Boasting in Christ
“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12:9 NASBS
Blessed be the God of heaven, who sent His Son to die for us, so that we might behold the beauty of the cross and recognize the depravity of our own hearts.
When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, his desire was for every believer to cast aside the pride that stirs within each of us. This very pride attempts to rob Christ of the glory due to Him alone, seeking instead to elevate our earthly desires and pleasures as the objects of our affection. By God’s grace, we must become disciplined in our daily lives, bringing ourselves into submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Paul, using his own life as an example, had more reason than anyone to boast concerning his nationality. In his letter to the Philippians he wrote, “Circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the Law, blameless.”
But then he said, “Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.”
The Scriptures also reveal that Paul encountered Jesus Christ in His resurrected state and heard Him call out in his Hebrew name, saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” To further illustrate his reasons for boasting in the flesh, Paul recounted a remarkable experience, saying, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, God knows—was caught up to the third heaven. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body, I do not know, God knows—was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.”
Despite these miraculous encounters, Paul chose to boast only in the cross of Jesus Christ. God allowed a thorn in his flesh to humble him, reminding him that he was mere dust and that, apart from God’s redemptive plan through Christ, he would be subject to God’s wrath. Though his flesh longed for self-exaltation, Paul fought fiercely against those desires, striving instead to conform to the image of his Savior, Jesus Christ. He said concerning this, “I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”
Saints of God, where is our boasting? For it is, “Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”
You see, Jesus lived the life we could never live and died the death we deserve. He fulfilled all the righteous demands of God’s law, never once sinning in thought or deed. So then, let us lay aside our achievements, abandon the false security of our own reasoning, and reject anything that leads to self-glory.
Remember, Scripture warns us, “Each one’s work will become clear, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.”
Let the words of Jeremiah resonate in our hearts: “Let not the wise boast in their wisdom, nor the mighty in their strength, nor the rich in their riches, but let the one who boasts boast in this: that they understand and know the Lord.”