What did Paul mean by saying he was an able minister of the new testament? In order to answer this we must look at surrounding verses.
[2Corinthians 3:2-3 KJV] 2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3 [Forasmuch as ye are] manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart..........Paul is saying the epistle written in their hearts was written by the Spirit. Paul in this passage focus is on the Spirit.
[2Corinthians 3:5 KJV] 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency [is] of God;..........Paul is not sufficient to minister, God is. Paul is made an able minister by God's grace and Spirit.............[2Corinthians 3:6 KJV] 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life...........Paul was ministering the Spirit not the law of the old testament.
[2Corinthians 3:7-8 KJV] 7 But if the ministration of death, written [and] engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which [glory] was to be done away: 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?............The ten commandments were written in stones and were glorious, but the law was to be done away. More glorious is the ministration of the Spirit written in our hearts and not tables of stone.
[2Corinthians 3:9, 11 KJV] 9 For if the ministration of condemnation [be] glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. ... 11 For if that which is done away [was] glorious, much more that which remaineth [is] glorious..........The commandments and the law condemned us, but the ministration of the Spirit brings righteousness and exceeding glory.
[2Corinthians 3:13-14 KJV] 13 And not as Moses, [which] put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which [vail] is done away in Christ............The children of Israel were blinded by the old testament law and could not see it's end............[2Corinthians 3:16-17 KJV] 16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty.........The veil over Mosses face is taken away when it turns to the Lord, and the Lord is that Spirit............[Romans 8:2 KJV] 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death [Romans 6:4 KJV] 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. .........Christ died to free us from the bondage of sin and rose to give us the liberty to walk in newness of life......[2Corinthians 3:18 KJV] 18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.........our faces are not veiled as by the old testament, but are changed to reflect the glory of the Lord by the Spirit of the Lord.
[2Corinthians 3:2-3 KJV] 2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3 [Forasmuch as ye are] manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart..........Paul is saying the epistle written in their hearts was written by the Spirit. Paul in this passage focus is on the Spirit.
[2Corinthians 3:5 KJV] 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency [is] of God;..........Paul is not sufficient to minister, God is. Paul is made an able minister by God's grace and Spirit.............[2Corinthians 3:6 KJV] 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life...........Paul was ministering the Spirit not the law of the old testament.
[2Corinthians 3:7-8 KJV] 7 But if the ministration of death, written [and] engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which [glory] was to be done away: 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?............The ten commandments were written in stones and were glorious, but the law was to be done away. More glorious is the ministration of the Spirit written in our hearts and not tables of stone.
[2Corinthians 3:9, 11 KJV] 9 For if the ministration of condemnation [be] glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. ... 11 For if that which is done away [was] glorious, much more that which remaineth [is] glorious..........The commandments and the law condemned us, but the ministration of the Spirit brings righteousness and exceeding glory.
[2Corinthians 3:13-14 KJV] 13 And not as Moses, [which] put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which [vail] is done away in Christ............The children of Israel were blinded by the old testament law and could not see it's end............[2Corinthians 3:16-17 KJV] 16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty.........The veil over Mosses face is taken away when it turns to the Lord, and the Lord is that Spirit............[Romans 8:2 KJV] 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death [Romans 6:4 KJV] 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. .........Christ died to free us from the bondage of sin and rose to give us the liberty to walk in newness of life......[2Corinthians 3:18 KJV] 18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.........our faces are not veiled as by the old testament, but are changed to reflect the glory of the Lord by the Spirit of the Lord.
