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Our Sufficiency Is From God

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The primary implications and applications of new covenant living for the lives of believers exist at the heart of the Gospel. The heart of the new covenant beats for daily living in the abundant grace of God.

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.
(2 Corinthians 3:5)

Embrace God’s sufficiency. Believe in God’s sufficiency. Stand upon it. Act upon it. Revel in God’s sufficiency with your whole heart and mind. It can be humbling and uncomfortable to realize that one is sufficient of himself. And yet, as there is nothing of lasting value within man that is not directly from Christ Himself, the realization can only serve to liberate the believer from guilt and shame. Man is not sufficient to think of anything godly, anything eternal, anything Christlike, anything life-giving, anything justifying, sanctifying, edifying, transforming, or anything good. Of himself, man can do nothing. And that is humbling. Yet the believer is to embrace this truth in all humility.

But not only does God want to humble the believer, but He humbles him that His child might receive His encouragement. Though the believer cannot supply anything needed to make a life godly, he can ever rely upon the sufficient grace of God. The same God who calls us to godly living is willing to share His resources with us that we might grow in godliness.

Despite the great American heritage of self-sufficiency, man does not have what it takes. Such hubris is the way of the kingdom of man. Man will build the Tower of Babel and fly into the depths of space, but this does not demonstrate sufficiency for matters of any real importance. The sufficiency for real life comes from God. It is good to be humbled by our natural inabilities, to find that man was never able to please God after he fell from grace in the Garden.

The believer, though, who is a new creation in Christ, is designed to be a vessel to carry about the life and presence of the One who is always able to think and act righteously. The believer who recognizes his insufficiency is left in the best possible frame of mind. He is left depending daily upon the sufficiency of God in all things. That believer will be counting upon His resources and drawing upon God’s grace by faith. He will be ever depending, abiding, and looking unto Jesus.

God’s sufficiency is for godly living. We shall really be learning what it means to live by the sufficiency of God. This is just the beginning.

This has been taken from Bob Hoekstra’s course titled God’s Sufficiency for Godly Living, available exclusively at the Blue Letter Bible Insititute. Classes at the Blue Letter Bible Institute are available free of charge.

Comments

  1. My sufficiency is from God and I thank you for reminding me of this. In my quest to hear the voice of God each morning, to bow at the feet of Jesus for direction and comfort for the day, I found my comfort in 2 Cor 3:5. In Christ, Thank you.

  2. “The believer who recognizes his insufficiency is left in the best possible frame of mind. ”

    That sentence is contrary to everything I learned as a child growing into maturity. Now, as a Follower of Christ for 32 years, I am still “unlearning” that I am sufficient in myself. Every day, I must confess my lack of sufficiency.

    The days that I truly recognize my insufficiency and truly trust the Holy Spirit to supply all my needs, those are the days that I can say, “I had a good day today.”

  3. As infants we depend completely on our parents to survive. When we become adults we become independent, or feel that we are. In reality, we have no sufficiency in ourselves. We totally dependent on God for everything, even to the smallest cell within our body. We should say “Thank you God” every time we breath in, and then once again when we breath out.

    • You said that so well! I love that idea to thank God every time we take a breath. Sometimes I get so bummed about life, I sometimes wish the next breath were my last. Even my death is in God’s control and I am not even sufficient to control that. 🙂 Praise God for that! 🙂

  5. I am reminded each day, who is the one that really cares for me and provides my needs. My father is my survival and none other. I don’t even know what holds tomorrow, but thanks to my father he alone does hold tomorrow. We all needs to count our blessing from him and really live for him and not for ourselves. Thank you for posting this, it meant great deal. It help to keep our eyes off on ourselves and keep our eyes on him alone. Hope, faith, LOVE comes from above. That is all I need, rest is in his hands.

    Sunmee
    Thank you all from KH

  6. What a wonderful and timely reminder! God is truly awesome. He works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Our sufficiency is from Him!…this is very humbling, but extremely liberating, even exhilarating!
    To think that the God who created the universe by speaking it into being is working with me, in the midst of my foibles and feebleness to help me to be like Him so that the world can see Him through me is really mind-boggling! God is so good to us. Thank you Jesus, and thank you again for that powerful reminder.

  7. TO learn this early is to find peace quickly.
    It resolves everything. Sit back and enjoy The Lord’s bounty.

  8. Praise God. Thanks for the words of inspiration that reminds me that it is in Him that I breathe, move,and have my being and without Him(God) I can do nothing. He is our all sufficient God. Thank you Jesus.

  9. Day By Day By Grace – Pastor Bob taught many like me that God’s grace is enoough for all our needs. Pastor Bob ran with patience the race that was set before him and has passed on the baton to us – who were his students to finish the race. To God be the GLORY … great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done!

  11. I quoted this scripture many times in life, but I now know it to be so true. In 2011 the visisitudes of life caused me to come to know God in a more powerful way. God’s grace really is sufficient for us. Oh, how I love JESUS!

  12. I often find it curious and frustrating that I spend so much time and effort trying to please the people around me. In doing so, I begin to set myself up for failure because in my best efforts and self-sufficiency, it is impossible to please all the people all the time. But God’s word tells me that without faith it is impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:6). At the heart of the faith that pleases God is complete reliance upon His sufficiency, not my own. Jesus said, “…without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5).” Jesus is all-sufficient, and it is pleasing to God when we trust in His sufficiency.