Intro: In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul talks about an experience God put him through. Known as his "thorn in the flesh," scholars and teachers have tried to explain this passage for centuries.
Sadly, it seems most have misinterpreted it and spread false views to generations of Christians.
They use this passage to claim that when you are going through a trial (especially a sickness) God may not help you. Instead, he will give you "grace to endure the trial" so that you can "glorify" God through the suffering.
People who teach this undermine one of the most important promises in the Bible: that God will always help us during times of trouble. They introduce doubt by suggesting God may not answer our prayers for help. And they imply it is more spiritual or "godly" to accept suffering, than to ask God to deliver you from it.
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I've talked about suffering in several podcasts. But I wanted to discuss 2 Corinthians 12 since it is often abused to push this false idea that God might not answer your prayers for help.
There are several reasons people teach this wrong idea:
A. they are taking the passage out of context
B. translators impose this view by mistranslating one word and
C. people do notunderstand grace.
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So, what is Paul talking about? What was his thorn in the flesh? And does this passage mean that suffering is from God and he might not deliver us from it?
Let's see what the Bible has to say. I'm Adam Casalino and this is the Gospel Talker podcast…
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Before we get into it, let me put to rest the lie that God might not help you when you're suffering.
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19, NKJV)
If you are a Bible-believing Christian, then you know that you can't interpret one passage of scripture in a way that contradicts another passage of scripture.
Those who use 2 Corinthians 12 to teach that God might not deliver you from suffering are ignoring Psalm 34:19—and many other passages besides.
God always, always, always delivers his people. That is a non-negotiable. Any doctrine that claims God might not help you, or might not answer your prayer, (or needs evil to accomplish good) is a lie.
Such teaching introduces doubt and undermines your confidence in God. And, since you are not confident when you pray, you do not persist in prayer long enough to see God bring the answer.
This is an issue of faith. What do you believe to be true? If you believe God helps all those who cry out to him, you will and he will.
But if you believe God may not help you, you will have just enough doubt to not trust him.
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Let's take a look at the passage in question:
“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7–10, NKJV)
So, if you are taking a quick, sloppy approach to interpreting this text, you can easily come up with the wrong idea:
God sent Paul a problem to cut him down to size! When Paul asked God to remove this problem, God said no! So, we also can't ask God for help when we suffer, we just need grace to endure it.
Obviously, if you believe this, you will never ask God for anything. And you will begin to think that a life of faith is purely a life of suffering, not victory.
This kind of thinking often leads to the misguided belief that God makes us suffer to purge us of sin. Paul was proud, so God sent him this affliction to humble him. God must be doing the same to me by giving me this sickness, problem, etc.
And we end up concluding that if we ask him to deliver us from the problem, we are going against his will.
Or, we assume that if he doesn't answer our prayer for help right away, it is not his will to help us. Instead, he will give us "grace" to endure the suffering—until it goes away on its own (if it does at all).
· People who use the phrase "grace to endure the suffering" don't know what grace means.
· And people who say God wants you to "glorify him in suffering" are doing an injustice to the character of God.
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To understand what Paul is actually saying, we need to look at what he wrote before this section.
A part of the reason Paul wrote this letter, 2 Corinthians, was to confront false teachers who were trying to lead the church astray.
You might be under the impression that the New Testament church was perfect. They had the apostles, so everything must have been hunkydory.
In reality, they had the same problems the Church has today. Like today, there were false teachers going around trying to defraud the church.
When I say "defraud" I mean they were deceiving Christians for influence and money.
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Paul had spent a long time building the church in Corinth. After spending over a year and a half there, Corinth had a thriving, prosperious church.
After he left, however, false teachers came and tried to defraud the Corinthians. These men claimed to be important leaders, bragging about their skills, accomplishments, and influence. It appears they even had letters supposedly from other leaders in the Church endorsing them.
These men tried to cheat the church; and they were successful to a certain extent. Part of what did was underminePaul's relationship with this church.
Paul preached the Gospel of Grace—that our relationship with God is based on unearned favor through Jesus' death and resurrection. These men were teaching you are saved and kept right with God only if you perfectly obeyed the Old Testament law.
So, they had to drive a wedge between Paul and this church so the Corinthians would believe their false gospel instead of Paul's true Gospel. They did this by insulting Paul and mocking his speaking abilities.
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Paul wasn't going to try to out-boast these con men, whom he called false apostles. Instead, he undermined their pride by boasting in his weaknesses.
“But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast.” (2 Corinthians 11:12, NKJV)
He goes on to describe some of the hardships he experienced while preaching the gospel. Paul doesn't right about all the miracles he performed, the many people he saw saved, the countless times people were healed by his ministry.
That's the kind of thing we'd expect him to say, right? That's what modern ministries talk about when they discuss their work. They focus on their accomplishments, so we'd be impressed by them.
Instead, Paul talks all about the horrible parts of his ministry! The times he was in prison, beaten with sticks, stoned to death, robbed, abandoned and rejected by people.
Why on earth would he say all this? Because these false apostles never endured these kinds of things for the gospel.
Why? Is Paul saying that suffering validates us as Christians? That following Christ is a life of suffering?
It's easy to interpret chapters 11 and 12 that way. But that is not what Paul is saying!
He is teaching an important lesson about grace. Grace is God's unearned favor. We cannot earn God's approval, love, or blessings.
They are only given to us freely, because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. We receive grace when we acknowledge our need for God by faith.
That means, there is a way to prevent grace from flowing in your life. And this is what Paul is getting at in this section.
These false teachers boasted in their power, abilities, and supposed accomplishments. Paul instead boasted in his weakness. Why?
As I said, he was exposing these men for a frauds they were. A true servant of Christ does not boast in himself. He does not think he is all that and a bag of chips.
Instead, he acknowledges he is nothing without Jesus. And the best way to illustrate that is to point out all of your weaknesses. But why?
Because, if you really want to enjoy "abundance of grace" and God's "gift of righteousness" you need to recognize how much you need him.
And the best way to recognize how much you need God is to remind yourself of your weaknesses. So you will never think you can do this thing called life on your own. And you will always, by faith, depend on the Lord for power.
Paul points this out in living color with his story about the thorn.
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Paul opens chapter 12 by talking about "a man" who went up to heaven and learned amazing things from the Lord.
“It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.” (2 Corinthians 12:1–6, NKJV)
Paul, of course, is writing about himself. These false apostles, according to Jude, bragged about the "visions" and "dreams" they received from God, which they claimed also validated their ministries.
(Remember, these are liars who are spreading a false gospel. But they are bragging about their wisdom, power, and so on to deceive the church.)
Paul, however, talks about "a man" who had real visions from God—but refuses to even discuss them. He however will boast in his infirmities. Why? So nobody will think of Paul above what they see in him or hear from him.
Humility. This is what these chapters are about. The false teachers proudly made up accomplishments to impress and trick the church. Paul, instead, humbly humiliated himself—why?
That is what he explains in the section about the thorn.
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Paul writes that because of the revelations he received from God, a "thorn in the flesh" was given to him. He says this was a "messenger of Satan" who did something to Paul so he wouldn't be "exalted above measure."
Okay, what does that mean?
Let's spend some time considering the man writing this. Paul was once just like the men he's confronting.
He was a Jewish Pharisee, puffed up over his supposed knoweldge and power. He was so far gone, that he arrested Christians and voted for them to be put to death.
But he was humbly tremendous, when Jesus appears to him on the road. He repents, believes in Jesus, and becomes an apostle.
He was already a very knowledgeable about the Bible Now, he knows the gospel. After God gave him powerful spiritual gifts.
Handkerchiefs with his sweat were healing the sick and driving out demons.
Anyone, I don't care who you are, could become proud over that.
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Our knee-jerk response might be, "Paul got proud and God needed to teach him humility with this suffering." Not exactly.
Paul wasn't proud. He said, "Lest I be exalted above measure." Meaning, he hadn't become proud, not yet.
What is more likely the truth was that Paul, with all his knowledge and power, could have become proud. Specifically, he might have become self-sufficient in preaching the Gospel.
He was smart. He had amazing spiritual gifts. He had this war chest of heavenly visions. It was possible that, at some point, Paul would have convinced himself that he had what it took to serve God.
And he would have trusted in himself, proudly, instead of trusting/depending on Christ.
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Yes, he's talking about pride, but let's be specific.
Pride comes from somewhere. When we're dealing with Christians, pride often comes in the form of self-effort and self-sufficiency.
We are at risk of believing the lie that God favors us because of what we do or what we have.
We end up trusting our biblical knowledge, our accomplishments, or something else we have—rather than the Lord.
We become confident because we have a certain amount of money in the bank. Or, because we are healthy and strong. Or, because our family is doing well. Or, our careers are taking off.
Are any of these things bad? No. Is it wrong to ask God for these things? Also, no.
The same is true about the things Paul had: knowledge and spiritual power.
The problem comes, though, when we think these things are what make us successful. Or validates us before God. Or if we use them to impress people.
In reality, we do nothing to win God's favor. God provides is freely, because of the cross. All we do is humbly receive his grace, by trusting him completely.
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Paul explains he ended up with this thorn to learn this important truth. He is somewhat ambigious on where the thorn came from.
He doesn't say, "God gave me this thorn." He says a thorn was "given to me." We can't rightly say God wanted Paul to suffer something.
Suffering does come from God. He does not do anything evil nor does he tempt people to do evil. All we can say is that God allowed this thorn to trouble Paul.
Now, many believe this "thorn" was some kind of physical ailment. There is nothing in the text that suggests that.
The term "thorn in the flesh" is not literal. He is not saying it was a physical sickness or injury. "Thorn in the flesh" comes from a Hebrew saying going back to the Old Testament.
God warned Israel in Numbers 33:55 that if they didn't completely wipe out the Canannites from the promised land, they would end up being trouble down the road.
He said they will be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your side. And that turned out to be true. Israel refused to totally defeat the Canaanites left behind by Joshua. And these Gentile nations eventually came back to fight Israel or tempt them to sin.
"Thorn in your side" or "thorn in your flesh" are just metaphors. It's like saying, "That guy's a real pain in my neck!" It's more likely Paul is referring to a person, than a sickness.
That's especially true, considering that Paul called it a "messenger of Satan." For some reason, we are so quick to say it was a sickness, when Paul tells us it was a being.
It could have been a demon or simply an evil person doing the work of the devil.
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Now, let's reflect on what we just read in chapter 11. Some of you might be conviced that the thorn was a sickness, because your pastors have said this for years.
But what was Paul just talking about. Sickness? No, the many hardships he endured as a result of preaching the gospel.
If we are to read chapter 12 in its proper context we are more likely to conclude that this thorn refers to some kind of persecution—since that is what he was just writing about.
All these preachers who claim Paul is talking about a sickness love to "properly exegite" other passages of Scripture, yet they are neglecting that same basic rule for this passage.
Good Bible teachers will tell you that you have to study a passage in its context, yet some of them don't do it here. That is because they are used to teaching and interpreting much of the Bible based on their church's tradition, not on the very Bible-study skills they possess.
The best way to understand Paul's thorn is that it was someone causing trouble in his ministry. Either a demon or a person under Satan's influence who was trying to oppose Paul's work through persecution.
My view is that this was a demon who was instigating people to persecute Paul during his travels.
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But that is only a minor mistake people make with this passage. Whether you think the thorn was a sickness, person, or some other problem, that's not the point.
People go on to claim that Paul asked God to take it from him and God says no. But you'll notice, the text does not say that.
Look at verse eight and nine:
“Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness…" (2 Corinthians 12:8–9a, NKJV)
Three times Paul asks God to take away this problem. Then, God provides an answer.
Now, depending on your translation, verse nine might not open with the word "and." It might say "but" instead.
Now, I'm not a Greek scholar, but I've looked at this word in the original Greek. The word translated "and" is kai and it has three chief meanings according to Vine's: "And," "also," or "even."
This word is a conjunction that connects one piece of text with another. The best rendering in my opinion is simply "and." Paul is writing, "I prayed to God and this is how he responded."
Some Bibles translate kai as "but." This is not a faithful translation of the word. The translators are introducing a bias into the text, to lead you into thinking a certain way.
They believe God said no to Paul. Because "but" is a contradiction. Paul asked God for help but God says this… implying that God refused to answer Paul's request.
That is a very damaging thing to do to the word of God. All translation requires some interpretation. But the best translations strive to be as literal and faithful to the text as possible.
Putting in "but" instead of "and" in verse nine finesses our interpretation, leading us to assume that God didn't answer Paul's prayer.
We end up teaching that this text says God won't always help us during our suffering. And we misinterpret what he is saying about grace to fit this wrong view.
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But just look at the text. Does Paul write anywhere that God said no? It's not there. Instead, we are seeing a very important principle about prayer being played out in Paul's life.
Again, we need to put this passage into the entire revelation of scripture. Does it say anywhere else in the Bible that when a child of God is in need, he might not help them?
Absolutely not. In fact, we are so assured of God's promise to help, that we are encourged to keep asking God for something, until we get the answer.
““So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Luke 11:9–10, NKJV)
Jesus gave us two parables about persistently praying until we get what we need. In one, a man keeps pestering his neighbor until he provides bread for a guest. In the other, a widow keeps demanding justice from an evil judge, who eventually gives it to her.
If these humans are willing to help, because of a persistent person, how much more God who has promised to help us?
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In Daniel 10 we read that the prophet was seeking God for meaning to a vision for 21 days. Then, a powerful heavenly messenger appears with the answer. Daniel waited for nearly a month, but he did not stop asking God.
In Genesis 32, Jacob famously wrestles with God. He says "I won't let you go unless you bless me!" Jacob feared his brother was about to kill his family, so he wasn't going to leave God alone until his answer came. This story is a picture of persistant prayer.
We won't stop asking God for what we need until the help comes.
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Paul tells us in verse eight that he had to ask God three times for help with this thorn. He asked the first time and presumably heard nothing. He asked a second time, again nothing. Finally, on the third time, God responds.
We don’t know the interval of time between these three prayers. But, all things considered, three times is pretty quick to receive an answer. Some of us might be praying for something from God for years—like Abraham, Joseph, or David.
But these men didn't stop asking God to help them. And, in time, God answered.
Paul persisted in prayer until God gave him the answer. But what did God say? No? That's not what the text says.
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Jesus tells Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."
This, of course, is the most important part of the passage. People have taught that God might not remove your suffering, but will give you grace to endure it.
I have a real problem with this non-answer, because it doesn't mean anything. Do these people even know what grace is?
When they say this, they seem to imply that grace is this sprinkling of niceness that God puts on you when you are suffering. Like a dash of powdered sugar.
Oh yes! How nice, some grace. They speak of grace in this vague, uncertain way—it's clear they have no idea what grace is.
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Grace is unmerited favor. Favor is kindness, provision, love, and acceptance. It refers to your standing before God. Someone with God's unmerited favor (grace) can ask him for anything and he will do it.
Because God favors him! That's what grace means!
To say you have the grace of God means God is treating you like a VVIP. It means you are right with God. He is not withholding anything good from you. He is happy with you and wants to answer your prayers.
Don't believe me, just look up what grace means in a Bible dictionary. Look up what it means to have favor with someone.
That is what we have with God because Jesus Christ died for our sins. Just think about that. God gave us the very best—his precious son—to save unworthy sinners.
“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32, NKJV)
If God gave Jesus to save us, why wouldn't he also answer our prayers for help? To say that God may or may not help us when we are suffering is an insult to the gospel and Jesus' suffering.
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When we say God gives us grace in a trial—the only accurate definition of that statement is that God provides unmerited favor when we are in need.
So, if we have unmerited favor from God during a trial, it means God is expecting us to ask him to deliver us from the trial. Why else do we have such precious and powerful favor?
Really, favor means we can ask anything from God, in and out of trials. The obvious conclusion is that we would ask him to save us from the trial. You don't have to ask God for that, but Paul clearly did. And most people would too.
This is echoed in God's response to Paul. Jesus is telling Paul that his unmerited favor is going to provide what he needs.
"My grace is sufficient to help you out of this problem."
Your knowledge is not going to help you, Paul. Your physical abilities can't solve this conundrum. All your wisdom and spiritual gifts don't make you adequate to the task.
No, only the unmerited favor I bestoyed on you because you trust in me is going to provide all that you need. Including the freedom from this "thorn."
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The key is understanding, not just the meaning of grace, but of the word "sufficient."
Sufficient means meeting the need—which implies, in Paul's case, removing the thorn. Because, that was what he needed!
We sometimes wrongly think sufficient means, "just barely enough." God's not going to help us get out of the problem, just keep us on life-support long enough to reach the end of our lives.
He gives us just enough to "get by." His grace just gets us over the finish line, nothing more, nothing less.
Another lie. Remember what we said. All the amazing things that happened to Paul (his knowledge, gifts, revelation) could have tricked him into thinking he had enough. He was self-sufficient to do God's will.
This is the same lie we fall for: that our money, skills, circumstances are sufficient.
That God is expecting us to live this life in our power. That we serve God out of our strength and devotion. God only steps in when we have a problem too big for us to solve.
Newsflash! You never have enough in yourself to get you through one day, let alone your entire life. Your existance depends on what God provides by grace.
Jesus told Paul that his unmerited favor is what makes Paul competent. Meaning, Jesus provides what we need. We don't earn anything from God. By his grace, he gives and he gives and he gives.
He uses the word sufficient here, since it relates to Paul's situation. Paul needed to be reminded he could not be self-sufficient. The need—all his needs—would be met by Christ by grace.
In reality, we can count on much more than what we ask for.
Paul is the one who said this:
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20, 21, NKJV)
God's grace provides more than "just enough to get by." That is because what Jesus provided through his suffering on the cross was an overpayment for our sins.
He is the precious lamb of God. The very image of God the Father. Altogether lovely, wise, true, strong, and good. For him to suffer on the cross in our place means that God provided infinitely more then we'd ever need to be saved.
On top of that, we are in Christ. We are Christians, little christs. We are sons and daughters of God, just as Jesus is the Son of God. We have the same favor with the Father that Jesus has.
Does God withhold anything good from Jesus? Nope. So, when we say that God gives us grace in a trial, we are saying God is bestoying unmerited favor that provides everything we need—including deliverance from the trial.
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This is the big hook of the passage. Drum roll please! You need to know that you are always weak.
Remember how Paul kept boasting in his weaknesses? Because by acknowledging that we are weak, we teach ourselves to trust in God.
Just being weak isn't enough. You need to seek God for help in your weaknesses. That's faith. Everyone in the world is weak, but only those who turn to God for help become strong.
The danger to Paul was that he could end up believing that he was strong and capable because of all he learned.
The thorn in the flesh was a reminder that Paul was weak. Despite all his knowledge he was not the eternal God of the universe.
He needed to remember that, every day, he had to rely on Jesus, not himself. And Jesus was more than ready to provide what Paul needed.
That's why he boasted in weaknesses! Because when he recognized he was always weak and turned to Jesus for strength, Jesus abundantly supplied it!
Paul so understood this truth about grace, he got excited about problems. Why? Was he crazy? No, because those were just more opportunities for Christ to demonstrate his power and grace in his life.
Problems of all kinds are just opportunities for God to demonstrate his goodness to us. God is not "teaching" you anything when you suffer. He is not the one making you suffer.
He is the one who will deliver you from the suffering. So you will have more reason to praise him, trust him, and experience his love.
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Paul prayed to the one with all the power to help him. He persisted in prayer until Jesus responded—which is the biblical pattern for prayer. What did Jesus do for Paul?
Gave him grace. Which had to include Jesus delivering him from the thorn, or this entire passage is pointless.
Why do I say that? Because Jesus provided his grace—grace that granted Paul power. Power for what? To fester in his suffering, with no hope of recovery?
Or power to overcome whatever that thorn was, so he could continue doing the work God called him to do?
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Some Christians seem to crazy, when you listen to them talk about suffering. "Oh, God wants me to suffer, to refine me. To teach me to glorify him in the suffering."
That is not what Paul is talking about. Problems are only opportunities for God to demonstrate his grace. Grace that provides the deliverance we need.
We don't need problems to learn that, if we keep depending on Jesus for everything, every day.
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Now, you don't have to believe in my interpretation of this text. You might continue to think that this thorn was a sickness that Paul suffered the rest of his life.
You might believe God simply wanted Paul to live with this burden. And you might continue to believe that God may or may not help us when we are facing trials.
But you can't argue what I said about grace. Grace is not some nice feeling or soft sentiment. Grace is not some vague, intangible sensation that comes and goes.
Grace is unmerited, unearned favor. It is the reason we are right with God. It is what makes us righteous because it was provided by Jesus' death and resurrection.
If you believe in Jesus Christ, you are standing in grace. Plain and simple. Grace means you have special access to God.
You are privleged above anyone else in the world. Not because you earned it, but because Jesus earned it for you.
God wants to give this grace to everyone. But some people will reject it, because they think life is about earning what they need.
It doesn't work that way. You can't do good on your own.
The only way to do good and be good is to be connected to God. And you can only do that by trusting in Jesus.
Jesus said he was the vine, we are the branches. As long as we stay close to him, we will bear much fruit. Apart from him, we can do nothing.
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Grace is given to those who don't deserve it. It flows when we stop focusing on ourselves, our sufficiency, and start looking at the one who is altogether lovely, Jesus.
Grace is favor. So, what do you need from God today? Are you suffering? Are you sick? Are you in need? God wants to provide for you.
But he only does it freely, without cost. Stop trying to earn your place with God. Stop thinking he wants to put you through suffering to "refine" you. All this time, he was teaching you to depend on him, not on yourself.
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