Bible Strands
2 Corinthians 3:5
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the Corinthian church, defending his apostolic ministry against rivals who demand credentials. He is mid-argument, contrasting the new covenant with the old.
The words — ἱκανοί (hikanoi, "sufficient") and λογισάσθαι (logisasthai, "to reckon, account") — the latter is a commercial term, as if auditing a ledger. Paul denies the very act of reckoning himself as sufficient.
The thread — The same logic runs through 1 Corinthians 15:10 ("by the grace of God I am what I am"), 2 Corinthians 12:9 ("My grace is sufficient for you"), and Philippians 4:13 ("I can do all things through Christ").
Why it lands — It removes the reader from the equation of qualification. The question is no longer "what can I claim?" but "from whom does it come?"
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 12:9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.
- Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
- 1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
- John 15:5 I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.
- Philippians 2:13 For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.
- James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Matthew 10:19 But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to respond or what to say. In that hour you will be given what to say.
- Luke 21:15 For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
- 1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.
- Exodus 4:10 “Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”