Hoekstra's Day by Day by Grace (January 30th)

The Ability of God's Grace

And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance. (Acts 20:32)

God's grace has such marvelous ability. It is able to give the eternal inheritance of God to His children. It is also able to build up their lives here on earth for greater service and increased fruitfulness.

It is by the grace of the Lord that we can anticipate being recipients of a heavenly inheritance. "The word of His grace, which is able to … give you an inheritance." One qualifies for an inheritance by being born into a family. We have been born into the family of God. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: who were born…of God" (John 1:12-13). We who believe in Jesus are God's children, "and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17). We are blessed beyond measure to know that heavenly treasures of fellowship, worship, and service await God's children in glory above. All of these eternal riches are ours by the grace of God alone.

God's amazing grace also has the ability to build us up as we await our inheritance here on earth below: "The word of His grace, which is able to build you up." This edification process involves having our spiritual roots of hunger and trust growing deep into the Lord. Christ wants our lives to undergo continual spiritual construction and transformation. He wants our character to become increasingly stabilized in the faith, as revealed in His word. "As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith" (Colossians 2:6-7).

It is the will of God that we be edified. "Let all things be done for edification" (1 Corinthians 14:26). All along the way from new birth into His family until our full heavenly inheritance as His family, God desires that His children be spiritually strengthened and increasingly developed in Christian maturity. Our ministry to one another can be instrumental in this edification process. "Let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another…Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification" (Romans 14:19; 15:2). It is essential to remember, however, that God's grace is what accomplishes the building up process: "The word of His grace, which is able to build you up."