1 Corinthians 1:4-9 ESV
“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge — even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you — so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The Grace of God
What is the grace of God? People differ in opinion on this
subject quite often. For some people see God’s grace as merely forgiveness of
sin and as unconditional salvation and eternal life with God regardless of how
one conducts his life while still here on the earth.
Still others believe that we must do something to earn God’s
grace, as though we, in our flesh, can be righteous enough to be acceptable to
God. Yet, they add to our salvation works done in the flesh, which are
external, and which do nothing to change human hearts.
But then there are those who I believe have the correct
biblical understanding of God’s grace. And, that is that Jesus died that we
might die to sin and live to righteousness. He died that we might live no
longer for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us (1 Pet. 2:24; 2
Co. 5:15).
For, the grace of God, which brings salvation, instructs us
to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled,
upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return (Tit. 2:11-14).
Jesus Christ died on that cross, and he rose from the dead,
not just to forgive us our sins and to promise us heaven when we die, but he
died to deliver us out of our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin and to free
us to now walk in his holiness and righteousness, in his power and strength
(Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Lu. 9:23-26; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 1 Jn. 2:3-6).
Enriched in Him
In Christ Jesus, by faith in him, we are given many
spiritual blessings and gifts of God. We are given the strength and power of
the Spirit of God to be delivered from our slavery to sin and to walk in
Christ’s righteousness and holiness.
And, we are blessed with insight and wisdom into God’s holy
word as we read it, and as we allow God’s Spirit to speak to us through it, and
as we walk in obedience to what it teaches us. And, we are given fruitfulness
in our labors of love in the Spirit of God so that, by God’s grace, and through
our faithfulness, we are impacting other people’s lives for Jesus Christ, too.
And, we are gifted of the Spirit of God with spiritual gifts
to be used for the encouragement and the maturity of the body of Christ. And,
we all are necessary to that proper working of God’s body, too, so that we all
reach maturity in Christ and unity in faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord (Rom. 12;
1 Co. 12-14; Eph. 4).
And, we are also empowered of the Spirit of God in our
speech and knowledge in order that we might share Christ and his gospel of
salvation from sin with the world around us and also with those who profess
faith in Jesus Christ but who are not living the faith they profess.
And, we are given courage and willpower to withstand
opposition and persecution and to keep speaking the truth of God’s word, and to
remain steadfast in our faith and in our testimonies for Christ and for his
salvation.
He Will Sustain You
This is a wonderful promise!! The Christian life is the only
life that is worth living, and the only one that gives us the hope of
deliverance from sin and the empowerment to live holy lives, and the hope of
eternal life with God.
But this is not something we do in our own flesh. The
Christian life is not a religion via which we follow a bunch of religious
practices. We can’t be “Christian” just by living moral lives and by doing
“good deeds,” either.
We can only come to faith in Jesus Christ because God first
draws us to Christ, and then he gifts us with his grace and with the faith to believe
in Jesus for salvation from sin. And, he grants us repentance, too. But since
this faith comes from him, it submits to him as Lord. So, those who believe in
Jesus will also repent of (turn from) their sins, and they will turn to Jesus
to follow in obedience to his commands (his word).
Then, as followers of Jesus, we die daily to sin and self,
and we walk daily according to the Spirit, and we no longer walk (live)
according to the flesh. But all this is from God, too, who sustains us and who
equips and empowers us to walk in holiness and to no longer live to please our
sinful flesh. But we have to cooperate with God. And, we have to follow him in
obedience.
And, he gives us everything we need to endure trials, to
flee temptation, to resist Satan and to draw near to God. We just have to
appropriate to our lives all that the Lord supplies for us. And, the Lord will
carry us through to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is Faithful
This, too, is wonderful news!! We can depend on the Lord to
do what he says he will do. If we are following him, and if we are doing what
he says, this is very comforting to know that he will be faithful to every
promise he has made to those who have humbled themselves before him and who
have surrendered their lives to him, and who have made him Lord of their lives.
He will never leave us or forsake us. He won’t lie to us,
trick us, betray us, turn against us, or abandon those of us who are his by
God-given faith in Jesus Christ.
For, he is completely faithful in all that he does. So, we
never have cause to fear anything or anyone, for he will uphold us, and he will
not let us go. We can fully depend on him. We just have to trust him
completely, believe in his sovereignty over all things, and believe he is with
us all the way.
By Thomas O
Chisholm
Be with me, Lord – I
cannot live without THEE,
I dare not try to
take one step alone.
I cannot bear the
loads of life, unaided,
I need THY strength
to lean myself upon.
Be with me Lord, and
then if dangers threaten,
If storms of trial
burst above my head,
If lashing seas leap
ev’rywhere about me,
They cannot harm, or
make my heart afraid.
Be with me Lord! No
other gift or blessing
THOU COULDST bestow
could with this one compare –
A constant sense of
THY abiding presence,
Where’er I am, to
feel that THOU ART near.
Be with me, Lord,
when loneliness o’ertakes me,
When I must weep
amid the fires of pain,
And when shall come
the hour of “my departure”
For “worlds unknown,”
O Lord, be with me then.
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