For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I
persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace
toward 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. (1 Corinthians 15:9-10 NKJV)
Paul, perhaps more than anyone, understood grace. If I were to imagine sitting at a table
with him, this is how I think the conversation would go:
“I labored more abundantly than the other twelve disciples, although I felt that I was not
worthy of this calling because I had persecuted His church. I had hounded these Christians
with a vehement hatred and with a misguided zeal for the God of Israel. I had tortured men,
women and children, rounding them up to imprison them and force them to recant their
faith in this man Jesus, whom they served with a passion I didn’t understand. I led other
priests and scribes of our religion in zealous legalism for our Mosaic laws, condemning
many to prison and even death. Then one day I met the God I had been unwittingly
opposing, and after He knocked me from my horse and I found myself blinded by the Light
of heaven. His voice spoke to me: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” “Who are you,
Lord?” I asked with utter astonishment. He responded, “I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting.” (Acts 9:4-5 NKJV).
“I spent the next three days blinded by that light, being led into Damascus where God had
instructed a saint named Ananias to invite me into his home, to pray over me, to lay hands
on me and heal my blinded eyes and to fill me with His Holy Spirit. I was a totally changed
man.”
“You can see why I felt so unworthy of this calling which God had showed me and I began to
work for His kingdom as intensely as I had worked to destroy it before. Did this new strength
to labor for the Lord Jesus and serve him with such determination come from within me?
No, it was rather a sort of divine strength and ability that I was able to tap into which
allowed me to accomplish seemingly inhuman achievements. When I look back on it, it
was almost as though a divine wind blew at my back, carrying me further, enabling me to
do more and have greater results as I trusted in His strength. My brothers, it was not I who
was able to spread the gospel of Jesus across the known world almost single-handedly, No,
It was by ‘the grace of God which was with me.’” (1 Corinthians 9:10NKJV)
“I labored with His ability, working in concert with Him, He and I in a holy partnership, going
here and there on His divine mission, and together we accomplished things which I could
never have accomplished on my own. That is what I mean when I say that it was by His
grace that I was able to do all that I did.”