God’s abundant grace has accomplished redemption for us and has applied forgiveness to us. Through the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ, redemption has been accomplished. After ascending into the heavens and receiving repentance and forgiveness, He now applies forgiveness to us. This is according to the riches of God’s grace.
Both redemption and forgiveness are according to God’s righteousness, but they are accomplished and applied by God’s rich grace. This means that both God’s righteousness, which is God’s way of doing things, and grace, which is God Himself dispensed into His chosen people, have been exercised to the uttermost.
Ephesians 1:8 says that God’s grace has been “caused to abound to us.” God’s grace is not only rich, but also abounding. Many Christians know about “amazing grace,” but not about abounding grace. It takes revelation to know God’s abounding grace. His abounding grace has made us an inheritance to God (v. 11) and has qualified us to inherit all that God is (v. 14). In other words, this abounding grace makes us God’s inheritance on the one hand and makes God our inheritance on the other hand. This is something far greater than sinners merely being saved and going to heaven. This concept, the concept of being saved for heaven, is rather natural. We need to see the abounding grace that makes us an inheritance to God and qualifies us to inherit all that God is.
Verse 8 says that the riches of God’s grace have been caused to abound to us in all wisdom and prudence. Wisdom is what is within God to plan and purpose a will concerning us; prudence is the application of God’s wisdom. God firstly planned and purposed in His wisdom, and then He applied what He had planned and purposed for us with prudence. Wisdom was mainly related to God’s plan in eternity, and prudence is mainly related to God’s execution of His plan in time. What God planned in eternity in His wisdom, He is now executing in time in His prudence. In God’s prudence He has brought us to Himself and into His recovery. Now, through the exercise of His prudence, He is applying to us all that He planned in eternity regarding us.