1 Corinthians 15:9-10
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Reflection
In one of the most quoted parts of the book Cost of Discipleship, the author Dietrich Bonhoeffer makes a distinction between “cheap grace” and “costly grace.” Cheap grace is “grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.” In essence, it means that the death and resurrection of Christ are “without effect” – no impact, influence or change. In contrast, costly grace is a “call to follow Jesus.” Because of the high cost that Christ paid for our sins, God’s grace compels us to live a life surrendered to, and led by, this calling. For Paul, he counted the cost of grace. Because Christ left an indelible mark in his life, he proclaimed “I am who I am” only and all because of God’s grace. It changed the way he saw his past, formed his present days, and shaped his perspective on eternity, even if it meant suffering, persecution and more work than anyone else.
Reflecting on the Transmitted Message:
May our lives be shaped completely by God’s grace and dependent entirely on God’s power. Take a moment to pray and surrender to God, letting go of our self-reliance and trusting only in God’s power. As we live today at home, work or school, in fellowship with brothers and sisters, or ministering to unbelievers, may we proclaim “I am who I am” only and all because of the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
