1 CORINTHIANS 15:10: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”

Today’s scripture might be considered one of those humanly irreconcilable dilemmas in our Bibles, not a dilemma in God’s eyes, but certainly in the finite human mind. It falls alongside the dilemmas of attempting to reconcile God’s sovereignty and human responsibility in salvation; the deity and humanity of Christ as the Godman; and the personal responsibility to obey God’s commands and Jesus’ statement “Without Me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5)

The Apostle Paul is expounding on the grace of God in both its power to change lives and its power to live the changed life. What we observe is the grace of God creating a new creature in Christ and then enabling the new creature to live and work for the Lord with divine zeal. As much as this may appear a dilemma, it is the definition of the Christian life from start to finish.

First, the Christian life begins with the grace of God producing new birth or salvation – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). When it comes to our salvation, new life in Christ, we contribute only one thing, and it is not our free-will choosing Christ. Dead men and women have no power or desire to come to Christ (Ephesians 2:1-5). The only thing we contribute to our salvation is the sin necessitating our salvation, and that by sovereign grace alone. And this is what Paul tells us in today’s scripture – But by the grace of God I am what I am. But that takes us from becoming a Christian to living out the Christian life.

Next, to live the Christian life in obedience to God’s commands is a dual working of God’s grace in the newborn child of His. There is the requirement of our personal effort to obey – I worked harder than any of them, and the total reliance upon God’s grace to empower our efforts – though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. A great place to see this duality of grace in living out the Christian life is in Paul’s letter to the Philippians – Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).

So, the two workings of God’s grace in the believing person. It isn’t a dilemma and a good attitude to have toward these two workings of God’s grace in our lives is “Live out the Christian life as if it all depends on you and depend upon the grace of God as if it all depends on Him.”

PRAYER: “Father, may I see the balance of what Your grace has done to me and what I am to do by Your grace.”

QUOTE: “God gives us good examples in His Word for us to follow and bad ones for us to run from.”