“And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33).
Great grace. Who doesn’t need more of that? One translation of this verse says “mega-grace.” Now that’s a lot of grace and help! But how does one access this kind of grace?
First, let’s define what grace is (and isn’t). The Greek definition is that which causes joy, pleasure, gratification, favor, acceptance, kindness granted or desired, a benefit. It is a favor done without expectation of return; the absolutely free expression of the loving kindness of God to men finding its only motive in the bounty and benevolence of the Giver; unearned and unmerited favor.
Whew. We could chew on that awhile and still not catch the magnitude of it.
The Complete Word Study Bible goes on to say God’s grace affects man’s sinfulness and not only forgives the repentant sinner, but brings joy and thankfulness to him. In other words, when grace is received by faith, it changes us and causes us to love and seek after the righteousness of God.
The opposite of this grace is judgment, condemnation, and punishment. It’s also not a free license to sin. Both of these are the ditches on either side of God’s grace. One ditch is no grace and one is hyper grace. What God offers is GREAT grace.
I probably don’t have to give you the definition of great, but humor me… it means large, particularly of physical magnitude, great in size, stature, extent, price or cost, and importance.
Great. Grace.
God knows we need it and He freely gives it. To better understand how and why, we should read our verse in context: “Now the company of believers was of one heart and soul, and not one of them claimed that anything which he possessed was [exclusively] his own, but everything they had was in common and for the use of all, and with great strength and ability and power the apostles delivered their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace (loving-kindness and favor and goodwill) rested richly upon them all” (Acts 4:32-33, AMP).
First of all, great grace is attributed to those who aren’t selfish. God isn’t asking any of us to give the farm away, but are you willing to? We see this in the story of Abraham when he was asked to offer up his only son Isaac. When God saw he was willing to do it, He intervened and showed Abraham a different sacrifice. But God tested Abraham’s heart– was he willing to follow God no matter the cost? The answer was yes and God’s promise was, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2).
Notice how God applied His greatness to Abraham– simply by faith and grace.
So great grace is the result of unselfishness. But it is also given to those who openly testify of Jesus. You don’t have to know the whole Bible or be able to quote chapter and verse to tell others what Jesus has done for you. In fact, I always tell people their testimony is the one thing the devil (or quarrelsome people) can’t argue with! No one can debate your story– they may try but it will fall short because God’s GREAT GRACE is upon all who are willing to tell others of the “night and day difference” He has made in your life (1 Peter 2:9, MSG).
I’ve always loved the way David said it in the Psalms: “My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits [in fact, I’m overwhelmed by all You have done for me]” (Psalm 71:15).
David didn’t know the limits of God’s grace because of how great it is! It’s like standing on the beach and trying to see the other side of the ocean. You can’t. And neither can you see the limit of God’s grace towards you (and others). It’s immeasurable.
I pray you let this soak in today. If necessary, make some heart adjustments. Be willing if God asks you for anything. Trust Him to provide and replace with more if necessary. And tell, tell, tell others of what Jesus has done for you. Don’t be shy about it. Let His grace help you testify.
