In 3:7 Paul says, “Now if the ministry of death, in letters engraved in stone, came in glory, so that the sons of Israel were not able to gaze at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, which was being done away.” The ministry of death is the ministry of the old covenant, a covenant of the dead letter that kills. The glory in verse 7 is the glory that shone temporarily on Moses’ face (Exo. 34:29, 35).
Verse 7 begins with the word “now.” It may be better to translate the Greek word as “furthermore” or “in addition to.” This would be more in line with Paul’s thought. After talking about the triumph and effect of the ministry and also about the function and competency of the ministry, he in addition goes on to speak of the glory and superiority of the ministry. The ministry of the new covenant has glory, and this glory is much better than that of the old covenant ministry.
Verse 8 says, “How shall not rather the ministry of the Spirit be in glory?” This ministry is the apostolic ministry of the new covenant, a covenant of the living Spirit, who gives life. The glory here is the glory of God manifested in the face of Christ, which is God Himself shining forever in the hearts of the apostles (4:6), surpassing the glory of the Mosaic ministry of the old covenant (v. 10).
Paul is very careful in his use of words. In verse 7 he says that the ministry of the old covenant came in glory, but in verse 8 he indicates that the ministry of the Spirit is in glory. In verse 7 he says “came”; in verse 8 he says “be” in glory. Why does he change from came to be? If we had been writing this Epistle, we probably would have said that both the ministry of condemnation and the ministry of the Spirit came in glory. But there is a difference between came and be. To come is temporary and also may be somewhat superficial. However, to be is permanent and rather deep. The old glory came, but the new glory is and will continue to be. The old glory came for awhile and then disappeared. The new glory, however, is here and will remain.
As Paul was writing this Epistle, he knew that the glory of the old covenant ministry was temporary, but that the glory of the new covenant ministry would remain forever. Furthermore, in verse 9 Paul says that the “ministry of righteousness abounds in glory.” The apostolic ministry of the new covenant not only has glory, but also abounds in the glory of God. This glory surpasses the glory of the Mosaic ministry of the old covenant (v. 10).
In verses 7 and 8 Paul gives us a strong comparison between the ministry of death and the ministry of the Spirit. We do not ordinarily regard the Spirit as the opposite of death. Instead, we always think of life as the opposite of death. Thus, we would expect Paul to speak not of the ministry of the Spirit, but of the ministry of life. However, Paul does not use the term ministry of life. Rather, he speaks of the ministry of the Spirit. Yes, the ministry of the New Testament is a ministry of life. The reason Paul speaks of the ministry of the Spirit here and not of the ministry of life is that the Spirit is the source, the element, and the sphere of life. Without the Spirit, there is no source of life. Neither is there the element or sphere of life. Therefore, to speak here of the ministry of life would be to say much less than to speak of the ministry of the Spirit. Paul chose the best expression and instead of comparing death with life, he compared death with the Spirit.
In verse 9 Paul goes on to say, “For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much rather the ministry of righteousness abounds in glory.” The ministry of the old covenant became one of death because the old covenant brought in condemnation unto death (Rom. 5:13, 18, 20-21) and death unto condemnation. Hence, it was also the ministry of condemnation. The ministry of the new covenant is one of the Spirit that gives life (vv. 8, 6) because the new covenant brings in God’s righteousness unto life (Rom. 5:17, 21) and life that brings forth righteousness. Hence, it is also the ministry of righteousness.
In this verse we see that the ministry of condemnation has glory, whereas the ministry of righteousness abounds in glory. Abounds is a much stronger word than has. Notice that the word “has” in verse 9 is in italics. This means that it was supplied by the translators. Perhaps in this verse it may be better to use the word came, already used of the glory of the old covenant in verse 7. It is rather difficult to say that the old covenant had glory, but we know that it came in glory. To come in glory is different from having glory. For example, a person may not have any money, but he may come to you with money in order to perform a service for someone else. To have money is one thing, and to come with money is another. Likewise, for the old covenant ministry to come in glory is different from this ministry having glory. But the New Testament ministry abounds in glory. It is in glory, and it abounds in glory. This means that the glory is spreading and increasing.