CONFIDENCE, COMPETENCE, AND LIFE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 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.

2 Corinthians 3:4-6

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The good news of the Gospel proclaims the blessed assurance of salvation to anyone who believes in Jesus as Savior. That would be enough in its own right, more than enough but as we see in today’s scripture passage, there is so much more that comes through Christ and the Father God who sent Him. Here are three other key blessings one receives:

1. Confidence.

Such confidence we have through Christ before God.

Salvation, freely granted to sinners by God through belief in His Son, brings a guarantee confidence that no one can remove.

When a person chooses to place their trust In Jesus, they gain a victory over death and the grave. No matter what the chapters of this worldly life story read like between now and the end of this earthly existence, the final chapter for Christians has already been written by the Lord and it’s the best ending ever. Eternal life is promised by a God who never breaks His promises.

Like the Apostle Paul and Christians helping him in carrying out the Great Commission, this can allow us to live with a bold confidence through Christ before God.

2. Competence.

Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant.

Look in the dictionary and you’ll find this meaning of the word “competence”:

The quality or state of having sufficient knowledge, judgment, skill, or strength (as for a particular duty or in a particular respect)

The Apostle Paul was the lead missionary during his four journeys to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth. As he went into new places and began preaching and teaching about the Savior Jesus, I’m sure more than a few people were interested in Paul’s competence as a minster of the new covenant.

Note that Paul seeks to squelch this concern by attesting his competence was not from himself but rather from the God who made him competent in the first place. If anyone is doing effective kingdom work, it’s because God is ensuring it is happening. Turn to Him for guidance and direction, submit yourself to the moving of His Holy Spirit, and you will see yourself viewed as competent in your ministry work.

3. Life.

...the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Here we find Paul focusing on perhaps the most important benefit that comes from believing in Jesus, the benefit of life.

Jesus said this in the fourteenth chapter of John, verse 6:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

I am the life. Jesus said it and if any of us want to truly have life now and forever, we need to place our full faith in the One who is life. The New Covenant brought Christ believers new life, a forever life through belief in Him. Through that belief, Christians are given the certainty of everlasting life, something the law (referred to here as “the letter”) could not do.

Jesus, the One who is the life, is the only One who can bring a person to God so to abide in His eternal kingdom forever.

Thanks be to God for His guarantee of salvation through Jesus and the confidence, competence, and true life we gain when we believe in Christ as Savior.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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