The Secret

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

We examined the five marks of authentic Christianity: unquenchable optimism, unvarying success, unforgettable impact, unimpeachable integrity, and undeniable reality. Yet Paul also raised an important question. After listing those five marks of an authentic Christian, Paul asks the reader, And who is equal to such a task? Who is a consistent model of these qualities? Am I? Are you? Are you equal to the task of continually, unfailingly, consistently manifesting a cheerful, confident spirit? An ability always to come out on top? A powerful, positive influence on others? Complete trustworthiness? And such a reliable, realistic demonstration of these qualities that no one is ever in doubt about them? The question hangs in the air, waiting for an answer.

Paul puts the great secret before us in unmistakable terms: Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Lest anyone miss the implications of that, he puts the same truth negatively: Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. Nothing coming from us; everything coming from God! That is the Secret of secrets — the secret of true fulfillment, satisfaction, and success.

To live in this way, drawing our sufficiency from God, is what it means to be competent as ministers of a new covenant. He sharply contrasts this way of life with the old covenant, the dead written code, the letter which kills. To live with nothing coming from us and everything coming from God is to live in the Spirit. The Spirit continually gives Life with a capital L. It is this secret which produced the confident spirit that characterized Paul and empowered him to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ everywhere he went. The language he used reminds us immediately of the words of Jesus to his disciples: I am the vine; you are the branches.   … Apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5). Neither Jesus nor Paul means to imply that there is no human activity possible without reliance upon God. Both the world and the church are full of examples to the contrary.

But both Jesus and Paul teach that activity which depends upon human resources for its success will, in the end, accomplish nothing. It will have no permanent value. Men may praise it and emulate it, but God will count it for what it is — wasted effort. The apostle indicates that the secret of an effective, meaningful life lies in what he calls the new covenant. This new covenant is that to which Jesus referred when He passed the cup to His disciples at the institution of the Lord's Supper: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. (Luke 22:20). This cup, taken with the bread, is to remind us of the central truth of our lives: Jesus died for us in order that He may live in us. It is His life in us that is the power by which we live a true Christian life. That is the new covenant.

Grant to me, Lord, that I may understand this truth, and counting on you, discover your ability to change and heal and restore and forgive, manifest through me. I ask in your name.