ABOUNDING GRACE
2 Cor. 9:8
Morning Meditation 2/3/2014
Verse 8 say, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”
Paul is challenging the church at Corinth to give. One of the gifts he speaks of is the offering for the poor saints in Jerusalem. He took a special offering from the Gentiles to the Jewish saints in Jerusalem who had fallen on hard times. But Paul does not just write about the specific offering for the poor saints in Chapters 8-10, there are verses where he deals with giving in general. The principle of giving is dealt with in Chapter 9:6-7 (not the tithe. Giving is in addition to the tithe). Paul teaches that giving is possible because giving is a GRACE (8:1,7) and grace is a gift of enablement from the Lord. What God gives, the saints must trust Him for. Therefore, there is a claim made by Paul in our text that solicits faith on the part of the readers. We will discover that the claim made by Paul goes beyond giving, to the whole of the Christian life. We will look at this verse and as we do, I want to point out four things that seem to be what Paul is saying. First we see,
THE ENCOURAGEMENT TO BELIEVE
Paul says, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you . . .” The “And” translates “de” and is a continuative conjunction that links what Paul claims here to the words, “He that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully,” and, “Every man as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, “ and, “God loveth a cheerful giver.” When people who are having it tough financially, are challenged to give, the natural response is to say, “Hey, I’d love to do it, but we have a hard time paying our bills.” That is an understandable response. It is a response that even the more affluent will say when they reach a certain point in giving. Paul is saying that the answer to that is not RATIONALISM but FAITH. If God is able to make all grace abound toward you, then it is not a matter of our ability but HIS.
The words “God is able” mean that God is strong. His strength is unlimited. We have an all powerful God and He will be as active in our lives as we are willing to believe. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. Faith is that by which we walk. It is the breath and heartbeat of the Christian’s life. God is honored when we trust Him and will bless the one who trusts. When we quit believing, we cease to be actively engaged in God’s kingdom work and operate only in the world in which unsaved people live.
I have a book called YOUR GOD IS TOO SMALL BY J. B. Phillips. The very title of the book is a rebuke to most of us. If what we do is determined by God’s power and His power is appropriated by faith, then if the work is not being done, it has to be because the Christian does not believe God is big enough or faithful enough to trust. Next lets look at,
THE EXTENT OF PAUL’S CLAIM
The words “to make all grace abound” translates “perisseuo” and means, “to exceed a fixed number or measure, to be left over and above a certain number or measure.”
The word “grace” is used in chapter 8 and verse 1 to explain the generous giving of the poverty stricken churches in Macedonia. God in His grace had enabled them to do what they could not have done otherwise. Most of us are familiar with the definition of grace that says it is the unmerited favor of God. That is a good definition. If this definition holds true as it applies to the giving in the churches of Macedonia, then it means that God took a group of sinners saved by the grace of God, who were also very imperfect and did not deserve to be used in any special way, but used them anyway because they did dare to believe that He was big enough to enable them, and He could be trusted to do it. Now that is a good statement even if I did make it!
God’s grace in any area of God’s supply, and our need, makes Him available to us no matter how unworthy we feel. Our feeling of unworthiness is something Satan uses to fight us away from answers to prayer on a regular basis. Now if we have known sin in our lives, that we are unwilling to deal with, then Psalms 66:18 which says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me,” would keep us from getting our request answered. If we have dealt with known sin, then the blood of Jesus that cleanses from all sin, and His grace, makes Him available to our faith as we believe Him for the answer.
The words “all grace” must cover every area of need in the Christian’s life. It is not just giving. If you are healed in answer to prayer, it is grace. Here is someone who has faithfully served the Lord for years and he gets sick. He prays and is healed by the Lord. You watch and analyze the situation. You say, “He deserved that answer to prayer.” A week later you have a physical malady appear in your life. Your life does not, in your estimation, even come close to being the kind of godly life lived by this other person. So suddenly you feel despair because you misjudged the reason that this other person was healed. You see the other person was not healed because he had been faithful for years. He was healed because He and those who prayed, humbled themselves in the presence of God, and came before Him in the Name of the One who is worthy and received the GRACE of healing. What God does for us is based on grace and not worthiness. Until we SEE THAT our prayer life will be barren. Because Satan will argue successfully that we do not deserve the answer and we will HAVE TO AGREE with him. So the reason for our unanswered prayer is not because we were not worthy but because we did not BELIEVE and our lack of faith was because of our misunderstanding of GRACE.
What is your need right now? Most of us have needs. If all of your personal needs are being met in your family, how are you coming along with your obedience to The Great Commission? You see, we have needs that we do not know about because we are not facing our responsibilities as His children. What about personal witnessing? Do you need power? What about your relationship with family members, or your relationship with fellow believers in the local church of your membership? Do you need wisdom? What about the loss of temper in the home where you scream at the kids? Do you need patience and grace to apologize? Do I need to go further? Paul says, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you . . .” Do we believe this statement? Next we see,
THE SUFFICIENCY ENJOYED
Out text says, “. . . that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things . . .” The word “always” translates “pantote” and means, “at all times, always, ever.” The definition is plain enough for us to see that God is making Himself available so that there will not be a time in our lives that He will not be there to supply our needs according to His grace. With this promise, we do not have to worry about any thing in our future. Most of the time we worry about things that never happen. So what if something bad does take place? God allowed it for our good and His glory and this verse says that we will “always” have “all sufficiency in all things.” God will be there to meet every need of the trusting soul.
The word “having” is a present tense verb and means that we will keep on having. Is God supplying you needs now? This verse is saying that as He is supplying now, He will continue to do so. He will not abandon you. You can count on His trustworthiness. The word “all” translates “pas” and means, “each and every.” The word “sufficiency” translates “autarkeia” and means, “a perfect condition of life in which no aid or support is needed, sufficiency of the necessities of life, a mind contented with its lot, contentment.” This is what Paul says God is able to do for us on the basis of grace. Then finally,
THE WORK EMPOWERED
Our text says, “. . . may abound to every good work..” The words “may abound” mean the same as defined above. There will be more than enough of the supply of grace to supply us to every good work. The immediate good work in the context is giving. God is able to enable us to give abundantly to meet needs. This word means that our giving can be so abundant that it surpasses the need. There was a time when Moses had to tell the people of Israel to stop giving. They had given more than enough. This is what is meant here. But the words “every good work” goes beyond the immediate subject in this chapter of giving.
What about that dear lady who is married to an unsaved man who is mean and unkind to her. Her situation is a lot more desperate than one who has never walked in her shoes could possibly imagine. She is a true believer who wants to live her life by the BOOK and she knows divorce is not the answer. This verse says that God will meet her need of grace with patience to bear her burden with the grace of a Spirit filled Christian. The word work here is not just the work of a missionary or a pastor or a Sunday School teacher. It includes the everyday life of a Christian. It is a GOOD WORK for a Christian to go to his job each day and put in a day’s work for a day’s pay and live out His Christian life before the unsaved around him. What he needs to accomplish that, God in His grace will supply, so that he “may abound to every good work.”
This is a great verse with a great appeal for faith. May the Lord enlighten us and may we take the challenge to believe Him that we may be recipients of His daily grace to supply our daily needs.
In Christ
Bro. White
