Bondage versus Liberty

Day By Day By Grace
Bob Hoekstra
May 10, 2009

Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech—unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. (2 Corinthians 3:12-13)

Living by the old covenant of law requires a "performance based life," which depends upon man's sufficiency. This produces spiritual bondage. Living by the new covenant of grace provides a "relationship based life," which depends upon God's sufficiency. This results in spiritual liberty.
Moses was a great servant of the Lord. He is a wonderful example to us in many ways. However, in our present verses, we see him living by His own sufficiency, thereby exemplifying life under the law. As Moses met with the Lord for the giving of the law, his face would shine. For the benefit of the people, he would place a veil over this shining glory: "Moses, who put a veil over his face." When this glory began to fade away (as it was designed to do), Moses kept the veil on "so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away." In this, Moses was caught in a bondage of secrecy. He did not want others to see the glory fade. He wanted others to think that his face was still aglow.

All of us are tempted at times to hide behind a veil of secrecy. This is particularly the case when we are trusting in our own sufficiency. When drawing upon our insufficient resources, we generally sense that we are not doing as well as we should be: "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves" (2 Corinthians 3:5). So, we try to hide it. We want others to think that our spiritual walk is more glorious than it actually is. So we put on veils of pretense, self-righteousness, or self-justification. The remedy for this bondage of secrecy is living by new covenant grace.
We are new covenant servants: "God, who also made us sufficient as ministers [servants] of the new covenant" (2 Corinthians 3:5-6). God makes us sufficient by sharing His fully adequate resources with us. "Our sufficiency is from God" (2 Corinthians 3:5). This is our effective hope for avoiding the bondage of secrecy that overtook Moses. "Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech—unlike Moses." Those who live by the grace of God have such great hope. Their expectations are anchored in the Lord, not in self. Thus, they can be bold, open, candid. If they fail, they humbly confess their insufficiency. If they succeed, they openly credit His adequacy.

Lord, You are my only hope and my sufficiency. You alone can liberate me from the bondage that results from trusting in myself. So, in line with Your word, I again look to You to supply daily what I need for godly living, Amen.