Moving Onwards by God’s Grace Alone

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

2Co 9:8 ESV

Today, Manila Baptist School of Theology celebrates its 18th foundation Day. This is the seminary from where I took my Basic Theological Course and some units of Bachelor of Theology. I can still remember when one of our professors told each of us during our class while looking in our eyes, to press on!

With the theme: Moving Onwards by God’s Amazing Grace, our speaker, Dr. Ryan Lee of Semihan Korean Baptist Church Dallas, Texas shared a message from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. Let me share it here.

We are able to do good work because of God’s amazing grace alone. He pointed out that the utmost good work that we can do is to preach the gospel, evangelize, and declare the good news to the nation.

What is the good work that we can do? It is to proclaim the gospel to the nation.

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
Joh 13:1 ESV

Abounding in good work also means loving and serving one another. Jesus Christ exemplified this in John 13, as He showed it through washing His disciples’ feet.

When you serve, the motivating power is love. To be able to serve, you need to have love. Jesus says, “I love and I serve you”, and “I serve you because I love you.”

When Jesus approached Peter (John 21:15-19), He challenged Peter’s love to Him three times (in view of Peter’s threefold betrayal of Jesus), and three times He commanded him to feed Jesus’ sheep. “You feed my sheep primarily not because you love the sheep but because you love Me.” This is the essence of serving. Love of God is the driving force of serving.

Serving is not only about action, it is also, and most especially, about attitude. Why did Jesus wash the disciples’ feet? He didn’t only wash their feet for the sake of washing their feet but to show how He loves them by serving them.

Notice that nobody washed their feet first. Jesus didn’t even wash His feet first. He washed His disciples feet first. Do we have an attitude of serving first?

Serving is not what I do; Serving is Who I am. – Craig Groeschel

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Joh 13:34-35 ESV

This is our identity as disciples of Jesus Christ. We are recognized by the world when we serve one another in the service of the King. Serving is our identity. Jesus says that I came not to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45).

May we truly boast of our weaknesses, so that when we are weak, then we are strong by God’s sufficient grace alone (2Co 12:9-10). God’s grace abounds in us and through us that we may preach the gospel for the salvation of the lost and that we may serve one another in love to the glory of God the Father.

SOLI DEO GLORIA!