1 Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”
Have you ever taken the time to understand what the Apostle Paul was truly saying in this verse? In this single passage of scripture, we can see the work of God in the human heart. What Paul just said about himself is so intense, and it includes all of us. Paul just wrote in verse 9 “For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” Paul was so hurt in his heart that he considered himself unworthy to serve God and especially as an Apostle, but by grace become the most profitable Apostle. Paul accomplished more in His 40 or so years in serving God than an other Apostle. I, as a sinner against God can understand what Paul is saying, I never persecuted the Lord’s church and I never seek to harm God’s children, but I was a once wild sinner, and have sinned even after God’s gracious act of saving my sinful soul. If there was a sinner that never deserved one ounce of God’s grace it was Saul of Tarsus. But I must look at my self in a mirror and ask, what made me any more deserving of God’s grace than Saul of Tarsus? I was just as much a sinner as Paul, as a lost soul I was at enmity with God as all lost people are, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God…”. Rom. 8:7a I was of a carnal mind before God saved me as were all Christians. This single verse tells us that all lost minds are hostile against God, so I must ask, what makes us better or any different than Saul of Tarsus? When we were lost would we have persecuted the Lord’s church and Christians if we were in Sauls shoes? God said in order to save us, (all of us that are saved) God had to destroy the enmity that was in our hearts, “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity…” Eph 2:15a. God was speaking about all lost souls when He said “…There is none righteous, no, not one:” Rom 3:10.b Paul went as far to write in Rom. 7:18a “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing…” Paul was speaking this as a Christian and Apostle, this is why God said in Rom. 12:3a “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think…” Now that we see ourselves in these scriptures we can see that we were never no better than Paul, not a single Christian can say they were ever worthy of God’s grace. So, now we must see what Paul means when he said, “But by the grace of God I am what I am…? However, Paul said something really strong in the next part, “and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all…” Is it possible for God’s grace to be used in vain? When God gives an unworthy soul His grace it is not to be neglected by the receptions of His grace. When God gives us grace we are to use that grace to glorify and accomplish fruits for God. We are responsible to God for His gift of grace and to Jesus Christ for His works of love and grace that allowed God to “abolish” the enmity in our hearts toward Him. But some Christians rarely use their God given grace to bring glory to God. But the truth is, if God did not continue having more grace on us we would all waste His grace, Paul went on to say, “…but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” God’s grace on me is the reason I never wasted it Paul said. Christian, we must never fail to see the extent of God’s grace in our life and if we do then we will “waste God’s grace”. The Apostle Paul informed in this scripture that anything good he done as a Christian was only accomplished because of God’s grace. The bottom line here is, not one single Christian has ever accomplished anything good for God without God’s grace in it, “…through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think…”. Listen to what God said in 1 Cor. 8:6 “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” If we ever take one single ounce of credit for anything that brings glory to God, then we have wasted God’s grace, because we are taking credit for God’s work of grace in us. The Apostle Paul never did that, “…but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” If we can say that same thing then we are living within God’s grace, God is getting all glory because it is His! Our entire Christian life accomplishments are to God’s glory because we accomplished them only by His grace. Beloved, let’s all look at our life and praise God for His grace!
