2 Corinthians 3:5-6 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
If Paul is to be graded, his grade comes from God. The key word in v. 5 is “competent.” This word (hikanos) can mean sufficient, competent, qualified, ability. Paul could have boasted in his own abilities. He had considerable background, training, and position. He lists these in Philippians 3:5-6, even in a way of boasting. Apparently he wrote this way only to use it as a comparison to show the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord (Philippians 3:8). The tenor of 2 Corinthians similar in some ways in that Paul is defending himself against people like “those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh” (Philippians 3:2). The two primary ways he does that in this letter is by 1) finding his source of strength and identity in Christ and 2) listing or describing his trials. In this passage, Paul comes from two directions: 1) positioning himself with God as the one who gives approval of his ministry, and 2) theological basis or foundation for how this connects to the Corinthians’ situation.
Paul’s competence to be in the position he is as a minister of the new covenant comes from God. The idea of a new covenant is mentioned in only five books of the Bible (Jeremiah 31:31; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:6; and Hebrews 8:6, 8, 13; 9:15; 12:24) but is an important theological concept. What Paul says in this chapter sheds more light on this idea. Verse 6 indicates that the means by which believers participate in this new covenant is through the Holy Spirit. The old covenant was all external and guided behavior but it could not change the heart, the source of this behavior. As Paul writes in Romans 7:9, when the law comes, it causes the sinful self to exert itself against God’s law in rebellion, with the result of death (Romans 6:23). The law was not mean to bring salvation but to show how those who are saved should live. Obedience should always be the response to God’s gracious salvation.
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