11. A Sufficient Life
11
A Sufficient Life
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, have an abundance for every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8
The two words always and never must be handled with care, especially by writers, preachers, spouses, and parents. If we use these two words carelessly, we may do damage and hurt the people we are trying to help. The parent who says to a child, “You always make a mess of your room” may be telling a lie, because there were times when Junior straightened out his room and should have been commended for it. The husband or wife who says, “You never pay attention when I talk” is inviting even less attention.
But God has every right to use always and never, because He knows everything and He keeps exceedingly accurate records. Fortunately for believers, He says of us that “their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Heb. 8:12). Whenever in God’s Word He says always or never, we had better pay close attention; for the Lord wants us to have sufficiency for everything relating to our Christian life and service—and we do! As our text says, “always having all sufficiency in all things” applies to every believer.
Let’s consider some of the blessings we have that make us all sufficient.
We Can Always Be Triumphant in Christ (2 Cor. 2:14–17)
“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ” (2 Cor. 2:14). In verses 14–17 Paul gives a description of a Roman “triumph,” the ancients’ version of our modern ticker-tape parade. If a Roman commander-in-chief had won a complete victory over an enemy on foreign soil, slain at least five thousand enemy soldiers, gained new territory for Rome, and brought home enemy officers as prisoners, he was entitled to the honor of a Roman triumph. The commander-in-chief rode in a special chariot and was cheered along with his officers, but the enemy captives were treated like slaves. The Roman priests in the parade burned incense in honor of their gods, and when the Roman soldiers smelled that fragrance, it spoke to them of life. But when the captive officers smelled the incense, it spoke to them of death, because they were going to the coliseum to face the hungry lions. Read the passage again with these facts in mind.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ left heaven for foreign soil (planet Earth) and while here won a total victory over Satan, sin, and death. Every Christian is marching with Him and sharing in His victory. As I mentioned earlier, we not only fight for victory, but we fight from victory, the great victory Jesus won in His death, resurrection, and ascension. We are identified with Him and He with us!
When you read the first two chapters of Paul’s letter, you discover that he had gone through difficult experiences in his ministry and was at the point of despairing of life. The sad condition of the church at Corinth was enough to break his heart. Because of his love for them, he had sent them a stern letter of rebuke that he expected them to obey, and this made him feel depressed. The tide of God’s blessing seemed at low ebb, but then God began to work matters out. Paul claimed his triumph in Christ and the Lord saw him through. The Lord still does that for His people when situations seem unbearable and our faith is being tested. We are soldiers of Christ (2 Tim. 2:3–4) and our Commander cannot fail.
We Can Always Be “Alive” in Christ (2 Cor. 4:7–18)
Paul now changes the metaphor from soldiers on parade to vessels in God’s household. Our bodies, made of clay, are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and contain the treasure of the very life of God. Paul declares a number of wonderful paradoxes in verses 7–12: strength out of weakness, stability in spite of intense pressure, perplexity but not desperation, deliverance to death but always the experience of Christ’s abundant life! Because of God’s grace and the Holy Spirit’s ministry, we die with Christ so that we may live with Christ. (We meet Gal. 2:20 again!) No matter what the circumstances, Paul knew that God would use them to bring glory to Christ, and that was really all that mattered. “For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’s sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (v. 11). And what is the remarkable result? “So then death is working in us, but life in you” (v. 12).
After molding the vessel, the potter must put it in the furnace to be hardened, otherwise it is useless. It’s difficult to find a man or woman in the Bible or in church history whose service for Jesus did not involve some kind of suffering, and that pattern still applies today. If we want to know “the power of His resurrection,” we must submit to “the fellowship of His sufferings” (Phil. 3:10). We died with Christ that we might manifest the life of Christ (2 Cor. 4:10). My wife and I were privileged to serve three churches and two parachurch ministries, and in all five situations, we had to experience death to self in order to enjoy life in Christ. No pain, no gain—an old adage, but a true one. Jesus called it taking up our cross and following Him. He also compared it to planting a seed in the ground so it might die and bear fruit (John 12:24–26).
We Can Always Be Confident in Christ (2 Cor. 5:6)
Paul was not simply facing difficult times; he was facing death, which is the theme of 2 Corinthians 5:1–8. Death is the ultimate enemy of life, but the eternal life we now have in Jesus Christ cannot die. The human body is pictured here as a tent, and dying is like taking down a tent and leaving it behind so that we can move on to a permanent dwelling in glory. Death for the Christian is not the end of life, it is the beginning of life. In the midst of his troubles, Paul was groaning—but he was groaning for glory! To be at home in the body is to be absent from Christ, but when we leave this mortal body, we are present with Christ. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (v. 7).
Where do we get this confidence that removes the fear of death and gives us the assurance of heaven? We get it from the Word of God. Let’s begin with the promise that Jesus made. “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2–3). If we die before Jesus returns, our spirit goes to heaven to be with Christ. If we are alive when Jesus comes, we will instantly be changed and caught up to go with Him to glory (John 11:25–26; 1 Thess. 4:13–18).
But there is another basis for confidence, and that is the price that Jesus paid. We belong to Him, for He purchased us when He died for us on the cross. “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him” (1 Thess. 5:9–10). A third reason for confidence is the prayer that Jesus prayed. “Father, I desire that they also whom you gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given me” (John 17:24). Jesus prayed that His people might be with Him in heaven! Could the Father refuse to answer the prayer of His beloved Son? Of course not! From joyful hearts, we can praise God for the confidence we have in Christ!
We Can Always Be Sufficient in Christ (2 Cor. 9:6–9)
“Grace giving” is the theme of 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 as Paul encouraged the believers in Corinth to share in the love offering he was collecting for the needy Jewish believers in the holy land. In 9:6–9 he compares the Corinthian Christians to farmers who are planting seed. He points out that there can be no harvest until first the seed has been sown, and the harvest will be in proportion to how much seed was sown. The seed represents the money we give to the Lord for ministry to others, and the entire transaction must be motivated by grace. But our investment in God’s people and God’s work is backed up by an incredible promise: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8).
Paul begins with “all grace”! There is abundant grace from God, for He is “the God of all grace” (1 Pet. 5:10). The Christian life begins with saving grace (Eph. 2:8–9) and continues with serving grace (1 Cor. 15:9–10), sacrificing grace (2 Cor. 8:1), suffering grace (12:1–9), singing grace (Col. 3:16), speaking grace (4:6), strengthening grace (2 Tim. 2:1–4), and schooling grace (Titus 2:11–12). Grace is a gift that we receive by faith and God’s grace never fails. It is abounding!
Paul continues by assuring us that grace is available “always” no matter what our personal circumstances might be. He experienced the grace of God not only when preaching but also when in prison, during shipwrecks and attacks by mobs, and when funds ran out. I like his phrase “all sufficiency,” which covers everything. If we live by grace, then we must be gracious and share with others! In 2 Corinthians 2:16, Paul asked, “And who is sufficient for these things?” The answer is in 3:5, “our sufficiency is from God.” No matter what task God sends our way, He will enable us to do it successfully because His grace comes with it. Many times I have found myself saying, “Lord, I can’t do this.” Then the Lord says, You’re getting like Moses and Jeremiah! Then I take a deep breath and say, “Sorry, Lord. Please send another shipment of grace.” And He always does!
Paul also had his share of sorrowing, but in the end, it was rejoicing in the Lord that triumphed. When I read 2 Corinthians 6:3–10 and discover the trials that Paul experienced, I am amazed that he survived at all. But the same God who cared for Paul is caring for His children today, and He likes to use the word “always.” In fact, Jesus used it in His final message to His followers: “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).
We Can Always Be Rejoicing in Christ (2 Cor. 6:10)
It’s difficult to understand everything about the Christian life, because God’s works are beyond human comprehension and “we know in part” (1 Cor. 13:9). However, if we could explain joy in the midst of sorrow and singing in the midst of pain, we would try to achieve it by ourselves—and that would ruin everything. We may not be able to rejoice in our circumstances, but we can always rejoice in our Lord and Savior, knowing that His will comes from His loving heart (Ps. 33:11). With the Spirit’s help, we can sing and weep at the same time! There may be pain in the body but there is joy in the heart. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4).
Always? That’s what Paul wrote—always. If we are praying, living in God’s Word, and keeping our eyes and ears open and our heart tender, we will find plenty in life about which we can rejoice, even in the most difficult days. Why not begin with the routine things, the events and people we are prone to take for granted? Satan hates a joyful heart because people who are happy in the Lord don’t easily fall into temptation. Why play with the devil’s substitutes when we can enjoy “the real thing” from the hand of the Lord?
Our text (2 Cor. 9:8) makes it clear that the reason for our sufficiency in Christ is that we may have “an abundance for every good work.” The Lord provides for us so that we may glorify Him as we help to meet the needs of others. Christians are channels, not reservoirs; the best way to conquer covetousness is to praise the Lord and pass the contribution. Until we experience the joy of giving, we will never fully enter into the joy of the Lord.
Whenever I hear unconverted people use the phrase “these poor Christians,” I want to shout, “We Christians are the wealthiest people in the world!” And we are, because of the riches of God’s grace (Eph. 1:7). “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). We are as rich as Jesus is now up in glory, because He shares His riches with us. That’s why the Christian life is a life of sufficiency.