<p>9:8 <i>And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that you, having always all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work</i>- Paul often uses <i>charis</i>, &quot;gift&quot; or &quot;grace&quot;, in connection with the gift of the Holy Spirit. This gift, he feels, should elicit giving and grace within us, which is why in this section he puts &quot;grace&quot; for their giving to the Jerusalem Poor Fund. They had been asked to abound in this grace (see on 8:7), which in practice meant giving to the poor; and God was able in turn to make all grace abound to them. In this sense we receive grace for grace (Jn. 1:16). The gift of grace is not just a one off gift at baptism; in response to how we use it, so it will be given yet more to us. The simple principle is that God will empower us to do good works; we cannot blame a lack of good works on God not having empowered us.</p>