The superiority of Christian ministry should produce great openness and encouragement within Christ"s ministers. Paul developed these qualities in this section to enable his readers to understand his behavior and to respond in like manner in their own ministries.
The hope to which Paul referred was the confidence that he and the other apostles and Christians served God under a covenant that God would not supersede. [1] Another view is that Paul resumed his thought from 2 Corinthians 3:4 and that this hope is the same as the confidence that he spoke of there. [2] The "boldness" (Gr. parrhesia) to which Paul referred is plainness of speech that has within it our concept of fearlessness ( 2 Corinthians 7:4; cf. Romans 1:16). This word originally meant fearless candor in speech but came to mean confidence or openness in action as well as in word. [3] We can be confident and certain in our mission as well as in our message, though here Paul was speaking specifically of his speech. [source][source][source]
Context Summary
2 Corinthians 3:7-18 - The Veil Upon The Heart
By a quick turn of thought, Paul passes from the idea of the fleshly tablets of the heart, where God writes His new name, to the Law graven on the ancient tables of stone, and to the Lawgiver, stern and veiled. He argues that if the glory which shone on the face of Moses was so beautiful, surely that of the gospel must be transcendently so. The one is transient, the other abiding; the one is reflected, the other direct.
Not only was Moses veiled, but the hearts of the Jews were covered with a thick covering of prejudice. They did not understand the inner significance of the Levitical Code; and when the Law was read, they listened to it without spiritual insight. Directly men turn to Christ, they see the inner meaning of Scripture. What liberty becomes ours when we live in Christ! We are free to love, to serve, to know, and to be. Note 2 Corinthians 3:18! We may gaze on the unveiled face of God in Christ. The more we look the more we resemble. The more we endeavor to reflect Him, in doing what He desires, the more certainly and inevitably we become like Him. Only remember that in all things we are deeply indebted to the gracious influence of the Spirit. He produces the Christ-life in us. [source]
Chapter Summary: 2 Corinthians 3
1Lest their false teachers should charge him with vain glory, 2he shows the faith of the Corinthians to be a sufficient commendation of his ministry 6Whereupon entering a comparison between the ministers of the law and of the gospel, 12he proves that his ministry is so far the more excellent, 17as the gospel of life and liberty is more glorious than the law of condemnation
Greek Commentary for 2 Corinthians 3:12
Plainness [παῤῥησίᾳ] Rev., boldness. See on openly, John 7:13; see on confidence, 1 John 2:28; see on freely, Acts 2:29. The contrast is with the dissembling with which his adversaries charged him. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 2 Corinthians 3:12
Colossians 2:15Having spoiled principalities and powers [ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας] For the verb spoiled, see on putting off, Colossians 2:11. The principalities and powers are the angelic hosts through whose ministry the law was given. See Deuteronomy 33:2; Acts 7:53; Hebrews 2:2; Galatians 3:19. Great importance was attached, in the later rabbinical schools, to the angels who assisted in giving the law; and that fact was not without influence in shaping the doctrine of angelic mediators, one of the elements of the Colossian heresy, which was partly Judaic. This doctrine Paul strikes at in Colossians 1:16; Colossians 2:10; here, and Colossians 2:18. God put off from himself, when the bond of the law was rendered void in Christ's crucifixion, that ministry of angels which waited on the giving of the law, revealing Christ as the sole mediator, the head of every principality and power (Colossians 2:10). The directness of the gospel ministration, as contrasted with the indirectness of the legal ministration, is touched upon by Paul in Galatians 3:19sqq.; 2 Corinthians 3:12sqq.; Hebrews 2:2. [source]
1 Timothy 3:13Boldness [παρρησίαν] Primarily, free and bold speaking; speaking out every word ( πᾶν, ῥῆμα ). Its dominant idea is boldness, confidence, as opposed to fear, ambiguity, or reserve. The idea of publicity is sometimes attached to it, but as secondary. Only here in the Pastorals: several times in Paul, as 2 Corinthians 3:12; 2 Corinthians 7:4; Philemon 1:20. The phrase πολλή παρρησία muchboldness is also Pauline. An assured position and blameless reputation in the church, with a pure conscience, would assure boldness of speech and of attitude in the Christian community and elsewhere. [source]
Hebrews 4:16Come - unto [προσερχώμεθα] oP., often in Hebrews, and commonly in the same sense as here - approach to God through the O.T. sacrifices or the sacrifice of Christ. Paul's word προσαγωγή accessexpresses the same idea. See Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 3:12. The phrase come boldly expresses a thought which the Epistle emphasizes - that Christianity is the religion of free access to God. Comp. 2 Corinthians 3:12,2 Corinthians 3:13. [source]
1 John 2:28We may have confidence [σχῶμεν παῤῥησίαν] Rev., boldness. For the phrase have boldness, see 1 John 3:21; 1 John 4:17; 1 John 5:14; Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 10:19; Philemon 1:8. For the word παῤῥησία boldnesssee on John 7:13; see on Acts 2:29. It is opposed, as here, to αἰσχύνομαι tobe ashamed, in Proverbs 13:5, where the Septuagint reads “a wicked man is ashamed ( αἰσχύνεται ) and shall not have boldness ( παῤῥησίαν ). Also in Philemon 1:20. Compare 2 Corinthians 3:12. The idea of free, open speech lies at the bottom of the word: coming before God's bar with nothing to conceal. The thought is embodied in the general confession of the Book of Common Prayer: “That we should not dissemble nor cloke them before the face of Almighty God our Heavenly Father, but confess them.” So John Wesley's Hymn:“Jesus, Thy blood and righteousnessMy beauty are, my glorious dress: 'Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,-DIVIDER-
With joy shall I lift up my head.Bold shall I stand in Thy great day,For who aught to my charge shall lay? Fully absolved through these I am, - From sin and fear, from guilt and shame.” [source]
What do the individual words in 2 Corinthians 3:12 mean?
Greek Commentary for 2 Corinthians 3:12
Rev., boldness. See on openly, John 7:13; see on confidence, 1 John 2:28; see on freely, Acts 2:29. The contrast is with the dissembling with which his adversaries charged him. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 2 Corinthians 3:12
For the verb spoiled, see on putting off, Colossians 2:11. The principalities and powers are the angelic hosts through whose ministry the law was given. See Deuteronomy 33:2; Acts 7:53; Hebrews 2:2; Galatians 3:19. Great importance was attached, in the later rabbinical schools, to the angels who assisted in giving the law; and that fact was not without influence in shaping the doctrine of angelic mediators, one of the elements of the Colossian heresy, which was partly Judaic. This doctrine Paul strikes at in Colossians 1:16; Colossians 2:10; here, and Colossians 2:18. God put off from himself, when the bond of the law was rendered void in Christ's crucifixion, that ministry of angels which waited on the giving of the law, revealing Christ as the sole mediator, the head of every principality and power (Colossians 2:10). The directness of the gospel ministration, as contrasted with the indirectness of the legal ministration, is touched upon by Paul in Galatians 3:19sqq.; 2 Corinthians 3:12sqq.; Hebrews 2:2. [source]
Primarily, free and bold speaking; speaking out every word ( πᾶν, ῥῆμα ). Its dominant idea is boldness, confidence, as opposed to fear, ambiguity, or reserve. The idea of publicity is sometimes attached to it, but as secondary. Only here in the Pastorals: several times in Paul, as 2 Corinthians 3:12; 2 Corinthians 7:4; Philemon 1:20. The phrase πολλή παρρησία muchboldness is also Pauline. An assured position and blameless reputation in the church, with a pure conscience, would assure boldness of speech and of attitude in the Christian community and elsewhere. [source]
Late word from βαινω bainō in lxx for steps at a door (1 Samuel 5:5). In plural the steps of a stair. In the inscriptions it means a good foothold or standing. The ecclesiastical writers (Theodoret) take it to be a higher grade or rank, but it is doubtful if Paul means that here. Much boldness (πολλην παρρησιαν pollēn parrēsian). A Pauline phrase (2 Corinthians 3:12; 2 Corinthians 7:4; Philemon 1:20). In the faith which is in Christ Jesus Pauline phrase again (Acts 26:18; Galatians 3:26; Colossians 1:4; Ephesians 1:15; 2 Timothy 1:13; 2 Timothy 3:15). [source]
A Pauline phrase (2 Corinthians 3:12; 2 Corinthians 7:4; Philemon 1:20). [source]
oP., often in Hebrews, and commonly in the same sense as here - approach to God through the O.T. sacrifices or the sacrifice of Christ. Paul's word προσαγωγή accessexpresses the same idea. See Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 3:12. The phrase come boldly expresses a thought which the Epistle emphasizes - that Christianity is the religion of free access to God. Comp. 2 Corinthians 3:12, 2 Corinthians 3:13. [source]
Rev., boldness. For the phrase have boldness, see 1 John 3:21; 1 John 4:17; 1 John 5:14; Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 10:19; Philemon 1:8. For the word παῤῥησία boldnesssee on John 7:13; see on Acts 2:29. It is opposed, as here, to αἰσχύνομαι tobe ashamed, in Proverbs 13:5, where the Septuagint reads “a wicked man is ashamed ( αἰσχύνεται ) and shall not have boldness ( παῤῥησίαν ). Also in Philemon 1:20. Compare 2 Corinthians 3:12. The idea of free, open speech lies at the bottom of the word: coming before God's bar with nothing to conceal. The thought is embodied in the general confession of the Book of Common Prayer: “That we should not dissemble nor cloke them before the face of Almighty God our Heavenly Father, but confess them.” So John Wesley's Hymn:“Jesus, Thy blood and righteousnessMy beauty are, my glorious dress: 'Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,-DIVIDER- With joy shall I lift up my head.Bold shall I stand in Thy great day,For who aught to my charge shall lay? Fully absolved through these I am, - From sin and fear, from guilt and shame.” [source]