In his first epistle to the church at Corinth written from Ephesus, the Apostle Paul began by expressing his thanksgiving to God for the grace given them through Christ. Specifically, he wrote “I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 1:4). It is worth noting that the church in Corinth was characterized by many faults. There were divisions among them that made peace difficult; there were those guilty of defrauding one another and suing one another in court; they tolerated sexual sin among the membership; they misused the Lord’s supper; and, they abused the gifts that the Spirit had given them to name a few. Even so, Paul felt it completely appropriate to thank God for the work of grace in their lives.
Being able to recognize and give thanks for the work of God in the lives of others was a frequent practice of Paul when writing to the churches in the New Testament. Look at a few of his remarks to the churches to see this pattern:
- “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying always for you…” (Colossians 1:4)
- “…after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you…” (Ephesians 1:15)
- “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all…” (Romans 1:8)
- “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you all…” (Philippians 1:3)
- “We give thanks always to God for you all…” (I Thessalonians 1:2)
Paul was quick to recognize the good in other believers as an evidence of the working of God’s grace in their lives. Consequently, he offered thanksgiving to God for that work of grace. This kind of thanksgiving is not natural to us. It takes the grace of God in our lives to see the grace of God in others’ lives. Far too often we quickly gravitate to the wrong that we see in others. This is the easy path of human nature. We delight in the evil and find an ungodly pleasure in seeing others struggle with sin.
Note that in all the verses above Paul’s thanksgiving was in the context of prayer to God. This is not inconsequential. When the Lord pulls back the veil as it were and allows us to see plainly the weakness of a brother or sister, we have a tendency to want to tell others. But, rather than talking to others, the Father has allowed us to see their sin that we might tell Him in prayer and seek His grace in their lives to overcome it. Telling our neighbor about a brother’s fault does nothing to help him. Telling God about our brother’s fault applies overcoming grace to the problem.
Paul’s example is noteworthy to us. The good we see in others is due to God’s grace and deserves our thanks. The wrong that we see in others requires God’s grace and deserves our prayers.
From the Chaplain 