As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:10-11)

Good Stewards Of The Manifold Grace Of God

The Lord has blessed His people with so many blessings they are enumerable. All of nature proclaims the glory of God as the hand of the Creator paints on the canvas of creation the incredible beauty of His works. Day and night declare how magnificent all things in the world and universe open the eyes of men to see the providential care of a Master Creator who holds in His hand the expanse of everything known to man and those things yet to be revealed. From the beginning of time, man has been without excuse to recognize the manifold grace of the One who sustains all things in this world as He reveals Himself through nature. God has not left humanity alone without opening up the portals of heaven to know the will of the Father. The word of the Lord has always been revealed to the creation as the divine purpose of the Creator is fulfilled in the obedience of the men. When God placed Adam and Eve into the Garden of Eden, He showed them the new world as a testimony of His grace to give the man a place to thrive and live by the grace of God. Further, God placed a tree in the midst of the garden and forbade man from eating of that certain fruit to show man the soul of divine law. Adam and Eve enjoyed the grace of God found in the Garden of Eden but they failed to be good stewards of the divine grace of God in the words of the law prohibiting them from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Disobedience came from rejecting the counsel of God. Throughout the history of man from the days of Noah to the history of Israel, the struggle to follow the teaching of God has placed man in dire circumstances. It has always been an imperative for men to learn to follow the will of God and His will alone without adding or taking away from the divine word.

To be a good steward is to be someone who knows and understands the responsibility placed upon them to carry out the wishes of the one who entrusted them with an object of their concern. God has given all men the obligation to use the gifts from the divine to the purpose they were intended. The word of God has always sought the betterment and goodness of humanity if men would only follow the will of the Father. To be a good minister of the grace of God is to fulfill the divine wishes of God’s care as He has blessed men. If a man is to speak the word of God, he must speak the words that come from the mouth of God. This precludes the notion that men can call upon the name of the Lord and teach that which God has never said. So often men have turned aside from the word of the Lord because they have listened to the doctrines of men that have no foundation in the word of truth. Apostasy comes when men do not speak as if God is speaking. The word of the Lord has never been difficult for a man to understand and obey. He has never given man a command that cannot be kept. The failing of man has always been to create his own way apart from the teachings of God. Everything man needs to be pleasing to God is found in the Bible and yet the world is filled with so many different faiths teaching doctrines that cannot be found in the pages of God’s word. Denominationalism, divisive faiths, false doctrines all point to the failure of men to be good stewards of the word delivered by the hand of God as the authority.

There will come a day of accountability for all the stewards of the word of God. All men have been entrusted with the divine will of the Father. Whether they have been good stewards of the grace of God or whether they have abused the grace of God will be the determining factor of eternity. It boils down to a simple idea that whatever a man does in this world, he must do so in accordance with the singular will of the Almighty who requires all men to follow His will. The grace of God is no value to a person who refuses to obey the word of God. Grace and obedience are necessary to one another. When men speak according to the oracles of God, the glory belongs to God not men. Everyone should strive to serve in the capacity which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. Anything less bestows glory upon man and this displeases the Father. To be a good steward of the grace of God is to allow the whole counsel of God to guide the teachings of men to the word of God alone. As the old saying of days gone by refrains, “Speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent.” Let no word come from the mouth of a man that did not first reside within the heart of God. May God be true and all men liars. Speak as though God himself were speaking.