"Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place." 2 Corinthians 2:14
It is said that in this statement, Paul is comparing himself as a Christian to that of a captive of a Roman general being led into the city of Rome.
In Philippians 3:12, Paul says that Jesus has "laid hold" of him. Jesus took him captive. However, the captivity of Jesus was for a different purpose than the captive of a prisoner by Rome. The Lord Jesus took Paul captive to lead him into a life of service to others.
In 2 Corinthians 3:5-6, Paul gives the source of his victorious life of service in the Kingdom: "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
Paul is no longer attempting to keep the law, which ends in death. Jesus took him captive to live under the new covenant of grace—the covenant of Holy Spirit power. His life of service is not one of self-effort and self-sufficiency. God is his sufficiency.
All born-again believers can believe that they have been taken captive by God to be in His service—not to struggle in their service for God by doing their best for Jesus, but to trust God alone to be their sufficiency.
God will be their sufficiency not to be ministers of the old covenant of legalism but to minister the new covenant of life in the Spirit.
We only need to live out our oneness with Christ.
- David Kuykendall
Copyright © 2000-2005 David Kuykendall Ministries.
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