Competence, Boldness and Freedom

This morning I am reflecting on a few verses from Paul's second letter to the church in Corinth.  Here are the verses - 2 Corinthians 3:4-6,12,17-18 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." 

[12] "Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold." 

[17] "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. [18] And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Looking at these verses, three related words seem to summarize the themes - competence, boldness and freedom.  It is interesting that in Paul's case all of these have the root in the Holy Spirit, whereas if I were to normally think of someone that embodied these, it would be due to their own fleshly attitude and mindset, not a spiritual encouragement.  I believe these are all true, and all available to us today.

The confidence of competent ministry, something which develops as the Holy Spirit bears witness by His presence and power is first on my list of prayers for me and for our congregation!  We desire to see God move, to know that He is leading us and guiding us.  Paul was clear that His confidence was not founded on his own abilities or knowledge, but rather due to the witness of the Holy Spirit's ministry through him.  As He said in his first letter to this church, 

"I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. [4] My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, [5] so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power." ( 1 Corinthians 2:3-5 NIV).

This consistent experience and recognition of God's blessing leads to hope, which should lead to boldness!  Again, Paul was not looking to his own skills or knowledge, but rather to the witness of the Holy Spirit, in him and through him.  There comes a level of confidence and boldness from the consistent ministry of the Holy Spirit, which is bearing witness to God's desire and will to work through him.  Oh that we would have the same confidence, the same boldness, the same expectant faith every time we gather in His name!

Continuing on, this consistent witness, this confidence, this competence which leads to boldness, should operate in us to allow us to open new doors, to press into new things, experiencing the freedom that comes with an intimate relationship, and knowledge of the heart of God!  I love how the schools of ministry for Bethel, in Redding California, encourage people to try new things.  Their belief is that if you don't experience failure then you are not pressing into the fullness of all God has for you!  In other words, the Kingdom will be expanded through taking new ground, and new ground is often the result of a new experience in the Holy Spirit!  If we aren't pressing into new experiences we aren't really embracing this boldness, this confidence in the Holy Spirit's witness and guidance.  

Ministry in the Holy Spirit should be anything but boring and consistently the same.  I believe this is partly due to the Holy Spirit's desire to keep us tuned to Him, looking to Him for our confidence and competence, not to our own knowledge and experience.  We must never lose our dependence on the Holy Spirit!  We must stay tuned into Him, relying on His guidance even in the consistent and seemingly mundane, for as Paul says, "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves!"  We must continue to remind ourselves that all we have, all our abilities, our understanding of Him and His ways, are all from Him!

Finally, the Lord's goal in all of this is that we would be transformed into His image, experiencing an ever increasing glory!  Thus the miracles, signs and wonders, healings and such we experience today, should be the low-bar of expectation as we look to the future.  Ever-increasing Glory speaks of ever-increasing intimacy and authority, and experience!  We are called and invited to constantly press into the Lord for more!  His Glory, our experience of His presence and impact in our lives, is meant to be ever--increasing, so let us throw off dullness and lethargy, acceptance of the status quo, and let us press into Him for more and more!  Let us wait expectantly, and embrace every opportunity to be transformed into His image.  Sometimes, this will require us to die to ourselves, specifically to our fear of man and fear of failure, that we might become more like Him!  

Let us look to Him, look to His guidance, look to His encouragement, look to His Promise, look to His empowering, and let us step boldly into freedom, into full life in Him!

Amen and Amen!