Enriched In Christ

Every so often the devil comes sneaking around, usually when you are most vulnerable, whispering his accusations: "Shame on you. How dare you call yourself a Christian." His goal is to make you second-guess your God and your calling—the God, who in His mercy, "Saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit." (Titus 3: 5) In those crucial moments, the life-giving words of God's grace must intercept the devil's death-dealing words, or we are lost.

Corinth was a sinking city. The quicksand of sin and shame had pulled this place and people all the way down. Two thirds of the 600,000 residents were slaves. Most converts to the Way of Jesus were from the bottom of the social ladder. Jesus was their only status. A cozy, social-club Christianity would never do in this urgent setting. The apostle Paul was the Holy Spirit's man, calling these people out for the purpose of living out their calling.

In the ancient world, the very name Corinthian was shorthand for vice and immorality. In fact, Paul once said he could not address the believers in Corinth as spiritually mature, but as "mere infants in Christ." In such an unreceptive place, Paul needed to establish some credentials, and his claim to credibility is found in verse one. He describes himself as called by God to be an apostle. He is sent with authority to act on behalf of the sender, the Lord Jesus.

God's message, sent through Paul, is far from timid. He never tiptoes around the truth. Confident in his apostolic calling, Paul is wholeheartedly invested in the Gospel's power to save; he proclaims it with a demonstration of the Spirit's power. The unstable and divided church at Corinth heard Paul reveal God's clear will for them—that all people be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. God desires the same enriching, the same saving, he same wholeness for you and me.

But day and night Satan drags up our shortcomings, battering us with moral failures, shackling us with images of inferiority and feelings of self-hatred. He wants you to reject what God has said about you. He wants you to say, "God doesn't really delight in me. How could He?" Satan desperately wants you to reject the Biblical truth that God has declared you holy in Christ.

Now, it must be said there are times when we feel guilt that is appropriate. Appropriate guilt is a recognition of sin that leads to repentance. Having been confronted by God's Law, the sinner regrets and turns away from wickedness, and the Gospel light of forgiveness shines on his or her heart. Inappropriate guilt, on the other hand, is the temptation to believe that God isn't powerful enough or kind enough to forgive my sin. Inappropriate guilt is a temptation to believe that you are so bad that God could never use a person like you to do kingdom work. But that simply isn't true. Every satanic temptation is a lie. God's truth is that He calls you holy; He calls you a saint; He calls you a son or daughter. He wants to enrich you in every way with His gifts.

That word "enrich" in verse five has a lot to say to you and me. To enrich means to add something that was not already present. Foods and drinks are often advertised as enriched with vitamin C or other nutrients. From our mother's womb, we are deficient, lacking ingredients for salvation. We need to be enriched in Christ. We need all the Jesus we can get. In the first nine verses of 1 Corinthians, Christ is named no less than nine times. Sends a message, doesn't it? The antidote to guilt is Jesus, who lifts your weight of guilt onto His crucified shoulders. When the devil comes around with his whispers and lies, we can point to Jesus, confronting our enemy with the fact that Jesus has paid the full price for our guilt and shelters us with His resurrected life and Spirit.

Clearly, we need all the Jesus we can get, and the good news is you are in exactly the right place to receive Him. Every good thing He earned by dying and rising was applied to you when you were baptized. He wrote His name on you in the water and you are now His. He speaks to you continually through His Word that we sing and speak together in worship. The Lord's Supper enriches you, because the blood that Jesus shed on Calvary has power that flows into the communion cup. As forgiveness is served, we are enriched in Jesus; enriched in our identity as someone who belongs to Him; and enriched in our sense of calling.

Because here's the deal; you and I are not the only ones who need all the Jesus we can get. There are hurting people; desperate, devastated people out there who are not getting any Jesus at all. Do we care? Do we care enough to find ways to connect with them? Do we care enough to invite them to meet Jesus and the places where His gifts are given away? You and I have been called out to live out our calling. Let us resolve today in the power of the Holy Spirit to enrich the lives of those around us with Jesus. Let's enrich the lives of those around us with His compassion and service. And let's begin today.