1 CORINTHIANS 15
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 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. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
– 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
1 CORINTHIANS 15 NOT I BUT GOD’S GRACE IN ME
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When you become a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ
You will begin to see changes in your heart and mind
The Spirit of the Lord works in your heart to convict sin
It leads you to do what is right and be faithful to him
It is not you that can alter your thinking but it is his Spirit
So, no one can boast because we are not capable of it.
When the Lord called me to his loving kindness, I was such a mess. I didn’t truly see what a proud and boastful person I was because I always took credit for the work of the Spirit. Of course, I didn’t know that then. I was raised by ungodly people who have no clue who God is. They had religion, but that is totally a different thing from love. In this letter, Paul presents the epitome of love, who is personified in Jesus Christ. He died for all of us so we can be free from sin. He gave up his own life so that we can be reconciled with God who was full of wrath because of our sinfulness. His grace flowed from Jesus’ sacrifice.
REFLECTION
- Share some manifestations of grace in your Christian life.
