BY THE GRACE OF GOD I AM WHAT I AM

1 Cor. 15:10

Morning Meditation 6/7/16

“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

Someone said of this chapter, “there are shallows in this very full and potent Gospel where a little lamb may wade and there are depths where an elephant must swim.” This is a very good statement that can be made of the Scripture in general.

Paul had his enemies inside and outside the Church. This is a statement explaining his apostleship in contrast to the others. He first defines the gospel in verses 2-4. Then he explains the order in which Jesus was seen after his resurrection and said in verse 8: “And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.” Even in that early day Jesus did not make personal appearances. Notice Paul says, “last of all he was seen of me.” This means that Jesus made an exception and appeared to Paul the reason being that he was chosen to be the apostle to the Gentiles. An apostle must see the resurrected Christ (Acts 1:22). Paul didn’t have to say, “I have heard from the other apostles that Jesus was raised from the dead.” He gave the experience several times of his conversion and call recorded in Acts chapter nine. Paul wanted people to know that he was an apostle by God’s choice not his own. He was sent with the authority of an apostle.

Three passages of Scripture that confirm this is Rom. 11:13: “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office.” 1 Tim. 2:7: “Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.” 2 Tim. 1:11: “Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.”

Paul declares his personal attitude toward himself 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 or God.” So when he compares himself to the others it is not for the purpose of self exaltation but rather to explain his authority to speak on the subject of this chapter. There were those in the Church at Corinth who were denying the resurrection (vs. 12) and he will straighten this out. It is not his opinion against those who do not believe in the resurrection. He speaks with the authority of the divine appointment to the apostleship and the authority of the inspiration of Scripture.

Then he says “But by the grace of God I am what I am . . .” The conjunction “but” is the way Paul connects this statement with the declaration that he is “the least of the apostles” and is not meet (worthy) to be called an apostle. Someone might say, “Well, if Paul admits that he is the least of the apostles and is not worthy to be called an apostle, why does he come on with authority and claim to have the final truth on the subject of the resurrection?”

His answer is “by the grace of God I am what I am.” The word “grace” is defined in the lexicon of my Online Bible as “the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.” Jamieson, Fausset and Brown say, “The repetition implies the prominence of God’s grace in his mind as the sole cause of his marvelous conversion and subsequent labours.”

Paul explains his ministry and the office that he occupies as being because of the grace of God. He makes no claims to any other qualification. I have heard men say, “God called him because of his personal ability and education.” God calls men in spite of their education or academic ignorance. God’s men are not man made men or self-made men. They are God made men. It was the grace of God that Paul used to explain his office. He is not just being nice toward God and letting God take the credit for his personal accomplishments. There are those who come dangerously close to doing this today, i.e., go out and do all you can and give God the credit for it.

The words “I am (an apostle) what I am (an apostle)” because of the grace of God. Paul is not using the grace of God to excuse personal faults. The words “what you see is what you get” are used by people who have terrible personalities and qualities about them and they are using this idea to justify their reason for not changing. “God made me like this and if you don’t like it, talk to him about it.” This is not what Paul is saying. The grace of God can change offensive qualities and bad personalities if one is willing for the grace of God to operate in his life.

Paul was a persecutor of the church and his whole attitude changed. Paul before his conversion was a proud Pharisee. After his conversion, he counted all that loss for Christ (Phil. 3:7).

This grace was “bestowed” on Paul. The verb is an aorist passive indicative and this refers to a point of time in the past. There is a time and place where God calls men. The passive voice means that this grace did not originate in Paul. It was not just something that lay dormant in Paul that became active when he was saved. It came to him as an undeserved GIFT from God.

Grace is enabling. Grace enabled Paul to be an apostle. Grace enabled Paul to reflect Christ instead of himself. His personal conflicts are brought out in Romans seven and there are other sketches of him in other places. But he was an ordinary man like you and me. He was not a super saint. He was a man who said, “For I know that in me (that is in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing . . .” He was a man who said, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Does this sound like a super saint to you? God’s empowering grace is not a reward for your faithfulness but his gift to your weakness. When we are willing to take the place of weakness, we begin to operate on God’s strength which is his enabling grace.

Then Paul says, “and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain . . .” I am afraid the grace God bestowed is in vain many times. If it were not possible, Paul wouldn’t have said it. Every Christian life is a plan of God. And he bestows grace that will enable that Christian to be all that he has planned. If one is constantly trying to be someone else or trying to do something that is not in the plan of God for him, there is no grace there to enable him. That one will have to operate on his own. Here is where burn out comes, i.e., your oil will run out and the wick will burn up!

Every time I have tried to do something in my ministry that I admire in other ministers, I lose my peace, I stay in a turmoil and fail utterly. To get the peace back and see God begin to work again, I have to come back to the place where I can say, “by the grace of God I am (a pastor-teacher) what I am (a pastor-teacher).” God’s grace enables us to fulfill his plan in our lives.

God bless you.

In Christ

Bro. White