Characteristics of Living by Grace

"Like a never-ending cascade, grace flows upon grace—filling, building, freeing."

📖 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 – "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant."

Living under the new covenant means living by grace, not by human sufficiency. Bob Hoekstra points us to a truth so liberating it resets our whole spiritual orientation: our adequacy doesn’t arise from within ourselves, but from God alone. Through Christ, we receive “grace upon grace,” a cascading supply that not only justifies us but sanctifies us—progressively forming the likeness of Christ within us. This grace is not abstract or aloof; it meets us in our deepest needs, builds us up, liberates us from sin's dominion, and establishes our hearts in peace.

The characteristics that flow from this grace-driven life are not the result of striving, but of receiving. The sufficiency that fuels ministry, identity, and transformation doesn’t originate in the believer—it flows from the One who dwells within. We don’t just get grace for salvation and then strive forward alone. Grace builds upon grace, always available, always active, always sufficient for every moment.

Personalized Journal Entry in the Holy Spirit’s Voice Through Scripture

You are no longer required to prove your sufficiency. I am your sufficiency. I have united you with the life of Christ, who became for you wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. You live by grace, not by law, and that grace is more than forgiveness—it is My present provision. You have received fullness in Him.

I have made you a minister of the new covenant—not one of rules carved in stone, but of life written on your heart. You carry not the burden of performance but the breath of My Spirit. My grace is active within you: it builds you up, it gives you your inheritance, and it trains you to live in godliness with joy and rest.

Sin no longer holds dominion over you, because I have moved you out from under law and into grace. You are not a servant trying to earn favor; you are My child, walking in the sufficiency I have placed within you. The stability you’ve longed for does not come from your discipline—it comes from a heart established in My grace. I will finish what I began in you. Day by day, you are being transformed—not by effort, but by beholding and believing.

(1 Corinthians 1:30, Colossians 2:10, 2 Corinthians 3:6, Acts 20:32, Romans 6:14, Hebrews 13:9, Philippians 1:6, 2 Corinthians 3:18)

Prayer of Trust and Confidence

Father, I rejoice that I no longer have to summon up sufficiency from within. You have poured Your grace into my life without measure. Thank You for placing me under the new covenant of Your Son, where everything I need has already been supplied. I trust You to express this sufficiency through me today—whether in weakness or strength, in speaking or in silence, in ministry or in rest. I trust You to live through me moment by moment, and I rejoice in the freedom and fruitfulness that come from abiding in grace.

Devotional Credit:
From Day by Day by Grace by Bob Hoekstra
Photo Credit: Unsplash.com