Grace Given

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

GRACE GIVEN

1 Cor 1:4-9

4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way — in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

NIV

 

It is interesting that Paul always thanks God for those believers in Corinth because of the divine influence Jesus Christ has given them. Would that not be a clue as to how we should approach life in regard to other believers? Should we not thank God as well for others because of the divine influence given them by our Lord Jesus Christ? Perhaps the reason Paul is thankful to God is that they are reflecting that influence. However, that is unlikely as the whole tenure of this letter is dealing with the struggles this young church is dealing with because of the culture in Corinth. There were factions, lawsuits, immorality, questionable practices, abuse of the Lord’s Supper, and spiritual gifts. So it would seem they were not necessarily reflecting the divine influence upon their hearts. Nevertheless, Paul was thanking God because of the grace given to them in Christ Jesus. The Lord was still giving them his divine influence, but whether they were allowing that influence to have its way may be another story. His influence is upon our lives all the time. It is somewhat like a gift and we receive it all wrapped up. We have to unwrap it in order to enjoy the full benefit of the gift. If we simply leave it in its wonderful wrapping paper and just look at it, we never get to use the gift. So it is with the divine influence, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we simply just look at it and never open our hearts, open the gift, we never get to use it, and there is no reflection of his influence in our lives. However, this influence, this grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, if we allow it to, will enrich our lives in every way. His grace will be reflected in how we speak, and in our knowledge of him. We will be changed because of his influence on our hearts and minds. This is the point Paul is driving at because it appears this young church in Corinth was not making those changes or was allowing the culture, the world, to have too much influence on them, rather than allowing Jesus to influence them. Maybe the post-modern church, that would be us, might struggle with some of those same issues. Maybe we struggle as well with either allowing the world to have too much influence in how we live or at least try to mix the two, the influence of the world and the grace of God, hoping that it would be just fine. Surely, we have to live in this corruptible world. It is certain we have to make our living in it, and do whatever is needed to survive, so to speak. However, again those words regarding being in the world, but not of the world, speak volumes to what was going on in the young church in Corinth, and may also speak volumes to us, being this post-modern church. How much do we, the church, function as the world? How much do we, the church, function under the influence of our Lord Jesus Christ? It is amazing how we have seen some churches we have been in, function somewhat like being under the influence of our Lord, but in other respects, especially with the budget, function more like the world. We have seen ministry determined by budget, rather than budget determined by the ministry, which seems backward, as we are allowing the world’s system more influence than the Lord's influence. Maybe we need to learn this lesson which is spoken here in this lesson. We may also be in danger getting too close to the things of the world, letting them sway the way we think. So, again, let us closer to Jesus, and allow His influence to have the main impact on our lives, both as individuals and as the church.