Not But By Grace

Something to enjoy while you read…

I have struggled recently with the idea of grace-motivated humility (how to actually do it, not necessarily what it is) and with the reality of how I should allow God to use me in the arena of evangelism. A friend of mine showed me this verse and after thinking about it it seems to tie the two ideas together.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
1 Corinthians 15:10-11 (ESV)

Paul understands that he is what he is solely because of grace–bringing humility. It is out of this that he is motivated to live a life that he calls “worthy of the Gospel” in Ephesians 4. Then he says something odd. At first glance it seems prideful. He says he worked harder than any of them, meaning the other apostles. But he clears it up saying that it was not him but ultimately the grace of God. He talks about sharing grace more in Ephesians 3 and why he works so hard. But then at the end he qualifies it all and offers the glory to God. Essentially he says, “but whether it was me or the other apostles, you now believe.” Essentially, I work hard out of grace. You believed. If it was me, sweet. Regardless, glory be to God.

There is so much contained in this passage. Tons to learn. Tons to apply. And lots of ways to take this and make it a part of my life and how I approach my life. I need to live and work as fully as possible for the right reasons, valueing humility nearly above all else. To this end, I need to use my life to glorify God and reach others. It’s easy to talk about all this. But examining how to do this (even though the two are tied together) is the hard part.

Ouch!

Courtesy of my roommate.

I finished reading Colossians this morning and found this little passage.

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Colossians 4:2-6 (ESV)

I can immediately see a lot of areas where I want to grow closer to what Paul lays out in this passage. It’s really interesting that the first thing Paul mentions is to pray (or continue praying in the case of the Colossian church). Then, he says to be watchful and be in thanksgiving. I think what he is describing is that we need to be continually in prayer so that our will is conformed to God’s and that when our requests and desires are met (which are becoming closer and closer to God’s) we should thank Him–the source of our salvation, joy, and life.

It’s interesting how many times Paul refers to the ‘mystery of Christ.’ In Ephesians 3, this ‘mystery’ is laid out:

This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise of Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 3:6 (NIV)

It’s on this account–that Paul is living out his calling as the apostle to the Gentiles–that he is imprisoned. It’s challenging enough to see the words that Paul can formulate and the clarity with which he examines and teaches doctrine (clearly an emphasis of his, considering his rigorous, Jewish upbringing). But put into the context of his circumstances, it is simply astounding how reliant and dependent he was on the grace of God. How perfectly he allowed Christ to sustain him in the midst of stoning, imprisonment, ridicule, and persecution. And yet what he asks for are more oppurtunities and for clarity of speech–the very things which imprisoned him on Christ’s behalf in the first place. Clearly this man had no fear of man, but a fear and love for God. This is something I’d like to have.