Note 1 at 2 Cor. 3:7: From verse 6 to the end of the chapter, Paul is contrasting the ministration of the old covenant of law with that of the new covenant of grace. He describes the old covenant as: (1) the letter-v. 6, (2) producing death-v. 6, (3) glorious-v. 7, (4) condemning-v. 9, (5) done away with-v. 11, (6) veiled or not permitting an accurate view of God-v. 13, and (6) having been abolished-v. 13.

In contrast, he describes the new covenant that Christ enacted as: (1) the spirit-v. 6, (2) giving life-v. 6, (3) more glorious than the old-v. 8, (4) producing righteousness instead of condemnation-v. 9, (5) remaining or still in effect-v. 11, and (6) enlightening, allowing us to behold the true glory of God-vv. 16-18.

From these contrasts, we can see that the old covenant of law was not uplifting but condemning (see note 4 at Rom. 3:19, p. 757) and that it has now been replaced for the believer with the new covenant of grace. Failure to understand clearly the difference between the new covenant and the old covenant is certainly one of the main reasons many Christians don't experience the victorious life of Christ (see note 3 at Rom. 3:19, p. 757; see note 1 at Rom. 3:21, p. 758; see note 14 at Rom. 3:31, p. 760; see note 3 at Rom. 4:15, p. 765; see note 8 at Rom. 5:20, p. 775; see note 1 at Rom. 7:7, p. 787; see note 2 at Rom. 7:7, p. 787; see note 3 at Rom. 7:9, p. 787; see note 4 at Rom. 7:9, p. 788; see note 5 at Rom. 7:11, p. 788; see note 6 at Rom. 7:13, p. 788).

Note 2 at 2 Cor. 3:7: To fully appreciate Paul's comparisons through the end of this chapter, it's important to understand the Old Testament to events which he is referring. The story is as follows: "Moses was up on mount Sinai with the Lord for forty days and forty nights, and in all that time he neither ate nor drank" (Ex. 34:28; Dt. 9:18). At that time God wrote out the ten commandments on the stone tablets (Ex. 34:1; Dt. 10:1-4).

Moses didn't realize as he come back down the mountain with the tablets that his face glowed from being in the presence of God. Because of this radiance upon his face, Aaron and the people of Israel were afraid to come near him. Moses gave them the commandments the Lord had given him upon the mountain. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face so that the people would not be frightened by seeing the glory of God on his face. (Ex. 34:28-30, 32-33 [LB]).

Note 3 at 2 Cor. 3:7: There are only two people in scripture whose face definitely shone with the glory of the Lord; Moses (Ex. 34:30) and Jesus (Mt. 17:2). The angel who rolled the stone away from Christ's tomb had a countenance like lightening (Mt. 28:3) and Stephen's face looked like that of an angel (Acts 6:15), possibly meaning that it was also shinning. Ecclesiastes 8:1 says, "...a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed" but this is probably speaking more in a figurative sense than what Moses and Jesus experienced.

There was a notable difference between Moses' face shining and Jesus' face shining. Moses was reflecting the glory of God whereas Jesus was the glory of God (see note 1 at Mt. 17:2, p. 265)