Low, Exalted, But Rich

James 1: 9: Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: 10: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. 11: For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

The brother of "low degree" and the brother who is "rich" are the same brother. Believers are brought down to a "low degree," having our stony hearts broken through the gospel. Yet, in bringing us low God has made us to realize that he has exalted us to the right hand of God in perfect righteousness in Christ. We have been made rich beyond degree.

But believers who have been given the riches of God in Christ Jesus also rejoice that God does not allow us to be lifted up in pride of grace. Just as believers must be brought low from the vanity of empty religious practices then exalted to a true saving knowledge of Jesus Christ the Lord, so too, must the believer who has been made rich by God then be continually humbled by God. Believer, rejoice in the fact that God keeps us in that perfect place between pride and despair by the power of his grace.