II Corinthians 3:6-7a
"Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter (The Commandments) but of the spirit (now here it comes) for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones,…"
Here's a paradox for how can that which was spiritual be considered to kill and as the letter of law only condemns one to death have NO life in it? The other thing is that within this statement is the fact of our current ministry one of Spirit (New Covenant Life) as opposed to that of the letter of law and its accompanying death, before Life. For all who would be in ministry have to be in or led by the Spirit of God because this is what is said here. Those who are not well versed in spirit by the Holy Spirit are not then fit to minister. And then, well goodness, what’s that talking about? The Ten Commandments. They were a ministration of death. People can’t understand that, but I hope you do. It was because all the Law could do was condemn. It couldn’t give anybody Life. And I have to use a capital letter on the word life as its Eternal Life or the power of resurrection into that Life spoken of as the New Covenant, Everlasting Life, Endless Life and Eternal Life by Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and others in the Old Testament. That we're referring to. Now many get hooked on the ministration of, "it was a ministration of death", because you see, Paul says so clearly then in Romans 6:23:
Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is (what?) death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Now coming back to II Corinthians 3:7, let’s finish verse 7.
II Corinthians 3:7
"But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones was glorious, (it was from God’s point. It was perfect) so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory has to be done away:"
What does that mean? The Law has to go. There comes a point in human history where the Law is going to have to be set aside. For Moses covered his face with a veil until the glory it revealed had faded away and he removed the veil. This was all done to foretell of that which was still to come. And when was that? When Christ finished the work of the Cross. Now let me show you another verse that says the same thing. Turn to Colossians chapter 2. This is a verse that we’ve used often.
Colossians 2:14a
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was (what? For us or against us?) against us,"
Because it was impossible in the flesh to keep them all. Now I’m not going to say this dogmatically but I think I’ve mentioned often enough, that by the time of our New Testament, and the time of Christ, the Law had been degenerated, watered down - from Ten commandments to how many? Six hundred and thirteen. Six hundred thirteen rules and regulations made up the Mosaic Law at the time of Christ. These were the works of man not of God and therefore God hated them. Because man refused to hear God's voice and listen to Him. Does that sound at all familiar? Well, could any man keep them? No!
And this is my own view. I’m not saying that this is what the Scripture says. But I think that this handwriting of ordinances that was against the Jewish people were those 613 rules and regulations. They with those given by God Himself were more than they could bear.
Colossians 2:14b
"…which were contrary to us, and (look what Christ did) he took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross."
What does the Cross do? Puts it to death. And so when you look at the Law, whether you want to look at the Ten Commandments or whether you want to look at all 613 that the Rabbis had put together, I don’t care. It was all nailed to His Cross. Why? Because when He finished the death, burial and resurrection, He satisfied all the demands of those commandments on the human race. He removed the curse of the law, the curse first spoken of in Genesis because the commandment through which the curse came was fulfilled in Christ's flesh as the son of man and the seed of promise also in Genesis. And now we’ve been set free and we’re under Grace.
Now let’s come back to Hebrews. So under this whole new economy, where we’re not under the commandment now a law or the Levitical Law, we’re under Grace. We also have a New High Priest. Not of the priesthood of Aaron and Levi, but one who was of the Priests of "the Most High God." You’re going to hear that in your sleep tonight? "The most high God" who was the God of everybody, not just the Hebrews. And so this High Priest is going to represent every tongue and tribe and nation. Now let’s move on into verse 15, or just reread it.
Hebrews 7:15-16
"And it is far more evident; for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest. Who is made, not after the law of a carnal (an external, materialism or a fleshly) commandment, but after the power of (what kind of a life?) an endless life."
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