Transformed by The Light of His Glory & Grace

God has made us competent as servants of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the service that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the service of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the service that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the service that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:6-18)

• The veil symbolizes the barrier between us and God, our shame.
• When Jesus died the veil on the temple was torn from top to bottom. God Himself tore it. It is only removed by Christ. But after it was torn the keepers of the temple sewed the veil back up!
• Even today we attempt to sew the veil back together to limit access to God for ourselves or for others. We consistently corrupt the simplicity of access to God by developing complicated formulas that supposedly make us finally acceptable for fellowship with God. Whole doctrines and denominations have been formed around the concept that "in order to reach God you must do these things.."
• Jesus has already granted all of His followers access to the Holy of Holies, to God Himself. The veil has been removed, don't put it back.

We all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

• We expose ourselves to God (come to Him with unveiled faces). God shines His glory (grace, compassion). We reflect God's work in us to others.
• In addition to the spotlight of His grace we find that we are being changed. "We are being changed" is a passive statement. It means that we are not doing the changing, it is happening to us! God is doing the changing!
• Not only do we have the spotlight of His grace shined upon us, not only do we find ourselves being changed, but we know that we are being changed into His likeness. We know the destiny of our change. We are being changed into the likeness of Christ. Now we know why God has to do the work. We could never accomplish this on our own.
• We refuse to wear a veil, He makes us like Christ. Who else would you want to be like? What other goal would you prefer? God doesn't just agree to make us better or not as bad, instead God offers us the incomparable likeness of His Son. We only need to reveal ourselves to God and not sew the veil Christ tore back up. never accept separation from God as valid. Saying, "There has to be something more I must do," only sews the veil back up.

God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
(2 Corinthians 4:6)

Notes and quotes from The Father Style by Gayle Erwin