Proving our Love and God’s Grace

The Goal: Proving Our Love and God’s Grace

The goal of these 15 verses from 2 Corinthians 8 is proving our love and proving God's grace. In other words, it's showing the reality of Christians being loving individuals and God being a gracious being. That's the point of this passage: how to prove your love and God's grace all at the same time.

Paul gives examples from the Macedonians and encouragement to the Corinthians so both groups of Christians would prove their love. They would show their love. Love would be more than just a decision, attitude, or emotions—love would be actions that people demonstrate. Plus, it would show the reality of the grace of God.

We talk often about God being gracious, but how do we show the world around us that God is gracious? This passage answers that. We're going to show the grace of God and our love for his people, especially. Christians demonstrate the reality of their love and God's grace by first taking care of each other—fellow believers. If Christianity is real yet Christians don't take care of each other, how can we say Christianity is real? But if we demonstrate that Christianity is a community of believers who take care of each other, it could provoke the world to jealousy. They would want to be part of such a community, showing the reality of God's grace.

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia. For in a severe test of affliction their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. And this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

There's an important consideration: this passage could be overemphasized in its monetary nature. It's about giving money, and people approach it as teaching how Christians should give to other Christians—or to the church. While it emphasizes Christians supplying financial needs within the faith, there's something more important than simply giving money. In fact, money is not even the big issue here.

How can we prove we're loving and that God is gracious? This is another passage about how the gospel motivates and defines Christian living. Many Christians don't know how to live, behave, or care for physical needs like finances without understanding the gospel. The gospel is the model for how we live.

1. The Environment of Love and God’s Grace

The environment of love and God's grace is probably not what you think. You might picture love and grace in areas of happiness, joy, with nothing going wrong—no pain. Or as the ultimate end: being with God forever, no more crying, tears, pain, or suffering. But the environment now where love and God's grace exist seems in contradiction.

Paul explains with the Macedonian Christians. They demonstrated God's grace and love through financial giving to saints in need. But how? How do Christians go from selfish before Christ to selfless after, looking at others' material needs and saying, "I'm going to provide"?

Notice the contradiction in verses 1-2: the grace of God was given to the churches of Macedonia in a severe test of affliction. Their abundance of joy and extreme poverty overflowed in wealth of generosity. This is peculiar—the givers are in extreme poverty. Yet in affliction, they had abundant joy. Christians can get joy in the midst of suffering—from their suffering—and in extreme poverty, be wealthy and generous.

Their circumstances didn't change; the way they experienced them did, because of God's grace. In response to affliction and in spite of poverty, they were joyful and generous.

They gave according to their means, and beyond—of their own accord, begging earnestly for the favor (grace) of taking part in the relief (ministry) of the saints. Their concern was more than physical needs: grace, fellowship, and ministry. They begged incessantly for the grace and fellowship in ministering to saints—gospel-centered ministry.

That's why it's more than money: they were obsessed with ministering to saints.

Second proof, verse 5: They gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. When the passage specifies the direct object of giving, it's not money—it's themselves. They devoted themselves to the Lord: "Do with me as you please." This manifested in devotion to God's people, including meeting financial needs.

Titus is urged to complete this act of grace: giving oneself to the Lord and his people to meet needs. This is gospel-motivated: Jesus gave himself to the Father to redeem his people and gave himself to us for our life. He died so we can live. We give ourselves so each other can live—concerned for physical and spiritual needs.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

The model is Jesus: rich in heaven, ruler over creation, yet for our sake became poor—lived as wretched humans without sin—so by his poverty we become spiritually rich with his righteousness. Because of this gospel model, we can become poor so others become rich—investing our lives in brothers and sisters for spiritual and physical needs.

2. Excelling in Love and God’s Grace

But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

Excel in this act of grace: giving ourselves for others' good and God's glory. The problem: we might not excel in faith, speech, knowledge, earnestness, or love. Excel means going above and beyond—like the kid who aces the spelling bee.

Excel in devotion to God. If we played the movie of your life, would it show excelling devotion—even when no one watches? If Christianity is an afterthought, just a Sunday or Friday thing, we don't excel.

Excel in desire for grace, fellowship, and ministry to God's people—meeting their needs. Too often we're self-centered, focused on our needs, begging to be ministered to instead of ministering like Macedonians.

3. The Evidence of Love and God’s Grace

So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness—your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

The evidence is exchange: I minister from my abundance so they can minister from theirs. If everyone is others-oriented, everyone gets cared for. Church functions by people concerned for others, not self-oriented.

It's a step of faith: if I minister to others, who's for me? But Macedonians in affliction and poverty were joyful, others-oriented. They found joy from God's grace despite unmet needs.

Avoid extremes: health-wealth gospel (give to get rich) or poverty theology (no money = spiritual). The genuinely devoted to the Lord have incessant need to minister—and find abundant joy, even giving everything.

Imagine a youth group where everyone hunts for someone to minister to—at expense of self. Morale skyrockets; everyone joyful. Rely on God's grace; love one another. Memorize verse 9: Jesus became poor so we become rich. See others as opportunities to do the same. Spend yourself for brothers and sisters' spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being—as Jesus did for you.