Ministers of New Covenant

Every job needs a qualification. It starts with the required education and experience — whatever the field, whatever the service, there is some expectation attached to it. Even when an apprentice comes in with the right qualification, it still takes time before that person is certified job-ready. For certain kinds of work there are mandated external tests as well — an architect, a counsellor, a designer, all have to prove they are qualified before they can practice.

But in the Christian world, when it comes to serving God, people assume they need many things before they can start, and they shy away from taking up this work — leaving it instead for the pastors and elders to do for them. This separation was created by man, not by scripture. You do not need a theology degree to understand scripture. You do not need to complete theology to serve God.

That said, this does not discredit anyone who has gone through theology or who serve God with theology completion. If God has called you to study theology and serve through it, that is your calling. But it is not the only qualification for serving him — that is the point I want to stress.

Faith is the key that gets you into the Christian world — you believe in Jesus Christ, that he is the Saviour and Lord who died for our sins, and that you have salvation through him, he can redeem you from the bondage of sin. As the word says, without faith it’s not possible to please God.

[Hebrews 11:6 NIV]  6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Once you have this faith, we confess with our mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we are saved.

[Romans 10:9 NIV]  9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Once you have this faith — once you believe Jesus in all you do and accept him as your God — you are no longer an ordinary person. You are set apart from the world's kingdom and brought into God's kingdom. The word tells us that it is by the Spirit he gives us that we can even say 'Jesus is Lord.' It is not a phrase we recite — it is said from the heart, with the heart and mind believing it together.

[1 Corinthians 12:3 NIV]  3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

New Covenant Competency

[2 Corinthians 3:4-6 NIV]  4 Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 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.

Competence — Thru the Work of Cross

This faith in Jesus Christ is what makes us competent. Just like every job needs a qualification before a person can serve in it, faith that Jesus is Lord is the qualification God asks for. Once we have that faith, God uses the finished work of the cross to do two things in us:

• Prayers Answered - It lets us claim anything through that finished work when we come to the Father — this is how our prayers are answered (5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.)

• Ministers of New Covenant - It makes us competent ministers of the new covenant — when we say ministers, we mean every one of us, not a select few (6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--)

Think of how God took fishermen and people with little formal education and made them his disciples, entrusted with his word. It was not their qualification. It was the competence Christ earned on the cross that made it possible.

Ministers of New Covenant — Thru the Spirit

[2 Corinthians 3:6 NIV]  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.

Every job needs the right tools to get the work done. But God does not ask for our power, our status, or anything else we bring to the table — only a heart and soul willing to believe in him, listen to his voice, and obey. That obedience comes through faith, and it is what makes us competent ministers. God does not do this work through our strength. He uses our hands to answer the prayers that are aligned to his will — the work happens through our hands, but by his Spirit. As the word says, it is not by power or might, it is his Spirit that does everything.

[Zechariah 4:6 NIV]  6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.”

To understand how the Spirit makes us competent ministers, we need to understand what the phrase “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” actually means.

To understand this, we start at 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 — the difference between tablets of stone and tablets of the human heart.

[2 Corinthians 3:2-3 NIV]  2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Old Covenant - Tablets of Stone

When the word of God in 2 Corinthians 3:6 says “the letter kills”, it is talking about the old covenant way.

When Moses was led out of Egypt, he went up Mount Sinai, and there the Lord gave him the Ten Commandments.

[Exodus 19:1, 3-6 NIV]  1 On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt--on that very day--they came to the Desert of Sinai. ... 3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

We read those Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. And what did they produce? The people were faithful on the outside, in their actions and deeds, but they did not love God from the inside, in heart and mind — except for Caleb and Joshua, who carried a different spirit. Of that entire generation, only the two of them actually entered the promised land.

[Numbers 14:24, 30 NIV]  24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. ... 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

God gave Israel prophets and kings after this, but the outside-in approach never changed. Outward transformation was never going to produce the holiness God was actually looking for.

New Covenant - Tablet of Human Hearts

So God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about this shift — from the old covenant to the new.

[Jeremiah 31:31-34 NIV]  31 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

In the Old Testament, God led them by the hand like a husband leads a wife, and even then they broke the covenant and missed the promised land. The new covenant was never going to work the same way — it was a fresh promise made to the people of Israel and Judah, the very people we live among today through Christ. The promise itself has five parts, tied together like a chain:

1. Mind and Heart - The law moves from the tablet into the mind and heart. This is exactly why Satan targets the mind — he knows it is the very place God wants to use to reveal his covenant of law, the word that can transform the mind and heart. That is exactly why he attacks it, to blind us from seeing what God has planned for us.

2. I and They - “I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Notice the order: I comes first. No other god can exist where I already occupies the mind. God’s zeal produces this “I and they” — a relationship that is not the husband-and-wife picture from the old covenant (v.32), but something new, born out of a new zeal for God.

3. Know the LORD.' No one has to be taught to know him anymore. It is not forced from outside; it is something the mind and heart know directly, through the wisdom of the Spirit. This is why I said earlier that we do not need theology to learn — the Holy Spirit is the teacher for each of us. For a teenager, he teaches at a teenager's level. For an older believer, he teaches according to their maturity. He knows how and what to teach each of us. It is customized.

4. Least to greatest — everyone will know him, servant or king, child or adult, with no regard for class, creed, or status.

5. God's forgiveness — moving from restitution to redemption. Under the old covenant, sin required repeated sacrifices of goats and bulls. Under the new, the blood of Jesus washes and forgives the wicked heart we once carried, and our sins are remembered no more. That is the grace of the new covenant.

The whole promise works like a chain: faith leads to forgiveness, forgiveness puts the law in the mind and heart, that produces the zeal of “I” and “they,” and this is offered to all — small and great — washing away wickedness again and again until we stand before the Father in eternity.

From this promise, what does this produce now? It is written in [2 Corinthians 3:3 NIV] — we receive a new spirit of the living God, the same spirit Caleb and Joshua carried. This tablet of the human heart is powered by the Holy Spirit, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.

Old Covenant to New Covenant Transformation

Old Order

Under the old order, only the Levites were allowed near the tabernacle.

[Numbers 1:53 NIV]  53 The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernacle of the covenant law so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the covenant law.

God chose to speak only through prophets.

[Hebrews 1:1 NIV]  1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,

And even a prophet trembled in God's presence. Isaiah saw the Lord seated on his throne, and even the seraphim covered their faces.

[Isaiah 6:1-6 NIV]  1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.

Even seated where he was, the seraphim still covered their faces and feet to guard his glory and holiness. Isaiah's response was to admit he was a man of unclean lips — and he had to be cleansed with a live coal from the altar before he could go on.

Transformation in New Order of New Covenant

The confidence to call him Abba, Father, does not come from our own works — it comes through Christ before God ([2 Corinthians 3:4 NIV]  4 Such confidence we have through Christ before God.).

We meet the Father through Christ, our high priest.

[Hebrews 7:25-27 NIV]  25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. 26 Such a high priest truly meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

Even ordinary people like us can approach the throne of God — not through our works, but through the tablet of the human heart, powered by the Holy Spirit. This does not mean God's holiness is taken any less seriously. If anything, it stands higher — but through the blood of Christ, we are made holy.

We are still incompetent on our own. Isaiah said “Woe to me, I am ruined,” and that is still true of us — we have no competence of our own to see God or hear him in his inner sanctuary. Saying this does not mean we are holier than Isaiah. We are the worst of sinners. But even the worst of sinners can be made competent in Christ (5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.).

That is what makes us ministers of the new covenant (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.).

We are ministers of God — all of us.

[Ephesians 4:11-12 NIV]  11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

Becoming a minister used to depend on a specific calling — Moses, Aaron, the elders of Israel. Now every believer is a minister, because the competence does not come from any letter. It comes from the Spirit. And that is what gives life: the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. The Spirit gives us life to move from a heart of stone to God's own Spirit — to actually experience Abba, Father, and live in the Spirit with him while we are still on this earth.

Every believer is a minister. The work is done through the Holy Spirit — leading, guiding, teaching, and carrying out what he plans to do through us.

Glory to Surpassing Glory in New Covenant

What does this competence do? All of this exists to reveal the glory of God.

[2 Corinthians 3:7-10 NIV]  7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory.

When Moses came down from Sinai with the tablets, his face was radiant — so radiant the people were afraid to come near him.

[Exodus 34:29-30, 33-35 NIV]  29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. ... 33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the LORD's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

The tablet of stone revealed glory through Moses, the minister.

Now, who are we? Ministers of the new covenant, through the Holy Spirit. Moses' glory was real, but it faded, and it still carried condemnation for sin. The new covenant Spirit produces something different — love for God that fulfils the entire law, made righteous not by our effort, but by his righteousness.

[Romans 5:5 NIV]  5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

[Galatians 5:14, 22 NIV]  14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ... 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

This new covenant spirit does not bring glory — it brings surpassing glory.

“சிறந்த மகிமைக்குமுன்பாக மகிமைப்பட்டதல்ல.” — 2 Corinthians 3:10 in Tamil. The punch of “glory upon glory, glory to surpassing glory” lands harder in English than it does in Tamil.

Summary of this Competence in God

Table below captures this at a summary level

Old Covenant	New Covenant
Written on stone	Written on hearts
Ministry of death	Ministry of life
Ministry of condemnation	Ministry of righteousness
Temporary glory	Eternal glory
Moses as mediator	Christ as mediator
External law	Internal transformation

We are no longer just believers — we are ministers, and many believers do not realise this. They keep relying on their pastor or elders to do this work instead of stepping into it themselves. We have the power in us to pray for someone who is suffering, and God can heal them, God can change them. If you believe this and act on it in the name of Jesus, you are a new covenant minister carrying the surpassing glory of God into that moment.

How much change you are able to bring will vary with your spiritual maturity — but the one thing that does not change is this: you are a minister of the new covenant, and the strength to grow and mature in it comes from Christ Jesus himself, not from us. The more you believe and start doing this in small ways, the more God will see your heart and mature you — through his word, through his own works transforming you, giving you new tools along the way: the gift of prophecy, healing, delivering people from evil spirits, and more. He uses you for his kingdom, to build his church — not a church made of a building, but of people, living stones, with their hearts aligned to God's kingdom.