Title: God's Grace
Contents Do everyone, what kind of God is your God? Do you, by any chance, think of God as a strict teacher, a supervising police officer, or a sharp judge? Many Christians say to each person, “Well done, 80 points,” with a twinkle of God in their eyes. “It’s embarrassing, you should be ashamed.” “It’s mediocre. But I could have done better, 70 points.” and so on, I think they're grading us. Do you guys agree?
1. God saves us by grace.
The Apostle Paul says that it is the grace of God that he met the Lord and was saved. In verse 8, the Apostle Paul is moved by saying, “He also appeared to me as one who was born of immaturity.”
Dear saints, our God saves us by grace just as he saved the Apostle Paul. Like the apostle Paul, we too were not worthy of salvation. “I am amazed by the grace of the Lord who saved a sinner like me.” They didn't even know God. They didn't even look for God. I have sinned against God. rebelled against God. They were enemies with God. God has called us by grace and said that we are justified by grace in Jesus. It is by the grace of God that you and I know the Lord and are saved. I hope you know, believe, and confess with grace.
2. It is by the grace of God that we become who we are.
The apostle Paul confessed that it was the grace of God that he met the Lord and became a believer. Here the Apostle Paul goes further. “I am what I am by the grace of God,” he declares. Paul met the Lord and became an apostle. And the apostle Paul “worked harder than all the apostles.”
Dear saints, the influence and contribution of the Apostle Paul in the history of Christianity is truly enormous. Through three missionary trips, the gospel was preached to the whole world. Everywhere he went he built a church. In the end, he was the glorious apostle who wrote almost half of the New Testament. In the entire history of Christianity, there is probably no one greater than the Apostle Paul. He became the most outstanding apostle among the apostles.
Dear saints, what is the Apostle Paul confessing? The apostle Paul said that he could not become an apostle by his own power, nor could he work harder than the other apostles because he was a lackluster man, because he was born prematurely, and because he was a fool. Therefore, if anything good is found in the Apostle Paul himself, it is not because of himself, but because of the grace of God. If the Apostle Paul did any hard work or work, it was not by himself, but by the grace of God.
Therefore, the Apostle Paul never allowed himself to boast. The Apostle Paul is a human being just like us. There may have been times when you wanted to put yourself out there and brag about yourself. However, if you present yourself, the Apostle Paul is denying the grace of God. If you boasted about yourself, the apostle Paul would be stealing the glory of God. Rather, the apostle Paul considers himself “not worthy to be called an apostle” in verse 9. The apostle Paul confesses that if he calls himself an apostle, “I am the least of the apostles.”
Dear brothers and sisters, what is your purpose of becoming you? Are you capable and qualified? Is there something good in you? Our church has 11 elders. What made the elders become elders? Our church has several priests. What made you Kwonsa-nim? If you are qualified to become an elder and become a priest, you can brag about yourself and present yourself. You can show off yourself. You can think of each other as being the best. These people themselves do not know the grace of God. It is denying God's grace.
However, like the Apostle Paul, those who profess to be by the grace of God despite their shortcomings will first consider themselves as the least of them. I would consider myself to be the most deficient among the many elders. I will confess that I am the ugliest of the many kwons. We, Adventist elders, want us to compete with each other for being the ugliest elders. I hope that our Adventist priests will compete with each other as they are the ugliest priests.
Dear saints, especially those who serve and minister in the church, what are your devotions and hard work? Is it in your ability? Are you with your piety? Is it with your wisdom? Or is it by the grace of God? Because of God's grace. It is because of God's grace that our service is not in vain. I hope that you and I will believe that we are working hard and serving by the grace of God.
That's right. Brothers and sisters, you and I are people who live by God's grace alone, find meaning and rejoice in God's grace alone. Like the Apostle Paul, I want you to always confess, “I am what I am by the grace of God.” Don't boast or brag about yourself, but rather think of yourself as the least. Just as the Apostle Paul, who did not regard everything as his own merits but the grace of God, was victorious in the midst of many hardships and adversity, I hope that you will also be victorious by God's grace. Dear saints, like the apostle Paul, I hope that you consider yourself to be the weakest and at the same time become the strongest by the grace of God.
3. We must acknowledge that we are the saints of other saints by the grace of God.
The apostle Paul knew that everything he did was not done by himself, but by the grace of God. And he acknowledged the grace of God that is working on other believers as well. Verse 11. “Therefore, both I and them preached in the same way, and thus you also believed.” what do you mean? The Apostle Paul himself and the members of the Corinthian church preach and believe in God's grace.
If the Apostle Paul understood that he was not worthy of himself and that he was because of God's grace, then the other saints are also unqualified as the same person, but he is loved unconditionally by our Father.
Grace must be shown not only in words, but also in actions. We must share God's grace among the saints. We must apply God's grace to our continuing relationship with the saints. In order to truly mature, we must give God's grace to allow us to fail, to think independently, to oppose, and to make mistakes in the process of growing up. For there is nothing better than the grace of God to set a person free from bondage.
Saints, it is a risk. But if we do not grow up in grace, we will remain as spiritual children who can't think, decide, lose their joy because of the expectations and demands of others, and walk in fear. Therefore, we must treat other saints with grace. Because God treats them with grace.
saints, Our God chooses the most undeserving person and wants to love unconditionally, and He works on us by His grace. And he works with grace for other saints as well. Like the apostle Paul, I pray in the name of the Lord that you eat, drink and live God's grace.