The Grace Of All-Sufficiency Series

2 CORINTHIANS 9: 8 [GAINING PERSPECTIVE Series]

THE GRACE OF ALL-SUFFICIENCY

[Ephesians 2:20-21 / Matthew 6:33]

Grace giving is a wonderful liberation from things and from circumstances. Instead of things possessing you, you start to possess them. Instead of money and things controlling you, dictating to you your actions, you begin to control money. You develop a new liberty and freedom. The words of our text apply to money matters for they are in the midst of a very earnest appeal to the Corinthian Christians for their financial help. Yet the principle of the text goes far beyond money to the very depths of the Christian life

Notice that our text has three clauses. These clauses create a progressive flow of thought that may be defined as a fountain, a reservoir and a stream. "God is able to make all grace abound toward you," or make you a Fountain, "so that you always have all sufficiency in everything" or make you a Reservoir, and "you may have an abundance for every good deed" or make you a stream that is feed by the Reservoir which originates from the Fountain. The fountain pours into the reservoir, the reservoir over flows so as to feed the stream. God's grace enables us to have all-sufficiency so we can abound in giving. God is able to give us complete sufficiency so that we can abound in every good work (CIM).

I. A FOUNTAIN, 8a.

II. A RESERVOIR, 8b.

III. A STREAM, 8c.

One way God’s approval of the Cheerful giver (7b) finds expression is in the provision of both spiritual and material prosperity caused by His fountain of overflow grace. Let’s back up to verses 6 & 7 to get the context for verse 8. “But this (I say) the one who is sowing sparingly, He will also harvest sparingly, and the one who is sowing upon the bases of blessings, He will also, harvest upon the bases of blessings.” [7] “Just as everyone has purposed by (in his) heart, not (grudgingly) out of sorrow or out of compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

The uncertainty of life in the ancient world may have caused the Corinthians concern about giving money. God though does not want the uncertainties of life to be a reason to withhold our generosity. God being God is able to provide everything they or we need is the declaration in the first part of verse 8. “And God is able to overflow all grace into you (all) [(so) that in everything at all times you (all) may overflow having sufficiency into every good work.]”

“God is able” is the [frequent] promise of Scripture so that God's people will place their confidence in Him (Rom. 16:25, Eph. 3:20; Jude 24). The Christian should depend upon the fact that God is able. We especially need to be reminded of this when we are called to believe or do something contrary to the natural or worldly thinking. Giving to the natural mind is lessening our store not the way to increase it. To believe giving increases our supply it is necessary to believe in the power, providence and promise of God. God is able to accomplish the paradox that scattering seed increases the supply of [true] seed. When biblical teaching is contrary to our fallen nature's reasoning we need to remember that God is able. [Hodge, Charles. The Geneva Series of Commentaries. I & II Corinthians. 1859, 1974. Banner of Truth. Edinburgh. P. 596.]

The might and power of God is so capable that it is an easy matter for Him to bless in abundant measure every cheerful gift. God is able to give “all grace, all-sufficiency, for all things, for every good work.” Notice that even these staggering universals are not enough but the word abound must be added to reveal some of the jam-packed erupting outpour that can gush from this fullest of fountains. It is all grace and it is abounding or overflowing grace.

Now what does “overflow all grace into you” mean? Grace is a packed word and is used here to sum up a whole truck load of unmerited blessings which come to believers through Jesus Christ. The primary use of Grace in the New Testament indicates the unconditioned, undeserved, spontaneous, eternal stooping, providing, pardoning love of God God is able to make all grace abound toward you. All grace comes from one act of grace, the bestowing of Jesus Christ or if you like the new life through Jesus Christ. [The gift of spiritual life is like the gift of physical life which produces many results. Life gives shine in the eye, color in the cheek, the strength to the arm, flexibility and dexterity to the fingers and swiftness to the feet.] Grace has many sides, many manifested blessings but its source is Jesus Christ. It is like a meteor when it passes into the atmosphere of earth and catches fire and blazes showering out in a multitude of radiant points of light. When we by God's grace receive Jesus Christ it will sparkle out, it will manifest itself in a multiplicity of ways. [MaClaren, Alexander. Expositions of Holy Scriptures. Corinthians, Vol 14. 1978. Baker Book House. Grand Rapids, MI. p. 44]