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Balance of Powers
Acts 4:33
"And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all."
Two powers are revealed in this verse that enabled the apostles to accomplish great works. The verse above says that the apostles had "great power" and "great grace." It was important that the apostles had both of these powers together, for one without the other would have hindered them from accomplishing what God intended for them to do. The great power that these apostles had was balanced out by their great grace. Likewise their great grace was balanced out by their great power. Each power alone would have hurt them and others.
The word "power" carries several definitions that properly describe this "great power." It means, ability, authority, force, energy, or driving force. This power is what allowed them to accomplish the great works. With this power, they became bold. With this power, they would not let anything stop them. With this power, they acquired an authority that could have caused them to want everything to be about what they could get. The power these men had could have ruined them. Often you will hear that power corrupts good people. This is very true, but these apostles knew that they needed "great grace" to balance out their "great power."
The word "grace" means, elegance, goodwill, decor, good manners and kindness. In other words, the apostles balanced their power with grace so they could keep those whom they helped. Yes, they did the works of God with power, but they had a good attitude while they did their works. Yes, the power these men had enabled them to have the ability to take advantage of those they helped, but they balanced this out by giving to those whom they helped. Grace kept their power in check.
Every Christian needs a balance of great power and grace. It is about time that Christians start doing the work of God with power. In other words, don't do God's work apologetically. Jesus never apologized for doing what He was supposed to do. Likewise, when you are doing the works of God, you need to carry out these works with energy and boldness. There ought to be an excitement when you do the works of God. You should have a driving force that realizes that every person with whom we deal will either go to Heaven or Hell. We should not be passive about God's works, for we carry an authority from God to do them.
However, be sure that you are graceful as you carry out God's works. In other words, don't run over people just to get God's work done. Remember that the work of God is about reaching people. We don't want to run several off in an attempt to save one. Every person is important to God. Be sure that you have a right attitude as you do the works of God. Be sure that you are kind as you do God's work. Be sure that you have good manners while you do God's work. This grace will balance out your power.
Notice that both are important and relevant to great works being performed. Great power without great grace will hurt people. On the other hand, great grace without great power will cause you to compromise. If all you are concerned with is not hurting people, then you will eventually compromise truth. Both grace and power are needed to keep you right and from hurting others. Power will accomplish what needs to be done, but grace will keep those whom you reached with power. As you go throughout your day, don't be afraid to have great power as you tell others about Jesus, but also be sure that you are graceful as you use this great power that God gives to you.