By the Grace of God I am What I Am

Sam Stringer

Aug 30, 2024

For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I

persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace

toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the

grace of God which was with me.

1 Corinthians 15:9-10

The apostle Paul made a profound statement in the midst of 1 Corinthians 15 that I hope will

give you hope today for yourself. He basically starts off v. 9 by saying, “I’m not worthy to be

called an apostle; I’m not worthy to serve God because of what I did in my past.” Paul could

have lived there, as many of us do. Dwelling upon past failures, swimming in guilt, covered in

shame, wishing for different but constantly feeling like a person chased by some monster lurking

in the shadows. Then there’s looking at how we’re doing, constantly failing to hold certain

standards, missing the mark in putting Christ first and spending the time we should in spiritual

disciplines. It’s so easy to feel like you’ve done nothing but frustrate God in His generosity, isn’t

it? God knew who He was forgiving when He forgave you, be that past you, present you, or

future you.

Notice, though, that Paul doesn’t end with verse 9. He moves on to say, “but,” meaning rather, a

contrast. “By the grace of God”: this is the means by which what should be is not. By this grace

“I am what I am.” John Newton, the Anglican minister who was once a slave trader and who

wrote many hymns such as “Amazing Grace,” once said, “I am not what I ought to be, I am not

what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used

to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.” Preach hope to yourself today. I’m not what I

ought to be nor what I’m meant to be, not what I hope to be in another world, but I’m not what I

used to be and where I am today is because of the grace of God. Now, these statements are

true if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, having placed your faith in Him and Him alone. Rather

than beat yourself up or compare yourself to others, just take a moment to thank God for

bringing you where He’s brought you. No, you’re not everything you should be, nor am I, but if

we are being transformed, we should be thankful to have come as far as we have.

“God’s grace towards me was not in vain.” It wasn’t empty, a waste. Don’t waste the unmerited

favor of God shown to you. Certainly don’t waste it by lingering in self-hate, self-doubt, guilt and

shame, but rather, accept it and do things out of thankfulness and honor to Him. Labor to give

Him glory in big ways and little ways. Always remember, though, like Paul says, that it’s not

because of ourselves but “the grace of God which was with me.” God’s grace doesn’t just

forgive; it also walks us through all of this life and all of this Christianity.

Now, I’m going to recite a phrase I heard long ago: give yourself grace. Be gracious to yourself,

because God has been gracious to you and it is a very arrogant thing to be hard on a person

(you) that God has been kind to, as though His determinations are secondary and your opinions

about yourself are primary. Be gracious to yourself. This isn’t a permission to be indifferent or

careless; this is a reminder to those who feel haunted by their conscience that sometimes some

of us are meaner to ourselves than anyone else in our lives. Please don’t do that. Preach the

Gospel to the bully in the mirror.

Count your blessings. Think in terms of progress instead of perfection. God calls us to

perfection but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen here. We are to pursue holiness, but we will by no means in sin-cursed bodies in a sin-cursed world reach holiness in the fullest sense.

Nevertheless, you can rest in knowing that in the sight of God because of Jesus, while you are

not functionally holy, you are positionally holy. You’re never going to be more righteous in the

sight of God at any point between now and eternity than you already are in His sight as it relates

to being justified. Now, if you don’t know Jesus as your Savior yet, that’s what you do to get

righteous: you trust in Him fully, taking God at His word and resting in His promise of

forgiveness and eternal life by the wrath-satisfying work of Christ on the cross.

You are not all you should be, but you dare not put down how far God has brought you. I leave

you with this poem today.

“Because of Jesus”

By Sam Stringer

So far to go

And yet so far I’ve come

Sometimes I get down

When I forget where I’m from

You see, I’m not all

I wish that I could be

But because of Jesus

This person I’ve grown to be

I’m so far from being perfect

So far from having all the right stuff

But because of Jesus

I am enough

Yes I have failed

Sinned so many a time

But because of Jesus

I’ve been washed of this grime

As far as I’ve come

I’ve still got more to go

But because of Jesus

My account’s been settled

And this I know

As always, be blessed.

Sam Stringer

By the Grace of God I am What I Am

For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I

persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace

toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the

grace of God which was with me.

1 Corinthians 15:9-10

The apostle Paul made a profound statement in the midst of 1 Corinthians 15 that I hope will

give you hope today for yourself. He basically starts off v. 9 by saying, “I’m not worthy to be

called an apostle; I’m not worthy to serve God because of what I did in my past.” Paul could

have lived there, as many of us do. Dwelling upon past failures, swimming in guilt, covered in

shame, wishing for different but constantly feeling like a person chased by some monster lurking

in the shadows. Then there’s looking at how we’re doing, constantly failing to hold certain

standards, missing the mark in putting Christ first and spending the time we should in spiritual

disciplines. It’s so easy to feel like you’ve done nothing but frustrate God in His generosity, isn’t

it? God knew who He was forgiving when He forgave you, be that past you, present you, or

future you.

Notice, though, that Paul doesn’t end with verse 9. He moves on to say, “but,” meaning rather, a

contrast. “By the grace of God”: this is the means by which what should be is not. By this grace

“I am what I am.” John Newton, the Anglican minister who was once a slave trader and who

wrote many hymns such as “Amazing Grace,” once said, “I am not what I ought to be, I am not

what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used

to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.” Preach hope to yourself today. I’m not what I

ought to be nor what I’m meant to be, not what I hope to be in another world, but I’m not what I

used to be and where I am today is because of the grace of God. Now, these statements are

true if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, having placed your faith in Him and Him alone. Rather

than beat yourself up or compare yourself to others, just take a moment to thank God for

bringing you where He’s brought you. No, you’re not everything you should be, nor am I, but if

we are being transformed, we should be thankful to have come as far as we have.

“God’s grace towards me was not in vain.” It wasn’t empty, a waste. Don’t waste the unmerited

favor of God shown to you. Certainly don’t waste it by lingering in self-hate, self-doubt, guilt and

shame, but rather, accept it and do things out of thankfulness and honor to Him. Labor to give

Him glory in big ways and little ways. Always remember, though, like Paul says, that it’s not

because of ourselves but “the grace of God which was with me.” God’s grace doesn’t just

forgive; it also walks us through all of this life and all of this Christianity.

Now, I’m going to recite a phrase I heard long ago: give yourself grace. Be gracious to yourself,

because God has been gracious to you and it is a very arrogant thing to be hard on a person

(you) that God has been kind to, as though His determinations are secondary and your opinions

about yourself are primary. Be gracious to yourself. This isn’t a permission to be indifferent or

careless; this is a reminder to those who feel haunted by their conscience that sometimes some

of us are meaner to ourselves than anyone else in our lives. Please don’t do that. Preach the

Gospel to the bully in the mirror.

Count your blessings. Think in terms of progress instead of perfection. God calls us to

perfection but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen here. We are to pursue holiness, but we will by no means in sin-cursed bodies in a sin-cursed world reach holiness in the fullest sense.

Nevertheless, you can rest in knowing that in the sight of God because of Jesus, while you are

not functionally holy, you are positionally holy. You’re never going to be more righteous in the

sight of God at any point between now and eternity than you already are in His sight as it relates

to being justified. Now, if you don’t know Jesus as your Savior yet, that’s what you do to get

righteous: you trust in Him fully, taking God at His word and resting in His promise of

forgiveness and eternal life by the wrath-satisfying work of Christ on the cross.

You are not all you should be, but you dare not put down how far God has brought you. I leave

you with this poem today.

“Because of Jesus”

By Sam Stringer

So far to go

And yet so far I’ve come

Sometimes I get down

When I forget where I’m from

You see, I’m not all

I wish that I could be

But because of Jesus

This person I’ve grown to be

I’m so far from being perfect

So far from having all the right stuff

But because of Jesus

I am enough

Yes I have failed

Sinned so many a time

But because of Jesus

I’ve been washed of this grime

As far as I’ve come

I’ve still got more to go

But because of Jesus

My account’s been settled

And this I know

As always, be blessed.

Sam Stringer

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by

permission. All rights reserved.