Having the Gifts of Grace in Life and Speaking Words of Grace to Build up the Body

In the Body of Christ, we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us as a result of our experience of Christ; we need to exercise the gifts of grace in life and speak grace to the saints for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Everything in the church life as the reality of the Body of Christ should be in the grace of God and by the grace of God.

The practical church life and the building up of the Body of Christ comes forth from our inward enjoyment of grace of God.

The more we enjoy the grace of God, the more we are built up as the Body of Christ.

God called us into the fellowship, the participation, the communion of His Son; we have been called, positioned, and qualified to enjoy God as grace.

As we enjoy grace, He regenerates us, renews us, transforms us, and conforms us until we are fully conformed to the image of the Firstborn Son of God, Jesus Christ, to match Him and be His corporate expression.

This happens not merely by God’s outward perfecting or by the environment around us causing us to have some inward change; this happens by our enjoyment of God as grace and our learning to minister grace to others by our speaking.

God entered into us at the time of our regeneration as the flowing, circulating divine life; day by day, He circulates within us as the dispensing Triune God to impart all the elements of His being into us.

May we learn to open to Him and give Him access to every part of our being so that He would continually impart all that He is into us.

He is the God of all grace, and when we contact Christ, we receive grace upon grace.

Though we may suffer a little while, the God of all grace will Himself perfect us, establish us, strengthen us, and ground us; He operates in us in His economy through many steps to accomplish His purpose.

It is He who operates in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure, and we simply cooperate with Him by enjoying God as grace.

Hallelujah, God is in Christ to be our life and life supply for our enjoyment, and we can enjoy God in Christ as grace to be our all-sufficient, all-inclusive supply for us to live the Christian life and build up the church as the organic Body of Christ!

How wonderful and simple this is: we just open to the circulating Triune God and we allow Him to flow in and flow out!

The more we open to Him, pray, call on His name, and fellowship with Him and with the saints, the more the circulating Triune God is dispensing all that He is into our being for our enjoyment.

The spontaneous result and issue of this dispensing is the church as the Body of Christ, and the church life is being enriched as we enjoy the grace of God with our spirit again and again!

Experience the Grace of Christ to have the Gifts of Grace in Life for the Building up of the Church

Rom. 12:6-7 speaks of some particular kind of gifts: the gifts of grace in life. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, according to the proportion of faith.

Grace is not something outward that God does for us or gives us; grace is simply God in Christ for our enjoyment.

As we enjoy grace, which is the divine life, it brings with it certain skills and abilities, which are gifts; these are the gifts of grace in life.

The more we believers in Christ enjoy God, the more we receive and assimilate His divine element into our being, and the more out of this divine element there will be an issue, something that proceeds, some gift, skill, or ability.

These are not the miraculous gifts spoken of in Corinthians; these are the functions or skills of the divine life we have enjoyed and experienced.

The gifts of grace in life are according to grace; they are granted to us according to the measure of life.

The more we enjoy the Lord, the more the gift is granted to us; if we don’t enjoy the Lord, however, these gifts are not granted to us in a large measure.

If we as members of the Body of Christ enjoy the life of God to a high degree, we will receive a higher gift; but if our enjoyment of the life of God is limited, our gift is also limited.

The measure of our gift is limited by the extent to which we have enjoyed the divine life as grace within us.

The gifts of grace in life are not miraculous but normal, and they issue out of our enjoyment of God as grace.

These gifts, as enumerated in Rom. 12, are like the abilities of the members of our body, and include prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and showing mercy.

Showing mercy is a gift of grace in life, something like a skill that issues out of our enjoyment of Christ as grace.

The more we enjoy the Triune God as grace, the more the divine element comes into our being to be our life for our enjoyment.

As the divine life is being wrought into our being and we grow in life by the enjoyment of God as grace, we have some skills or abilities, which are the gifts of grace in life; these are for the building up of the church as the organic Body of Christ.

For the practice of the Body life, we need the gifts of grace in life; we shouldn’t neglect these gifts and focus on the miraculous gifts.

The miraculous gifts tend to divide but the gifts of grace in life build up.

The gifts of grace in life are necessary for the building up of the church; we need to enjoy Christ as grace and allow Him to increase and spread in our being so that we may have these gifts for the building up of the church.

The book of Romans focuses not on building up a particular believer but on the building up of the Body of Christ; for the building up of the Body what we need is not the miraculous gifts but the gifts of grace in life issuing out of our enjoyment of God as grace.

The divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity transmits God Himself into us as life into us for our enjoyment; out of this dispensing, there are some provisions that accompany our growth in life.

The growth in the divine life spontaneously issues in abilities and functions in life, which are the gifts produced by the grace of God enabling us to accomplish certain things.

The provision in life causes the growth in life, and the skills and abilities in life accomplish such growth in life.

The more we grow in life, the greater will be our abilities and functions.

Eph. 4:7 says that grace is given to us according to the gift, and Rom. 12:6 says that the gifts issue out of the grace.

The illustration of the members of our body can be used to explain this; the members are produced and their functions are developed as we grow in life.

For example, a little finger has a little function and measure, so he needs a smaller supply in life; the leg, however, has a bigger function and therefore needs a bigger supply in life.

Grace is the divine life that produces and supplies the gifts, and the gifts are given to us according to the measure of grace.

May we grow in life day by day and may we develop and use the gifts of grace in life for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ!

Lord Jesus, we want to enjoy God in Christ as grace to be our life and our everything for our growth in life and for the building up of the church of the Body of Christ. Keep us under the divine dispensing of God as grace so that we may have the gifts of grace in life for the practice of the church life. Amen, Lord, grow in us. Increase our enjoyment of Christ. May we receive and assimilate the grace of God, the divine life, so that the gifts of grace in life would spontaneously issue out of grace for the building up of the church as the organic Body of Christ!

Not Speaking any Corrupt Word but Speaking Words of Grace for Building up

In the church as the Body of Christ, we should not let any corrupt word proceed out of our mouth; rather, we should speak only that which is good for building up, according to the need, that it may give grace to those who hear (Eph. 4:29).

The Greek word for “corrupt” signifies something that is noxious, something that is offensive and worthless.

In the church life as the reality of the Body of Christ, we need to be careful what we speak; we should not speak things that tear down or that are noxious or offensive but things for building up.

The church and every member of the church need the proper building up; we all need to exercise especially in the matter of our speaking so that we may give grace to those who hear.

Our conversation with others shouldn’t corrupt others but build them up; our speaking can tear down, corrupt, and impart death, but it can also minister grace to the saints for the building up of the church.

May the words out of our mouth give grace to those who hear.

May we enjoy God as grace to the extent that we are filled with grace and we minister grace to those whom we speak to.

To minister grace doesn’t necessarily mean that we tell others what God did for us, what He did in our environment to save us, or what He gave us; grace is God in Christ to be our enjoyment and supply.

We need to speak to others something concerning Christ as our enjoyment and life.

May our word always build up and never tear down; may our word minister grace to those who hear and not corrupt others.

One of the main ways we build up the church as the Body of Christ is through our speaking.

The more we enjoy God as grace, the more we exercise the gifts of grace in life, and we minister grace to others through our speaking.

Our words should not corrupt or impart death; our words should communicate God in Christ as enjoyment, imparting Christ to others as their life and life supply.

Grace is connected to our speaking; on one hand, we need to enjoy Christ as grace, and on the other hand, we need to exercise to minister grace to others through our speaking.

Perhaps we had grace in the big things but we may neglect grace in the small things; grace is all the more necessary in the details of our daily living.

One of the seemingly smallest things is our speaking, but even in this, we need grace. If we have grace in our speaking, if we minister grace to others by our words, we will have grace in all the other aspects.

We receive the Spirit by the hearing of the faith, by the speaking of the Lord through someone; we need to speak faith and infuse faith into others so that they also may receive grace and enjoy grace.

May we pay attention to our speaking and minister grace to others by our words.

How can others believe and be infused with faith if no one speaks and proclaims the faith? May we speak faith and infuse faith into others so that they can enter into and remain in the process of God’s salvation.

May we earnestly desire to prophesy because prophesying builds up the church; may we speak forth God and minister Christ to others.

Even in our normal conversations with the saints, may we learn to minister grace to them by our words, not speaking any corrupt words but giving grace to them for the building up of the Body.

Lord Jesus, may no corrupt word proceed out of our mouth but only that which is good for building up! Amen, Lord, save us from speaking words that tear down, corrupt, and damage others; may we speak what is good for building up, according to the need, that it may give grace to those who hear. We want to enjoy You as grace and be filled with grace so that we may minister grace through our words. Amen, Lord, may the words we speak give grace to those who hear. May our speaking and conversation with the saints communicate God in Christ as enjoyment, imparting Christ to others as their life supply!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers, and portions from, Life-study of Romans, msg. 26 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Grace of God in the Economy of God (2021 International Chinese-speaking Conference), week 3, entitled, The Believers’ Experience of the Grace of God in the Economy of God Consummating in the Church as the Organic Body of Christ.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – By our grace are measured / Gifts both large and small; / Each with sober judgment / Takes his place with all. / Each fulfills his duty, / Shows his usefulness, / Fervent in the spirit, / Girt with faithfulness. (Hymns #854)
  – Move, and actuate, and guide: / Divers gifts to each divide; / Placed according to Thy will, / Let us all our work fulfil. / Sweetly may we all agree, / Touched with loving sympathy; / Kindly for each other care, / Every member feel its share. (Hymns #796)
  – Christ’s riches are Himself within, / His fulness is the Church without, / As His expression, full of Him; / The Church with Christ is built throughout. (Hymns #820)