Rev. Don Campbell
2 Corinthians 10-13
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, DECEMBER 6, 2019
“GRACE SUFFICIENT”
When Paul speaks of grace, he is sometimes referring to God’s gift of salvation: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). At other times he is referring to gifts that are given to the saved to empower them to function in the body as he determines: “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it” (1 Corinthians 3:10).
When God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9), it was this functional grace of which he spoke. The general principle gleaned from this specific incident is that what God calls us to do, he equips us to do. It is not because of inherent or acquired skills that God chooses and uses, but according to his sovereign choice.
Following Paul’s narrative from 11:16-12:10 we see that Paul’s functional gifts did not mean that he would have an easy life. However, he said, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (v. 10).
There is no place for either an inferiority complex or a superiority complex in the body of Christ, for as Paul reminds us, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).
God does not give us gifts to display in a contest, but for the benefit of others as seen in the NLT rendering of 1 Peter 4:10-11: “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift o Mf speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and eergy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.”
CONNECTIONS
1. Some of God’s gifts are “onstage,” so to speak. Others are behind the scenes. All need each other (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). What is your gift?
2. If we put our arm in a cast and leave it for a year, our arm will be useless to us when the cast comes off. It will have atrophied, which is defined as “a gradual decline in effectiveness or vigor due to underuse or neglect (her artistic skills atrophied from lack of use).” We are warned, “Use it or lose it.” Are you using your gift?
