John Calvin Commentary 2 Corinthians 3:18

"But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit." — 2 Corinthians 3:18 (ASV)

But we all, with unveiled face. I do not know how it had come into the mind of Erasmus to apply to ministers exclusively what is evidently common to all believers. The word κατοπτριζεσθαι, it is true, has a double meaning among the Greeks, for it sometimes means to hold out a mirror to be looked into, and at other times to look into a mirror when presented. The old interpreter, however, has correctly judged that the second of these is the more suitable to this passage. I have accordingly followed his rendering. Nor is it without good reason that Paul has added a term of universality—“We all,” he says; for he includes the whole body of the Church. It is a conclusion that suits well with the doctrine stated previously—that we have in the gospel a clear revelation from God. Regarding this, we shall see something further in the fourth chapter.

He points out, however, at the same time, both the strength of the revelation and our daily progress. For he has employed such a similitude to denote three things: first, that we have no reason to fear obscurity when we approach the gospel, for God there clearly reveals His face to us; secondly, that it is not fitting that it should be a dead contemplation, but that we should be transformed through it into the image of God; and, thirdly, that both of these are not accomplished in us in a single moment, but we must be constantly making progress both in the knowledge of God and in conformity to His image, for this is the meaning of the expression—from glory to glory.

When he adds—as by the Spirit of the Lord, he again reminds us of what he had said—that the whole excellence of the gospel depends on this: that it is made life-giving to us by the grace of the Holy Spirit. For the particle of comparison—as, is not employed to convey the idea of something not strictly applicable, but to point out the manner. Observe that the design of the gospel is this: that the image of God, which had been effaced by sin, may be stamped anew upon us, and that the progress of this restoration may be continually going forward in us during our whole life, because God makes His glory shine forth in us little by little.

One question may be raised here. Paul says that we behold God’s face with an unveiled face, while in the former Epistle we find it stated that, at present, we do not know God otherwise than through a mirror and in an obscure manner. In these statements, there is an appearance of contradiction.

They are, however, by no means in conflict. The knowledge that we have of God at present is obscure and slender in comparison with the glorious view that we shall have at Christ’s final coming. At the same time, He presents Himself to us at present so that He can be seen by us and openly beheld, insofar as it is for our advantage and insofar as our capacity allows. Hence Paul mentions that progress is made, since there will then only be perfection.