Knowing The Word in 2 Corinthians: Ministers of the New Covenant, 3:4-6

Ministers of the New Covenant

4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Paul knows his adequacy comes from God. Therefore, he seeks no credit. What is Paul thinking about when he says, “the letter”? He is probably referring to the Ten Commandments. Break one of them and the punishment is death. Paul’s message is not the Ten Commandments. Rather, he is a minister who both proclaims and dispenses the Holy Spirit. The ministry of the letter, that is the Law, kills fallen people. The ministry of the Spirit gives them life. Paul’s point is that the time of the Old Covenant has passed and its glory has been surpassed by the exceeding and superseding glory of the New Covenant.

O Lord, I do not pray for tasks equal to my strength: I ask for strength equal to my tasks.

Phillips Brooks, 1835-1893