Piper on "Gift and Grit"

Faith is a gift of God. Romans: 12:3 says, “Think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned to him.” God measures to each believer a measure of faith. Ephesians 2:8 says, “By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is a gift from God.”

His command is to “trust in him at ALL times (Psalm 62:8) and to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2Peter 3:18)

“God commands what he wills and grants in measure what he commands, but we should always pursue what he commands, He says, ‘work out your salvation… for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure’ (Philippians 2:13-13). God does not say, ‘Since I work, you shouldn’t.’ He says, ‘Because I do, you can’ God’s gift does not replace our effort; it enables and carries it. We say with Paul, ‘[God’s] grace towards me was not in vain, On the contrary I worked….’ (1 Corinthians 15:10). The gift of grace produced the grit of hard work. It is not the other ways around. He goes on, ‘I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me.’ Even Paul’s working is a gift of grace. Yes, it feels like our effort. It is an effort! But that is not all it is. That is not what it is at root. If it is virtuous, it is God’s ‘working in us to will and to do his good pleasure.’”

2 Thessalonians 1:11- "To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by is power.”

Hebrews 13:21“He equips you with everything good that we may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever Amen.”

“There is a place for grit in the Christian life (‘I worked hard’), but it is preceded by and enabled by gift (‘it was the grace of God’) Therefore all grit is living by faith in future grace.”

Daily Bible Verse:

Philippians 2:3-4-“Do nothing from rivalry of conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”