Our competence comes from God. This is clearly indicated in statements like Paul’s, ‘I can do everything through him who gives me strength’ (Philippians 4:13) and ‘Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ’ (2 Corinthians 2:14).
This point comes out strongly in his second letter to the Corinthians. Here the apostle explains that we are not competent in ourselves and we cannot claim anything for ourselves.
‘But our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant’ (2 Corinthians 3:5-6).
Here is a balanced attitude.
- Without Christ we are nothing; in Christ we are everything.
- Without Christ we are weak; in Christ we are strong.
- Without Christ everything we do is flawed; in Christ everything has eternal value.
- Without Christ we have no hope; in Christ we have eternal life.
No wonder Paul can cry elsewhere,
‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ (Romans 8:31).
When we understand who we are in Christ, and when we adopt a correct faith-image of ourselves, we are able to do anything that God asks us to do!
To read more on this topic see Living in the Image of God, Barry Chant (Miranda: Tabor, 2012 available in eBook and Paperback) from which this edited extract is taken.