The Ministry in Chapter Three

The ministry is of an exceedingly blessed character. The gospel, called here the gospel of the glory of Christ, is put in contrast with the law. Paul had been made an able minister of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. The law was a ministration of death and of condemnation. It set forth, not what God is, as some have said, but what man ought to be. This was fatal to the creature. So helpless is the ruin of nature that none can render the righteous requirement. Law knows little of mercy. It proposes blessing life and righteousness to those who keep it, but thunders out a curse upon all who fail, whatever their plea.
Law came in with glory and the circumstances in the giving of it were full of majesty. The mediator who brought it into the camp shone with the brightness of the glory he had been beholding, and had to put a veil on his face. It is the second giving of the law that the Apostle refers to here. This is important.