By: Dale Weckbacher
2 Corinthians 9:8
And God
is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency[a] in all things at all
times, you may abound in every good work.
(ESV)
When believers in Christ think of
the grace of God, they often refer to Ephesians
2:8 that reminds believers that their salvation is not the result of their
good works but the work of Christ on the cross.
However, after receiving this justification through grace, God does not
just leave us alone to continue living our lives as we did prior to committing
our lives to Christ. Instead, God sent
the Holy Spirit to live with and in our lives, empowering us as we live for and
are witnesses for Christ (Acts
1:8).
Being a witness for Christ
includes both how we live our lives and what we say plus, when the opportunity
comes, sharing the life-changing message of the Gospel with others. However, some lead lives on the sidelines in
regards to their faith doing little or nothing as participants in spreading the
Gospel message as mandated by Christ (Mark
16:15; Matthew 28:19-20), practicing a useless faith (James
2:20). While our security in Christ
includes justification through salvation from sin, it also includes empowerment
and humility to abound or thrive in our work for Christ (2
Corinthians 9:8; 12:7-10) and provision for material needs, freeing believers
up to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew
6:24-34). God’s sufficiency
includes,
1) The
tools believers need to abound in every good work (2
Corinthians 9:8) – The justification provided to those choosing to make
Jesus their savior is all-encompassing providing eternal life and freedom from
condemnation (John
3:16-17). However, after someone receives
Jesus as their savior, God does not immediately transport them to heaven but
leaves them on earth to serve as ambassadors (2
Corinthians 5:19-20). 2
Corinthians 9:8 reminds us that not only does the grace of God provide
justification, but also the tools or gifts of the Holy Spirit to make it
possible to abound in every good work (1
Corinthians 12:4-11).
2) Protection
against destructive pride (Proverbs
16:18) – So powerful are the tools and gifts of the Spirit that their
operation in the life of an individual can result in pride with one believing
their good works are the result of having some special calling from God. So prevalent was this danger in the life of
the Apostle Paul that God felt it necessary to send a thorn in the flesh to
keep him humble (2
Corinthians 12:7-10). Scripture does
not provide specifics as to what this thorn in the flesh was, leaving
interpretation open to include anything God allows in our lives to keep us
humble. It may be financial struggles,
struggles with addiction, or illness that no matter how often we pray for God
to take it away, he keeps allowing it to have influence in our lives. Instead of simply removing this struggle, God
allows it to stay as a reminder of our need to depend upon him for strength and
empowerment to carry out His will for our lives, making us strong through
Christ and not prideful of our own special abilities or supposed status with
God.
3) Freedom
from anxiety or worry over the cares of life (Matthew
6:24-34) – The people living in the region of Galilee during the time of
Christ were mostly poor people that struggled to provide food, water, and clothing
for themselves and their families. Matthew
6:24-34 is part of the Sermon on the Mount and is an illustration and call
to these people to free themselves from anxiety and worry by focusing on the
kingdom of God. This is not something
that magically happens in the life of a believer for worry and anxiety are
natural reactions of our nature and something that only happens in one’s life
as they dedicate themselves, and practice a life of total dedication, to God (Matthew
6:24). This is a life dedicated to
serving Christ that like the birds and flowers, trusts God for the basic needs
of life. Knowing God will provide our needs with no need to become distracted
in serving Christ through worry and anxiety over needs in our lives.
The process of enjoying the
sufficiency of Christ begins with receiving justification from Sin through
accepting Jesus as savior. The bible
teaches us that we all have sinned (Romans
3:23), are worthy of death for that sin (Romans
6:23). However, there is good news
for humanity finding themselves in a hopeless life situation for God sent a
substitute to die for our sins (Romans
5:8). Anyone reading this that has
not received God’s justification for their sins through grace can do so now by praying
and receiving God’s justification from sin,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
Congratulations, you have now
received an introduction to the grace of God and can now experience God's
sufficiency in your life through God’s grace.
As the New Year approaches, I encourage those reading this post to make
a resolution to become participants and not spectators in the work of the
Gospel by discovering their gift (1
Corinthians 12:4-11) and serving as an ambassador for Christ (2
Corinthians 5:19-20). Believers in
Christ must guard against pride by viewing their life struggles as
opportunities to trust God and focus on God and not our needs in life by
trusting God to meet those needs (Philippians
4:19). May God grant everyone
reading this a happy and safe New Year.
No comments:
Post a Comment