go all the way. In Hebrews we see what was on Abraham’s mind when he was willing to offer Isaac: Hebrews 11:17-19 - By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Here we see Jesus on the cross, and Jesus being resurrected for us. God’s only Son, the Son that He loves! Now we can look at God and say, “Now I know, Father, that You love me because You have not withheld Your Son, Your only Son, the Son that You love.”

When we see Jesus in the word, it brings us life, and faith explodes in our hearts! We have tried to put ourselves as the hero in that story, offering up “our Isaacs.” We aren’t the heroes! The hero is our heavenly Father who gave up His only Son for us!! The hero is our heavenly Lamb who laid down His life for us!!

Now we can receive this truth: Romans 8:32 - He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

If the Lord has given His best, He will surely give us the rest! If you believe that God would withhold any good thing from you or not keep His promises to you, then you would be saying that there are things that God values more than Jesus. If He were to withhold healing or provision or peace or any blessing from heaven, then His promises are not “yes and amen.”

In the story of Abraham and Isaac, the focus should never be our efforts to lay everything down for God. The focus should be that He laid everything down for us. Then as we freely receive from “the abundance of His house” (Psalm 36:8), it is easy for us to freely give. There are no demands because the supply never runs dry!

See Jesus in the word and be set free!!!

The Spirit of Jesus can be seen in another passage in Genesis where we see a wonderful promise once the veil is removed. It’s a truth hidden in another story about Abraham.

155

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

God had told Abraham to take Sarah and go to the land He had promised them. Although God didn’t tell him to take his nephew, Lot, he brought Lot with him anyway. Lot was a hindrance to Abraham and there was strife among their servants. There came a time when they had to part ways.

Genesis 13:14 - And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now...”

“AFTER Lot had separated from him,” he could lift his eyes up and see something that he couldn’t see before! The name “Lot” in Hebrew means “veil!” When the “veil” was removed, here was what Abraham could see:: Genesis 13:14 cont. - “..and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.

When the veil of condemnation, fear, and doubt is removed, you can see your inheritance in Christ! You can enter the Promised Land of Rest for every New Covenant believer. When you see Jesus in all of His glory, you can see all of the life that the Lord wants to so graciously and freely give you!!

John 5:38-40, The Message - "You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about Me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren't willing to receive from Me the life you say you want.”

3:18 2 Corinthians 3:18 - But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

“We all” have unveiled faces today. We have no veil and Jesus has no veil. We can now look “full in His wonderful face.” When that happens, we move from one glory to another. And the agent of that change is the Holy Spirit who has enlightened the eyes of our understanding to His love and power and goodness. Everything He has is now ours.

“Transformed” is the Greek word “metamorphoo” which means a transformation from one state to another state. It is not a gradual change, but a change from one state of glory to another state of glory.

In this passage in 2 Corinthians 3, Paul isn’t talking about increments of glory. There is an every-increasing discovery of our new glorious state, but Paul was talking about two very distinct glories: 1. The fading glory of the Old Covenant where God saw you through the law. In this glory, no one can see the Lord and live (Exodus 33:20). In this glory, if you have lustful thoughts in your heart, you have committed adultery and are condemned. In this glory, if you hate your brother, you have committed murder and are condemned. In this glory is the wrath of God, shame, and punishment. In this glory, Moses could only look upon the back parts of God (Exodus 33:18). In this glory, God was always leaving.

2. The unfading glory of the New Covenant where God sees you as perfectly righteous. In this glory, God only sees you through the lenses of grace, 24/7. In this glory, you not only see God and live, the more you see Him, you live more and more and more! In this glory is acceptance, approval, and love. In this glory, God is always with you; He will never leave you or forsake you. In this glory is liberty!

156

Grace 101: Week 11, “Removing the Veil and Beholding Jesus”

Conclusion When God told Abraham, the father of our faith, to look up and count the stars, Abraham believed the same Gospel that we do. God told him that the stars were as his descendants would be. Abraham looked up and saw us, God’s stars, written in the Gospel story. Today we are in the light, never to walk in darkness ever again.

Jesus wants our light to shine before men that they might see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. The best “work” we can do is to believe the Gospel for ourselves, live in grace, and share the Gospel of grace with our families, with our friends and co-workers, in our schools, and with every person who will hear it.

When we preach grace, people feel the security to come out in the open and be transparent. When we preach law, no one will share openly about their struggles and temptations. Sin will just stay hidden and become more dangerous and deceptive. When we preach grace, we create an atmosphere of safety in the church where it’s alright to be weak. It’s alright to have failures and to struggle with certain sins.

People don't feel stripped of their dignity, dishonored, or gossiped about when they “confess their sins one to another” (James 5:16). Why? Because of grace we can rest in the fact that it’s in our weakness that the power of God is made perfect. It’s in that honesty that friends who walk in grace can encourage and build up others who are struggling. When we have a revelation of grace, the Holy Spirit speaks through us to remind our fellow believers that they haven’t lost their righteousness. Sin will have no power over them because they are not under law, but under grace (Romans 6:14). The blood of Jesus has forever separated them from darkness into the light.

In that environment, the kindness of the Lord will lead unbelievers to change their minds and see their need for Jesus, and they will receive the free gift of righteousness through Him. Godly sorrow leads them to fall into the arms of a loving Father who has been watching and waiting for them to come home.

For Paul it was clear that there was no “gray area” when it came to the Gospel. We are either in Adam or in Christ. We are either righteous or we are not. We are either under grace or under law. We are either dead in our sins or alive in Christ.

Many in the church today have been taught a “gray” Christianity. They are never 100% sure they are “right” with God. Some days they are and some days they aren’t depending on how close they feel to God. That “closeness” is affected by whether every thought and every action is good or bad.

Until our eyes are opened to this glorious Gospel, we will live a gray Christian life. When our eyes are opened, we’ll be marked with inexpressible joy and a life in living color!

There are those who walk in darkness and cannot see the light of the glory of Jesus. For us, the veil of separation has been removed so that we shine with His love. We live in His presence, glorious and unashamed, ready to love others with the love He first gave us and compelled to unveil Jesus to a dying world!

Copyright © Patricia Gunn 2013

157