1 Corinthians 15:10

 

I am what I am

A personal word   Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 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. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. Today we ask ourselves: Why is it that even though we may have a fairly mature faith in God, we still find it frustrating to be caught up in situations where we have no clear direction or control?   The root cause of this is misplaced dependency - we depend too much upon ourselves and not enough upon God.   As I examine my own life, I am constantly amazed that after over forty years' experience in the Christian faith, I am still sometimes prone to take the way of independence rather than dependence. Do you not find a similar tendency in yourself? I want God's way -so very much- but I want it on my own terms. Granted, this is less of a problem now than it was, say, thirty years ago, but it is still sometimes a struggle nevertheless. What does this say about me? It says that in this area of my life, there is still a need to die to my own self-concern, and even before these lines were written I had to get down on my knees and acknowledge this before the Lord.  I may still have struggles with this issue in the future, but I know for sure that at this moment, my will is more yielded to Him than ever. Perhaps this is the last battle I shall have to fight on this matter, and when I find myself facing situations in the future that are vague and ambiguous without fearing the outcome, I will know the issue has been settled once and for all. I have exposed my heart to you in obedience to the prompting of the Spirit. I need Him as much as you. PRAYER: O Father, as we see yet again where we should be centered - in You - help us to die in those areas of life where we have established our independence.  Only in You can we be safe and steady and growing. Help us, dear Lord.  Amen. FURTHER STUDY: Rom. 8:1-14; 15:1; Gal. 5:24; 1 Pet. 2:24 What happens if we live according to the sinful nature? How do we know we are sons of God?

 

A radical, inner transformation

If you believe that you are part light and part darkness, part saint and part sinner, you will live in a very mediocre manner with little to distinguish you from the non-Christian. You may confess your proneness to sin and strive to do better, but you will live a continually defeated life because you perceive yourself to be only a sinner saved by grace who is hanging on until the rapture. Satan knows he can do nothing about who you really are, but if he can get you to believe you are no different from the natural person, then you will behave no differently from the natural person. Why does this profile describe so many Christians? Because we are ignorant of our true identity in Christ. God's work of atonement in changing sinners to saints is His greatest accomplishment on earth. The inner change, justification, is effected at the moment of salvation. The outer change in the believer's daily walk, sanctification, continues throughout life. But the progressive work of sanctification is only fully effective when the radical, inner transformation of justification is realized and appropriated by faith. "But didn't I read somewhere that Paul referred to himself as the chief of sinners?" you may wonder. Yes, but he was referring to his nature before his conversion to Christ (1Tim.1:12-16). He made a similar statement of self-depreciation in 1Kor.15:9, but continued by saying: "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain" (1Kor.15:10). Paul knew that who he was before Christ and who he became in Christ were two separate identities. If you claim to be just a sinner, what will you do?  -  You will sin! You are professing that sin is at the core of your identity.  That's not what the Bible teaches.  Why don't we just believe God that Jesus is at the core of our being and then begin to live like it by His Spirit? Prayer: Thank You, Father, that I am complete in Your Son Jesus and that my identity is rooted in Him and not in my sin.

 

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