What is a book compared to a living God?
2 Cor. 3:6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
E,
Cherry-picking one verse without exposition does not help with a biblical explanation of the context of 2 Cor 3. Let's look at the context of this passage:
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 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.
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 (2 Cor 3:1-6 NIV).
The 'new covenant' is described by Paul in v. 6 as 'not of the letter', which is compared with what is written in v. 3: The Corinthian Christians were not the result of a letter written with ink ('not on tablets of stone') but on 'tablets of the human heart'.
So, under the new covenant, the Law of God is written on the hearts and minds of God's redeemed people. We see the contrast in Ezek 36:27 (NIV): 'And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws'.
This message by Ezek is similar to that in Jeremiah 31:33-34.
What did Paul have in mind when he used this language, 'for the letter kills'? Based on the above explanation, 'of the letter' is the message that comes to people whose hearts are of stone. So they are dead and unable to follow God's instructions, including His decrees. Thus, the ministry of the letter is a ministry of death which amounts to a ministry of condemnation.
In contrast to the spirit of the stony reception of the letter, the true believers are those who have the Spirit in them (as Ezek 36:27 puts it).
The argument in the context of this verse is not a dead book (the Bible) vs a living God in believers. The context is that the Spirit has changed the Corinthians, so they now have a heart for God and that is expressed in their visible behaviour (2 Cor 3:2-3) that gave Paul confidence (3:4) that as Christ's apostle his ministry among them was not in vain, i.e. they were 'competent as ministers of a new covenant' (3:6).
They do not have stony hearts that are dead to the things of God.
Please, please interpret a passage in context and don't dump a verse on me that states what you want it to mean.
Oz