New Insights into Acts 20: The Word of His Grace

In this “new insights into Acts” series, we are re-examining the text of Acts under the premise that Matthew was published coincident with the events of Acts 10–11, and that Mark was published shortly thereafter. Further, that these Gospels were immediately accepted as authoritative Scripture, as having been published by the apostles or approved by them.¹ I’ve also asserted, given the timing, that Paul took these Gospels with him on his missionary journeys, that he preached from Matthew in the synagogues, that he encouraged the churches based on the Gospels, and that he left behind copies.² Accordingly, we are seeking to understand: how does this paradigm change our understanding of Acts?³

In Acts 20, Paul meets with the Ephesian elders in Miletus (20:17). He reminds them of his ministry, of his preaching and teaching (20:19–20), and of his call for repentance and faith (20:21). He is on his way back to Jerusalem, where he anticipates imprisonment and affliction (20:23). His goal is to finish his ministry well—”to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (20:24). May this be our goal as well!

Paul testifies that he has declared to them “the whole counsel of God” (20:26). Surely this included not only a declaration of the mysteries which had been directly revealed to Paul (e.g., Rom. 16:25; 1 Cor. 4:1; Gal. 1:12; Eph. 3:3), but also the full breadth of the available Gospels, per the above premise. Next, he warns them concerning the coming wolves (Acts 20:28–30). Then,

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. (Acts 20:32 ESV)

What is this “word of his grace” to which he is referring, which is able to build them up? If Paul is merely commending or entrusting them to God’s grace, akin to the blessing which he offers in many of his letters, then would he not have simply commended them to God and to His grace?⁴ For example, he offers such a blessing in his letter to the Ephesians: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:2). But Paul is evidently saying something more in Acts 20:32, within the context of the coming wolves.

In the last chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, Paul likewise encourages the Ephesians to “be strong in the Lord” that they might “stand against the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:10–11). How? By putting on “the whole armor of God,” including the belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet, and finally, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (6:13–17). We understand the “word” which Paul is referring to here, yes?⁵ He is referring to the Scriptures “breathed out by God,” which equip the [Christian] “man of God … for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16).

Accordingly, I contend that the available NT Scriptures are the “word of grace” which Paul is referring to in Acts 20:32.⁶ This would include not only the early Gospels, but several of Paul’s letters by this time.⁷ Paul is not leaving the Ephesian elders unarmed. Rather, he has delivered to them the Gospels and his own teachings, the very “word of God,” testifying of God’s grace, that they might be built up and might defend against the wolves who will come after Paul’s departure.

1. Daniel B. Moore, A Trustworthy Gospel: Arguments for an Early Date for Matthew’s Gospel (Eugene, OR: Wipf  and Stock, 2024), 128. ↩︎
2. I should likewise add the assumption that whenever Luke became available, then this would have been used when working with his non-Jewish audiences. ↩︎
3. For example, interrelationships between the Pastorals and Matthew, Romans and Matthew, etc. are explored in chapter 8, “The Impacts of an Early Matthew on NT Exegesis,” in Moore, A Trustworthy Gospel. ↩︎
4. In contrast, Schnabel contends that “the word of his grace” or “the message about his grace” is a hendiadys, a rhetorical expression in which message and grace connect together to express a singular idea; namely, “explaining the one concept that it is God who is active in the ‘message’ or word about God’s grace that Paul has proclaimed in Ephesus and which the Ephesians elders continue to preach and to live by. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the word of saving ‘grace’ granted by God to those who come to faith in Jesus.” Eckhard J. Schnabel, Acts, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), 850. Likewise, David G. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009), 572. ↩︎
5. Foulkes recogizes that “The Greek rhēma is used in this verse [Eph. 6:17], but reference to a concordance shows that both this word and the Greek word logos [as is used in Acts 20:32] are often used in this same sense in the New Testament.” Francis Foulkes, Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1989), 181n4. ↩︎
6. Note that this same argument also applies to “the word of his grace” as referenced in Acts 14:3, when Paul preached in Iconium, to which signs and wonders bore witness. ↩︎
7. By my assessment, Paul had already written Galatians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Romans by this time. James had also been written fifteen years earlier. ↩︎