Question description

Grace: a gift of God's favor to man. It is an undeserved favor, made available to us freely by God.
Effort: the exertion of human energy to obtain or achieve something.

Main Question: Is excellence a product of God's grace or human effort?

I studied various verses on this subject, and 1 Corinthians 4:7 and Proverbs 31:10-18 provided much insight. 1 Corinthians 4:7 teaches that we differ due to the gifts from God, and all we have comes from Him, preventing us from boasting about our achievements. Proverbs 31:10-18, however, highlights the qualities and efforts of a virtuous woman, suggesting her rarity and high value. This raises the question: Is her excellence due to God's grace or her efforts?

Additionally, should we attribute excellence to "God's gift" or "hard work," and can we achieve it solely through our efforts, or is divine grace essential?

Answer description

I believe your definition of grace is excellent. However, your description of "effort", the Bible would describe as "works". But "effort" does play a key role in our Christian walk. From a biblical viewpoint grace and effort are allies and play a very important role in our spiritual growth. Works, on the other hand, is the means of earning something and therefore is the opposite of grace. Trying to address all three of these topics here would take much more than the 500 words I am allowed to write. So I am choosing to discuss how grace & effort work together to make us grow more Christ-like.

We need both effort and grace to follow Jesus. Both ingredients are vital for spiritual formation. Growth doesn't happen unless we embrace both. In (Philippians 2:12-13) Paul tells us (v13) to work out our salvation. But in verse 12 he called them "beloved" indicating that they are already saved. So their effort does not earn them anything more except to be available for God's purpose. He is not asking them to do great things for God. Their "effort" just makes their salvation more real. In (II Peter 1:3-5) we learn that God has granted us "all things" that pertain to life and godliness. But, in verse 5, Paul urges us to make every effort to supplement our faith with virtue, knowledge, etc. However, we earn nothing from these "efforts". We are no longer holy for doing them. We have simply allowed God's grace to advance us in the spiritual life. Let us picture ourselves as having a sailboat. Our job is to set the sails and make the boat ready for sailing (effort). But we can go nowhere until God supplies the wind. That is His grace. So our effort and His grace must go together for progress to be made. (II Corinthians 4:7) tells us that ALL power belongs to God. But He asks us to make every effort so He can, with His grace, grow us, share with us, and include us in His victories.

Our responsibility in this process is to seek Him and learn what guidance and direction he is supplying for us. Once we see where God is leading, we need to make every effort to prepare ourselves to follow so that His grace can lead us to new levels of spiritual growth. We do nothing to earn these blessings, but we do play a part in bringing them about by following God's lead. Often we don't understand what He is asking of us or why, but we can trust that His ways are designed for our very best. So when doors open to you, your effort in going through those doors will open the way for God's grace to be activated in your life. And in this, we have a part to play in God's world.

Scripture references

Supporting resources

• Be A Worshipper in Your Workplace

• Salt and Light

Comments