Paul defends both his ministry and his message. Some people need letters of recommendation, but Paul lets the results of his ministry speak for itself. He defends his message by contrasting it with the law found in the Old Testament. Moses was the one who was given the law by God and passed it along to the people. When he received the law, his closeness to God caused his face to glow. That made the people afraid, so he wore a veil. Over time, the glow faded. Paul’s point is the law was not able to keep Moses close to God. By contrast, Paul’s message caused the Holy Spirit to live in people so they would become more and more holy over time.
The odd thing about having the Holy Spirit in us is we get better, but we also see how much further we need to go. That means we sometimes don’t recognize we are getting closer to God. Instead of seeing how far we still have to go, look back and see how far you have come. Are you closer to God than a year ago?