A Sermon on 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 was delivered on July 19, 2026. Please visit our Sermon Archive for more sermons in this series.
The Central Question
Our culture relentlessly pushes three things: self-confidence, self-sufficiency, and self-determined salvation. Paul attacks all three simultaneously. Where the world says “look inward,” Paul says “look upward.” Confidence, sufficiency, and salvation all flow from the triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — and from nowhere else.
Confidence Comes from God
Paul had every reason for confidence in the flesh. In Philippians 3, he lists his credentials: Circumcised on the eighth day, of the tribe of Benjamin, trained as a Pharisee, blameless under the law. By any human measure, he had the pedigree. Then he calls it all rubbish.
David Garland says:
“[Paul] no longer places any trust in his own heritage, devotion, or natural powers and now knows that the only resource from which he can draw is the infinite reservoir of grace provided by God’s empowering Spirit.”
Every believer faces the same challenge: where does your confidence actually sit? In education, personality, family background, church attendance, or personal moral reasoning? Paul calls every one of those foundations garbage. Confidence flows through Christ and through Christ alone.
Sufficiency Comes from God
Sufficiency carries two meanings here: worthiness and strength. Paul denies having either on his own. John the Baptist used the same word when he said he wasn’t worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals. Paul says the same thing about his ministry: without God, he has nothing to offer.
The sermon uses Christopher Knight — the man who “lived alone” in the Maine woods for 27 years — as a vivid illustration. When authorities finally caught him, they discovered he had survived by burglarizing vacation cabins for years. He wasn’t self-sufficient at all; he just hid his dependence. Nobody is self-sufficient. The only honest move is the one evangelist Vance Havner described:
“The Lord had the strength and I had the weakness — so we teamed up. It’s an unbeatable combination.”
That principle extends far beyond pastoral ministry. Marriage, parenting, friendship, workplace relationships. Every arena where God calls us to serve tempts us toward self-reliance. Choosing self-reliance isn’t strength; it’s arrogance. Our sufficiency flows from the triune God.
Salvation Comes from God
Paul’s statement — the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life — has suffered three major misinterpretations over the centuries:
- Origen claimed “the letter” means literal interpretation of Scripture, so we must read everything allegorically. The danger: you lose the actual application Jesus intended.
- Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions have argued that “the letter” is Scripture itself, requiring the church’s tradition to interpret it for ordinary people.
- Today’s culture reads it as permission to discard the law entirely.
None of those hit Paul’s actual target. He is comparing the old covenant with the new covenant. The law of Moses, standing alone without the Spirit, exposes sin and delivers judgment; it cannot save. When the Holy Spirit gives a person a new heart, that same law becomes something a believer wants to keep. The order matters enormously: new heart first, then law-keeping flows from love rather than fear or obligation.
Two Modern Versions of “The Letter Kills”
The sermon names two subtle traps inside the church today:
- First, pietism — the drift from locating assurance in Christ’s completed work toward locating it in spiritual disciplines. Bible reading, prayer, and church attendance are genuinely important. But when assurance of salvation moves from what Jesus did to how long you prayed or how often you showed up, the letter has replaced the Spirit as the foundation. Feelings make an even worse foundation — they shift every hour. Christ does not.
- Second, emotionalism — measuring the validity of your salvation by how intensely you feel it. Emotions are good gifts from God, but they are fickle. The assurance of salvation rests in the objective, completed work of Christ, not in the subjective temperature of your feelings on a given morning.
Key Takeaway
Three daily choices face every believer: Is my confidence in what I do or in the Lord? Do I bring my own strength or admit my weakness and team up with the One who has infinite strength? And where does my assurance of salvation rest: In my performance, my feelings, or the finished work of Christ? Paul’s answer to all three is the same: the triune God is sufficient where we are not, provides our confidence, and saves where we are helpless. Rest there.
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