Part 4
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 1 Cor 1:26 KJV
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Luke 7:22-23 NIV
So far we have seen the largesse of grace; the bounty and generosity of God’s grace. Upon that we considered the purpose of His grace, which is to the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ. In other words, the life and nature of Christ has been offered to us freely to experience. We went further to say that those who will share in these blessings are all men from different tribes and cultures; the Jews and Gentiles will become saints, God’s holy people. Praise the Lord!
God has opened His grace to everyone; the offering of Christ on the altar, the cross, was for all men. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, by which He became poor that we may become rich, is for all men in the world. However, it seems there are certain circumstances in the world that disqualify a person from being a partaker of all that God has already provided in Christ. There is something about those who receive the call of grace that separates them from others.
Those who are wise, mighty and noble in this world are likely going to despise the call of grace. Because of the simplicity of grace, many have rejected it. Only those who are ‘poor’ that is those who have realized their lack and helplessness in regard to God and their need for Him- that without Him being the source and supplier of help, they stand eternally condemned. Only these are able to enter into what God has done, His grace.
God’s choice is not selective of persons but of attitude or spirit. God has chosen that those who have this humble attitude of spiritual poverty will be able to access His grace. Although it is not the norm to find physically mighty and wise people who are humble enough to accept God’s method of salvation, yet if a mighty or wise man in the world is humble enough to acknowledge his poverty before the Lord, he will be saved. A physically poor or weak man may not necessarily be poor toward God. So, the factor is not the physical possessions but the heart condition. It is therefore those who are poor toward God that are chosen; people whose hearts are totally dependent and ever clinging to the mercy and grace of God are those upon whom God bestows these blessings in Christ.
There is a reason why God has chosen this means; so that no man will boast before Him. Men are prone to boast about their own accomplishments. People don’t easily acknowledge others for their own efforts, they want to be acknowledged. In the light of this, God will not allow the efforts of any man to play a part in the salvation process. If salvation has something to do with our personal efforts, then it will be in measures because our efforts cannot be equal. So, it will be possible then for some to have ‘more salvation’ than others (if it were possible) or better assurances than others. But, Salvation by grace through faith offers everyone who believes the same salvation (not a first class or second or economy ticket to heaven). But one kind of ticket is offered everyone who believes in Christ. So no one can boast except in the Lord
In summary, it is the humble of heart that is able to access the grace of God. Those who boast in their own ‘riches’ go away empty and stand eternally in jeopardy of the great Judgment of our God and Christ.
While this is the first principle, that is, the means by which we enter into what God has already arranged by grace, it is also the continuous principle by which a man is able to enjoy the riches of God through Christ. Unless we stand humble; weak, nothing, and foolish before Him, we cannot be sure of fully enjoying the fellowship of His Son.
This is the grace of our God to which we have been called. May no one miss out on this or experience less of it in Jesus name. Amen.