2 Corinthians 3:11

Done away. Paul sees the fading of the glory from Moses’ face as an illustration of the passing of the Mosaic system, the passing of the “ministration of death.” The apostolic ministry brings that of Moses to an end because it has served its purpose. A pattern loses its usefulness when the garment for which it prepared the way has been completed. The Judaizers kept their eyes focused on the “patterns of things in the heavens” after Christ had returned to heaven to administer the “heavenly things themselves” (Heb. 9:23). Paul sought to turn men’s attention from the “letter” of an administration that was powerless to impart life, to the “spirit” of one that could do so. The Jewish system had become not only useless as a guide to salvation, but actually dangerous, in that it now tended to turn men’s attention away from Christ, though its original purpose was to point men to Him.

In addition to the fact that the Jewish system had now become obsolete, it was also true that even while the system retained validity the Jews had largely perverted God’s original plan and purpose for it. This now made the system doubly obsolete and objectionable (cf. Matt. 23:38). Now, with the coming of Christ, no excuse whatsoever remained for perpetuating the old ministration, as Paul’s Judaizing opponents sought to do. Compare Rom. 9:30–33.

Much more. As the glory of the sun makes the stars disappear, so the ministry of the “spirit” surpasses and replaces that of the “letter.”