How do we measure our capability—by our previous successes and failures or by the boundless resource of grace that’s yours in Christ?
It is something every human being does many times a day; most of the time, we do it unconsciously. The way we do it says a lot about who we think we are and what we think we are facing.
The young child learning to walk does it, and so does the elderly man facing serious sickness. What we conclude after doing it determines how we respond to the struggles in our life. What are we talking about?
Measuring our capability. We are always assessing what we bring to the table to deal with what is currently on our plates. Now, it is not stupid or irrational to measure our potential by examining our track record. How have we done so far? What are the things that tend to trip us up? What are the weaknesses that have been exposed? What have we learned that will help us do better the next time? These are all good questions as far as they go, but they lack something that is dramatically important.
They lack the gospel of Jesus Christ. You see, the message of the infusion of God’s grace is that we haven’t been left to our track record. We aren’t restricted to our limited collection of personal spiritual resources.
Rather, in Christ, we have been given both a new identity and new potential. How could this new potential be more radically and powerfully stated than in the apostle Paul’s words:
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” – Galatians 2:20
God knew exactly what we would face as we journeyed through this fallen world. He knew that temptation would greet us every day. He knew the sin still within us would rear its ugly head. He knew that sorrow and suffering would get us down. He knew all the things that we would have to deal with at the address where he ordained us to live. So he gave us exactly what we need so that we can be what we’re supposed to be and do what he has called us to do even in the broken surroundings where we live.
What did he give us? He gave us himself! His grace isn’t a set of insights. It isn’t a change of location. It isn’t the altering of situations. His grace is more fundamental and glorious than that. His grace goes far beyond anything we would dare to ask or reach out for with our imaginations. Here is the best way to say it: he is the grace that he gives. God’s best gift of grace is himself. He comes to us. He makes us the place where he lives. This means that divine power resides inside us.
Our potential as God’s children is much more than our natural gifts and track records predict, because Immanuel, the Lamb, the Savior, the Lord almighty, the sovereign King has made us his residence. A new identity and a wildly new potential are ours in Christ. Now go out and live as if you really believe it.
For further study and encouragement: Galatians 2:15–21
Tripp, Paul David. New Morning Mercies. Crossway.