March, 2003

“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.” II Cor. 3:6

The Apostle Paul was one of the most confident persons in the history of the Church. He boldly defended Christianity against the attacks from the Orthodox Jews. It wasn’t without reason. He was intensely trained theologically under the best Jewish Seminary of the time. He knew the flaws of Judaism. Not only did they not accept Jesus as the Messiah promised through the prophets of the Old Testament, they also put the focus on the observing the “letter” of the Law.

Paul identified himself as a minister, a competent one by God’s making, of a new covenant. The Mosaic Covenant which the Jews received at Mount Sinai was a written revelation of the righteousness of God. Through the Old Testament, the people were to accept with an oath of obedience and a blood sacrifice for the remittance of sins. When the Israelites proved to be unable and unwilling to remain faithful to the covenant, God graciously intervened and promised a New Covenant. We often misunderstand that the New Covenant didn’t come about until the time of Jesus Christ. But God made the promise over 600 years earlier (Jeremiah 31:31-34). It was completely fulfilled by Christ in His sacrifice on the cross.

The reason not to follow the “letter” of the Old Covenant is that it kills. Paul didn’t articulate what would be killed. I would suggest that it kills any possibility that it could bring transformation of life. Keeping rules and regulations (being legalistic) is not the way to please God, but allowing the Spirit to take control is, for the Spirit gives life. The Spirit will keep our lives vibrant.

We, as believers of the New Covenant, must go beyond keeping the superficial requirement of bringing sacrifices to the altar once in a while. We need to be willing to be Spirit controlled. When a person believes in Christ, the Holy Spirit makes His dwelling in his heart, but it doesn’t mean this person will be controlled. Practically speaking, being controlled by the Spirit is to gain freedom to do things that are pleasing to God. The question to ponder, then, is “Will my Father in Heaven be pleased with my decisions and actions?”

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