Promise thru Paul 168: I am Strong

  1. 168. I am Strong

2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, than am I strong.

I am strong! This is different statement of faith than to say that Jesus is strong. Indeed, the Scriptural promises of God’s strength and of Jesus being strong for me is true, but this promise is different: I am strong. This promise explains how difficult it is to explain and understand the union of Christ and me. Which is it? Jesus or me? Is it Jesus who lives in me? Or is it me who lives with Jesus? It is not possible for me to know who is actually doing the strong thing. It is really both: Jesus does the work and gets the credit, but it is me who gets the benefit. To believe, “When I am weak, then am I strong,” is the same as believing, “I am weak, but He is strong.” Either way, or both ways, the common truth is that I am weak.

I am weak in several ways: I am weak in the sense of being powerless to do anything spiritually good by myself,on my own power. I am weak in the sense of being oppressed and overcome by outside forces; sin, death, and the devil are truly sworn enemies over which I am powerless. Also, I am weak in the sense that the good works I do, the spiritual weapons I use appear to be weakand lowly, like forgiving, apologizing, serving, giving, humbling myself, dying to self, suffering injustices, turning the cheek, and all such weak works. For example, it takes much more strength to forgive than to strike back and get even, and much more positive results come about. In this way it is true: “When I am weak (forgive), then I am strong (beneficial results ensue).”

First, I admit my weakness by repenting of sin: my own human will cannot choose God or the good on its own. I cannot even believe in Jesus Christ by my own reason or strength, but the Holy Spirit calls me by the Gospel. Then, when I believe, I am strong.

Second, I admit that I am too weak to overcome the temptations of sin and the devil. I am too weak to defeat death; try as I might, it will come. On my own, I cannot live forever. Jesus is strong to defeat Sin, Death, and the Devil and gives me by grace that victory, and in His name I overcome, I am strong.

Promise thru Paul 167: Grace and Power

  1. 167. Grace and Power

2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

God promises that His grace is sufficient for me. And that’s good because I am weak and His strength is made perfect in weakness. This is grace: God does for me what I cannot do for myself. I am weak and He is strong; and the weaker I recognize that I am the stronger He will be for me. Therefore, I can be glad and shout for joy in the midst of my weaknesses, for then the power of Christ is upon me. The promise of grace is one thing; the promise of power is quite another. “I am weak, but He is strong.” The power of Almighty God is with me and working for me.

The outcome of this promise is that I will trust God instead of myself for meeting the needs I have. It is easy to admit that God has more power than I do. But it is another thing to trust God first and above my own strength and wisdom. Sure God has power, but will He really exercise His power for me? Doesn’t God help those who help themselves? No!! God helps the helpless. Helplessness is the first prerequisite for prayer; the second is believing that God is the Helper.

One issue we must deal with is recognizing that the power of God to bring victory for us over the enemies that would destroy us does not look powerful. The power of Christ is actually in lowly things that look weak, like forgiveness, service, humility, giving, kindness, love and such things. This prevents us from seeing the power of Christ exercised on our behalf. Therefore, we need to believe this promise that His grace really is sufficient and His power really does rest upon us. Believing the promise also helps us to let Jesus take up our sins and grief, pains and problems, weaknesses and infirmities; then we trust Him to replace them with His power. 

This brings up a question: Is the power of Christ more evident in the Crucifixion or in the Resurrection? Well, both, because each is a part of the same thing. When we see the Cross and the Empty Tomb we see Love. Therein is the power of God for me. The Crucifixion is Violent: Sin and Death violently kill Christ; the Resurrection is Violent: Jesus violently destroys Sin and Death. Now that is Grace that is sufficient, and it is Power that works for me.

Promise thru Paul 166: Mighty Weapons

  1. Mighty Weapons

2 Corinthians 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.)

God has promised and given us weapons for our spiritual warfare that are mighty through God. These spiritual weapons are strong enough to pull down spiritual strongholds. A stronghold is something that has a strong hold upon us. A stronghold in our soul can be either good or bad. We need to build up and strengthen those that are good for us. For example, a strong marriage bond and a loving family is a stronghold that is good for us, for others, and for the world around us. This must be strengthened and secured through the Word of God and prayer. We would not want to pull down this stronghold. But there are patterns of behavior (strongholds) that are fighting against the family stronghold; these must be destroyed.

Destructive strongholds must be brought down and destroyed: God has given us the spiritual weapons for this purpose, and they are mighty, strong enough to get the job done. For happiness and wellbeing, every person has places in the soul that must be rooted out. God will do this, because He loves us. Let Him. Use the spiritual weapons God gave us so that the Holy Spirit can do His work. He promises us these weapons are mighty enough to do the job. We need to believe this promise because the weapons look like weakness: forgiveness, apology, prayer, serving, humility, giving, kindness, caring and other such attitudes and activities.

For instance, wielding the spiritual weapon of forgiveness looks like losing, giving in, letting go and laying down, but in truth, in the spiritual world, forgiveness is an extremely powerful force for good. It defuses arguments, prevents fights, restores relationships, and promotes peaceful conditions for happy lives. When anger and resentful strong places in the soul are taken down smooth living takes over and peace rules. The promise enables us to believe that unseen spiritual power is really stronger than physical and emotional power. Believing the promise, we pray against evil strongholds, and we pray for the building up of righteous strongholds. Repent, Pray, and Believe; then watch God work. Can you hear the crumbling?

Promise thru Paul 165: Unspeakable Gift

  1. 165. Unspeakable Gift

2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

The unspeakable gift is surpassing grace. It is inexpressible and indescribable because it is beyond words; words cannot fully express or adequately describe the grace of God. And if it cannot be adequately explained it cannot be fully understood either. The amazing grace of God is a free and undeserved gift of God granting total forgiveness of all sins, salvation from all enemies of body and soul, and a full and rich eternal life that never ends.

But because we do not understand and cannot satisfactorily explain the gift of life does not mean we cannot believe it, enjoy it, and live it. The grace of God is so deep that we can receive an even greater appreciation of it every day we are alive so that it is like mercies new every morning. We are able to open up a new peek into the awesome depth of God’s Love every time we repent and believe the Gospel. And this we can do every day. The only way to waste a day of life is to neglect to hear the Gospel in some fresh and new way that day. Without a fresh taste of Gospel Joy in the morning we run the risk of going a whole day without thirst-quenching, life-restoring refreshment. And too many days like that ends up in ennui or even angst.

We may go to the well of salvation by grace alone daily, draw out the refreshing living water, and it will never be exhausted. The wellspring of life is so deep it is inexhaustible. We can live 100 years, plumb the depths of grace and love every day, and new joy and mercy is still available. It is this inexpressible, inexhaustible freshness of discovering something new about God that makes life continually interesting.

Someone once said that it would take an eternity to really understand the meaning of the death of Jesus Christ. If so, heaven will be forever fun and interesting. And this unspeakable gift keeps this present life exciting when we spend some valuable time with God in the Word and prayer. You can count on the Holy Spirit to reveal something new and peel back some more of the Love of God.

Promise thru Paul 164: All Sufficiency

  1. 164. All Sufficiency

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.

All grace means we have all sufficiency in all things. This is quite a promise: we have all sufficiency in all things. Think of that. Grace gives us all things we need for life and happiness. “All” is used three times in this verse: all grace, all sufficiency all   things, plus every good work.

God does not promise all sufficiency in all things just so that we may feel good, be secure, lose anxieties, and be comfortable. God promises all sufficiency in all things in order that we may abound in every good work. God gives believers the ability, the time, the money, and the motivation to actually do good works. Whatever the Lord sets before us to do we can do. We will not be able to say, “I can’t do that, or I don’t know how to do that, or I don’t have the resources to do that.” If there is the opportunity to do a good work the Lord will also give us the sufficiency to accomplish it. The only obstacle is our own stubborn self-will, selfishness and sin.

Certainly there are some good works that some of us cannot do, for it might be too expensive, beyond our ability, or the opportunity does not present itself. But when the choice is before us (God sets it in front of us) we can choose to be kind because He gives us the sufficiency to do it. We can’t do everything, but we can do what the Lord is asking us to do. God is taking away the excuse: “I can’t do that.” But God would say, “You can, because I give you the grace and sufficiency to do it.”

It seems that it would never be beyond our ability to be kind, for example. Look for the opportunity to be kind; God will give you the energy and grace to do an act of kindness.That’s why God gives this promise. Believe it, and walk in it.

Promise thru Paul 163: Reap Bountifully

  1. 163. Reap Bountifully

2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

The conditional promise: if you reap bountifully, then you will reap bountifully. The opposite is: if you reap sparingly you will reap sparingly. In other words, you will reap what you sow. If you reap a little you will reap a little; if you sow a lot you will reap a lot. Every farmer and sower knows this principle of life. The correlation is well known in all aspects of life. We don’t always act like we know, but we do actually know it.

The physical principle is also true spiritually. But in this context the physical sowing seems to be mixed with the spiritual. That is, if you give to the collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem you will receive back in like manner as you have given, a lot or a little. The promise is true whether we can mathematically count it up or not. Surely, God will provide for our needs in some degree as we give to His work. However, the reaping may often be spiritual reward and riches. Generous givers can count on the promise that the reaping will be commensurate with the sowing, but the rewards that come back may be spiritual joy and peace and contentment.

Whether the reaping is spiritual or material or both is not the point. The point is that we can be sure that giving to God’s work will never be a waste or a loss; it will always come back to the giver in ways that only God can measure. Even though corruption may creep into Christian and charitable organizations, we can still count on God that it will be useful and productive. And we can count on the promise to assure us that commensurate blessing will come to the generous giver.

We could probably make some sort of scientific study of this principle to see if “sowing-reaping” is true, or we can anecdotally ask generous givers if they have ever been disappointed or if they have been blessed because of giving to the Lord. But we don’t need scientific studies or anecdotal information to know that the conditional promise is real. God will do what He says. He will accurately account for the promised principles of life as He has ordained and promised.

Promise thru Paul 162: Rich

  1. 162. Rich

2 Corinthians 7:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

We are rich; that’s a promise guaranteed to believers. Believers in Christ may not be rich in the things of the world, and worldly prosperity is not promised. But through the poverty of our Lord Jesus Christ we might be rich. Jesus was rich, but because of His amazing love for us He became poor.

Jesus was rich: as God He owns the cattle on a thousand hills; He owns and controls the universe. But the riches referred to are not worldly wealth, but the spiritual riches of the kingdom of God. These include things like love, peace, joy, patience, goodness, kindness, and also power, might, glory, majesty and strength. But he became poor, that is, he entered the world of human beings and lived in our world enjoying virtually none of the creature comforts and conveniences that we take for granted. Rich became poor = God became man = the spiritual God took on human flesh and dwelled among us in the physical world.

Through that “enfleshment” and the emptying Himself of the riches of God He was able to suffer and die as a poor man in a spiritually impoverished world; He also could die as God. God died. Truly the rich became poor. Therefore, just as truly the poor will become rich. Faith in Christ first of all means that we have recognized our poverty and emptiness and sickness and death, and the cause is our own sin and guilt. Secondly, faith in Christ means that we have accepted the riches of Christ as our own. Through Christ we become rich. The poverty we endure in the world is not worldly poverty, but it is spiritual poverty; we are poor in the sense that we do not have God or the things of God; therefore we do not have life. The riches we have received are spiritual wealth, God, life, and all the things of God, the blessings and promises of God spelled out in the Scriptures. 

We are rich: we can claim the wealth of God as our own and enjoy His life. “We might be rich” means two things: now and later. Later we will be rich beyond belief living in God’s glory in the eternal kingdom. But also now because now we live by faith and we see the spiritual life and blessing of God and His life. This present rich life exists in our hearts in the midst of poverty, disease, demons, and the death of this present life in the physical world. Once we die and we are shed of all sin and death the true life and glory of God and all His riches will be seen and experienced.

The meaning of rich: you are free to do what you want without worry or stress. The true meaning of rich: you are free to do what you want, but your wants change, and it is without worry and stress because you are trusting God to take care of all your needs.(“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”) The New Life Jesus earned for us is true wealth and riches. The promise is fulfilled.

Promise thru Paul 161: Repentance to Salvation

  1. 161. Repentance to Salvation

2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

This is a conditional promise: if you have godly repentance, then you will have a repentance leading to salvation, and you will not be sorry for such genuine repentance. This kind of repentance is real salvation.

On the other side of the coin, worldly sorrow does not work repentance, but it leaves one in the death in which he began; nothing is changed. Worldly sorrow is superficial and it resembles a child who is made to say he is sorry, which he only does through gritted teeth. It is like the one who is only sorry because he got caught, but the sorrow is not real. It is like a person going through the confessional as a mere ritual, just saying the words he is supposed to say. It is like one who is only trying to get done with the trial and get on with his life continuing the same sins as before. We have a pretty good idea what the sorrow of the world looks like. And the result is death.

Godly sorrow is genuine, real, sincere and heartfelt. And by its very adjective, “godly,” it is a sorrow that is initiated and driven by God. It is the Holy Spirit, through the Word, that convicts and convinces the self of sin. He makes us see, and even feel, the horrific and ugly nature of sin and evil in our own heart; it’s not a pretty sight. Faith sees how bad we really are in the sight of God before His Law. Godly means not only that it comes from God but also that we see the sin from God’s point of view. Godly sorrow is not something that we can work up by our own emotions or reason. It doesn’t come from my own sinful heart, which is deceitful above all things. God says, “Repent!” but I can’t just do that. God Himself must give my heart the true understanding of the offense and the trespass. He must make us see the consequences and the condemnation of our sin. God uses the preaching of the Law to bring godly sorrow. It won’t come from society’s mores or family values or public shaming or parental discipline. It must come from God. We need to ask God for a penitent heart because of the Law and a true faith because of the Gospel. God will give godly sorrow and repentance unto salvation. The Word works. God promises repentance unto salvation. Work the Word.

Promise thru Paul 160: God Comforts

  1. 160. God Comforts

2 Corinthians 7:6-7 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.

Paul was comforted by the coming of Titus, and Titus was comforted by the Corinthian church. Paul attributes this comfort to God. For He is a God who comforts us; that is God’s nature. That is, God will comfort us when we are cast down, depressed or just feeling bad. He is the God of all comfort. He promises to comfort us always for He is always with us. And we can count on Him to comfort us when we really need it. The devil, the world and our own sinful flesh cause many conditions in life in which we need comforting. The Holy Spirit, living in us, is also called the Comforter.

We don’t know how God will do it and He uses many different ways, but in one way or another God often uses the Word of God. The Gospel forgives sin; sin is the cause of much discomfort. The Holy Spirit will use almost any part of God’s Word to speak comfort to our hearts. The uncomfortable conditions may not change right away, but our hearts are stilled and comforted for real.

As in this verse regarding the coming of Titus, the Lord very often uses other people to bring His comfort.We may see the people or the changed circumstances doing the comforting, but the believer knows who it is who is really comforting, God the Comforter. Believing this promise we will more often thank God for sending someone who seems to intentionally or unintentionally comfort us. We need other people, but we need the Lord even more. Thank God for His caring and comforting, even though He uses people to do His work. When we ask God for help and comfort let Him send boats or planes or people, and rejoice in the comfort.

Promise thru Paul 159: Temple of God

  1. 159., Temple of God

2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

The promise contained in this “temple promise” is that God is in us; God is present with us. God is in His Temple and the bodies of believers are temples. This promise, in the first place, means that God dwells in us and walks in us. Presence is a really big deal. God the Almighty, the Creator of the universe, is transcendent and far off and fills the universe. But He is also nearby, close, intimate and personally related to us, so much so that He lives within our very bodies. This fact blows us away. We do not pray through the ceiling up to the heavens, but we pray to the God within us wherever we are, for He is with us always. Help, comfort, hope, and love is never far away.

In the second place, He is our God and we are His people, meaning we are in a covenant relationship with the Almighty God. He makes promises and keeps promises. He hears us and responds to our prayers and needs. He  knows  all about us and caresabout what happens to us. In response, we are His people, meaning that we thank and praise, serve and obey Him. We believe Him and trust His Word and His words. We want to do what He says all the time. This relationship is life, a full and rich and wonderful life.

In the third place, when we believe this promise we develop a great respect for the body in which we live. We love the body, not to provide creature comforts and seek to avoid pain, but we love the body for it is the dwelling place of the God whom we love infinitely and forever. This truth affects how we treat the body and nourish and cherish it. Everyone cherishes his own body, but the reason and motivation for doing so changes, because it is the house of God. It deserves special care. The more we think about it the less we might abuse our bodies. We treat the body well and thoughtfully not for selfish reasons but for a much higher reason: because God is there.