8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
Verses 8-11 show how God supplies both spiritually and materially for the believer by faith.
8 And God is able
The Holy Spirit sets forth God’s ability to meet financial concerns. Life is uncertain, but the sovereign God is not. He is the expert giver (Eph 3:20,21). He has immense ability to give.
to make all grace abound [super-abound] toward you,
Giving is a grace that God gives. Grace begets grace. God’s grace so influences grace in the believer that the Christian dispenses grace to those in need (1 Co 1:4-7, 12; 2 Co 4:15; 6:1; 2 Co 8:2). The believer never can come to a place where God does not meet his need.
The word “abound” carries the idea of more than enough, a surplus. Note the use of this word in Romans 5:20. As God gives grace to the giver, the giver gives grace to others.
Note that the word “all” occurs five times in this verse: all, everything, always, everything, and every. The repetition of “all” shows how infinitely God acts toward His own. There is no doubt that God will supply the needs of His people.
that [purpose] you,
The Corinthians needed not fear whether God would meet their financial needs. Their necessities would never lack because the sovereign God would intervene on their behalf.
always having all sufficiency [enough] in all things,
God’s gifts are sufficient. The grace-oriented believer will always have enough of everything to be generous. That means that the Christian has the material sufficiency he needs to be liberal with others. Therefore, the believer should reduce what he has to have enough to share with others.
The point here is God gives all we need, but not all we want or greed.
may have an abundance
The reason God provides “abundance” is so that Christians can give back to the Lord. Grace has flowed into their lives so that they can give grace out.
Notice the three terms for “all” in this verse: “all grace,” “all sufficiency,” “in all things.” These words show that God is unquestionably sufficient.
for every good work.
The reason God gives the believer sufficiency after being generous with others is not that they can consume it on their wants of personal riches but to further the “good work” of meeting the needs of others. God will replenish whatever we provide others to extend our capacity to give further. He resupplies our ability to give.
The goal of the divine provision is not the believer’s financial prosperity or pleasure but that they can use God’s supply for “good work.”
PRINCIPLE:
The believer’s inability to give showcases what God can do when he gives sacrificially.
APPLICATION:
Some people are miserly in their giving because they are anxious that they will not have enough for themselves. This attitude is a refusal to trust that God is all sufficient. God assures the generous giver that He will supply what he needs all of the time. The more we give, the more God will provide for us to share with others. This does not imply that we will have all the money we wish to have. It means that we will have enough to be abundant in our giving to others.
Faith opens the doors of God’s provision. It believes that God will bless those who trust Him.
