Our Sufficiency Is From God

-November 5, 2023-

Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day,

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who 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 3:5-6).

Paul recognized that his sufficiency was not in himself; not in his education, religious training, or knowledge of the law. His sufficiency was from God through the Holy Spirit. He described himself as the chief of sinners, the least of all saints, and the least of the apostles (1 Timothy 2:15; Ephesians 3:8; 1 Corinthians 15:9).

Paul wrote in Philippians 3:7-8, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted as loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” He was humbled on the day he got saved on the road to Damascus. Once he was an opponent of Christ and Christianity but was turned into the greatest proponent of Christ and the gospel.

We, like Paul, need to find our sufficiency in Christ alone. Jesus told His disciples in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” We have no power, sufficiently, or value outside of Christ. With Christ it is a different story. Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

One plus Christ is a majority; Christ plus me is still all Christ. God gives us His sufficiency, and His grace is sufficient for us. We, like Paul are ministers of the new covenant of grace. The letter of the law kills because we sinned in breaking God’s commandments. Now in Christ by the Spirit we have life eternal, abundant and free. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. He has made us free, and we walk in newness of life.

The songwriter wrote, “He is my everything, He is my all; He is my everything both great and small. He gave His life for me, made everything new, He is my everything, now about you?” Let us center our lives around Christ, not center Christ around our lives.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day in worship, the Word, and fellowship. Stay safe and healthy.

Looking to Jesus, our sufficiency and strength,

Dean