Are You Strong in the Grace of Christ?

Timothy was one of Paul’s choice disciples.    The apostle said of him, “For I have no man likeminded who will naturally care for your state.  For all seek their own not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.”      He had a genuine pastoral care for the believers because his motivation was to pursue Christ’s interests, not his own.

 

But Timothy did not have a strong presence.  The apostle found it  necessary to warn the Corinthian church to “see that he may be with you without fear…”  The Corinthians were really into showing their power and Timothy was not a powerful guy.

 

And so the old apostle instructs young Timothy,  to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1).  Preachers of the gospel at that time and even now have a lot of hostility to face, both outside the church and inside the church.  Timothy needed strength, and that strength was to be found in the grace of Christ alone.

 

There are many promises throughout the Scriptures about receiving strength from God.  But this strength does NOT come from human enhancement; it comes from divine grace.  Author Ray Ortlund gave good advice in telling preachers, “Reject every strength that does not come from grace.”  And if you study the lives of preachers whose strength was in their natural abilities, you’ll know why. Many of them became scandals to the church.

 

Strength in a man brings admiration of the man; but the power of God in a man brings awe of God.