In our experience of the grace in God’s economy, we enjoy the Lord’s presence in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22; cf. Luke 1:28, 30). The Lord being with us in our spirit is grace being enjoyed by us in our spirit.
In their experience of the grace in God’s economy, the believers live out the righteousness of God by Christ (Gal. 2:20-21). Paul said that he did not live by his own righteousness but that he was crucified with Christ and it was Christ who lived in him. Thus, what was lived out was the righteousness which God desired. If we do not live out God’s righteousness by Christ, we nullify the grace of God. If, instead of nullifying the grace of God, we desire to enjoy it daily, we need to live not by ourselves but by the Christ who is in our spirit. Thus, what we live out is the righteousness that God desires. This righteousness is of grace.
The believers’ experience of the grace in God’s economy is the experience of the perfecting of the Lord’s sufficient grace, Christ’s overshadowing power, in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). Why is the Lord’s grace perfected in our weakness? Because when a person is weak and cannot do anything, the Lord comes to do everything for him. When someone is strong, he does not need others. Would you rather be strong or weak? The good thing about being weak is that the Lord comes to do everything for you. The bad thing about being strong is that you put the Lord aside. When you are strong, the Lord has no ground and cannot do anything for you; hence, you cannot enjoy rest. When you are weak, the Lord has the ground and can do things for you right away. When the Lord does everything for you, you enjoy the Lord as your rest.
In their experience of the grace in God’s economy, the believers display the riches of liberality in the depth of poverty (2 Cor. 8:1-2). This is the grace given by the Lord to the believers and the churches in Macedonia. This grace is Christ’s resurrection life by which we overcome the usurpation of temporal and uncertain riches and become generous in ministering to the needy saints.
Our experience of the grace in God’s economy is that after we have suffered, we are perfected, established, strengthened, and grounded by God’s all grace (1 Pet. 5:10).
In our experience of the grace in God’s economy, we carry out the stewardship of the grace of God entrusted by Him—dispensing the riches of Christ as the grace of God to His chosen people for the producing and building up of the church (Eph. 3:2, 8).
Not only the apostles as stewards dispensed grace into people, but we also, in our living, should speak words for building up and thus give grace to people. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for building up, according to the need, that it may give grace to those who hear.” In verse 28 Paul said that we should labor, working with our own hands in that which is respectable, that we may have something to share with him who has need. As Christians, we should have something in our living, both materially and spiritually, to minister to others.