2 Corinthians 3: The Spirit Gives Life

⁴ Such confidence we have through Christ before God. ⁵ 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.

Paul had achieved the highest level of education attainable in his culture. If anyone could boast of intellectual credentials in the early church, he was the man.

Yet he didn’t. Instead, his confidence was in Christ. Not as a minister of information, but as a minister of transformation. Why? As he wrote, “The Spirit gives life.”

What does this mean for us today? First, it is clear that life comes from God. The Spirit gives life.

Second, life is a gift. The Spirit gives life. We do not earn it; we receive it.

Third, our goal is life, not money or fame or accomplishment. The Spirit gives life.

If we can live with these words on our mind and in our actions today, those around us will truly see that, “The Spirit gives life.”

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.