6 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.
God is in the equipping business. We come to Christ recognizing and confessing our need for Him, our need for cleansing and salvation. We then go through the process of sanctification. He empties us of our own selfish self-sufficiency and fills us with a healthy dependency on Him. We become empty so that He can full us up with His holiness. We come with gifts and talents, but if we try to operate in those alone, we will fail. We need something much more than gifts and talents. We need His Spirit empowering us to accomplish eternal tasks. Without His Spirit working, we are just a bunch of people trying to make things better. But with His Spirit, we are extensions of God’s work in the world. We become His hands and feet. We work on His behalf here in this world. Our lives reflect His will and desire. We become competent, able to do work in His Name. Think about it. Sinful, broken human beings enabled to do God’s work. What a miracle! We who are poor in ourselves become rich in Him. We become whole, holy, righteous, powerful…. The list could go on and on. Everything we are not, we become. The First Covenant did not provide the power to meet its requirements. The requirements have already been met for the Second Covenant, the Covenant in Christ. We just need to ‘opt in’ to the covenant by having faith in Christ. The First did nothing but condemn. The Second brings life and freedom. I would much rather be spreading the Second rather than the First. It is His work, not ours. His power, not ours. His message, not ours.
The Arnold Journey 