“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.” (vv.3-5)
Paul is telling us here that God Himself makes us sufficient as His servants of the good news. This is an encouragement to all who desire to be obedient to the great commission and be used by God to bring His message of hope to others. Paul reminds us that the law makes demands (“for the letter kills”), but that His Spirit makes a way to life.
The "letter" spoken of in out text is the law in its outward sense, written on tablets of stone. But the Spirit is given so that the law can be written internally, on our hearts. The law is discouraging because it constantly reminds us that we are guilty sinners before our holy God. The stone tablets Moses brought down from Mount Sinai charged men with treason against God, condemning even Moses himself. The law said murders were to be stoned to death, and that no sacrifice was sufficient for a guilty murderer like Moses or King David.
The law then acts as a ministry of death because no one can satisfy its demands on their own merit, and they are therefore condemned. Only the grace of God can transform lost sinners. Only God’s Spirit brings true life, not lists of rules. The sacrificial blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin, as Hosea said, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, / And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hos. 6:6). Therefore, the Old Testament prophets looked forward to the New Covenant, when the law of God would be written in our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33) and said, God would grant hearts of flesh to replace hearts of stone (Ezekiel 11:19 and 36:26).
We can see here that Paul doesn’t consider himself sufficient for the great task of changing lives for Jesus. Only God's Spirit is sufficient for such a big job. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Brethren, if Paul is not sufficient of himself, what are you and I?" The indwelling of the Spirit then becomes for us a law written on our hearts. He is in us to guide us and be our “law.” It isn’t that the Holy Spirit replaces the written law, but completes and fulfills the work of the written law in our hearts. The Spirit gives life, and with this spiritual life, we can live out the law of God.
The Truth: "For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." (Romans 7:5-6)
