9781644135945

The Time After Pentecost
Wednesday
“God worketh all in all” (Epistle). God’s grace is the foundation of Christian humility. “By the
grace of God, I am what I am; and His grace in me hath not been void, but I have labored more
abundantly than all they; yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (1 Cor 15:10). What is the
Apostle by himself? He calls himself “one born out of due time,” unworthy of the vocation of an
apostle of Christ. “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the Church of God” (1 Cor 15:9). God gives His grace to the humble of
heart: to the publican, who repentantly strikes his breast, to those men who, like St. Paul, think
little of themselves. God works great wonders in a humble heart.
It is “God who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish, according to His good will” (Phil
2:13). For sin we are sufficient in ourselves, for our whole nature was inclined to evil once it had
been weakened through Original Sin. Our reason lacks clear vision in many important questions if
light from above is not given to it through the channels of grace. Our will is paralyzed, weakened,
and inclined to evil. The passions pervert the spirit, dragging it all too often down to their own
level; concupiscence has an uncanny power over the imagination, the thoughts, the instincts, and
the inclinations of man. So man is self-sufficient for sinning, but not for avoiding and conquering
sin. He is equally unable to perform works of supernatural value, works that please God. We are
not “sufficient to think any thing of ourselves as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God” (2
Cor 3:5). We are unable to work anything at all supernaturally good, for it is “God who worketh all
in all.” If He does not awaken and stir our will, we never shall be able to perform even the slightest
good work. His spirit must move and direct our will; the first impulse, the very beginning of every
good work and action, is not from ourselves, but is the result of God’s grace and mercy towards
us. The right will must be given to us by God. “What hast thou that thou hast not received? And
if thou hast received, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?” (1 Cor 4:7.) It is God
who worketh all in all; we are entirely impotent and helpless by ourselves.
It is “God who worketh all in all.” He works at the beginning, during the performance,
and at the completion of the work. Every act of ours receives its existence, measure, direction,
and duration from God. Where He is not present, there are no good works. Our actions are
determined by God in two ways: God ordains them and inspires us to perform them; God’s
action gives our actions duration and value. Our activity can neither precede God’s activity nor
continue without it, being in every respect dependent upon Him. If we perform good works,
God has given us not only the will to do this particular good work, but also the power to accomplish
it. This grace has in no way been merited by us. How, therefore, can we ever boast of
the good we have done? Can we justly ascribe it to our own powers? How can we extol our own
work as if we had done anything good by our own power? “God worketh all in all.” “No flesh
should glory in His sight” (1 Cor 1:29). If the Lord must give us the will as well as the power
to do good, if “it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth
mercy” (Rom 9:16), how can we in any way rely on our own will and strength? With the Apostle
we must confess humbly and gratefully: “By the grace of God, I am what I am” (1 Cor 15:10).
“Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the
city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it. It is vain for you to rise before light” (Ps 126:1 f.). It is
God’s work that matters. If He is not the co-worker, the work of man is in vain; without God it is
521