“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all-sufficiency in all things, may abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8
Dear Ones:
If encouragement is what we need, then the truths expressed in the aforementioned verse should be the bedrock upon which we take our stand. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he deals again with the subject of the “ABLE” God, and His work in us. “Now unto Him that is ABLE to DO exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” (Eph. 3:20) In both passages, we are brought face to face with the reality that the knowledge and experience of the abundant grace of God is always the intent, and purpose of God. Paul’s argument for this is so very clear, and powerful, in Romans 8:32: “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us ALL, how shall He not with Him freely give us ALL things?” The picture we have here is of God, who is perfect love, giving to men the most clear and powerful expression of His heart. He could give nothing more precious and valuable, than the greatest object of His love, His Son. The declaration of Christ as our Savior, to become our Lord when we believe, reveals that has become ALL to us in ALL things. God the Father, in and by the Son, has given to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. If this is so, and it is according to Scripture, then WHY do we not know and experience it? The answer is found in the last part of the verse mentioned in Ephesians: “…according to the power that worketh in us.”
When Jesus used the illustration of the Publican who beat his breast before God, and pleaded with him to have mercy on him, Christ was revealing to us the reality of a truly awakened soul. We might ask, “Awakened to what and how?” The publican saw his utter, total depravity, lostness without Christ. This is the grace of God at work. But the publican saw something else, otherwise he would not be appealing to the mercy of God. He saw that the mercy of God, His intervention and power to forgive, cleanse, save, and strengthen, were greater than the depths of his own personal depravity. We see this “justified” man in the eyes of God, because he was willing to believe God to BE and to DO what He had declared.
Dear Father, give us abundant grace to take Thee at Thy word, believe in Thy faithfulness to BE and to DO all that Thou hast declared. Then, we shall know and experience this abundant grace, and others will be see and know that Thou art God. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad