“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another…” Moses entered the presence of God without wearing a veil, but when he returned to the people of Israel, he veiled himself. The apostle Paul explains in 2 Corinthians that the veil was also worn to indicate the fading glory of the old covenant or Mosaic system. Under the Mosaic system, repeated sacrifices were required to atone for people’s sins. Paul knew that the old covenant didn’t change people’s hearts. He knew that freedom to obey the Law came only by the power of the Holy Spirit. “Beholding” can mean to “reflect” or “look at in a mirror”, but in this passage to “behold” the glory of the Lord has to do with removing that which impedes one’s ability to see God’s glory. For the Jewish people, the Law was what impeded them seeing God’s glory. Their hearts remained “veiled” because they rejected Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

Without faith in Jesus Christ, our hearts remain “veiled” as well. The sacrifice that Jesus made was for all time, never needing to be repeated. 2 Corinthians 3:18 serves as the theme verse for Unveiled because as Christians, we should not only have as our desire to be saved “from something”, but “to something”. That something is an abundant life in Jesus Christ. Though never perfect until we go to be with the Lord, as we behold the Lord and as the Holy Spirit works in our lives, we grow into more mature Christians. This is commonly referred to as the doctrine of sanctification. Sanctification means to “set apart” and in one sense when we come to faith in Christ we are set apart. There is, however, another part of the sanctification process that takes place over time whereby Christians grow in their Christ-likeness. In his commentary on 2 Corinthians, author Kent Hughes says the following, “We express the image of God by living according to the commandments, which express His nature.  The change is progressive, so that willing exposure to the sunlight of God’s presence will burn His image ever deeper into our character and will”.

What is keeping you from being all God created you to be? What is keeping you from an abundant life, a life of worship? Whatever it may be, it doesn’t have to be that way. With love for God as the motive, undertake the effort to know Him more by spending time in His Word. Obey Him as He directs your life and you will see the Holy Spirit work to make you more like Christ. Believe that! When our lives are changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ and we reflect more and more each day His image, our God is glorified. By God’s grace and through the power of the Holy Spirit, I hope that the contents of this site will both challenge and encourage you, serving as a means that God will use to transform you into the person He created you to be. Remember, it is because of Jesus Christ that we are “unveiled”.