“by the Grace of God, I am what I am.”
1 Corinthians 15:10
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What a triumphant, glorious sentence. A celebration, really. And I’m tempted to say, “especially for Paul.” For as he said in verse 9, he considered himself the least of the apostles, and not even worthy to be called an apostle because of his persecution of the church.
But God saved him. He stopped Paul in his tracks ~ literally* ~ and enlightened him ~ literally** ~ in the truth. He set him on the straight and narrow ~ literally***. And Paul was a new man. He became the man we know: preacher, missionary, evangelist, church-planter, and prolific, eloquent epistle-writer.
{*Acts 9:4… **Acts 9:3… ***Acts 9:11}
How? Why? The Grace of God. Wonderful, amazing Grace. Marvelous, infinite, matchless Grace. Generous, compassionate, life-changing Grace.
It’s why ~ and how ~ you are who you are, and not who you used to be.