Paul
the apostle told the church members in Corinth, “I
am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an
apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”,
and in
chapter fifteen and verse ten of First Corinthians, Paul declared to
the church members in Corinth , “by the
grace of God I am what I am”, where
we read:
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 labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of
God which was with me.
The
verse begins, “But
by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was
bestowed upon me was not in vain;”
Paul began
with the word, “but” which
is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was just stated “by
the grace”
which means “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness,
charm, loveliness and unmerited favor” “of
God” which
refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God
the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “I
am” or
“Paul exists, happens and is present as” “what
I am”
which means “that which Paul exists and happens to be”: “and
his grace”
or “and God's joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness
and unmerited favor” “which was
bestowed”
which means “granted, given and endowed” “upon
me” or “on
Paul” “was not in vain”
which means “was not empty and devoid of truth”. Paul knew he was
who he was “by God's grace”, and that
“grace”
was not given to him in “emptiness and void of the truth”.
The
verse goes on to say, “but
I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of
God which was with me.” Paul
continued with the word, “but”
which is a
disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written
takes precedence over what was just stated “I
labored”
which means “Paul grew weary, tired and exhausted” “more
abundantly”
which means “exceedingly, over and above, more than is necessary,
super-added and supremely” “than
they all”
or “than any other person”: “yet
not I”
which refers to “moreover and not Paul”,
“but”
which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was just stated “the
grace” or
“that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm,
loveliness and unmerited favor” “of
God” which
refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God
the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “which
was with me”
or “which accompanied Paul”. Because Paul was extended the
“grace of God”,
he worked harder than anyone else by that same
“grace”.
When
we think through these words from Paul, we see how much he enjoyed
and acknowledged the work of God's grace in his life. He was who he
was because of God's grace, and that become the same for those who
believe and trust in Jesus Christ as their personal “Savior and
Lord”. Paul became an “apostle” even though he
previously had persecuted the church, and this demonstrates the far
reaching love and grace of God. God is able to alter the path of the
most obdurate, and His “unmerited favor” is available to everyone
who responds to His invitation to “come unto” Him.
Next
time Paul tells
the church members
“whether
it were
I or they, so we preach, and so you believed”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment