Our Sufficiency Is from God (2 Corinthians 3:4-6)

“And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:4-6)

Paul says that we are the letters of Christ who are carrying the unforgettable fragrance of the Lord within. The stamp of the likeness of Christ was marked not by ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on the tablets of stone, but on the tablets of flesh. That’s what we are in Christ, a new creation through the cleansing blood of Jesus. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

How can we be sure of all these? The answer is given by Paul, saying “We have such trust through Christ toward God.” God is an uttermost realist who sees all things as bare and undecorated as they are without any deviation or illusion. Our trust is not from the earth but from the heaven above. Whatever is from this world is not trustworthy, but whatever from God is for He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Human sight and vision is so limited and partial that it cannot see the whole spectrum of reality in any circumstance or event. But our God sees the whole things not only each individual circumstance but in entirety. Everything either good or bad is purposeful and meaningful in Him. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Since we have trust through Christ toward God our sufficiency is not from ourselves but from Him. This is the most encouraging and strengthening words of truth. We know that we cannot know all, which always leads us the terrible frustration and futility called the destination sickness. We cannot trust ourselves at all, so we feel continuously defeated and wounded ever and ever. This is a conundrum of humanity that the more we wanted to have sufficiency in ourselves the deeper we encounter the impossibility to break it. We don’t have what it takes. That’s what we are. We are made not to be the caption of our life. Our sufficiency is from the other Person, Christ Jesus the Lord when we rely on His works.

In fact, we have been made to be functioning and operating through the reliance on the Person of Jesus Christ from the beginning. We are His possessions and belongings which were bought with a price, so we are not our own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Whenever we try to have sufficiency on ourselves, our hearts are blinded and made dull, not seeing a living God clearly and being completely blocked from the access to the inheritance of God. God hates our human pride caused by self-sufficiency. It is the abomination to God. That’s why we need a whole new way of living through Jesus Christ. He is our true sufficiency and competence. He not only paid the price for the self-sufficiency of humanity but gives the new power to obey the Law of God in perfection. He broke His body and made us available whenever we need it. He shed His blood and made us available whenever we thirst.

Therefore, we have what it takes in Christ Jesus. We have all the heavenly blessings in Him. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3-10)