For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
For if that which was to be done away was glorious, much more that which remains is glorious, contrasting a temporary ministration of death and condemnation written and engraved in stone with a lasting ministration of the Spirit and righteousness. If the ministration to be abolished at the death of Christ was glorious, what remains must much more excel in glory. That which was done away left the transgressor under its curse with no hope of pardon, while that which remains is the lasting new-covenant ministry.
What was done away is the ceremonial system of types and offerings with prophecies pointing forward to Christ, including the entire Jewish economy with the ceremonial law connected with the moral precepts. The ceremonies were glorious but were done away at Christ's death and have no value since then, to cease and lose force and value when purpose was fulfilled and type met antitype at Christ's advent and death as man's sin offering. Though the ceremonial law could have no force after Christ died on the cross as a sin offering, while in force the whole system had a sacred place and value in the plan of redemption and relation to Christ's work. The dim glory of the Jewish age with its offerings pointing forward to Christ was thus surpassed by the brighter glory of the Christian age when the promised Saviour had come.
What was done away was glorious because Christ gave it and was embodied and represented in it as one full of righteousness and truth, casting His glory back into the Jewish age. It had no glory of itself but was made glorious by the promised Saviour revealed in types and shadows giving a veiled discovery of mercy and grace. It bore the stamp of divinity expressing the holiness, justice and righteousness of God, worthy of its divine Originator. It shed a halo of glory on the law through Christ bearing its curse and completing salvation so that obedient people can keep the law and be accepted through His merits. Its glory was in the solemn sanctuary service typifying grand truths to be revealed through successive generations: the cloud of incense ascending with the prayers of Israel represents a righteousness that alone can make the sinner's prayer acceptable to God, the bleeding victim on the altar testified of a Redeemer to come, and the visible token of the divine presence shining from the holy of holies kept faith alive through age after age of darkness and apostasy until the advent of the promised Messiah.
The glory reflected on the face of Moses when he came down with the tables of stone was transient and has passed away, so that Israel could not look on him. His face was veiled so the glory would not shine forth to beholders who were transgressors with thoughts and affections controlled by evil. By contrast the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is not transient but remains forever and ever abides, so that all who look may live and have that glory reflected upon them, and Christ as righteousness sheds light and brightness and glory and joy into the law of God. The brightness on the face of Moses held two glories together, the sacred exalted character of God's law and the glory of the gospel revealed through Christ, because on the mount Moses received not only the tables of the law but also the plan of salvation and saw the sacrifice of Christ prefigured by all the types and symbols of the Jewish age, so the radiance came from heavenly light streaming from Calvary no less than from the glory of the law.
That divine illumination symbolized the glory of the dispensation of which Moses was the visible mediator as representative of the one true Intercessor. The glory reflected in his countenance illustrates the blessings to be received by God's commandment-keeping people through the mediation of Christ. It testifies that the closer the communion with God and the clearer the knowledge of His requirements, the more fully believers are conformed to the divine image and become partakers of the divine nature. Moses veiling his countenance because the people could not endure its glory was a type of Christ veiling His divinity with humanity and coming in the likeness of sinful flesh because fallen people could not endure the brightness of heaven, so that He might gain access to them and lift them up.
That which remains and is much more glorious is the reality when type meets antitype, the gospel of Christ and the brighter glory of the Christian age after the promised Saviour had come, with the life-giving, sanctifying Spirit given through Christ to all who believe. That which remains is also God's law of ten commandments, the moral standard of righteousness which is not typical and is immutable and unchangeable, remaining as long as the heavens remain. Christ's coming fulfilled what the offerings foreshadowed but did not abolish God's commandments, which still stand, and the remaining law is much more glorious when plainly discerned as unchangeable by all who see to the end of that which was abolished. The law that was done away was not God's enduring law for the government of His family in heaven and on earth.
The law itself has no power to save and is bondage and death to those under its condemnation and is lusterless apart from Christ, but it was ordained to life so that those obedient in harmony with its claims receive eternal life, and only through Jesus Christ can people keep it and be accepted through His merits. The verse does not make either the moral or the ceremonial law a thunder-and-lightning law to be denounced and despised. Paul set forth this contrast to settle the minds of the church at Corinth about the gospel against Judaizing teachers who made trouble and division by exalting the law and the ceremonies above the gospel and condemning Paul for not urging the ceremonies on the people. Even after the ceremonial system was no longer to be observed Paul presented it in its true position and value, showing its sacred place in the plan of redemption and its relation to the work of Christ.
The surrounding contrast between the glory of the law reflected on Moses' veiled face and a greater glory includes the glory attending Christ as He went to His Father's throne at His ascension, which was veiled from human sight because its full brilliance would have overwhelmed the disciples and distracted them from Christ's earthly character and the work they were called to do. The verse has been associated with the claim that the law has been done away.
For if that which was to be done away was glorious, much more that which remains is glorious, contrasting a temporary ministration of death and condemnation written and engraved in stone with a lasting ministration of the Spirit and righteousness. If the ministration to be abolished at the death of Christ was glorious, what remains must much more excel in glory. That which was done away left the transgressor under its curse with no hope of pardon, while that which remains is the lasting new-covenant ministry.
What was done away is the ceremonial system of types and offerings with prophecies pointing forward to Christ, including the entire Jewish economy with the ceremonial law connected with the moral precepts. The ceremonies were glorious but were done away at Christ's death and have no value since then, to cease and lose force and value when purpose was fulfilled and type met antitype at Christ's advent and death as man's sin offering. Though the ceremonial law could have no force after Christ died on the cross as a sin offering, while in force the whole system had a sacred place and value in the plan of redemption and relation to Christ's work. The dim glory of the Jewish age with its offerings pointing forward to Christ was thus surpassed by the brighter glory of the Christian age when the promised Saviour had come.
What was done away was glorious because Christ gave it and was embodied and represented in it as one full of righteousness and truth, casting His glory back into the Jewish age. It had no glory of itself but was made glorious by the promised Saviour revealed in types and shadows giving a veiled discovery of mercy and grace. It bore the stamp of divinity expressing the holiness, justice and righteousness of God, worthy of its divine Originator. It shed a halo of glory on the law through Christ bearing its curse and completing salvation so that obedient people can keep the law and be accepted through His merits. Its glory was in the solemn sanctuary service typifying grand truths to be revealed through successive generations: the cloud of incense ascending with the prayers of Israel represents a righteousness that alone can make the sinner's prayer acceptable to God, the bleeding victim on the altar testified of a Redeemer to come, and the visible token of the divine presence shining from the holy of holies kept faith alive through age after age of darkness and apostasy until the advent of the promised Messiah.
The glory reflected on the face of Moses when he came down with the tables of stone was transient and has passed away, so that Israel could not look on him. His face was veiled so the glory would not shine forth to beholders who were transgressors with thoughts and affections controlled by evil. By contrast the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is not transient but remains forever and ever abides, so that all who look may live and have that glory reflected upon them, and Christ as righteousness sheds light and brightness and glory and joy into the law of God. The brightness on the face of Moses held two glories together, the sacred exalted character of God's law and the glory of the gospel revealed through Christ, because on the mount Moses received not only the tables of the law but also the plan of salvation and saw the sacrifice of Christ prefigured by all the types and symbols of the Jewish age, so the radiance came from heavenly light streaming from Calvary no less than from the glory of the law.
That divine illumination symbolized the glory of the dispensation of which Moses was the visible mediator as representative of the one true Intercessor. The glory reflected in his countenance illustrates the blessings to be received by God's commandment-keeping people through the mediation of Christ. It testifies that the closer the communion with God and the clearer the knowledge of His requirements, the more fully believers are conformed to the divine image and become partakers of the divine nature. Moses veiling his countenance because the people could not endure its glory was a type of Christ veiling His divinity with humanity and coming in the likeness of sinful flesh because fallen people could not endure the brightness of heaven, so that He might gain access to them and lift them up.
That which remains and is much more glorious is the reality when type meets antitype, the gospel of Christ and the brighter glory of the Christian age after the promised Saviour had come, with the life-giving, sanctifying Spirit given through Christ to all who believe. That which remains is also God's law of ten commandments, the moral standard of righteousness which is not typical and is immutable and unchangeable, remaining as long as the heavens remain. Christ's coming fulfilled what the offerings foreshadowed but did not abolish God's commandments, which still stand, and the remaining law is much more glorious when plainly discerned as unchangeable by all who see to the end of that which was abolished. The law that was done away was not God's enduring law for the government of His family in heaven and on earth.
The law itself has no power to save and is bondage and death to those under its condemnation and is lusterless apart from Christ, but it was ordained to life so that those obedient in harmony with its claims receive eternal life, and only through Jesus Christ can people keep it and be accepted through His merits. The verse does not make either the moral or the ceremonial law a thunder-and-lightning law to be denounced and despised. Paul set forth this contrast to settle the minds of the church at Corinth about the gospel against Judaizing teachers who made trouble and division by exalting the law and the ceremonies above the gospel and condemning Paul for not urging the ceremonies on the people. Even after the ceremonial system was no longer to be observed Paul presented it in its true position and value, showing its sacred place in the plan of redemption and its relation to the work of Christ.
The surrounding contrast between the glory of the law reflected on Moses' veiled face and a greater glory includes the glory attending Christ as He went to His Father's throne at His ascension, which was veiled from human sight because its full brilliance would have overwhelmed the disciples and distracted them from Christ's earthly character and the work they were called to do. The verse has been associated with the claim that the law has been done away.