Commentary - 2 Corinthians 3:4-6

Bird's-eye view

In this pivotal passage, the Apostle Paul is defending the integrity and authority of his ministry against the criticisms of the so-called "super-apostles" in Corinth. He has just finished describing the Corinthian believers themselves as his letter of recommendation, written not with ink but by the Spirit of God on human hearts. Building on this, he now explains the source of his confidence and the nature of his commission. The central theme is the radical difference between the old covenant ministry, characterized by the external "letter" of the law, and the new covenant ministry, characterized by the internal, life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. Paul's argument is that his sufficiency for this glorious and weighty task does not come from himself in any way, but is entirely a gift from God. This passage lays the theological groundwork for the subsequent comparison between the fading glory of the old covenant and the surpassing, permanent glory of the new.

The core contrast is between a religion of external compliance and a religion of internal transformation. The "letter" represents the Mosaic law in its external demands, which, when approached by sinful man in his own strength, can only condemn and bring death by exposing sin. The "Spirit," however, represents the power of God at work under the new covenant, regenerating the heart, writing God's law upon it, and thereby producing true, Spirit-empowered life and righteousness. Paul is not denigrating the Old Testament Scriptures, but rather the misuse of them as a legalistic checklist for self-salvation. His ministry, and all true Christian ministry, is an instrument of the Spirit who makes dead men live.

Outline

Context In 2 Corinthians

This passage comes early in 2 Corinthians, a letter in which Paul's apostolic authority is a central theme. False teachers in Corinth had been undermining his ministry, likely portraying him as weak, unimpressive, and lacking the proper credentials. In the opening chapters, Paul defends his conduct and the character of his ministry. In chapter 2, he speaks of being a "fragrance of Christ," leading to life for some and death for others, which prompts the self-aware question, "And who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Cor 2:16). Chapter 3 is his answer. He doesn't need letters of recommendation like his opponents because the Corinthian church itself is his living letter (3:1-3). Our text (3:4-6) directly follows this, explaining the basis of his confidence. It is the hinge that turns the argument from a defense of his personal ministry to a grand theological exposition on the superiority of the new covenant, which he will elaborate on for the rest of the chapter by contrasting his ministry with that of Moses.

Key Issues

Not From Us, But From God

The Christian life, and particularly Christian ministry, is a declaration of bankruptcy. It is the happy, settled acknowledgment that we bring nothing to the table. We are not competent, we are not adequate, we are not sufficient. Paul is not engaging in false humility here; he is stating a bedrock theological fact. The moment a minister begins to think that the power, the wisdom, or the results of his ministry originate in his own cleverness, his own training, or his own eloquence, he has stepped out of the new covenant and back into the old. He has become a minister of the letter. The power of the new covenant is resurrection power, and resurrection power only works on dead things. Our sufficiency, our competence, our adequacy, is a derived sufficiency. It is "from God." This is not a one-time transaction, but a moment-by-moment reliance. The minister of the new covenant is a conduit, not a reservoir. The confidence he has is therefore not in the conduit, which is a cracked clay pot, but in the inexhaustible fountain from which the living water flows.

Verse by Verse Commentary

4 And such confidence we have through Christ toward God.

Paul begins with a bold declaration of confidence. Given the troubles he faced and the criticisms leveled against him, this is a remarkable statement. But we must immediately note the anatomy of this confidence. It is not self-confidence. It is not confidence in his rhetorical skill or his apostolic resume. It is a confidence that has a specific channel: through Christ. And it has a specific direction: toward God. This is not the bluster of a man trying to shore up his own ego. This is the settled trust of a man who knows he is an ambassador for the King of kings. His confidence is entirely relational. Because he is in Christ, and Christ is at the right hand of God, he can approach God with boldness, and he can face the Corinthians with a derived authority. He is confident because he knows who sent him and in whose power he operates. It is a Christ-centered, God-directed confidence.

5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,

Lest anyone mistake his confidence for arrogance, Paul immediately clarifies its source. He erects a massive theological negative: Not that we are sufficient in ourselves. The Greek word for sufficient (hikanos) means adequate, competent, or qualified. Paul says that in himself, he is utterly disqualified. He is not competent to even "consider anything as coming from ourselves." This is a radical statement. He cannot even take credit for a good thought, a sound plan, or a right insight. He is not the source. He is not the originator. This is the death of all bootstrap Christianity. Then comes the glorious positive that is the foundation of all true ministry: but our sufficiency is from God. All competence, all adequacy, all qualification for ministry is a divine gift. It is an alien sufficiency. God does not find us qualified and then use us. He qualifies us by using us. He does not call the equipped; He equips the called.

6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

This verse unpacks the nature of the sufficiency God provides. God has made Paul and his companions competent as ministers of a new covenant. This is their specific calling. The new covenant, prophesied in Jeremiah 31, is a covenant of radical grace, forgiveness, and internal transformation. Paul then defines this new covenant ministry by a sharp contrast: not of the letter but of the Spirit. The "letter" refers to the Mosaic law, not as God's good and holy word, but as a system of external commands approached as a means of earning righteousness. The problem was not with the law, but with the sinful hearts of the people who received it. An external code imposed on a rebellious heart can only do one thing: expose the rebellion and condemn it. This is why Paul says the letter kills. It pronounces a death sentence. It shows you your sin, but gives you no power to overcome it. In stark contrast, the ministry of the new covenant is a ministry of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit does what the letter could not do. He circumcises the heart, gives a new nature, and writes the law internally. He doesn't just command righteousness; He creates it within us. Therefore, the Spirit gives life. He imparts the very life of God to those who were dead in their sins. This is the glorious exchange at the heart of the gospel, and at the heart of all true gospel ministry.

Application

This passage is a potent antidote to the two great poisons that constantly threaten the church: pride and despair. To the minister, teacher, or Christian worker who is tempted to pride because of apparent success, Paul says, "What do you have that you did not receive? Your sufficiency is from God. You cannot even claim a single good idea as your own." This crushes all self-congratulation and forces us to give all glory to God, where it belongs.

To the believer who is overwhelmed by a sense of inadequacy and tempted to despair, Paul gives the glorious flip side. "Your sufficiency is from God." Your weakness is the intended arena for God's power. Your emptiness is the prerequisite for His filling. He has made you a minister of the new covenant. This means your job is not to grit your teeth and try harder to follow the external "letter." That path only leads to death. Your calling is to depend entirely on the Holy Spirit, who alone gives life. Are you trying to live the Christian life by the letter? Are you operating on a checklist of religious duties, wondering why you feel so dead inside? The answer is not to try harder, but to surrender more fully. It is to confess your utter insufficiency and to rely on the all-sufficient Spirit of God, who does not just demand life, but creates it.

We are all ministers of this new covenant, whether in the pulpit or in the pew. We are called to be living letters, testifying not to our own adequacy, but to the life-giving power of the Spirit. Our confidence is not in our own abilities, but in Christ's finished work. And our competence is not our own, but is a moment-by-moment gift from the God who delights to use weak, insufficient, clay pots to display His glory.