“We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.”
2 Corinthians 3:4-6 NLT
Paul seemed to be answering questions or comments from the Corinthian believers, asking about his mandate to preach to or pastor the people there. Earlier, he had referred to “letters of recommendation”, and now he writes about his qualification to minister the New Covenant through God and His Spirit. There was no formal training programme for Paul, leading to a Diploma in Preaching or a PhD in Pastoring. He was indeed familiar with the Old Covenant and the Hebrew writings of the Law and the Prophets, and claimed to have been schooled by Gamaliel, one of the most respected Rabbis in Jerusalem at that time. Then Paul had that encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road, sealing his mandate to preach the Gospel as an Apostle. He was a qualified man, if there ever was one, to be a Minister in the New Covenant.
The New Covenant is spiritual rather than a list of dos and don’ts, which expose sin and lead to death. Paul wrote in Romans 7:9-10, “At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead”. The remaining verses of Romans 7 explain very clearly the battle with sin and the Law, and Paul continued with the wonderful verses in Romans 8:1-2, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death”. Through the Holy Spirit within us, we have life, but believers tend to fall back and look again for rules to govern their lives. But Paul wrote, “And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God” (Romans 8:10).
Every spirit-filled believer is qualified to be a Minister of the New Covenant, just as Paul was, because we are all called to be ambassadors for Christ wherever we find ourselves. We preach a message of reconciliation to God through Jesus and His death and resurrection two thousand years or so ago. It is a simple message, little more than we read in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. Jesus died and rose again just once, for the salvation of all human beings, past, present, and future, regardless of ethnicity, education, or ethos. His message of the Kingdom of God is there to preach to whoever will listen, and even to those who won’t. We are very quick to warn those around us of danger. A faulty traffic light, or a dangerous pothole. Bad weather or illness. Computer scams or fraudulent builders. The list goes on, and social media amplifies the reach of the warnings. But why is it that the most important warning of all, that without Jesus, people are going to “perish” and head for hell, is ignored and never propagated?
We pilgrims are qualified ministers. But we are more than that in God’s sight. Peter wrote, “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). We must do what ministers do, and tell others about the terrible times coming soon, because that is what the Bible teaches. And through it all, we must tell people of the love of God and the day of judgement, and the opportunity they have to repent and secure their future. Not by following the Law, with its rules and regulations about how to live a good life, but by introducing them to Jesus, and the Holy Spirit who will come and live within them. Jesus said to the Pharisees and people of His day, “ … I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free” (John 8:34-36). We minister the Gospel of freedom and life, and it is all made possible through Jesus. There is no other way to Heaven.
Heavenly Father. Please lead us to places where we can minister the Good News about Jesus. And we pray that You will open hearts and prepare the ground. We are all qualified to be Your ambassadors and ministers for Jesus. Thank You. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 