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. (1 Corinthians 15:10)
God’s grace not only saves the unworthy, it strengthens the inadequate . . . and that includes you and me. God’s grace in Paul’s life was not without effect, and it is not without effect in our lives either. I’ve said it here several times, but it bears repeating: God never calls the equipped; rather, He equips the called. God glories in calling the inadequate into His service, and then, by His grace and through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, He makes them adequate.
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. (Colossians 1:28-29)
Paul knew he could nothing apart from God’s enabling grace. Nothing of any eternal value could or would ever be accomplished in his own strength. But because Paul relied on the grace of God and responded in the strength of the Almighty, his ministry changed the world.
To be sure, Paul had to do his part. He had to work and minister where God called him to go. But he knew he had to do all of it fully surrendered to the strength of his Savior, Jesus Christ. The power of Christ was at work in Paul’s life, and that same power is available to each one of us — “the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe, as displayed in the exercise of his immense strength” (Ephesians 1:19 NET).
Remember, if there ever was anyone who could have relied on his own strength, upbringing, background, and education, it was Paul. Trained under the widely respected rabbi Gamaliel, Paul was a Hebrew of Hebrews and a scholar of scholars. Yet he considered all his accomplishments to be rubbish (“dung,” if you read the King James Version) after Jesus showed up in his life. He surrendered everything he had been and everything he was in service to His Lord and Savior. And in surrendering his entire existence to Jesus, Paul not only received God’s unmerited favor, he received God’s enabling power.
What about you today? Is the grace that saved you also strengthening you for the work God has called you to do? May this be the confession of all our lives.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 