Thomas Aquinas Commentary 2 Corinthians 3

After presenting his explanation, by which he won the goodwill of his hearers, the Apostle proceeds to his main intention: to discuss the ministers of the New Testament. In this regard, he does two things: first, he commends the dignity of the good ministers; second, he expands on the guilt of the evil ministers (chapter 10 and following).

Regarding the first point, he does two things: first, he commends the ministry of the New Testament; second, he commends the exercise of this ministry by exhorting others to it (chapter 6). Regarding the first of these, he commends the ministry of the New Testament from three aspects: first, in this chapter, from its dignity; second, from its exercise (chapter 4); and third, from its reward (chapter 5).

On the first aspect, he does two things: first, he addresses an objection; second, he commends the ministers of the New Testament (verse 6). It should be noted that the Apostle intended to commend the ministers of the New Testament, of whom he is one. Therefore, lest the Corinthians object that in doing this he wishes to commend himself, he immediately addresses this, saying, “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again?” Here he does two things: he first raises the question and then he answers it.

The question is this: I say that we do not adulterate the Word of God as the false apostles do, but we speak with sincerity as from God. But in saying this, are we beginning to commend ourselves again? That is, are we saying this because we want to secure our own glory and not that of God? He says “again” because in the first epistle he had commended himself sufficiently when he said, Like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation (1 Corinthians 3:10). Therefore, we are not saying this to seek our own glory, but God’s: Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips (Proverbs 27:2).

He answers this when he asks, “Or do we need…?” Here he shows that he is not eager to commend himself. In this regard, he does two things: first, he shows that he does not need human commendation; second, that he does not require it of them (verse 4). Regarding the first point, he does two things: first, he shows that he does not need their commendation; second, he gives the reason for this (verse 2).

He says, therefore: I declare that we do not begin to commend ourselves, because we do not need commendation. This is what he means: Do we, the true ministers, need letters of recommendation to you from others, or from you to others, as some do—namely, the false apostles? On the other hand, he says in Colossians 4:10, Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, greets you. Even papal legates always carry letters of recommendation. Therefore, it is not evil. I answer that it is not evil to accept such letters from famous people, which serve to commend and honor the bearer until they become known by their own good works; that is what papal legates do. But the Apostle was already so well known and recommended among them by his works that he did not need letters of recommendation.

Therefore, he immediately gives the reason for this, saying, you yourselves are our letter of recommendation, as if to say: I have a good letter; I do not need others. In this regard, he does two things: first, he shows what that letter is which he has; second, he explains this (verse 3). Regarding the first point, he does two things: first, he shows what that letter is; second, he shows that it is sufficient for commending him (verse 3b).

He says, therefore, you are our letter, that is, the letter through which our dignity is made manifest and by which we are commended, so that we do not need other letters: You are our glory (1 Thessalonians 2:20); My little children, with whom I am again in travail, until Christ be formed in you (Galatians 4:19). But is this letter sufficient? Yes, because it is written on their hearts. Here he touches on two things that make such a letter sufficient. One is that it should be understood and known by its intended recipient. The other is that he to whom it is sent may read and know it.

Regarding the first, he says, written on our hearts, because we always have you in mind, having a special care for you: I hold you in my heart (Philippians 1:7). Regarding the second, that the recipient may read and know it, he says, to be known and read by all men. It is to be known, I say, because you have been instructed and converted by us; but it is read, because by our example even others imitate you: Write the vision; make it plain upon tablets, so he may run who reads it (Habakkuk 2:2).

Then he explains how this letter is known, saying, you show that you are a letter from Christ. In this regard, he does three things: first, he explains whose letter it is; second, how it was written; and third, on what it was written. He shows whose it is when he says it is from Christ. Therefore, he says, you show that you are a letter from Christ, meaning you are informed and led by Christ as the principal authority—For you have one teacher (Matthew 23:8)—but by us as secondary instruments. Hence he adds, delivered by us: This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ (1 Corinthians 4:1); What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed (1 Corinthians 3:5).

He shows how it was written: not with ink, meaning not mixed with errors like the letters of the false apostles, nor changeable and imperfect like the Old Law, which led no one to perfection . For black ink signifies error, and erasable ink signifies changeability. It is written not with ink, I say, but with the Spirit of the living God, that is, by the Holy Spirit, by whom you live and by whose teaching you have been instructed: In whom you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13).

He suggests where it is written when he says, not on tablets of stone, like the Old Law, to exclude hardness. It is as if to say: not in the stony hearts of the hard-hearted, like the Jews—You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51)—but on tablets of human hearts. These are hearts opened by charity and made human, that is, made receptive through being filled and gaining understanding: I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).

Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Above, the Apostle explained that he was not seeking his own glory, because he did not need it. Here, he proves that he is not seeking his own glory. Indeed, he attributes everything good he does not to himself but to God. In this regard, he does two things: first, he attributes all the good he has and does to God; second, he gives the reason for this.

He says, therefore: I say that we do not need letters of recommendation and that you are our letter, delivered by us. Nor do we seek our own glory, but Christ’s. Such is the confidence—that is, to say such things—that we have through Christ toward God, meaning we refer it all to God. Or, I have such confidence in God, by whose power I say these things, because He works in me. And this is the confidence we have through Christ, through whom we have access to the Father, as it says in Romans 5:2, and who unites us to God: Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord (Jeremiah 17:7). And I have this confidence because I am united to God through Christ: I will act confidently in him (Psalms 11:6, Vulgate).

The cause of this confidence is that whatever I do, I attribute the very beginning of the work to God. Therefore, he says, not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, much less to say and accomplish it. For in the pursuit of any work, there is first an assent, which is done by thinking; then discussion, by word; and finally accomplishment, by work. Therefore, if a person does not have the thought from himself but from God, there is no doubt that not only the completion of a good work is from God, but even its very beginning: He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). This is contrary to the Pelagians, who say that the beginning of a good work is from us, but its completion is from God: O Lord, you have wrought for us all our works (Isaiah 26:12). But lest this seem to take away free will, he says of ourselves, meaning on our own part, and commends divine grace when he says, as coming from us, meaning as though it came from us, rather than from God.

The Philosopher also teaches that a person can never do any good through his free will without God’s help. The reason is that in the things we do, it is necessary to seek the purpose for which we do them. But this cannot be an infinite process, for we must arrive at something that is first—for example, a counsel or decision. Therefore, I do good because the counsel to do so is in me, and this counsel is from God. He says that the counsel to do good is from something above man, which moves him to act well; and this is God, who moves humans and all created things to their respective actions. But humans are moved in one way, and other things in another.

Since motion of this kind is something received into the thing moved, it must occur according to the mode of that thing's nature. Therefore, God moves all things according to their natures. Those things whose nature is to have free will and control over their actions, He moves in such a way that they act freely, as rational and intellectual creatures. But others He moves not freely, but according to the mode of their nature. Although we are not sufficient to think anything of ourselves as coming from ourselves, we still have a certain sufficiency—namely, the ability to will the good and to begin to believe—and this sufficiency is from God: What have you that you did not receive? (1 Corinthians 4:7).

Having commended the ministry of the New Testament, the Apostle then commends its ministers. He first stipulates two things that correspond to the words above. He had mentioned a gift received from God when he said, our competence is from God, and the confidence born of this gift when he said, such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Therefore, he first addresses matters pertaining to the gift received, and secondly, those pertaining to the confidence arising from it (see 2 Corinthians 3:12). Regarding the first point, he does three things: first, he reveals the gift received from God, namely, the ministry of the New Testament; second, he describes the New Testament (see 2 Corinthians 3:6b); and third, from the dignity of the New Testament, he shows the dignity of its ministers (see 2 Corinthians 3:9).

He says, therefore: I say that our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant: “Men shall speak of you as the ministers of our God” (Isaiah 61:6). In this, we hold the place of angels: “Who make angels your messengers, fire and flame your ministers” (Psalms 104:4). But God not only made us ministers, but competent ones.

For God gives to each being the things through which it can attain the perfection of its nature. Therefore, because God established ministers of the New Testament, He made them competent to exercise this office, unless it was hindered by the receivers. As the Apostle asks, “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Corinthians 2:16)—namely, those like the Apostles, who were appointed by God.

He describes what this New Testament is when he continues, not in a written code but in the Spirit. He describes it in two ways: what it consists of, and the reason it was given, for the written code kills. Regarding the first point, it should be noted that the Apostle speaks profoundly. For it is stated in Jeremiah 31:31: “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers.” Later, in verse 33, it says: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be my people.”

The Old Testament, therefore, is written in a book and later sprinkled with blood, as it says in Hebrews 9:19: “He took the blood of calves and goats and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying: ‘This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.’” It is clear, then, that the Old Law is a covenant of words. The New Covenant, however, is a covenant of the Holy Spirit, by whom the love of God is poured into our hearts, as it says in Romans 5:5.

Consequently, when the Holy Spirit produces love in us, which is the fullness of the Law, it is a New Covenant. It is not in a written code—that is, not written down—but in the Spirit, that is, through the Spirit who gives life: “The law of the Spirit of life” (Romans 8:2), which is life-giving.

The reason the New Testament was given by the Spirit is indicated when he says, for the written code kills—not as a direct cause, but as an occasion. For the written Law only provides knowledge of sin: “For through the Law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). From merely knowing sin, two things follow.

First, although sin is known through the Law, the Law does not restrain sinful desire. Instead, it becomes an occasion for increasing it, since desire is all the more inflamed by what is forbidden. Therefore, when the root of sinful desire has not yet been destroyed, such knowledge kills, and as a result, it adds to the sin. For it is more serious to sin against both the written and natural law than against the natural law alone: “But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, wrought in me all kinds of concupiscence” (Romans 7:8).

Although the Law is an occasion for death—since it increases sinful desire and adds to the sin—it is not evil, because it at least forbids evil. Nevertheless, it is imperfect, since it does not remove the cause of sin. Therefore, the Law without the Spirit inwardly impressing it on the heart is an occasion of death. For this reason, it was necessary to give the Law of the Spirit, who gives life by producing love in the heart: “It is the Spirit that gives life” (John 6:63).

From these points, he shows the dignity of his ministry. He does two things in this regard. First, he shows that the ministry of the New Testament is superior to the Old. Second, he shows that it is not only superior, but that in comparison, the Old Testament has, as it were, no glory at all (see 2 Corinthians 3:10). Regarding the first point, he again does two things: first, he shows that the ministry of the New Testament is superior to the Old, and second, he gives the reason for this (see 2 Corinthians 3:9).

Regarding the first of these, it should be noted that the Apostle argues from a statement in Exodus 34:24, where our text says that Moses’ face was “horned,” so that the people of Israel could not come near. Another version says that his face shone, and this is better. For it should not be supposed that he literally had horns, as some depict him, but he is described as “horned” because of rays of light that appeared like horns. He argues from this by similarity, reasoning from the lesser to the greater. For it is obvious that if a lesser thing has glory, then a greater thing must have much more. But the Old Testament is lesser than the New. Therefore, since the former was glorious, so much so that the Israelites could not look at Moses’ face, it follows that the New is much more glorious.

He proves that the Old Testament is lesser than the New in three ways.

1. From its effect: the former is a covenant of death, while the latter is one of life, as has been said. Regarding this, he refers to the Old Testament as the dispensation of death, which is the occasion of death. This corresponds to his earlier statement that the written code kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2. From the way it was delivered: the Old was delivered carved in letters on stone (that is, on stone tablets), but the New was impressed by the Spirit on human hearts. This corresponds to his statement, not in a written code but in the Spirit.
3. From its perfection: the glory of the Old Testament is without assurance, because the Law brought no one to perfection. But in the New, there is glory with the hope of a better, eternal glory: “My salvation will be forever” (Isaiah 51:6). This is suggested when he says its glory was fading, and elsewhere, “If you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you” (Galatians 5:2).

He states the conclusion as a rhetorical question: will not the dispensation of the Spirit be attended with greater glory? The answer is clear.

Then he gives the reason for all this when he says, For if there was glory in the dispensation of condemnation, the dispensation of justice must far exceed it in glory. His reasoning is this: Glory is due more to justice than to condemnation. The ministry of the New Testament is a ministry of justice because it justifies by giving life within. The ministry of the Old Testament is a ministry of condemnation, as it is the occasion for it: the written code kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Therefore, since the dispensation of condemnation (that is, the ministry of the Old Testament, which is the occasional cause of condemnation) was glorious, as seen on the face of Moses, it is obvious that the dispensation of justice (that is, the New Testament) is much more abundant in glory. It gives an abundance of glory to its ministers, for through it the Spirit is given, who grants justice and the fullness of the virtues: “The wise shall possess glory” (Proverbs 3:35).

It is customary here to compare Moses and Paul, but if the Apostle’s words are considered carefully, this is not necessary, because ministries, not persons, are being compared.

The false apostles, however, could argue that even though the ministry of the New Covenant is greater than that of the Old, it is not much greater. They might claim it is good to continue in the old ministry, as they did by observing the ceremonies of the Law along with the Gospel. The Apostle rejects this when he says, indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. In this regard, he does two things: first, he shows that the ministry of the New Testament exceeds that of the Old beyond all comparison, and second, he gives the reason for this (see 2 Corinthians 3:11).

He says, therefore, that the ministry of justice abounds in glory to such a degree that the glory of the Old Testament should not even be called glorious, for what once had glory has come to have no glory at all by reason of the glory that surpasses it. This is explained in two ways.

1. The glory of the Old Testament is nothing in comparison to that of the New. This is because such glory was not given to all its ministers, but to Moses alone, and it did not shine from Moses entirely, but only in part—that is, on his face alone. Therefore, it has come to have no glory at all (meaning, it should not be glorified) because of the glory that surpasses it. This refers to the excelling glory of the New Testament, which so abounds in grace that people purified by it see not the glory of a man, but the glory of God.
2. The phrase can be punctuated differently to mean: that which was glorious in this part has come to have no glory. This is as if to say, “in this respect”—that is, regarding our nature as servants—that which shone in the Old Testament was not truly glorious. And this is by reason of the glory that surpasses it, which is in the New Covenant, because it is the glory of God the Father.

Finally, he gives the cause for this when he says, For if what faded away came with glory, what is permanent must have much more glory. His reasoning is as follows: what was given to pass away is nothing in comparison to what was given to remain forever. The Old Testament was given to fade away and be made void: “But when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away” (1 Corinthians 13:10). Yet the ministry of Moses came with glory, at least with a particular glory.

It is obvious that the New Testament remains, because it begins here on earth and is completed in heaven: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Luke 21:33). It will exist much more in eternal glory, where it will be perfected. This glory, I say, will be for us who are its ministers.

Having presented what relates to commending the gift received from God, the Apostle now presents what relates to commending the confidence that comes from that gift. He does two things here:

1. He mentions the confidence that comes from the gift.
2. He compares the confidence of the Old Testament with that of the New Testament (2 Corinthians 3:13).

He says, therefore, that since we have such a hope—namely, of seeing the glory of God, because of what has been said to us—we are very bold. As it is written, In this hope we were saved (Romans 8:24). This means we confidently carry out the duties of this ministry, from which our hope grows. For the righteous are bold as a lion (Proverbs 28:1), and blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord (Jeremiah 17:7).

Just as the Apostle preferred the one gift to the other, so he prefers the confidence of the New Testament to that of the Old (2 Corinthians 3:13). Here, he does two things:

1. He mentions a fact about the Old Testament.
2. He explains it (2 Corinthians 3:13b).

The fact he presents is mentioned in Exodus 34:33, where it says that when he spoke to the people, Moses veiled his face because the children of Israel could not look at him due to the splendor of his face. Therefore, the Apostle says we are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face.

This is as if to say: We are very bold, and what happened with Moses does not happen with us. He did not reveal his face to the people because the time to reveal the splendor of truth had not yet come. We, therefore, have confidence without a veil.

Next, he explains what he said about the veil, which is made void. That veil was the dimness of the Old Testament figures, which was set aside by Christ. In this regard, he does three things:

1. He mentions the removal of this veil.
2. He explains how this removal still affects the Jews (2 Corinthians 3:14).
3. He shows how this has no place among the ministers of the New Testament (2 Corinthians 3:18).

He says, therefore, that Moses put a veil—that is, a figure—over his face. This veil is set aside, or taken away, by Christ. This happens through His fulfilling in truth what Moses delivered in figure, because all those things happened to them as a figure.

For example, Christ by His death removed the veil represented by the killing of the paschal lamb. Thus, as soon as He gave up His spirit, the veil of the Temple was torn. Likewise, by sending the Holy Spirit into the hearts of believers so that they might understand spiritually what the Jews understood in a fleshly manner, He removed the veil. As it is written, He opened their mind to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45).

The effect this removal had on the Jews is shown in verse 14. Here, the Apostle does two things:

1. He shows that the veil was not removed from them in their state of unbelief.
2. He shows that it will be removed when they are converted (2 Corinthians 3:16).

Regarding the first point, he again does two things:

1. He shows why this removal has no effect among the unbelieving Jews.
2. From this, he shows that they still have the veil (2 Corinthians 3:15).

He says, therefore, that the veil is removed for those who believe, but not for the unbelieving Jews. The reason is that their minds were hardened; that is, their reasoning power is dull and their senses are weak and clouded, so that they cannot see the brightness of the divine light—the divine truth—without the veil of figures. This is because they close their eyes so as not to see, even though the veil of the Temple was torn. This hardening is due to their sin of unbelief, not to any weakness in the truth itself. With the removal of the veil, the truth is revealed very clearly to all who open the eyes of their mind through faith.

As Scripture says, A hardening has come upon part of Israel (Romans 11:25), and, For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind (John 9:39). This was foretold by Isaiah: Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed (Isaiah 6:10).

Indeed, their minds are so dulled to the truth that to this day they do not understand the truth that has been revealed to us. The same veil that was present in the Old Testament before the Temple veil was torn remains when they read the Old Testament, because they understand it no differently than before. They still rely on the figures, so they do not perceive the truth—that is, they do not understand.

Thus, they still believe that the veil of God is not a figure but the reality itself. This veil is lifted for believers through Christ—that is, in the faith of Christ—but it remains for them, because they do not believe that Christ has come.

Then, when he says, Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their minds, he shows how the veil remains on unbelieving Jews, even though it has been removed by Christ. It should be noted that a veil can be placed in two ways: either on the thing being seen, so that it cannot be seen, or on the one seeing, so that they cannot see.

The veil was placed on the Jews of the Old Law in both ways. Their eyes were blinded by their hardness so they could not see the truth, and the Old Testament had not yet been fulfilled because the truth had not yet come. As a sign of this, the veil was on Moses’ face and not on theirs.

With the coming of Christ, however, the veil was removed from the face of Moses—that is, from the Old Testament, because it was now fulfilled—but it has not been removed from their hearts. Therefore, he says, to this day the veil remains. This is as if to say: the veil has been removed for believers, but still, when Moses is read—that is, when the Old Testament is explained to them, for from early generations, Moses has had in every city those who preach him, for he is read every sabbath in the synagogues (Acts 15:21)—the veil of blindness lies over their hearts. A hardening has come upon part of Israel (Romans 11:25).

When and how that veil will be removed from them is shown when the Apostle says, but when a man turns to the Lord the veil is removed. First, he describes how to remove this veil, and second, he gives the reason for it (2 Corinthians 3:17).

He says, therefore, that this veil is still upon them; not because the Old Testament is veiled, but because their hearts are veiled. If it is to be removed, then, the only way is for them to be converted. Thus, he says that when a person—that is, one of them—turns to God through faith in Christ, the veil is removed by their conversion. As it is written, A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God (Isaiah 10:21), and this is also stated in Romans 9:27.

Note that when he discussed blindness, he spoke in the plural, saying "over their hearts," but when he speaks of conversion, he uses the singular, saying, but when a man turns. This is to show how easy evil is and how difficult good is, as if to suggest that few will be converted.

The reason they are converted and the veil is removed in this way is that God wills it. They could claim that God put the veil on them and therefore it cannot be removed. But the Apostle shows that not only can it be removed, but that it is removed by Him who is the Lord. Thus, he says, now the Lord is the Spirit.

This can be understood in two ways. First, "Spirit" can be taken as the subject, as if to say: The Spirit—that is, the Holy Spirit, who is the author of the Law—is the Lord, meaning He works by His own free will. For the Spirit blows where it wills (John 3:8), and He is the Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills (1 Corinthians 12:11). And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. This means that because the Spirit is Lord, He can give freedom, enabling us to use the writings of the Old Testament freely, without a veil. Therefore, those who do not have the Holy Spirit cannot use it freely. As Scripture says, You were called to freedom (Galatians 5:13), and Live as free men, yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil (1 Peter 2:16).

Alternatively, "the Lord" can be understood to mean Christ, as if to say: The Lord—that is, Christ—is Spirit, meaning He has spiritual power. Therefore, where the Spirit of the Lord is—that is, where the law of Christ is spiritually understood, not as a written code but as something impressed on the heart by faith—there is freedom from all obscurity of the veil.

It should be noted that, prompted by these words, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, and by the words in 1 Timothy 1:9, The law is not laid down for the just, some have wrongly claimed that spiritual people are not bound by the precepts of the divine law. This is false, for God’s precepts are the rule for the human will. There is no person or angel whose will does not need to be ruled and directed by divine law. Therefore, it is impossible for anyone not to be subject to God’s precepts.

The statement that the law is not laid down for the just means that the law was not established for the righteous, who are led by an internal habit to do what God’s law commands, but for the unrighteous. Nevertheless, this does not mean the just are not bound to it.

Similarly, the phrase where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom is explained this way: a free person is one who exists for his own sake, while a servant exists for the sake of his master. Therefore, whoever acts from himself acts freely, but one who is moved by another does not act freely. A person who avoids evil not because it is evil, but only because of God’s commandment, is not free. But one who avoids evil because it is evil is free.

This freedom is the work of the Holy Spirit, who perfects a person inwardly with a good habit, so that out of love he avoids evil as if the divine law itself had commanded it. Consequently, he is called free, not because he is not subject to the divine law, but because he is inclined by a good habit to do what the divine law ordains.

Then, when he says, and we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another, he shows how the faithful in Christ are completely free of this veil. He says, therefore, that this veil will be removed from them when a person is converted, just as we are—not just a particular person, but all of us who are Christ’s faithful. As Jesus said, To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables (Luke 8:10).

“With unveiled face” means not having a veil on the heart, as they do. The “face” here means the heart or the mind, because just as a person sees physically with the face, so one sees spiritually with the mind. As the Psalmist prays, Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of your law (Psalms 119:18).

We behold “the glory of the Lord,” not the glory of Moses. For glory signifies brightness, as Augustine says. The Jews saw some glory on the face of Moses as a result of his speaking with God, but this glory is imperfect because it is not the glory with which God Himself is glorious, which is to know God Himself. Alternatively, “the glory of the Lord” could mean the glory of the Son of God, for the glory of a father is a wise son (Proverbs 10:1, Vulgate).

The word “beholding” (in Latin, speculantes) is not taken from the word for “watchtower” (specula) but from the word for “mirror” (speculum). It means knowing the glorious God Himself through the mirror of reason, in which there is an image of God. We behold Him when we rise from a consideration of ourselves to some knowledge of God, and in doing so, we are transformed.

Since all knowledge involves the knower being conformed to the thing known, it is necessary that those who see God be, in some way, transformed into God. If they see perfectly, they are perfectly transformed, as are the blessed in heaven through the union of enjoyment: When he appears we shall be like him (1 John 3:2). But if we see imperfectly, then we are transformed imperfectly, as we are here by faith: Now we see in a mirror dimly (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Therefore, he says we are transformed into his likeness... from one degree of glory to another. In this, he distinguishes a threefold degree of knowledge in Christ’s disciples:

1. The first is from the clarity of natural knowledge to the clarity of the knowledge of faith.
2. The second is from the clarity of the knowledge of the Old Testament to the clarity of the knowledge of the grace of the New Testament.
3. The third is from the clarity of natural knowledge and of the Old and New Testaments to the clarity of eternal vision. As the Apostle says, Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day (2 Corinthians 4:16).

But how does this come about? It is not by the letter of the law, but from the Lord who is the Spirit. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Romans 8:14), and as the Psalmist says, Let your good Spirit lead me on a level path (Psalms 143:10).