And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
The Apostle Paul, speaking to the elders of the Church at Ephesus commended them to the Word of God’s grace; he continued further to say that the Word had the ability to build them up and to give them an inheritance among all that are sanctified. The word ‘build up’ in context means to edify. The word of His grace is able to build us up; it is able to edify us. The word of God’s grace edifies. What then is the word of God’s grace? The word of grace means the teaching, the discourse of God’s grace, which is the teaching of how Christ Jesus took our place and died for us to give us life, hope and justification. The Word of God’s grace is the teaching of Christ’s substitutionary work for us – the just for the unjust, the righteous for the sinner, the rich for the poor, and the healthy for the sick. When we talk about what Christ has done for us as our Substitute in the light of walking in the blessings of His substitutionary work, we are talking about the grace of God. Grace is actually rooted and hidden in Christ’s substitutionary work for man, which means He took our place and then, we are now taking His place, that is Grace. The word of Grace are words that remind us of what Christ has done for us, words that show the love and goodness of God to us, words that engage our faith to believe that Christ has done everything that He needed to do for us and that it is now our responsibility to fulfil our ministry and calling through faith.
On the other hand, words that get us belaboured with the burden of trying hard to make things happen without taking our reference point from what Christ has done for us, are far from grace. Grace begins at the point of exchange, where Christ took our place as our Substitute and where we identify with Him as such through faith. Understand that words of grace alone edify. Nothing else builds up other than grace! For example, if you tell the sick that Jesus Christ was made sick with their sicknesses, that He bore their sicknesses and diseases on the cross, and that the stripes that wounded Him were meant for their healing, they are edified, strengthened and blessed. But if you tell the sick that they should be hopeful, that one day they would be healed, if the Lord wills, that isn’t going to edify them in any way. So, the Word of Grace edifies, as it offers the privileges and blessings of what Christ has done for us, which are now available for the taking. Everything Christ did for you as your Substitute, is all yours for the taking right now by faith! Amen!
SOLID FRONT (YOUR CONFESSION):
In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I declare that I am of God and that I am a child of grace, born by the Word of God’s grace; therefore, I experience grace on all sides in Jesus’ Name! Amen!
Further Meditation:
2 Corinthians 8:9; 1 Peter 2:24.