The Source of All True Competence Text: 2 Corinthians 3:4-6
Introduction: The Sufficiency Wars
We live in an age that is utterly obsessed with the self. Our culture is drowning in a therapeutic soup of self-esteem, self-confidence, self-help, and self-realization. The world tells you, from the time you are a small child, that the most important thing you can do is believe in yourself. Dig deep, they say. Find your inner strength. You are enough. This is the central lie of our time, and it has thoroughly infiltrated the modern church. We have traded the rugged gospel of grace for a flimsy gospel of affirmation, where sermons are little more than sanctified pep talks designed to boost your morale and help you feel good about your spiritual journey.
But the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a self-help program. It is a rescue mission. It does not begin by telling you that you are sufficient; it begins by telling you that you are dead in your trespasses and sins. It does not offer to supplement your native abilities; it announces that your native abilities are part of the problem. The central message of the Christian faith is not that you can do it, but that He already did it. It is not about finding your sufficiency within, but about receiving an alien sufficiency from without.
The apostle Paul, in our text today, wades directly into this war. He is contrasting his own ministry with that of the "super-apostles" who were troubling the Corinthian church. These were men who came with impressive resumes, with letters of recommendation, with polished rhetoric, and with an air of self-assured competence. They were the motivational speakers of their day. And in response, Paul does not try to one-up them by producing his own list of qualifications. He does the opposite. He declares his utter and complete bankruptcy. He says that in himself, he is nothing and can do nothing. And in this declaration of weakness, he locates the source of all true spiritual power. This passage is a direct assault on every form of spiritual pride and every bootstrap religion that man has ever invented.
We must understand this if we are to understand the Christian life at all. Are you a minister of the gospel? A father? A mother? A student? A craftsman? Your competence for your calling does not come from your native wit, your education, your personality, or your grit. If it does, it is a house built on sand. True and lasting competence, the kind that builds the kingdom of God, comes from one place and one place only. It comes from God.
The Text
And such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 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.
(2 Corinthians 3:4-6 LSB)
God-Centered Confidence (v. 4)
Paul begins by describing the nature of his confidence. It is a robust confidence, but it is not self-confidence.
"And such confidence we have through Christ toward God." (2 Corinthians 3:4)
Notice the direction of this confidence. It is not confidence in himself, but confidence toward God. It is a God-ward confidence. The modern world tells you to look in the mirror and puff out your chest. The Bible tells you to look to the cross and bow your head. Paul's confidence is not the product of introspection but of divine revelation. He is not confident because he has discovered some hidden reservoir of strength within himself. He is confident because he knows the God he serves.
And notice the conduit of this confidence: it is "through Christ." Christ is the mediator, the bridge, the access point. Without Christ, any confidence toward God is rank presumption. It is the arrogance of a creature who has forgotten his place. But in Christ, the one who has reconciled us to God, we can have a bold and settled assurance. This is not the flimsy, fleeting confidence that comes from a good performance, but the unshakable confidence that comes from a perfect substitute. Our confidence is not in our grip on Him, but in His grip on us. It is a confidence that is entirely located outside of ourselves, in the objective work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.
This is why true Christian confidence is marked by humility, not swagger. The man who is confident in himself must constantly be measuring himself, promoting himself, and defending himself. The man whose confidence is in Christ is free from all that. He can afford to be weak, because his strength is in another. He can afford to be last, because his vindication is in the hands of the first. This is a confidence that does not evaporate in the face of failure or criticism, because it was never based on personal success in the first place.
The Great Negation (v. 5)
Having established the positive source of his confidence, Paul now makes a radical statement of negation. He demolishes the very foundation of humanistic religion.
"Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God," (2 Corinthians 3:5 LSB)
This is one of the most anti-modern verses in the entire Bible. Paul says that he is not "sufficient in ourselves." The Greek word here is hikanos, meaning competent, able, or qualified. Paul is saying, "We are not qualified. We are not competent. We are not able." And he goes even further. He says we are not even able "to consider anything as coming from ourselves." We cannot even originate a right thought. We cannot chalk up any part of the process to our own ingenuity. We don't get to take credit for the idea, the strategy, or the insight. From start to finish, from the initial thought to the final execution, it is all of God.
This is a totalizing statement. It leaves no room for human boasting. It is the doctrine of utter dependency. We are not partners with God in the sense that we bring our little bit and He brings His big bit and together we get the job done. No, we bring our bankruptcy, our emptiness, our inability, and He brings everything. He brings the power, the wisdom, the grace, and the results. As Jesus said, "apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Not "you can do a few things," or "you will struggle a bit," but "you can do nothing."
And then comes the great reversal: "but our sufficiency is from God." Our competence, our ability, our qualification for ministry is not a native quality but a divine gift. God does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called. He does not look for able men to use in His service; He takes broken, weak, and foolish men and makes them able by His Spirit. This is the central lesson of redemptive history. God chooses a barren couple to birth a nation. He chooses the youngest son of a shepherd to be king. He chooses fishermen and tax collectors to be apostles. He chooses you. And He does this "so that no human being might boast in the presence of God" (1 Corinthians 1:29).
Ministers of a New Covenant (v. 6a)
Paul now explains the specific arena in which this divine sufficiency operates. God has made them competent for a particular task.
"who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant," (2 Corinthians 3:6a LSB)
God's sufficiency is not an abstract concept; it is a practical enablement for a specific ministry. And that ministry is the ministry of the "new covenant." This is a direct reference to the promise of God in Jeremiah 31. The old covenant, the one written on tablets of stone, was glorious. But it had a fatal flaw, not in the covenant itself, but in the people. They could not keep it. The law was external. It could command, it could demand, and it could condemn, but it could not give a new heart. It could not provide the power to obey.
But God promised a new covenant, one that would be different. "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jeremiah 31:33). This is the covenant that Paul serves. It is a covenant that does not just present external demands but performs internal surgery. It is a covenant of radical, divine intervention. To be a minister of this covenant is not to be a mere rule-enforcer or a moral coach. It is to be an agent through whom the living God does the miraculous work of regeneration and sanctification.
And this is precisely why divine sufficiency is required. You cannot argue a man into a new heart. You cannot shame him into it. You cannot motivate him into it. Only God can create a new heart. Therefore, the minister of the new covenant must be a man who has no confidence in his own persuasive abilities, but who has total confidence in the power of the God who raises the dead.
Letter vs. Spirit (v. 6b)
Paul concludes with a famous and often misunderstood contrast that summarizes the difference between the two covenants.
"not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Corinthians 3:6b LSB)
When Paul says "not of the letter," he is referring to the old covenant law, written on stone. It is "letter" in the sense that it is external, a written code that stands over and against sinful man. And what is the effect of this holy law when it confronts a sinful heart? It "kills." How does it kill? It kills by revealing sin. It shows us the standard, and we see how far short we fall. It kills by provoking sin. Our rebellious hearts, when told not to covet, find that all they want to do is covet. And it kills by condemning sin. It pronounces a just and holy death sentence upon every transgressor.
The law is good and holy and just. The problem is not the letter; the problem is us. The letter is like an X-ray machine. It gives a perfect diagnosis of the cancer, but it cannot cure it. In fact, by showing you the extent of the disease, it kills your hope of saving yourself. This is a necessary and good work. You must be killed by the law before you can be made alive by the gospel. You must be brought to the end of your own sufficiency before you can receive God's sufficiency.
But the new covenant is a ministry "of the Spirit." The Holy Spirit takes the very same law, the righteous standard of God, and does something radically new with it. He does not abolish it; He internalizes it. He writes it on the heart. He gives not just the command, but the desire and the ability to obey the command. The Spirit "gives life." He regenerates the dead heart, making it alive to God. He indwells the believer, empowering him for a life of progressive holiness. He transforms us from law-breakers into law-keepers, not by lowering the standard, but by changing the heart.
This is the glory of the gospel ministry. We are not peddlers of a deadly letter. We are not here to crush people under the weight of a moral code they cannot keep. We are ministers of the life-giving Spirit. We proclaim a Christ who not only fulfilled the letter of the law for us, but who sends His Spirit to write the law in us. Our sufficiency is from God, because our message is about a work that only God can do.