Working together with Him, then we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
– 2 Corinthians 6:1
Now, I want us to just pray according to and meditate on the first phrase in 2 Corinthians 6:1. Working together with Him. And this comes right on the heels of chapter 5 that’s just talked about, we prayed according to this in the last podcast episode, that we are ambassadors for Christ. God is making his appeal through us. So then Paul writes, “Working together with Him.”
2 Corinthians 6:1 Teaches We Are God’s Fellow Workers
So just let that soak in, God working together with us, us working together with Him. That’s who the Him is here. It’s God. We work together with God. What a picture. And this is not the only place we see the Bible talk like this. Think about 1 Corinthians 3. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:9, “For we are God’s fellow workers.” And then you look back in Acts 15:4 when they’re having this meeting in Jerusalem, it says, “When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared,” listen to this phrase, “all that God had done with them.”
So just think about that. The Bible talks about how God does things in us, and how God does things through us. And here the Bible is talking about how God does things, God works with us. God’s fellow workers, working together with Him. Just let that transform your perspective on your life today. As a follower of Jesus, you are working together with God. That’s the language we would use for a coworker. And obviously, I want to be really careful here because it’s not like we’re on the same plane as God. God is holy, God is completely other, distinct from us, high above us, infinitely high above us. But then that’s the wonder of this phrase, of this verse in 2 Corinthians 6:1, that God chooses to work together with us. Yes, in us. And yes, through us, but with us.
2 Corinthians 6:1 Encourages to Faithfully Work with God
Just think about the work God is doing in the world today and realize you’re a part of it. You’re a part of God’s work. So work faithfully. Work well, work wisely, and work willingly. Work with God today.
Oh God, help us to do 2 Corinthians 6:1 today. Help us to work together with you. And we know in the context there in 2 Corinthians 5, God, you are making your appeal through us. That’s one of the ways we work together with you and God in all the other possible ways today. Help us to work together with you showing your love to every single person around us and speaking grace and truth into the lives of every single person we interact with today. God, help us to be a picture of your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to people around us today. God, we want to faithfully work with you.
And God, we know you are working right now to make your love known in our families, in our friends’ lives, in our coworkers, and in our classmates’ lives to show them who you are. Help us to work together with you faithfully today, well with you today in the fullness of your spirit working together with you today.
Prayer for the Tai Kao People
And God, we know that you are working to bring all the nations of the world to know your glory. So raise up people, oh God, we pray, who will work together with you to reach the Tai Kao people of Laos and Vietnam. Half a million of them, no known followers of Jesus. God, we pray. We pray that the Tai Kao people would be reached with the good news of your love by people faithfully working with you.
God, even as we’re praying this right now, God, we pray that you would use our intercession for them, our working together with you right now, our leading before your throne right now, to bring about salvation among the Tai Kao people of Laos and Vietnam. Oh God, help us to work well faithfully, fruitfully together with you today and every day in our lives at every moment. In Jesus’ name, we pray according to 2 Corinthians 6:1. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
