All Credit Goes to God (from New Morning Mercies)

We wander. God pursues and reconciles. We stumble and fall. God forgives and restores. We grow tired and weary. God empowers us by his grace.

It is a humbling and yet vital thing to acknowledge—you and I simply don’t have much in our relationship with God and our growth in grace for which we can take credit. The fact of the matter is that we give daily proof of our ongoing need for that grace. The reality is that if we followed Jesus for a thousand years, we would need his grace as much for the next day as we did the first day that we believed.

He is the sun that gives us light. He is the refuge where we can hide. He is the water that nourishes us and the bread that feeds us. He is the solid rock on which we stand. He is the Captain who defends us against the enemy. He is wisdom, blessing us with the insight of truth. He is the Lamb that bore the penalty for our sin. He is the High Priest who daily brings our case to the Father. He is the faithful friend who will not forsake us even in our worst moments. He is the Giver who blesses us with spiritual riches that we could never earn. He is the One who makes us aware of our sin and brings conviction to our hearts. He is the Shepherd who seeks us when we have wandered and are lost, and brings us back to the fold of his care. None of these actions is a luxury for us. They are all necessary ingredients of our spiritual lives, yet they are not things that we could ever provide for ourselves. We are like babies, unable to meet our own needs and completely dependent on the love of our Father for life, sustenance, and health.

Thoughts of independent righteousness are a grand delusion. Taking credit for what only grace can produce is the height of spiritual arrogance. Thinking that the grace you once needed is no longer essential is a recipe for disaster. Without the patience, forgiveness, rescue, provision, transformation, and deliverance of his grace, we would have no spiritual hope whatsoever. We are not spiritually independent in any way. The opposite is true. Just as in the first moment we believed, we are always completely dependent on the grace of the Savior for every spiritual need. We cannot go it on our own. We have not produced fruit by our own righteousness and strength. There really is no good thing that we have that we have not received from God’s gracious hand.

So there is no reason to boast. There is nothing for which we can take credit. All praise, honor, worship, and service go to God and God alone. He sought us. He birthed us. He sustains us. He matures us. He protects us. And he will finally deliver us. To him be the glory. Amen.

For further study and encouragement: Luke 15:11–32

This is an excerpt from New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp, available at OMF Lit Bookshops, shop.omflit.com, Shopee, and Lazada for P275.

Mornings can be tough. Sometimes, a hearty breakfast and a strong cup of coffee just aren’t enough. Offering more than a rush of caffeine, best-selling author Paul David Tripp wants to energize you with the most potent encouragement imaginable: the Gospel.

Forget “behavior modification” or feel-good aphorisms. Tripp knows that what we really need is an encounter with the living God. Then we’ll be prepared to trust in God’s goodness, rely on his grace, and live for his glory each and every day.