Paul gently expresses his surprise that the Corinthians are still unaware of the implication of his apostleship.

Paul is not saying this in order to boast but so that the Corinthians will not be seduced by others.

Paul is telling the Corinthians that they should have been commending him without any reminders of this kind.

Evidence of salvation is an epistle in itself. The salvation of the Corinthians was in Paul’s heart and in the hearts of those who were with him, for he was always thinking about it.

If we needed to be commended to others, he says, we would have produced you before them rather than a letter.

The things which are promised are eternal and are therefore said to be written with the Spirit of God, unlike temporal things written in ink, which fades and loses its power to record anything.

It was clear to everybody that the Corinthians owed their conversion to Paul’s teaching, which the Holy Spirit had confirmed. We know that we belong to Christ if we have received the Spirit.

Here Paul bears witness not only to their love but also to their good works, since by their behavior they can demonstrate to everybody the high worth of their teacher. What letters would have done to gain respect for the apostle, the Corinthians achieve by their life and behavior. The virtues of disciples commend the teacher more than any letter. They are an epistle of Christ, having the law of God written in their hearts. God wrote that law, but Paul and his companions prepared them to receive the writing. For just as Moses hewed stones and tables,^[1] so Paul shaped their souls.

Paul shows how much better the grace of the Spirit is than the law and how much higher the preaching of the apostles is than the dispensation of the prophets.

Forgetting the false teachers, Paul goes on to the heart of the matter and expounds the difference between the two Testaments.

But with the Word of God before us we are able to formulate opinions on what is good and what is evil. One of these we naturally understand we should avoid as evil, and the other we understand has been recommended to us as a good. In this respect we seem to be listening to the very voice of the Lord, whereby some things are forbidden and other things are advised. If a person does not comply with the injunctions which are believed to have been once ordained by God, he is considered to be liable to punishment. The commands of God are impressed in our hearts by the Spirit of the living God. We do not read these commands as if they were recorded in ink on a tablet of stone. Hence, in our own thought we formulate a law. . . . There is something, therefore, like the law of God which exists in the hearts of men.

By this finger, as we read, God wrote on the stone tablets which Moses received. For not with a finger of flesh did God make the forms and elements of those letters which we read; by his Spirit he gave the law. And so the apostle said: For the law is spiritual, which indeed is written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone but in fleshly tables of the heart. For, if the letter of the apostle is written in the Spirit, what stands in the way of our being obliged to believe that the law of God was written not in ink but in the Spirit of God, which surely does not stain the secrets of our heart and mind but illuminates them?

As the pen is an instrument for writing when the hand of an experienced person moves it to record what is being written, so also the tongue of the just man, when the Holy Spirit moves it, writes the words of eternal life in the hearts of the faithful, dipped not in ink but in the Spirit of the living God. The scribe, therefore, is the Holy Spirit, because he is wise and an apt teacher of all. And the Spirit writes swiftly, because the movement of his mind is swift. The Spirit writes thoughts in us, not on tablets of stone but on fleshy tablets of the heart. In proportion to the size of the heart, the Spirit writes in hearts more or less, either things evident to all or things more obscure, according to the heart’s previous purity. Because of the speed with which the writings have been finished, all the world now is filled with the gospel.

These are the laws of reason, words that impart inspiration, written by the hand of the Lord, not on tablets of stone but inscribed in the hearts of men, provided only that those hearts are not attached to corruption. Therefore, the tablets of the hard of heart have been broken, that the faith of little ones might be formed in impressionable minds. Both laws served the Word as means of educating humanity, the one through Moses, the other through the apostles. But what a means of education is the one given through the apostles!

Now we have not received this longing from God on the condition that it should not or could not ever be satisfied. . . . So when even in this life men devote themselves with great labor to sacred and religious studies, although they obtain only some small fragments out of the immeasurable treasures of divine knowledge, yet [they gain this advantage, that] they occupy their mind and understanding with these questions and press onward in their eager desire. Moreover they derive much assistance from the fact that by turning their mind to the study and love of truth they render themselves more capable of receiving instruction in the future. For when one wishes to paint a picture, if he first sketches with the faint touch of a light pencil the outlines of the proposed figure and inserts suitable marks to indicate features afterward to be added, this preliminary drawing with its faint outline undoubtedly renders the canvas more prepared to receive the true colors. So it will be with us, if only that faint form and outline is inscribed on the tablets of our heart by the pencil of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . It is clear, then, that to those who have now in this life a kind of outline of truth and knowledge there shall be added in the future the beauty of the perfect image.

Paul’s purpose was to show that the ancient prophets did not have this position of trust in God’s eyes, because theirs was a preparing ministry.

The apostle Paul, after describing in a few words the benefits of God, states in conclusion: And for such offices, who is sufficient?^[1] Whence he also says in another place: Such is the assurance we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything, as from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. He also it is who made us fit ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. Do we still dare to boast about the free will and treat with insult the benefits of God the Giver, when the chosen vessel [Paul] also writes very clearly: But we carry this treasure in vessels of clay, to show that the abundance of our power is God’s and not ours?^[2]

By from us Paul means from one another.

Therefore it rests not in human power but on God’s, that we have the power to be made the sons of God.^[1] They receive it from him who inspires in the human heart devout thoughts, through which it possesses faith which works through love.^[2] For acquiring and retaining this good, and for progressing perseveringly in it to the end, We are not sufficient to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,^[3] in whose power are our heart and our thoughts.

Since the Lord’s call comes before all merit, and he does not find a thing deserving but makes it so, for that reason it is called gratuitous; otherwise it would be called just. So this is the good will which summons and draws us. We can think or perform nothing which benefits us without our obtaining it from the Author of goodness. As Paul says, For we cannot think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. So let the Pelagians’ madness fall silent, lest in seeking falsely to ascribe some goodness to itself the will is instead deprived of him who bestows it.

In this debt which you demand from us and you repay, do not doubt that I am assisted, so that God, who works in us both to will and to bring to completion the work of the good will, himself gives that I may worthily think and worthily speak. For in good thoughts, Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather our qualification comes from God. And for this reason we do not fail for want because by a free gift our sufficiency is from him in whom there is no want. Just as he does not need our goods, so he always abounds in giving, nor does he become needy by giving who gives that by which he is always filled; nor is there any pleasing gift of thought, word or deed offered by us to him which he himself has not given with free kindness. Wherefore the holy giving of God is always free because no demand based on human merits has ever preceded, because even if a human being has any good merit, it comes from him from whom comes every good and perfect gift.^[1]

Nor can any human being be fit either for thinking or for doing anything good unless he is first helped by the free gift of divine assistance. For God is the one who, for his own good purpose, works ‘in them’ both to desire and to work,^[1] as the vessel of election [Paul] affirms; also by his teaching, we know that we of ourselves are not qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather our qualification comes from God.^[2] Therefore, he supplies us with all the sufficiency of good, and his fullness is not lessened when he gives who kindly shares every good with us that we may have them. . . . Everything which is created, just as before it was created it did not exist, so before it receives was unable to possess; and just as it cannot subsist without the working of him who made it, so it is unable to will or to do good unless God continuously deigns to help. For from him is the beginning of a good will, from him the ability to do good works, from him perseverance in a good way of life, from him in the present age is given true humility of heart and in the future the happiness of eternal reward, that they may be without end happy who now without falsity are humble.

The letter means what is material and the spirit what is intellectual, which we also call spiritual.

Rightly, then, does Paul say that the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. The letter circumcised a small part of the body, but the understanding spirit keeps the circumcision of the entire soul and body so that chastity might be preserved, frugality loved and the unnecessary parts cut off (for nothing is so unnecessary as the vices of greed, the sins of lust, which did not belong to nature but which sin has caused). Bodily circumcision is the symbol, but the reality is the spiritual circumcision; the one cuts off a member, the other sin.

The Spirit, who is the law of faith which is not written but which is contained in the rational soul, is life-giving, drawing to himself those who are guilty of mortal sin, so that they may be made righteous and cease altogether from sinning.

The law kills the sinner, but grace revives him if he repents. There are some people who say that the literal sense of Scripture is the thing which kills, but this is to forget that not all Scripture is meant to be taken literally, nor can allegory be pressed into service in every passage. For just as some things are said in an allegorical way, so other things, like the commandments, will lose all their meaning if they are taken allegorically and become destructive. The spiritual meaning of Scripture is not found in allegory but in letting the meaning of the text explain the essence of truth.

The law was spiritual, but it did not bestow the Spirit. Moses had letters but not the Spirit, whereas we have been entrusted with the giving of the Spirit.

How does the Spirit give life? By causing the letter to be fulfilled, so that it may not kill.

Moreover, what wonder is it if the Spirit works life, who gives life as the Father does, who gives life as the Son does? Moreover, who would deny that to give life is of the eternal Majesty? . . . Therefore, let us see whether the Spirit is enlivened, or himself enlivens. But it is written: The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.^[1] So the Spirit gives life. But that you may understand that the quickening of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is not divided, learn that there is also a oneness of quickening, since God himself quickens through the Spirit; for Paul said: He that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of his Spirit dwelling in you.^[2]

Therefore, you that fear the Lord, praise him, and that you may worship him, not as slaves but as free men, learn to love him whom you fear, and you will be able to praise what you love. The men of the Old Testament, fearing God, because of the letter which terrifies and kills and not yet possessing the spirit which quickens,^[1] ran to the temple with sacrifices and offered up bloody victims. They were ignorant of what was foreshadowed by them, although they were a figure of the Blood to come, by which we have been redeemed.

Therefore, God commands continence, and he gives continence; he commands by the law, he gives by the Spirit; for the law without grace makes sin abound,^[1] and the letter without the spirit kills.^[2] He commands so as to make us learn how to ask the help of grace when we try to obey his commandments and in our weakness fall wearied under the law, and also to make us grateful to him who helps us if we have been able to perform any good work.

Could it be possible that the law is not of God? None but an irreligious man would think that. But, because the law commands by the letter and does not help by the Spirit, whoever listens to the letter of the law in such wise as to think that it is enough for him to know what it commands or forbids, whoever trusts in the strength of his own free will to accomplish it and does not take refuge in faith in order to be assisted in his approach to the Spirit that quickens lest the letter find him guilty and kill him,^[1] that man has a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

For, if you take away the Spirit, how does the law avail? It makes a prevaricator. On that account the Scripture says: The letter kills.^[1] The law orders and you do not obey. . . . Something is commanded, and you do not do it; something is forbidden, and you do it. Behold, the letter kills.

Let the Spirit be joined to the law, because, if you have received the law and if you lack the help of the Spirit, you do not fulfill what is of the law. You do not carry out what is commanded you. . . . Let the Spirit be added, let him help: that which is commanded is accomplished. If the Spirit is absent, the letter kills you. . . . You cannot excuse yourself on the plea of ignorance since you have received the law. Now, because you have learned what you should do, ignorance does not excuse you. . . . But why does the apostle say: The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life?^[1] How does the Spirit give life? Because he causes the letter to be fulfilled so that it may not kill. The sanctified are those who fulfill the law of God according to the gift of God. The law can command; it cannot help. The Spirit is added as a helper, and the commandment of God is fulfilled with joy and delight. Certainly many observe the law from fear, but those who keep the law from fear of punishment would prefer that what they fear did not exist. On the contrary, those who observe the law through love of justice rejoice even in that respect because they do not consider it hostile to them.

The difference between the spirit and the letter the apostle explains succinctly in another place by comparing the law and the gospel, saying: For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.^[1] By the letter he means the law, as is evident also from what precedes and follows. By the spirit he means the Lord’s doctrine, for the Lord himself said: My words are spirit and life.^[2]

For even in the Gospels, it is the letter that kills. Not only in the Old Testament is the letter that kills^[1] found; there is also in the New Testament the letter that kills—that one who does not spiritually perceive what is said. For, if you follow according to the letter that which is said, Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, this letter kills. Do you want me to bring out of the gospel for you another letter that kills? He says, Let the one who does not have a sword sell his tunic and buy a sword. Behold, this is the letter of the gospel, but it kills. But, if you take it spiritually, it does not kill, but there is in it a spirit that gives life. For this reason, receive spiritually what is said either in the law or in the Gospels because the spiritual one judges all things but that one is not judged by anyone.

The law served death but was not its cause. What caused death was sin, but the law brought in punishment and showed the sin up for what it was—it did not cause it. The law did not minister to the existence of sin or death but to the suffering of retribution by the sinner, so that in this way it was even more destructive of sin.

Paul did not say the dispensation of the law but the dispensation of death, speaking rather of its result in order to lessen its attraction.

But as the apostle discusses these things with that noble understanding which he employs in other matters, he writes: But we have the mind of Christ. He also says: But if the ministry of death written with letters upon stones was glorious, so that the sons of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which is passing away, will not the ministry of the spirit be rather in glory?^[1] And again a little later he says, And not as Moses placed a veil on his face that the sons of Israel might not steadfastly look at the appearance of his countenance. For their senses were made dull, for up to this present day when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart.^[2] Who would not wonder at the magnitude of the mysteries? Who would not greatly fear the sign of a dulled heart? Moses’ face was glorified, but the sons of Israel were not able to look at the appearance of his countenance; the people of the synagogue were not able to look. But if anyone can be superior in conduct and life to the multitude, he can look at the glory of his countenance. For even now, as the apostle says, The veil is placed on the reading of the Old Testament^[3]; even now Moses speaks with glorified countenance, but we are not able to look at the glory which is in his countenance. We are not able, therefore, because we are still the populace, and we have no zeal or merit more than the common crowd. But because the holy apostle says, but that same veil remains in the reading of the Old Testament,^[4] the expressed opinion of such a great apostle would have cut off all hope of understanding for us if he had not added: But when anyone shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be removed.^[5] He says, therefore, that the cause of the removal of the veil is our turning to the Lord. We should draw the conclusion from this that as long as we read the divine Scriptures without understanding, as long as what has been written is obscure to us and closed, we have not yet turned to the Lord. For if we had turned to the Lord, without doubt the veil would have been removed.

The apostle briefly indicates the reason that these words that were read to us can be understood or not understood when he says that the veil of the Old Testament^[1] can be removed from the eyes of the one who has been converted to the Lord. From this, he wanted it understood that these things are less clear to us to the same degree as our conversion to the Lord is less complete. And for that reason, this must be worked at with all our strength so that, free from secular occupations and mundane deeds, and if possible leaving behind these unnecessary fables of friends, we may apply ourselves to the Word of God and meditate on his law day and night.^[2] The result will be the conversion of the entire heart. Then we can see the face of Moses,^[3] opened and unveiled.

It is obvious that the grace of the law of faith is greater than that of the law of Moses. For although the law of Moses was intended to be beneficial, it became the law of death because it was flouted. Then, because there was no way it could make provision for sinners to be saved, there came the law of faith, which not only forgives sinners but also makes them righteous. There is therefore a great deal of difference between one law and the other.

Paul shows the results of both dispensations, but whereas in the former instance he concentrates on those results—death and separation from God—in the latter case he concentrates on the Spirit himself.

Paul says this because there is more glory in salvation than there is in death. However justly a judge may condemn someone, he earns more honor if he shows mercy, so that the guilty party is given an opportunity to mend his ways.

The law condemned sinners, but grace receives them and justifies them by faith. It leads them to holy baptism and grants them forgiveness of sins.

The law of Moses was not made glorious because of the splendor on his face.^[1] That splendor was of no benefit to anyone and did not have the reward of glory. It was rather a hindrance, not through its own fault but through the fault of sinners.

Paul does not disparage the Old Testament but highly commends it, since comparisons are apt to be made between things which are basically similar in kind.

The light of a lamp shines brightly in the darkness of the night, but at midday it is barely visible and is not even thought of as light.

And this is what the apostle writes in another place: And yet what was glorified is without glory because of the surpassing glory;^[1] for the justice of the law, to be sure, in comparison with the grace of the gospel would not appear to be justice. For if that, he says, which is done away with is glorious, much more will that be glorious which abides.^[2]

Paul does not deny that there was splendor in the law and on the face of Moses,^[1] but it did not endure because in his case it was a symbol and not a reality. The difference between the face of Moses and the glory of Christ is the same as the difference between the picture and the person whom it portrays.

Paul is saying that we have a hope of seeing glory, not the kind that was on the face of Moses but the kind which the three apostles saw on the mountain when the Lord revealed himself.^[1] Therefore we ought to repay the love of God as far as we can by being more fervent in our love for him, who by cleansing us from our sins has given us this confidence. Now our confidence ought to increase, because what we eventually see will be in proportion to what we now believe.

What hope do we have? The hope that the grace of the Spirit will not be abolished like the law but that it will remain, even after the resurrection.

Paul is saying that there is no need for us to cover ourselves as Moses did,^[1] for we are able to look at the glory with which we are encircled, even though it is far brighter than the other one.

Paul says that the law was fading away, by which he means that it was coming to an end in Christ, whose coming was foretold by the law.

The truth is that the Old Testament of Mount Sinai, producing children of slavery, now serves no purpose but to bear witness to the New. Otherwise, the words of St. Paul would not be true: Yes, down to this very day when Moses is read, the veil covers their hearts; but when any of them turn from the Old Testament to Christ, the veil shall be taken away.^[1] What happens is that the deepest aspirations of those who make the change are shifted from the Old Testament to the New, whereupon they begin to look for spiritual—rather than earthly—happiness.

Doubtless, there is a veil in the Old Testament, which will be removed as soon as one comes to Christ. At his crucifixion, the veil of the temple was torn,^[1] to signify what the apostle said about the veil of the Old Testament, Because in Christ it is made void.^[2]

It is not the Old Testament that is done away with in Christ but the concealing veil, so that it may be understood through Christ. That is, as it were, laid bare, which without Christ is hidden and obscure. The same apostle adds immediately: When you shall turn to Christ, the veil shall be taken away.^[1] He does not say: The law or the Old Testament will be taken away. It is not the case, therefore, that by the grace of the Lord that which was covered has been abolished as useless; rather the covering has been removed which concealed useful truth. This is what happens to those who earnestly and piously, not proudly and wickedly, seek the sense of the Scriptures. To them is carefully demonstrated the order of events, the reasons for words and deeds and the agreement of the Old Testament with the New, so that not a point remains where there is not complete harmony; and such secret truths are conveyed in figures. When they are brought to light by interpretation, they compel those who wished to condemn rather than to learn.

Until this day means not just until the time of Paul but until our time also, and indeed, till the end of the world.

Their minds were hardened through unbelief, and this will not change until they convert and believe in Christ.

What happened once in the case of Moses happens continually in the case of the law. What is said is not an accusation of the law, nor does it reflect on Moses, who veiled himself, but only on the narrow Jewish legalists. For the law has its proper glory, but they were unable to see it. Why should we be surprised that the Jews do not believe in Christ, since they did not believe in the law either?

The veil is not there because of Moses but because of their gross and carnal minds.

The curtain of the temple is torn, for that which had been veiled in Judea is unveiled to all the nations; the curtain is torn and the mysteries of the law are revealed to the faithful, but to unbelievers they are hidden to this very day. When Moses, the Old Testament, is read aloud by the Jews on every Sabbath, according to the testimony of the apostle: the veil covers their hearts.^[1] They read the law, true enough, but they do not understand because their eyes have grown so dim that they cannot see. They are, indeed, like those of whom Scripture says: They have eyes but see not; they have ears but hear not.

Yet the shadows bring forth the truth, even if they are not at all the truth themselves. Because of this, the divinely inspired Moses placed a veil upon his face and spoke thus to the children of Israel, all but shouting by this act that a person might behold the beauty of the utterances made through him, not in outwardly appearing figures but in meditations hidden within us.^[1] Come, therefore, by taking off the veil of the law and by setting the face of Moses free of its coverings, let us behold the naked truth.

The apostle also says, Even until this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their hearts; but when a man shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.^[1] For so long as a man does not attend to the spiritual meaning a veil lies upon his heart, in consequence of which veil, in other words his duller understanding, the Scripture itself is said or thought to be veiled. This is the explanation of the veil which is said to have covered the face of Moses when he was speaking to the people, that is, when the law is read in public. But if we turn to the Lord, where also the Word of God is and where the Holy Spirit reveals spiritual knowledge, the veil will be taken away, and we shall then with unveiled face behold in the holy Scriptures the glory of the Lord.

Further, if any one ponders over the prophetic sayings with all the attention and reverence they deserve, it is certain that in the very act of reading and diligently studying them his mind and feelings will be touched by a divine breath. He will recognize that the words he is reading are not human utterances but the language of God; and so he will perceive from his own experience that these books have been composed not by human art or mortal eloquence but, if I may so speak, in a style that is divine. The splendor of Christ’s advent has, therefore, by illuminating the law of Moses with the brightness of the truth, withdrawn the veil which had covered the letter of the law and has disclosed, for everyone who believes in him, all those good things which lay concealed within.

The Lord himself, the Holy Spirit himself, must be entreated by us to remove every cloud and all darkness which obscures the vision of our hearts, hardened with the stains of sins, in order that we may be able to behold the spiritual and wonderful knowledge of his law.

The purpose of the veil was not to hide Moses but to prevent the Jews from seeing him, for they were unable to do so.^[1] But when we turn to the Lord, the veil is naturally taken away. When Moses talked with the Jews, he had his face covered, but when he talked with God, the veil was removed. Likewise when we turn to the Lord, we shall see the glory of the law and the face of the Lawgiver uncovered. And not only this, we shall then be in the same frame of reference as Moses.

The same is true for you as well. When you believe in Christ, the veil of your unbelief will be taken away.

Let us beware, therefore, lest not only when Moses is read but also when Paul is read a veil be placed over our heart. And clearly, if we hear negligently, if we bring no zeal to learning and understanding, not only are the Scriptures of the Law and Prophets but also of the apostles and Gospels covered for us with a great veil. I fear, however, lest by too much negligence and dullness of heart the divine volumes be not only veiled to us but also sealed, so that if a book should be put into the hands of a man who cannot read to be read, he would say, ‘I cannot read’; if it should be put into the hands of a man who can read, he would say, ‘It is sealed.’ Whence we see that we must not only employ zeal to learn the sacred literature, but also we must pray to the Lord and entreat day and night that the lamb of the tribe of Judah may come and himself taking the sealed book may deign to open it. For it is he who opening the Scriptures kindles the hearts of the disciples so that they say, Was not our heart burning within us when he opened to us the Scriptures? May he, therefore, even now see fit to open to us what it is which he inspired his apostle to say, But the Lord is a spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.^[1]

For thus the apostle said, If anyone turns to the Lord, the veil will be removed; for where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.^[1] Therefore, the Lord himself, the Holy Spirit himself, must be entreated by us to remove every cloud and all darkness which obscures the vision of our hearts hardened with the stains of sins in order that we may be able to behold the spiritual and wonderful knowledge of his law, according to him who said, Take the veil from my eyes and I shall observe the wonders of your law.^[2]

We did not say The Lord is a spirit but The Spirit is the Lord.

If Paul had wanted to say that the Lord is a spirit, he would have left the article the out. Compare John [4:24], where in speaking to the Samaritan woman, Jesus says that God is a spirit, meaning that he does not have a body. But in this case Paul puts the article in, which proves that he is not saying that the Lord is a spirit but rather that the Spirit is Lord.

Paul shows here that the Spirit and God are equal. Moses turned his eyes toward God;^[1] we turn ours toward the Holy Spirit. Paul would hardly have said that what the Spirit reveals is greater than what Moses saw if the Spirit were merely a creature and not God himself.

Because God is Spirit, he has given through Christ the law of the Spirit, which persuades us to believe in invisible things which our reasoning understands spiritually. This law gives liberty because it demands only faith, and because it believes what it does not see, we are able to be rescued from our condition.

The person who has been blessed with the Spirit of the Lord has been set free from the condemnation of the law, for the spiritual gifts are given their power through the Spirit. Moreover, the gift is given freely to those who are ready to receive it.

The same, then, is the Lord, who is the Spirit of the Lord; that is, he called the Spirit of the Lord, Lord, just as also the apostle says: Now the Lord is a spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.^[1] You have then, the Lord called also the Holy Spirit; for the Holy Spirit and the Son are not one person but one substance.

Just like children, so are the Jews also under a tutor. The law is our tutor; a tutor brings us to the master; Christ is our only master. . . . A tutor is feared, the master points out the way to salvation. Fear brings us to liberty, liberty to faith, faith to love, love obtains adoption, adoption an inheritance. Therefore, where there is faith, there is freedom, for a slave acts in fear, a free man through faith. The one is under the letter, the other under grace; the one in slavery, the other in the spirit; for Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.^[1]

This does not refer to those things which are brought to an end but to those which remain. The Spirit is God, and we are raised to the level of the apostles, because we shall all behold him together with uncovered faces. As soon as we are baptized, the soul beams even more brightly than the sun because it is cleansed by the Spirit, and we not only behold God’s glory, we receive from it a kind of splendor.

We are being changed from knowledge of the law into the grace of the Spirit. And it must be remembered that from the glory of the Spirit working in us we come to the glory of our inheritance as sons. This is the work of the Spirit, for it must be held that here the word Lord refers to the Spirit and not to the Son of God.

Although as in a mirror indicates not substantially, it does show clearly, in any case, the acquisition of a likeness.

For the matter stands thus: The Old Testament proclaimed the Father openly and the Son more obscurely. The New manifested the Son and suggested the deity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit himself dwells among us and supplies us with a clearer demonstration of himself. For it was not safe, when the Godhead of the Father was not yet acknowledged, plainly to proclaim the Son; nor when that of the Son was not yet received, to burden us further (if I may use so bold an expression) with the Holy Ghost. . . . For this reason it was, I think, that he gradually came to dwell in the disciples, measuring himself out to them according to their capacity to receive him, at the beginning of the gospel, after the passion, after the ascension, making perfect their powers, being breathed upon them and appearing in fiery tongues. And indeed it is by little and little that he is declared by Jesus, as you will learn for yourself if you will read more carefully.

Do you wish to know of another way in which you were judged worthy of greater wonders? In their day the Jews were unable to see the face of Moses transfigured, although he was their fellow slave and kinsman. But you have seen the face of Christ in his glory. St. Paul cried aloud, saying: But we all, with faces unveiled, reflect the glory of the Lord.^[1] At that time the Jews had Christ following them, but all the more does he follow us now. Then Christ followed along with them thanks to Moses; he goes along with us not only thanks to [the new] Moses but thanks to your own ready obedience. For the Jews, after Egypt came the desert; for you, after your exodus will come heaven. They had Moses as their leader and excellent general; we have another Moses, God, to lead and command us.

Therefore, I do not think it is a fearful thing (I mean that our nature is changeable). The Logos shows that it would be a disadvantage for us not to be able to make a change for the better, as a kind of wing of flight to greater things. Therefore, let no one be grieved if he sees in his nature a penchant for change. Changing in everything for the better, let him exchange glory for glory,^[1] becoming greater through daily increase, ever perfecting himself and never arriving too quickly at the limit of perfection. For this is truly perfection: never to stop growing toward what is better and never placing any limit on perfection.