Acts 20:32 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

NIV: Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

NASB: And now I entrust you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

CSB: "And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

NLT: And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.

KJV: And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

NKJV: “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

On his way home from his second missionary journey (Acts 18:19–21), Paul spent a very brief time in Ephesus. In his second visit, he stayed three years (Acts 20:31). Now, on the way back from his third trip, his schedule is so tight he invites the elders of the church to meet him in Miletus (Acts 20:16–17).

He warns them their church will face attacks by "fierce wolves" (Acts 20:29): false teachers "speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them" (Acts 20:30). He reminds them how passionately he admonished the church to keep their faith in Christ (Acts 20:31).

The Holy Spirit has already told Paul he will be imprisoned when he reaches Jerusalem. He will never see these elders again (Acts 20:22–25). He will not be able to meet with them and answer their questions in person. He will not be able to stand with them and pray against the warfare they will face. He can, however, give them to God. God will provide what they need to stand strong against their enemies (Ephesians 6:11).

Ultimately, the inheritance of the believer is the right to be a child of God: to be reconciled with our heavenly Father and live with Him for eternity (Ephesians 1:11–14). Peter explains that the hardships the Ephesian elders—and all believers—face are to test our faith: to both strengthen it and reveal it to ourselves. He says our inheritance is "imperishable, undefiled, and unfading." We cannot lose it (1 Peter 1:3–7). We will share in God's glory (Romans 8:17). We will live forever in paradise with no tears, death, or mourning (Revelation 21:4).

"Those who are sanctified" refer to those who are saved. The Bible describes three stages of sanctification. When we are saved, we receive positional sanctification: we are forgiven, and no one can take our salvation away from us. Throughout our lives, as we become more spiritually mature and Christlike, we experience progressive sanctification. Upon death, when we receive our glorified bodies and are no longer subject to sin, we will have ultimate sanctification. God's grace sanctifies us; we can neither save ourselves nor perform good works under our own power (Ephesians 2:8–10). Paul knows that God will do this for the Ephesians.

Acts 20:28–35 records Paul's last words to the elders of Ephesus. He has reminded them of his own faithful service to them and the church. He has told them he is going to Jerusalem where he will be imprisoned; they will never see him again (Acts 20:18–27). Now, he exhorts them to follow his example in leading the church, protecting their people from false teachers, and sacrificing worldly gain to bring others to Christ. Paul will live out this last point as he spends the next five years in custody but still preaching and writing to the churches (Acts 28:30–31).

Acts 20 finishes Paul's third missionary journey. He leaves Ephesus after three years and travels to Macedonia and Corinth. Threats from the Corinthian Jews send him and his team back to Macedonia and Troas. In Troas, Paul gives a very long sermon and raises Eutychus from the dead after he falls—both asleep and out a window. In Miletus, Paul meets with the Ephesian elders. He reminds them to beware of false teachers and tells them he is going to be imprisoned and will not see them again. After a tearful farewell, he boards a ship for Judea.

Acts 20 records the last stages of Paul's third missionary journey. He started by visiting the churches he and Barnabas had planted in central modern-day Turkey (Acts 18:23). From there, he traveled southwest to the province of Asia, where he established a church in Ephesus (Acts 19). In Acts 20, he visits the churches in Macedonia and Greece before returning to Judea. When he lands, he meets briefly with Philip the Evangelist in Caesarea Maritima before going to Jerusalem and getting arrested. He will stay in house arrest for the next two years before embarking on a dangerous sea voyage to Rome (Acts 21—28).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.