A Hardened Mind

Wesley Wright

Lighthouse Bible Church

Sunday, January 11, 2026

 

A hardened mind

 

2CO 3:1-16

 

Remember, Paul referred to his readers as a letter of sorts (2 Corinthians 3:1) — their lives served as a testimony of the work the Lord was doing via him and the apostles.

 

The Spirit of the living God wrote that “letter,” which is better than one written with mere ink (2 Corinthians 3:3). God made the apostles ministers of a new covenant not of the letter but instead of the Spirit.

 

That ministry of death

(2CO 3:7) was the Ten Commandments and Old Testament laws/statutes more generally. When you ran afoul of them, you deserved death as a result.

 

EXO 24:12-18

 

NUM 15:32-36

 

DEU 27:26

 

*Paul references this in GAL 3:10

 

Moses had a veil over his face so that the people could not look at him (2CO 3:7-8). There’s a veil of sorts over many Israelites now so acknowledge someone greater than Moses.

 

The Israelites saw fit for Moses to speak with God, since they were too afraid.

 

EXO 20:18-26

EXO 34:29-35

 

Jesus is greater than Moses, and Moses wrote of him:

JOH 5:39-46

 

 

Jesus is greater than Moses, and God made that clear: HEB 3:1-6

 

Paul juxtaposes the ministry of righteousness with the ministry of condemnation

(2CO 3:9).

 

We believers now are the righteousness of God, in Christ:

ROM 3:21-26

PHI 3:8-11

 

By comparison, the old covenant had no glory in comparison to the new and better one,

per 2CO 3:10.

 

The second covenant is a superior one: HEB 8:6-13

 

The law of Moses freed no one, but we have liberty in Christ: ACT 13:32-39

 

The Israelites blindness isn’t a new phenomenon — it’s part of prophecy long ago tied to their disobedience.

 

ISA 6:1-13

 

ISA 44:12-20

 

JER 5:21-31

 

Their blindness is in only in part: ROM 11:25-27

 

The Israelites’ minds have been hardened, scripture says, when they read Moses or the old covenant

(2CO 3:14-16).

 

The solution to that blindness, Paul writes, comes in only Christ (2CO 3:14-16).

 

JOH 9:1-12; John 9:19-30

 

Israel is not cast away:

ROM 11:1-8

JER 31:31-37

HOS 2:18-20

 

 

The Israelites largely (but not completely) reject the Messiah who came and died for them. They don’t understand his sacrifice, and they undermine it.

 

That same Lord Jesus Christ who died for them is the only way to have the veil removed. They must acknowledge him to go from blindness to sight.

 

The new covenant is a glorious one, and a superior one, having come through a Man who is by definition greater than Moses (who brought forth the old one).

 

Thank God that there is no veil over our eyes, and that we can point people to the solution for that veil. It’s the Lord Jesus Christ, then and now.

 

Next week, we’ll address those who are lost at the moment, and the god of this world, who has rendered them that way. The gospel is veiled to them too.