LISTEN
New American Standard Bible:
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
New Living Translation:
But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me — and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.
New King James Version:
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.
New International Version:
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them — yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
Amplified Bible:
But by the [remarkable] grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not without effect. In fact, I worked harder than all of the apostles, though it was not I, but the grace of God [His unmerited favor and blessing which was] with me.
Context:
In I Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul discusses how his insignificant self was made significant by the resurrection power and grace of Jesus.
Observations:
Whatever we are now, after Christ’s transforming power takes hold of us, we are because of his grace. Paul says God pours special favor out on him, and that is true for all of us who believe.
What’s more, the grace that God gave has power and works to produce results in our lives. In Paul’s case, he worked harder than all of the other apostles.
But he carefully returns to the source once again at the end of the verse, which is God, not Paul.
Application:
Once we become transformed, we are different people. As different people, we produce better fruit, the likes of which we did not produce before believing.
As we produce fruit and go along our Christian walk, we must remember that all we do is by the grace of God alone, not our own power.
