His Grace is not in Vain

Introduction

The feeling of unworthiness is one most every person feels at some point in their life.

Sometimes this feeling is justified such as when we say we are unworthy of God’s grace.

Maybe when we say we are unworthy to even untie the sandal strap of our savior, as John the Baptizer said.

But, this feeling as a Christian must vanish.

We are cleansed by the power of the living Savior.

We are His and as such, even if we feel that we are unworthy, we are not because He has saved us.

Like the Apostle Paul.

He was a major persecutor of the church.

He had many Christians jailed and even stoned.

Look at Acts 7-8. There we see the sermon and stoning of Stephen.

In Acts 7:58 we see that the men who stoned Stephen laid their coats at the feet of a man named Saul. Then in Acts 8:1 we see that Saul approved the execution of Stephen.

This word “approve” does not just mean he agreed with this execution, but that he consented to it, gave approval of it.

He was a major enemy of the faith.

He wanted it to fail and fall. As we see in Acts 8:3 “But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.”

He ravaged the church and sent them away because of their faith.

He hated the church and wanted it gone.

He was against anything it offered and said because it was not correct in his mind.

Today, maybe you are struggling with the view that your past life was too bad, that you were too evil, too ruthless, sinned too much, hated God, or whatever you did.

Maybe you feel worthless and unworthy of the grace God offers you through Jesus Christ.

I am not only talking about initial salvation, but about your life as one of His in totality.

You have this grace and it is because of it that you are who you are today.

Yes, you may not be who or what you want to be, but you are far more than you were before Christ.

You are like what John Newton, author of ‘Amazing Grace,’ said, “I am not what I ought to be.… Not what I might be.… Not what I wish to be.… I am not what I hope to be.… [But] I am not what I once was, a child of sin, and slave of the devil.… I think I can truly say with the apostle, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am.’ ” (Andrew David Naselli, “1 Corinthians,” in Romans–Galatians, vol. X, ESV Expository Commentary, 373).

This is what we read in the text from 1 Cor. 15:8-11. In this text Paul tells us of his salvation and calling as an apostle of Christ.

He has this in the description of the gospel and the defense of the resurrection of Christ. He is defending his position as an apostle.

Not due to anything he did but all about what Jesus did.

Let us read what Paul said.

1 Corinthians 15:8–11 ESV

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.

There are four feelings in this second chance that you too may feel in your life and growth in the Lord.

The first feeling is that of...

Deficient

In verse 8 we see that Paul says he was called last of all as to one untimely born.

What this means is that Paul felt that he was deficient as an apostle due to his untimely call.

The other apostles, the twelve, were with Jesus the whole time.

They were brought in, even though Judas was a betrayer, in the beginning and were with Him for three years.

They had been His before the resurrection, Paul was not of the original and he knew this.

He feels that this was an unexpected and abnormal calling much like when a child comes early or late.

Part of this feeling is that he had persecuted the church for so long, as we will see in the next feeling.

Not to mention it was odd that he became a believer at all.

His whole calling from a human perspective was odd and unlikely.

Much like myself as a pastor.

This past weekend in Amarillo I run into a man I have known for around thirteen years.

He looked at me and said, “Of all the things that I could have believed you would ever be, a pastor was not one of them.”

My life before this certainly did not point to me becoming a pastor at all.

It pointed in the total opposite direction, as Paul’s life did not point in the direction of him becoming an apostle.

Maybe you feel deficient in your walk with Christ because of how late in life you committed to Him.

Maybe you feel that all is untimely in your life because you are in your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, or even 80s and you feel that you know very little about the Lord.

Maybe you feel like an outsider when you are amongst other Christians because you are not on the same field they are when it comes to knowing the Lord.

Let me tell you this, there is a parable about the workers Jesus told.

Some began at the beginning of the day and others all through the day up until the last hour.

Each one was paid the same wage regardless what they did work wise.

You are just as much one of Christ’s at 80 as one in their childhood.

Just as Paul was an apostle even if it was after the resurrection.

You may feel that you are deficient, but Jesus says you are His and that is enough.

Do not allow the thoughts of deficiency creep in and still the joy in the Lord you can have.

Look to Him and bow to Him in humility because He saved you, a person who is...

Unworthy

It is true that we are all unworthy of this amazing grace and salvation we have through Christ.

As we read in verse 9, Paul persecuted the church of God.

As we looked at a minute ago he had many imprisoned and killed because he was against the faith.

He was a tormentor of those who were in Christ.

In Acts 9:13 Ananias says to the Lord when he is told to go to Saul/Paul and lay hands on him so he can see again, that this man has done much evil to the saints and has authority to bind all who follow the Lord.

Paul truly was terrible.

He explains it best in 1 Timothy 1:13 “though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,”

A blasphemer–profane and anti God talk and actions.

Paul rejected God and devastated those who believed in Him.

He was about as anti-God as one can be and the sad part is he thought he was good with God.

He really thought he was doing right as we read in Phil. 3:4-6. He was the perfect Jew but that was not what it took.

He says as much when he wrote that all that supposed gain is loss because knowing Christ surpasses everything.

So if anyone was ever unworthy of the salvation Christ gives, of God’s grace, it was the apostle Paul, but God said differently.

God gave His grace to Paul and He has given it to you and me regardless how evil you or I have been.

Maybe you were awful in your life and failed a lot and caused great harm.

Maybe you were evil and filled with hate.

Maybe you struggle to see how this grace of God is for you, well it is because God said.

We are all unworthy of this amazing grace.

We are all unfit for this amazing salvation.

Thank God He does not want us clean before we come to Him.

Thank God He is the one who cleans us up.

So if you feel unworthy, welcome to the club we are all unworthy but that is the people God wants.

It is not those who were like Paul before Christ that are worthy. They think they are and look down on those who are dirty and filthy but allow God to clean them up.

J. Oswald Sanders once said of that kind,

Nothing is more distasteful to God than self-conceit. This first and fundamental sin in essence aims at enthroning self at the expense of God.… Pride is a sin of whose presence its victim is least conscious.… If we are honest, when we measure ourselves by the life of our Lord who humbled Himself even to death on a cross, we cannot but be overwhelmed with the tawdriness and shabbiness, and even the vileness, of our hearts. (Spiritual Leadership)

Those who have the proper feeling of unworthiness, that of great gratitude to God, will see the amazing grace God delivered and stay committed and focused on Him just as the apostle Paul did.

All we have and are is by and through the amazing, surprising, unreasonable, and glorious grace of our Father to us through Jesus Christ.

That is how we are saved, and how we grow and continue on...

Becoming More

In verse 10 we read that Paul is what he is by the grace of God.

He says he worked harder than any of the others but it was all the grace of God.

So it is in your life too.

We are only who we are by the grace of God.

You can’t play football like Patrick Mahomes, you can’t play the fiddle like Bob Wills, you can’t sing like George Strait, but you can do things no one else can and that is God’s grace in you.

We need to stop looking at others and thinking that they are more than us because of this or that talent.

You are who you are by the grace of God and no one can be who you are and that is something to behold.

Paul was made an apostle after the resurrection from a man who tried to destroy the church of God.

He attributed all of his works to the grace of God.

He does not claim any of it as his but all of God, Christ in him.

This is you today.

You are not where you want to be nor are you who you want to be, because we all can be better and more faithful followers of Christ, but you are you and you are the one God is gracing right now to be who you are.

Just like the John Newton quote from earlier, “I am not what I ought to be.… Not what I might be.… Not what I wish to be.… I am not what I hope to be.… [But] I am not what I once was, a child of sin, and slave of the devil.… I think I can truly say with the apostle, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am.’ ”

You are not what you once were and that is more than what most people can say.

As a matter of fact, the majority of the world cannot say they “once were” a child of sin.

Why?

Because they have not received God’s grace and become a child of God.

Many of those you may very well compare yourself to in the world are lost and without hope.

You are full of hope because of the Lord Jesus Christ in you and that is worth more than any of those talents I said a moment ago.

You are becoming more in Christ moment by moment especially if you are allowing His grace to work in you.

God’s grace is what makes you who you are.

His grace is not in vain in you because He saved you.

God does not make mistakes when He gives us this second chance.

We all become more and more when we rest in His grace.

What’s more, is that all greatness we accomplish in this life is not us but His grace in us.

When we become more it is actually Christ becoming more in us and now others see this more and more.

Let that grace flow through you and stop thinking you are a nothing and a nobody.

God saved you and pours His grace out on you daily.

His grace is not in vain.

If you have believed in Christ you have His grace and if you have His grace you are something special in the eyes of God.

You are here and working for Him for a reason.

Let Him work in and through you and become more.

But to do this you must let His grace flow freely through you by having a deep...

Trust in God

In the last part of verse 10 and all of verse 11 we see Paul giving all glory to God.

He says it is all by the grace of God in him and when this is preached people believe.

This is the grace God has in you.

This is a reason you have received this grace.

Do you think you were too bad and people will reject you because of your past?

Well, those who have the roughest and hardest and most sinful pasts usually have the most effect for the church and Christ.

Why?

Because it is God’s grace flowing through you because you know how bad it really is on the other side.

Paul says as much in Galatians 1:22–24 “22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.”

His past caused other parts of the church and other people to glorify God.

Your past may be the reason another sees Christ because of what He did in you.

Never allow your past failures to hinder your future for the Lord.

If questioned about your past offenses by those who knew you say something like this,

“Yes, that was my life. Yes, I did do all those things. Yes, my life was crazy and full of horrible decisions. But by this amazing grace granted me I am not that way anymore. I know I was anti-God and against anything church, but this amazing thing happened and I now cannot live life that way. I once was that man but now I am new. And so can you.”

We are all a work in progress and no one is any better than another some are just further along.

Which is another reason why Paul says he worked harder than the others, the other apostles, but that was all the grace of God in Him.

It does not matter who is getting the praise as we see in verse 11 it is all about whether others hear of this great grace we have received and believe.

We are all one body of believers regardless and we are only by the grace of our great God.

Let us only trust God to grow us and help others see because if we worry over what others think and say, we will never do anything good but will sit around angry or dejected.

Live out life to the full in this amazing second chance and give evidence for the amazing grace and power of the resurrected Christ by living a faith filled life for Christ that shows the world that you once were down and dirty but have been raised with Christ and are now clean and growing daily.

Conclusion

What we have we do not deserve.

We really deserve punishment and rejection.

We deserve discipline, but we have received grace.

We are like this story about Billy Graham.

When Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding. Graham admitted his quilt, but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court.

The judge asked, "Guilty, or not guilty?" When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, "That'll be ten dollars -- a dollar for every mile you went over the limit."

Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. "You have violated the law," he said. "The fine must be paid--but I am going to pay it for you." He took a ten dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner! "That," said Billy Graham, "is how God treats...sinners [who receive His amazing grace]!" (Progress Magazine, December 14, 1992.)

You are unworthy of this amazing grace but God gave it to you anyway even if you feel deficient He has blessed you and you are becoming more through Him just trust God in His wisdom and you will see what He will do.

He has a plan for you in this second chance He has given you, by saving you.

Maybe you have faltered and failed since receiving this grace, guess what, God is not through with you His grace is more than our failures.

Just look to Him and allow His grace to fill you again and let Him take you where He wants to take you.

Trust Him and let His grace flow.

Like the Bellamy Brothers song “Let Your Love Flow” sings about their lovers love flowing like a mountain stream.

God’s grace will flow like a raging torrent to, through, for, and from you.

Let it happen and let Him in and you will see that it does not matter what another can do or what another says, all that matters is God’s grace flowing to all those around you because you have received this amazing grace even though you were so unworthy of it.