Ephesians 4:7

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

This verse could be more accurately translated: “but grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.”

By its definition, grace is a gift from God. So this gift was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Paul wants to emphasise here that what you have from God is freely given by Him.

Paul has already written at length about grace in this letter to the Ephesians .

in chapter 1, he talked about the blessings that we received through Christ, having been chosen before we knew him. We have forgiveness and redemption “ according to the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us.” (1:7).

In chapter two, Paul describes how we were lifted up from the darkness of this age and we are now seated with Christ. “ For it is by grace you have been saved through faith.” (2:8)

In chapter 3, Paul talks about the work of grace in his own life, and the mystery revealed to him. He concludes that chapter with a prayer for the Ephesians that they would receive a greater revelation of the extent of God's love.

Grace can be defined as God's love in action. it is freely given to us, and to all people. The heart of the idea is that it comes to us as a gift and not always a something that we seek.

common grace is the grace that God gives to all people. Jesus said that God sends the rain to the righteous and the unrighteous alike. In other words, favour and prosperity given are to all people regardless of their salvation or otherwise.

prevenient grace is the grace that draws us towards God before we are saved. It is God's gift that makes us open to the gospel message before we come to know Jesus.

saving grace is a gift that applies the power of the cross to my specific need. it comes as conviction of sin and understanding that God loves me so much that He sent His Son to die for me. My sin- addled brain and corrupted heart could never have made that connection, unless the Holy Spirit made it very simple. I could never appropriate the message without the gift of faith.

sanctifying grace is the ability which the Holy Spirit imparts to us that enables us to cast off our old sinful nature and put on Christ's nature. Over time, our sins are put to death, and holiness grows in us.

finally, there is enabling grace. This grace empowers us to work in co-operation with the Holy Spirit to fulfil His calling on our lives. it is grace to love others, whether saved or not yet saved, to receive gifts of the Holy Spirit for ministry, to do ordinary things in ways that are beyond our natural ability.

When Paul says that each one of us has received grace, he is not just limiting this to salvation. It is true that unless we received saving grace we could never have been saved.

Paul is saying here that all of us have sanctifying grace and enabling grace. We have all been given the necessary grace to become all that God has called us to be.

we all have a measure of grace because we all have a measure, so to speak, of the Holy Spirit. if you are a follower of Jesus, you have received the Holy Spirit and you have received grace - indeed grace upon grace.

each one of us has received grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. What is that measure? The measure is “more than enough.”

Paul is telling us that each of us have grace given by someone who lavishes it on us, who piles up the superlatives and pours it out to us. Can we measure it? No, it is too big.

if I were to compare the grace on my life with the grace on your life (assuming that such a thing were possible), I might find you have received five times more grace than me. But I have received more than enough grace for my need, so I don’t need the same amount you do. There is no need to feel jealous of other believers; nor any need to feel superior because we have more grace .

we all have a measure of grace and the measure of grace is more than we need. This means that we can all pray bold and effective prayers. We can all share the gospel with our friends. We can all exercise spiritual gifts. We can all be ministers of grace .

the reason that God gives us “ more then enough” grace is that there is always plenty to share with our brothers and sisters, and also with those who do not know Jesus yet.

If grace were money, we might imagine that when we get saved we received a billion dollars. So after you buy a new house and a new car, what are you going to do? The only useful thing to do is share it with other people. We might buy them nice things to show the love of God in practical ways. We might pay for somebody's medical procedure. Even as you give it away you can't keep up ahead of the supply.

Grace is like that. The more of ourselves we invest in others people, and the more we access the Holy Spirit to do this, and the more that we exercise faith, then we see the kingdom grow and grace multiply.

and each of us has received this more than enough grace.

Key points in this verse:

• We have all received grace from God.

• There are many kinds of grace, but just one giver of grace

• God gives us grace according to the measure of Christ

• God gives more than enough so we can share it with others