Overview
Embracing grace means holding tightly to God’s grace in both the hard places and the high places: in challenges, where our weakness becomes the occasion for God’s power, and in victories, where the glory belongs to God rather than to us. Dr. Andy Richard builds the teaching on 1 Corinthians 15:10, on Paul’s thorn in the flesh in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 read from the J.B. Phillips translation, and on Peter’s response to the healing of the lame man in Acts 3. Challenges tempt us to fall back on our own ability and to forget our identity in Christ. Victories tempt us toward pride and ego. Proverbs 3:6 and Haggai 1:5 supply the habit that answers both: acknowledge God in all our ways, and consider our ways.
Transcript
By the Grace of God I Am What I Am
Well, God bless you all in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ. I’m quite thankful for the pleasure of sharing God’s grace with you, my brothers and sisters in Christ this evening. The title of my teaching is Embracing Grace in Challenges and Victories.
1 Corinthians 15:10 was the verse from the Strong in Grace workshop that really inspired me to consider this topic further. And it reads, 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.
Our adversary is hard at work to get us to forget our identity and therefore our ability in Christ. By the grace of God, we are his children. We have the ability to do good works as he has called us to do. Not because we have earned it, but because Jesus Christ earned it for us. By the accomplished work of Christ, we have God’s grace. It’s a done deal.
Our desire then is to be strong in grace, to live according to our new nature in Christ through faith.
Embracing Grace in Challenges: Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh
Turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, please. Let’s look at our first category, Embracing Grace in Challenges. Of course, throughout our lives, we will face many challenges. And these challenges may tempt us to forget to live according to the accomplished work of Christ. To fall from grace, if you will. And at times we will need help from one another to continue to embrace God’s grace.
Let’s consider the record of Paul’s thorn in the flesh. Paul faced many challenges that could have tempted him to fall from grace. To rely on his own ability, to forget his identity. This challenge in particular must have been significant because he asked the Lord three times to eliminate this challenge in his life.
My Grace Is Enough for You: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 in J.B. Phillips
Now I’m going to read in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 9 and 10, but I’m going to read it from the J.B. Phillips translation because I thought it was interesting. And you can follow along in whatever translation you have. This is in reference to Paul asking God to remove this thorn in the flesh.
And it starts out, But his, God’s, reply has been, My grace is enough for you. For where there is weakness, my power is shown the more completely. Therefore, this is Paul speaking, I have cheerfully made up my mind to be proud of my weaknesses. Because they mean a deeper experience of the power of Christ. I can even enjoy weaknesses, suffering, privations, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ’s sake. For my very weakness makes me strong in him.
God Does Not Promise to Eliminate Every Challenge
It’s interesting to note that God doesn’t promise to eliminate all challenges in life that we face. Of course, this is definitely the case here in God’s response to Paul. Instead, one might say God’s instruction to Paul was, Son, I’ve got you. Don’t work harder, work smarter.
To Paul and any born-again Christian, God is saying, stop trying to live life struggling in your natural man weaknesses with your works-based thinking. And start partnering with and holding tightly to me, God, and my grace upon you to accomplish good works with me.
When Paul took this instruction to heart, it definitely changed his perspective on this matter, as we just read. Remember also Paul’s declaration in 1 Corinthians as well. How he labored more abundantly, it was not Paul that labored, but God’s grace that did the laboring.
Turning Weakness Into an Opportunity to See God’s Strength
When we are challenged, when we face difficulties in life, we too can recognize it as an opportunity to embrace God’s grace, to see his strength, his power, and his ability manifested in our life. To see our weaknesses as an opportunity to turn to God and replace it with his strength is an incredibly powerful way to consider our own walk, and of course to help one another as well. No matter how big a challenge may appear, our Heavenly Father, the Almighty God, has placed us in his grace through Christ. And there’s absolutely nothing in this world that we cannot overcome when we partner with God and embrace, wrap our arms tightly around God’s grace, and don’t let it go.
Embracing Grace in Victories: The Temptation of Pride and Ego
The second category I wanted to address is our embrace of God’s grace in victories. In every victory we experience in life, there comes also with it a potential temptation to develop pride and ego in our heart and bragging and boasting with our mouth. This of course is the fruit of works-based thinking, and is popularized and propagandized by the adversary.
Turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 3, please. We’ll get to that in a moment. This temptation to build pride and ego can be very subtle at times, and it can creep into our thinking if we don’t develop healthy habits of embracing grace, which keeps our hearts humble as we learn from the Strong in Grace workshop. Giving God the glory is key to becoming strong in grace. Again, giving God the glory is key to becoming strong in grace.
Peter and John Heal the Lame Man at the Beautiful Gate
Consider the record of Peter and John healing the lame man at the temple gate. These men recognized and lived according to the grace of God in their lives, and we can see it clearly by how Peter handles this situation.
We’ll read together, this time from the King James Version I’ll read, in Acts chapter 3, starting in verse 9. This is shortly after the actual healing occurred. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.
And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus Christ, whom ye delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One, and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the Prince of Life, whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. And his name, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know. Yea, the faith which is by him hath given him, this man, this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
Peter Redirects the Glory to God
Here we can see clearly the fruit of humility in Peter’s heart by the words which he clearly uses to give glory to God and his son Jesus Christ in this situation. Despite this being a wonderful situation of a miraculous healing, the adversary is ready, waiting in the wings to tempt those involved in the healing and the witnesses of the healing to give glory to man instead of God. But because these leaders were strong in grace, they recognized this potential temptation, and Peter spoke up.
His declaration was clear. Of course, he knew and understood very well that he had to carry out the healing, but that it was the grace of God that made this possible. They didn’t allow themselves to enjoy the spotlight of glory, not even for a moment. They decisively redirected glory to God in this situation.
Acknowledge God in All Your Ways: Proverbs 3:6 and Everyday Victories
Proverbs 3:6 directs us to acknowledge God in all of our ways. Developing habits of acknowledging God more and more is key to being strong in grace. When we consider any victory in life and neglect to acknowledge God, we can potentially develop a bad habit down a slippery slope toward pride and ego. And this can include any physical activity, like painting a room, for instance, or things like ministering or teaching God’s word, or as we saw here, performing a miracle for God.
Now, I doubt any of us would routinely consider ourselves egotistical, yet at times we have all failed to acknowledge God in our victories, I’m sure. We can and will need to help one another, especially as leaders, to acknowledge God in our hearts and at times with our mouth as well, as we saw in this record. The great heights of spiritual opportunity and growth that leadership like Paul experienced may put us in a position to accept glory in ourselves rather than to give God the glory. And this was certainly the case here in this record in Acts.
Consider Your Ways: Telling Grace Apart From Works
This reminds me of the other record we saw from the Strong in Grace workshop in Haggai 1:5, where the Lord tells us to consider our ways. When we consider our ways, we are not looking to be critical or condemning of ourselves or of one another. Of course not. That’s not our heart. But rather to become conscious and aware, to be able to differentiate between grace and works in our own walk first. Then we can teach others, as we just heard, faithful men to embrace God’s grace as well, instead of works, to develop strength in the Lord instead of weakness in the flesh, and to acknowledge and partner with God in every challenge and in every victory, both big or small.
I considered God’s grace versus works in my own life as I prepared this teaching, and God opened my eyes and changed my perspective on this matter as well. It was amazing that I was able to see areas of my heart and life that God provided both strength and humility at the same time regarding challenges and victories. This topic really inspired me and continues to inspire me from the Strong in Grace workshop. I thank you for the opportunity to share it with you. God bless.
Key Takeaways
- Grace is a done deal: by the accomplished work of Christ we have God’s grace, not because we earned it but because Jesus Christ earned it for us, and the adversary works to make us forget that identity and ability.
- God does not promise to eliminate every challenge. His reply to Paul’s thorn in the flesh, read here from J.B. Phillips, was that his grace is enough, for where there is weakness his power is shown the more completely.
- Dr. Andy Richard sums up God’s instruction to Paul as, Son, I’ve got you. Don’t work harder, work smarter: stop struggling in natural man weakness and works-based thinking, and start partnering with God and his grace.
- Victory carries its own temptation, toward pride and ego in the heart and bragging and boasting with the mouth, which is the fruit of works-based thinking popularized by the adversary.
- Peter and John did not enjoy the spotlight of glory even for a moment after the lame man was healed, asking why the people looked so earnestly on them as though by their own power or holiness, and giving the glory to God.
- Proverbs 3:6 and Haggai 1:5 supply the two habits that carry through both categories: acknowledge God in all our ways, and consider our ways so we can differentiate between grace and works in our own walk first.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to embrace God’s grace in challenges?
It means recognizing a difficulty as an opportunity to embrace God’s grace and to see his strength, his power and his ability manifested in our life, rather than falling back on our own ability. Dr. Andy Richard teaches that challenges tempt us to forget the accomplished work of Christ and to fall from grace, and that no matter how big a challenge may appear there is nothing in this world we cannot overcome when we partner with God and wrap our arms tightly around his grace.
Why did God not remove Paul’s thorn in the flesh?
God’s reply, read here from the J.B. Phillips translation of 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, was that his grace is enough for Paul, for where there is weakness his power is shown the more completely. Dr. Andy Richard notes that God does not promise to eliminate all the challenges we face, and paraphrases the instruction as, Son, I’ve got you. Don’t work harder, work smarter: stop struggling in natural man weaknesses and works-based thinking, and start partnering with God.
How did Peter give God the glory after the lame man was healed in Acts 3?
When the people ran together greatly wondering, Peter asked why they marvelled and why they looked so earnestly on him and John, as though by their own power or holiness they had made this man to walk, and said the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had glorified his Son. Dr. Andy Richard points out that Peter knew he had carried out the healing, yet they did not enjoy the spotlight of glory even for a moment and decisively redirected it to God.
Scripture References
1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Corinthians 12:9; 2 Corinthians 12:10; Acts 3:9; Acts 3:10; Acts 3:11; Acts 3:12; Acts 3:13; Acts 3:14; Acts 3:15; Acts 3:16; Proverbs 3:6; Haggai 1:5
This text was prepared from the teaching audio. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
