What Makes God, God? His Grace: 2 Corinthians 12:9

 

2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” 

Through what lens do you view God? Do you view God through a lens of law or grace? All of us respond to God from a perspective that is either guided by a rule to which we feel obligated to adhere or a freedom by which we live in Christ based upon His work and not our own. 

I grew up in the church. I was born, raised, ministered in, and will probably die in the church. And yet I have lived with the tireless effort to please God because the church has conditioned me to believe that while I was saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), I needed to live a certain way, believe the right things, witness to people as often as possible, earn the notches in my belt, espouse politically conservative issues to keep the approval of God and maintain my status in His church. A moral fall, a shift in political viewpoints, or a lack of zeal for the gospel could raise questions as to the authenticity of my faith. Why is this? Because we tend to view God as One who is waiting to find a reason to disqualify those who do not fit our preconceived notions of what makes God approve of us.  

God's Work of Grace

Grace is God's work in us and not our work for God. Out of all of the scriptures that present the grace of God, I believe this key verse (2 Corinthians 12:9) lies at the center of our understanding of God and His grace. Spend a few moments meditating on this verse. 

The above picture tells us a lot about grace. First, grace represents a position of favor that we enjoy in Christ by no merit of our own, but rather by God's self-initiating kindness (charis) toward us. That is the basic definition of grace. 

Second Corinthians 12:9 illustrates how His power, sufficiency, and perfection are all contingent upon His grace. Without grace, we could never experience His power in our physical lives. Without the all-sufficient grace of God, we will constantly seek His approval motivated by misguided thinking about the character of God. Without the perfecting work of grace, we are left incomplete and lacking in our spirit. We can enjoy this favor with God in the body, mind, and spirit simply because He chose us (Ephesians 1:4) by His own initiative before the foundation of the world.   

Second, the ability to live our physical lives originates from God's power (dunamis). Grace enables us to live in moment-by-moment awareness of His Presence despite what is going on in our everyday lives. The Apostle Paul kept a vision of Christ before Him (Philippians 1:21) even though his story was riddled with all kinds of trouble (2 Corinthians 11:23-29). Only by God's powerful grace can we live in the freedom He gives us when our bodies are vexed with the troubles and perils of life. 

Next, the grace of God makes Him all you need. The all-sufficiency (arkeo) nature of God's grace derives its meaning from contentment or satisfaction. Our passion will always determine our obsessions. Misguided thinking will almost always lead to wrong behavior. This is why Proverbs 23:7 teaches that as a man "thinketh in his heart, so is he" (KJV). 

We fixate on the things that capture and keep our attention. However, grace illustrates why God is always enough. There is nothing that anything else in this life could ever give you that grace has not already provided. Christ is your life. He is your satisfaction. He is the reason why Paul could say he had found contentment with plenty or lack (Philippians 4:10-13). He had Jesus so He had all that was sufficient for him. 

Third, God perfects (teleo) His grace in us, meaning that we are complete in His eyes because of His grace. Sin leaves us incomplete, always lacking what only God can fill. God does not see our weaknesses, though. He sees His grace. He does not see our sins. He sees His Son, the personification of His grace. He holds no recollection of our transgressions. His perspective of us is framed, shaped, and formed by the vicarious death of His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. There is nothing more that God can do for us that He has not already done in Christ. We are complete in our spirit because of Grace. 

Finally, here is the most powerful truth that undergirds grace. The all-sufficient, perfecting, and powerful kindness of God originates from within our position of weakness. This means that there is nothing we could ever do that God has not already done for us to gain God's approval; not for salvation or Christlike maturity. It is not possible to gain more of Christ than you already have. However, it is necessary to grow in knowledge of Christ because His grace grows upon the grace you have already received (John 1:16, NASB). 

God did not make grace contingent upon our arrival at a predetermined place of approval. We do not have to work out our salvation (Philippians 2:12) to keep God's approval. When the Lamb of God cried "It is finished" (John 19:30), He made it possible for you to be approved by God through faith by grace. Jesus' work on the cross was a perfect work in that all that needed to be done to make you right with God was complete (teleo) on the cross. You now have all of His approval. You have all of His power to live. You now have all of His Son because of the cross. The process of growth in which you engage now relates to growing in knowledge of His Son because there is only so much you and I can understand in our physical bodies, with distracted thoughts, and the limitations of an imperfect spirit (Ephesians 1:17). It is only from a place of weakness where you can know the powerful grace of God. 

Life Application

The Barna Research Group (2020) exposed our law-driven, guilt-laden perspective of God from a recent survey. What do you see in this chart? At first glance you may think the numbers look pretty encouraging. 

However, notice the question. How often did people leave church feeling guilty? Almost a third (29% of Christians who go to church at least once a month and believe faith is important for their life) view God through a lens of guilt. Even if the survey perfectly reflects the current status of the church as it relates to how we view God, roughly 30% of Christians sitting in our pews on a given Sunday leave laden with guilt and shame. 

That means if you attend a church of a 1,000 people, then 300 Christians leave the church doors already defeated by guilt. How do you think their week is going to go? If you attend a church of a 100 people, that means 30 people are motivated to follow God out of guilt. 

That is way too high of a percentage. Yet, I believe it's entirely possible that the percentage of people who struggle with guilt and shame (the opposite of the grace of God) could be much higher. While this survey found that 42% of practicing Christians almost never experienced guilt, I believe the percentage of guilt-laden people could be higher because we in the church are experts at masking who we really are, what we are really feeling, and what we are fighting against. 

A camp defined by self-effort and self-condemnation

This survey begs the question, where do you fall? Do you find yourself grieving past sins? Do you wrestle with guilt over past decisions? Do you respond to God as One who is demanding your compliance or purity? Do you believe there is something for you to do today so God will accept you in spite of who you are? Do you view God as One who is quick to punish wrongdoing to establish His order in your life? Do you constantly find yourself seeking His approval, acceptance, or forgiveness?

A camp defined by God's loving initiative

Or do you view God as One whose love motivated Him to send His Son to accomplish a work that you could not do? Do you now approach God with boldness not because of self-reliance, but rather your trust in His work on your behalf? Do you believe God loves you more than you can imagine? Are you aware of how God expresses His love to you?

In which camp do you fall? The core essence of the second camp is where we can:  

• Find God's motivation to initiate a relationship with us (John 6:44). 
• Experience God's love for the world (John 3:16). 
• Discover God even from a place of irrefutable sin (Romans 5:20). 
• Enter a room filled with all kinds of people who could never measure up, but are accepted and loved right where they are by a God who died for them before they even gave Him a second thought. 

But that room of imperfect people who are recipients of God's kindness is what best represents the nature of grace. Grace is only possible because we relate to God from a position of weakness. You can never find anyone in a room marked by artificial notions of perfection who fully experience the all-sufficient, completing, and powerful grace of God. Grace can only be experienced from an overwhelming sense of insufficiency. Grace can be known only from a place of need. It is from our weakness that we can know the amazing grace of God.

Guilt has no place in grace. Shame does not define you as a believer. Condemnation is a thing of the past. Grace places you in the camp for those who are loved by God. Remember this truth: Where sin abounds, grace much more abounds (Romans 5:20, KJV).  

"Grace, Grace, God's grace 

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, Grace, God's grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin."

(Julia H. Johnston, 1911)

Scriptures for further study

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Romans 5:20-6:4

John 1:16-17