Limitless Word
And 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 who are sanctified.
Acts 20:32 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Now, brothers, I entrust you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build up, and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Paul commits the elders to God and to the word of His grace, which can build them up and grant the inheritance among the sanctified. He entrusts them to God's keeping power.

Overview

Knowing he must leave, Paul commends the elders to God and to the gospel of grace as the true source of their strength and growth. That word builds believers up and secures their share in the eternal inheritance with all who are made holy. Ultimately the church is kept not by human leaders but by God and His gracious word centered in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 32

  • Col 1:12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
  • Eph 1:14who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.
  • Acts 26:18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’
  • Col 3:24because you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
  • Eph 1:18I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
  • Heb 9:15Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
  • Col 2:7rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
  • Jer 3:19Then I said, ‘How I long to make you My sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations!’ I thought you would call Me ‘Father’ and never turn away from following Me.
  • 1 Pet 1:4–5and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,
  • Jude 1:24–25Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
  • Eph 5:5For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
  • Heb 13:9Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods of no value to those devoted to them.
  • Acts 20:24But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
  • Jude 1:20But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
  • 1 Cor 6:11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
  • John 17:17Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.
  • Eph 2:20–22built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
  • Acts 14:23Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.
  • Heb 2:11For both the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.
  • Heb 10:14because by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified.
  • 1 Cor 3:9–10For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
  • Acts 14:26From Attalia they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had just completed.
  • 1 Cor 1:2To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
  • Eph 4:16From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part.
  • Acts 14:3So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who affirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.
  • John 15:3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
  • Eph 4:12to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ,
  • Acts 9:31Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced a time of peace. It grew in strength and numbers, living in the fear of the Lord and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
  • Jer 49:11Abandon your orphans; I will preserve their lives. Let your widows trust in Me.”
  • Acts 15:40but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.
  • Jude 1:1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept in Jesus Christ:
  • Gen 50:24Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely visit you and bring you up from this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (8)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Acts 20:32YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.

How Acts 20:32 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.