The Gift of Grace To You
For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:17 KJV).
The gift of grace is righteousness, given through belief in Jesus. Righteousness is right standing with God, a position where you are seen as right with God, and declared not-guilty! Actually, righteousness should be achieved by always doing what is right, so you won’t be guilty in the first place. However, grace introduced an unthinkable concept for humanity. Through grace, man received this right standing with God as a gift.
A gift means exactly that- it’s free and undeserved! If you work for it, then it is no longer a gift, but payment you earned. The people of Israel had to work very hard to keep endless laws, so they would be right before God. This was not only tough; it was impossible to meet God’s standards through their own efforts. In fact, the scripture says no man can really be made righteous in God’s sight by trying to keep the law (Rom. 3:20).
Grace provides the righteousness God demands of us free of charge, but just like any gift, Someone had to pay for it. Our righteousness is free to us, but it was not free for Christ. Man’s right standing with God came at the expense of His Son’s life. For Christ to give you the gift of righteousness, He had to become sin, and suffer God’s full judgment, in our place. Grace has a gift for you. Receive your righteousness with gratitude.
MEDITATE
According to the scripture above, how much grace was poured out on us through Jesus? Declare that “I have received the abundance of grace and righteousness; therefore, I reign in every circumstance”.
APPLY THE WORD
Godly righteousness, in your outward character, will only be produced when you receive God’s gift by faith. Without it, the Christian life will remain a struggle.
PRAY
Thank the Lord for paying for your gift of righteousness with His life.
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