From glory to glory

https://odb.org/2025/07/02/from-glory-to-glory

2 Corinthians 3:7–18 (NIV): 7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

The teaching of Paul in 2 Corinthians 3 is that as much as the glory on Moses’ face after meeting Yahweh was tangible, it was temporal. As much as the Mosaic law was carved in stone, it ultimately led to death because man without Christ’s redemption would not be able to meet the demands of the law. But we who are born of the Spirit, redeemed by Christ’s blood, are instead being transformed into His image, by the Lord who is the Spirit, from glory to glory. In other words, our glory is everlasting and will be ever increasing.

That’s the theology and aspiration. Of course, in our natural state, in our humanity, we may not feel that transformed as so beautifully and eloquently described by Paul! We may feel we are still very much our wretched old self!

But seriously, can we say that we are absolutely the same man or woman before we knew Christ? That there has been zero change in us all these years? Has Christ not made us kinder, gentler, more caring, and more compassionate? If we used to keep every sen we earn, we are now willing to give away hundreds and thousands of Ringgit for Godly and worthy causes. We are now more sensitive to the spiritual environment. Our hearts are more in tune to the voice of God, the prompting of the Spirit. We are more inclined to obey the Lord as He nudges us through the Spirit. That change in us, in my view, is what Paul means when he says that we are being transformed from glory to glory.

Granted, we are not fully transformed. We are still WIP. There is still much to be done for our new self to be victorious over our old. But what really matters is not so much our perfection and sinless state but our journey of faith. What matters is that our trajectory of righteousness in the narrow path, the path that leads to eternal life. We have the ticket of salvation in our pocket and are on the bus to heaven, where we belong. We know of heaven, and even though we have not seen it, we know we are created for heaven.

Run the race, and as Paul teaches, we will be transformed from glory to glory by the Lord, who is the Spirit. Always hold on to our faith no matter what we are going through! Amen!