I’ve written about a number of the tricky texts and topics in the book of 1 Corinthians – verses that refer to baptisms for the dead (15:29), women being silent in the church (14:34-35), and Christians judging angels (6:3) as well as the discussions about head coverings (11:2-16) and the gifts of prophecy and tongues – but I now want to look at what is probably my favorite verse in the whole book: 1 Corinthians 15:10. It is one that can be easy to overlook in light of the numerous puzzling passages in the book and also presents something of a paradox. Here is what it says: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (CSB).
Since a verse should always be examined in its context, I first want to look at where and why Paul makes this comment before digging into its content to see its powerful and somewhat paradoxical teachings about the relationship of grace and works that should speak to us today.
The Verse’s Context
This statement is actually an aside in the midst of Paul’s discussion in 1 Corinthians 15 about the nature of the gospel and the hope of the resurrection. Paul starts this chapter by reminding the Corinthians of the content of the gospel message that he preached, noting Jesus’s death for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, his burial, and his resurrection appearances (15:1-4). In 15:5-7, Paul then lists a number of people to whom the resurrected Christ appeared – Cephas (Peter), the 12 (disciples), 500 others at the same time, James (the brother of Jesus), and “all the apostles” – before mentioning Jesus’s appearance to Paul himself, which prompts Paul to say that he was the “least” of the apostles, not deserving to be called one because of his persecution of the church.
After making the statement in 15:10, Paul then states in 15:11 that the gospel that he preaches is the same gospel that the others preached. He then goes on to correct some misunderstandings concerning the reality of the resurrection that seem to have been present in the Corinthian church in the rest of the chapter. While 15:10 is not necessary to the overall point being made, we will see that it is not a complete tangent as it stands as a testimony, that the transforming power of the gospel and Jesus’s resurrection is not just at work when we die but also while we live.
The Verse’s Content
The opening word of “but” indicates that these words have a connection to the previous statement and that the nature of this relationship is one of contrast. The contrast is that Paul is not worthy to be an apostle – but yet he is one. The reason for that reality is the grace of God, as Paul says “by the grace of God I am what I am.” The cartoon character Popeye also said “I am what I am” as a way of affirming that he was sufficient for the task he faced and then would gain his strength through eating some spinach. Paul, however, uses these words in the midst of saying that he does not have sufficiency in who he is and that the power of God’s grace that makes him something totally different than who he naturally is; no amount of spinach eating (or anything else he could do!) would quality Paul for such a task, only the grace of God.
In addition to pointing out the power of grace, Paul also notes what might be called the “efficacy” of grace – the ability to produce the intended result – when he says that “God’s grace to me was not in vain.” While many of our efforts in life seem to be in vain, that is not true of God’s grace; not only does God have the power to transform, but when He works with such power then that transformation happens, as it has for Paul.
Paul could have stopped his statement there, and we would still have plenty to chew on. But he goes on to say “On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” The phrase “on the contrary” indicates yet another contrast. In fact, it is actually one with a little more force than the “but” that opens the sentence. This contrast points to the paradox found here as we see grace and hard work not as opposing each other but linked to each other.
While it is God’s grace that is not in vain and thus at work in Paul’s life, that reality does not mean that Paul is a passive recipient of this grace. Rather, God’s grace in his life is what causes him to work harder than all the other apostles. The words that follow Paul’s statement about his hard work show that such work was not to prove himself or pay back God’s grace but rather stands as evidence of God’s grace in his life, as it was God’s grace in him that caused him to work so hard. We often think that grace and works are in contrast to each other, but Paul notes that the reception of grace leads to hard work.
That then leads to yet another contrast here, as Paul follows that up with “but.” God’s grace in his life did not mean that he didn’t work hard, but even that hard work he performed is a result of the grace of God as he says that it was God’s grace that was at work in him.
Paul’s description of his ministry and his experience of grace here foreshadows what he would later write to the Philippians. In Philippians 2:12-13 he both instructs them to do something while also informing them about God’s work in that very activity: “Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose” (CSB). God calls us to work and also promises to work in us; we are saved by God’s grace and power and then that grace and power leads to us working hard.
The Verse’s Concern
While this verse is an autobiographical statement of Paul about the role of the grace of God in the origin and outworking of his apostolic ministry, it teaches us about the nature of the grace of God that we also experience. God’s grace is unwarranted and undeserved and results in real change and zealous activity.
We might not be exactly what Paul was in terms of a persecutor of the church or an apostle, but the message he preached and the message we believe means we can say the same thing – that we are who we are because of His grace that displays itself in our lives. Let us be as thankful and as dependent upon the grace of God.
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