2 Corinthians 3:5,6 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves For this great work of converting sinners, and creating them anew; or so much as to think any thing as of ourselves To form even right views of the gospel and divine things, much less to communicate such views to others, and less still to render them effectual to men's salvation. But our sufficiency is of God To whom we do and must ascribe whatever qualifications we have for our office, and whatever success we have in it; who also hath made us His apostles and others whom he hath sent into the work; able ministers Greek, ος ικανωσεν ημας διακονους, literally, who hath made us fit, or sufficient; ministers of the new testament Or covenant, rather, as διαθηκη is generally rendered. See the Introduction to the New Testament, p. 3. That Isaiah, 1 st, Of the covenant of grace, made with man after the fall; a covenant which makes provision for pardoning his guilt, renewing his depraved nature, and strengthening his weakness; purposes for which the former covenant, that of justice, established before the fall, made no provision; man, while in innocence, not needing it: 2d, And more especially, the new covenant here means the last and best dispensation of the covenant of grace, that made through the Messiah come in the flesh, in opposition to the two former dispensations of the covenant of grace, the Patriarchal and Mosaic. Not of the letter Not of the law, fitly called the letter, from God's writing the best part of it on the two tables; but of the spirit Of the gospel dispensation, written on the tables of our hearts by the Spirit. Or rather, the apostle means that the true ministers of Christ are not merely ministers of the letter even of the gospel covenant; they not only bear testimony to, and enforce the literal knowledge of it, or that which is in mere theory, but the spiritual or experimental knowledge of it: that is, they not only endeavour to communicate to their hearers just, clear, and full views of the gospel in all its parts, but to bring them to have a lively and operative faith in its doctrines, producing in them a change of nature; to possess its graces, enjoy its privileges, and practise its duties. For the letter killeth The law, the Mosaic dispensation, seals in death those who still cleave to it; but the spirit The gospel, instrumental in conveying the Spirit of God to those who receive it with a true and lively faith; giveth life Both spiritual and eternal. Yea, if we adhere to the literal sense even of the moral law, if we regard only the precept and the sanction, as they stand in themselves, not as they lead us to Christ, they are doubtless a killing ordinance, and bind us down under the sentence of death. Nor is this all that the apostle means: but if we rest in the literal and merely notional knowledge of the new covenant itself, it not only will not justify and save us, but will condemn us to a greater death than that to which we were exposed by the sin of Adam: our condemnation will be aggravated, and our future misery increased through our misuse, or abuse rather, of so gracious a dispensation, a remedy provided in great mercy and love for the healing of our spiritual disorders and the saving of our souls. In other words, if we content ourselves with having right views of the gospel, of its truths and duties, privileges and blessings, and do not receive them in true repentance, living faith, sincere love, and new obedience; if we be satisfied with understanding the nature of the graces of God's Spirit, and of justification, regeneration, and sanctification, and remain without the real possession and enjoyment of these blessings, the light we have, and our correct ideas of these things, will only render us the more inexcusable before God, and expose us to greater wrath than could have come upon us, if we had not been favoured with that knowledge and these advantages. On the other hand, the spiritual and experimental knowledge of the new covenant in all its branches, the knowledge communicated by the Holy Spirit, giveth life. It quickens the soul, before dead to God and divine things, dead in a state of guilt, depravity, and weakness; it justifies the ungodly, sanctifies the unholy, unites to God those who had been alienated from his life, stamps them with his image, communicates to them his nature, and renders them spiritually minded, which is life and peace. And while it imparts the life of grace, it gives a title to, a meetness for, and a foretaste of, the life of glory. To spread this spiritual, experimental, and practical knowledge of the new covenant, therefore, is the chief concern, and endeavour of every true minister of Christ; and for this work every such a one is qualified by being savingly made acquainted with its nature, excellence, and glory, in consequence of which he can and will not only speak justly and clearly concerning it, but with zeal, fervency, and deep concern, that his message may be properly received and obeyed by all who hear him. Understanding the doctrines, possessing the graces, practising the duties, and enjoying the privileges of this new dispensation himself, he speaks with sincerity and pathos; speaks what he knows, and testifies what he has seen, or experienced; and his words, proceeding from the heart, and uttered with feeling, seldom fail to reach the heart: while in the mean time, his spirit and conduct, his holy tempers, words, and actions, strongly recommend his doctrine, and powerfully enforce all his exhortations, the Lord Jesus, according to his promise, being with him in all his ministrations, and giving efficacy to the word of his grace.