What happens when someone is caught up in God’s grace! God’s grace is usually defined as “unmerited favor”, or a favor bestowed upon us that we are not worthy of. True. But God’s grace is more than just a definition. It is a working, God working, God’s working, in our hearts, in our lives. What happens when God moves in the life of a person?
1 Corinthians 15:9-11 (NIV)
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Paul’s statements here sort of summarize what happens when God’s grace comes and continues in the life of a Christian. It affects the very heart, the very personhood, the very nature of the person who is a recipient of God’s grace.
First, Paul said “I am the least…”. and he “did not deserve to be called an apostle”. Who is this man speaking, or writing? This was Paul the apostle. God’s instrument who brought the gospel to the Gentiles. He had given his life, his time, his every effort for his Lord and for the gospel to reach every heart, every Gentile. He was the one God used to write majority of the epistles that we have in the New Testament of the Bible. And yet he will claim that he was the LEAST, that he DID NOT DESERVE to be called an apostle.
This is what happens when God’s grace comes upon a person. It strips us, it exposes us, it reveals to us who we really are! When a holy, righteous, magnificent and glorious God stoops down and graciously touches the life of a person, that person realizes who his God is, and who he really is – nothing. Our sinfulness is exposed, and we can do nothing but bow in shame before God. That’s the working of the grace of God!
There is no Christian who has experienced God’s grace who does not have this feeling in his heart. He may struggle with it, his pride wanting to come back up again and again, but deep in his heart that Christian knows that he is the least, that he does not deserve. And we bring that attitude, that sensing in every area of our Christian life – in our walk with God, in our serving God, and in our relationship with one another. How important this is for ministry, for mending broken relationships, for working together for the gospel of Christ!
But it didn’t stop there – the grace of God doesn’t stop there. God continues His work.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
God’s grace had stripped Paul naked. But God did not keep him that way. God’s grace took the broken heart, the crushed spirit, and took it, filled it with His power, and used it. Paul knew he was nothing. But it did not mean he would not accomplish anything for God. The grace of God will crush you, but He will also take you and use you for His glory and honor. By the time grace touches your heart, you know you are ready to be God’s instrument.
“I am what I am”. Paul had accomplished so much for God. He worked harder than all other apostles! Paul knew that. But he also knew that it was not he, but the grace of God that was with him.
The grace of God works through a Christian, and allows him to be a powerful and effective instrument for God that will build His kingdom for His glory!
Because of God’s grace, Paul also had the focus.
11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Whether it was I or they. It did not matter to Paul. Christianity, the ministry, the gifting of the Lord, is not about us, or who we are. It’s all about Him, and His gospel. That’s why Paul could say that whether it was he or the others, it did not mean anything. What was important was the grace of God working to bring the gospel to the world – this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
A man and woman touched by grace does not think of himself/herself. It’s not about recognition, praise, exaltation of himself, but the exaltation, praise and recognition of God and the gospel, all through His grace!
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