In 1:12 Paul also says that he conducted himself not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God. Grace is the processed Triune God. First Corinthians reveals that the Triune God has been processed to become the life-giving Spirit for us to enjoy. This enjoyment of the processed Triune God is grace.
In 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” The expression “the grace of God” in this verse and in 2 Corinthians 1:12 actually indicates that grace is God Himself. The grace of God is the very God. Hence, grace is not something which belongs to God; grace is God Himself.
Furthermore, the unprocessed God is not grace. Rather, grace is the Triune God in resurrection. It is not God only as He is revealed in Genesis 1; it is the God revealed in the Epistles of Paul. The God in Paul’s ministry is not merely the God of creation, but He is the God in resurrection. Resurrection involves the processes of incarnation, human living, and crucifixion. After passing through this process, the Triune God entered into resurrection. Therefore, when we speak of God as the God of resurrection, we imply the process through which He has passed.
Christ passed through incarnation, through thirty-three and a half years of human living, and through crucifixion, which lasted six hours. After he died, He was placed in a tomb. Then He went into Hades and had a tour of the realm of death. Following that, He came forth in resurrection. Now He is the God not only of creation, but also of resurrection. This processed God is now our grace. How happy I am in Him! He is my enjoyment, my feast, my rest, my strength. This is my God.
In verse 17 Paul says, “This therefore intending, did I then use fickleness? Or the things which I resolve, do I resolve according to the flesh, that with me there should be yes, yes and no, no?” Paul was neither political nor fickle. He was not the kind of person who would say yes at one time and then shortly afterward change his answer and say no. With Paul, yes was yes, and no was no. Whatever he resolved, he resolved by being one with the unchanging Christ of the faithful God.
Paul was absolutely one with Christ, with God’s anointed One. This was the reason he could say, “But God is faithful, that our word toward you is not yes and no; for the Son of God, Christ Jesus, Who was preached among you through us, through me and Sylvanus and Timothy, did not become yes and no, but in Him is yes” (vv. 18-19).
In verses 20 and 21 Paul continues, “For whatever promises of God there are, in Him is the Yes; wherefore also through Him is the Amen to God, for glory through us. But He Who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God.” Christ is God’s anointed One, and Paul was firmly attached to this One. This One is the unchanging Christ of the faithful God. As a person who lived Christ, Paul was one with the unchanging Christ of the faithful God. If we would live Christ, we must also keep ourselves one with Him.
Paul could say of himself, “I am a person who is always one with Christ. Christ is not yes and no, but in Him is yes. If you say yes and no, you are not living Christ. In Christ is the yes. Whenever He says yes, it is yes forever. With Him there is no change. I am one with this unchanging Christ. When I resolved to come to visit you, I resolved with Him. I did not do this in myself or by myself. In oneness with Christ, I made a strong decision to come to you. He is the anointed One, and I am firmly attached to Him.” This also is part of the pattern of living Christ for the church.