Today we continue our series entitled, “Grace and Truth.” This series will serve as a ‘refresher’ on the grace of God. We all need to be reminded of God’s grace and how we are supposed to respond to grace with our faith. Today I will talk about the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness we receive in Christ Jesus. I will share Romans 5:17 from two translations and then get into the message.
(Romans 5:17 NKJV)
For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
(Romans 5:17 TPT)
Death once held us in its grip, and by the blunder of one man, death reigned as king over humanity. But now, how much more are we held in the grip of grace and continue reigning as kings in life, enjoying our regal freedom through the gift of perfect righteousness in the one and only Jesus, the Messiah!
One man, Adam, introduced the world to sin and death. The “Last Adam”, Jesus, came to get us out of everything Adam got us into. Under the Old Covenant believers lived by self-effort and human performance. Under the New Covenant we get to embrace God’s grace and receive everything Jesus did for us. In Jesus we have:
1. An abundance of Grace (Grace that will not run out)
2. The gift of Righteousness (Righteousness that cannot be earned)
Abundance of grace:
1. Grace FROM Sin (your past, present and future).
2. Grace FOR Purpose (your future).
– The devil wants you focused on your PAST.
– God wants you focused on your PURPOSE.
The God of Grace is faithful to you, even when you are not faithful to Him! The Bible says, “If we are faithless [do not believe and are untrue to Him], He remains true (faithful to His Word and His righteous character), for He cannot deny Himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13 AMP)
– Under the Old Covenant, you had to DO right to BE right.
– You had to DO right, in order for God to bless you.
– When you walked away from God, He allowed you to face what you faced without His power, presence or protection.
– Under the New Covenant, He will not DENY HIMSELF. When He looks at You (if you are Born-Again), He sees Himself, because He sees His SON! He cannot deny His SON and He will not deny the purpose He placed IN you before the world began!
*** When the devil looks at you, he sees SIN. When God looks at you, He sees His Son… and He will not deny Himself! ***
Once you are Born-Again, God is NOT HOLDING YOUR SIN against you:
(Heb 8:12 KJV)
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
– God has promised to be merciful to your unrighteousness.
– Once you are covered by the Blood of Jesus and forgiven of sin, God not holding what you did against you.
– What you did is not who you are.
– When God looks at you, He does not see what you did, He sees His purpose! And He sees His Son!
– Sin still has consequences. You will still reap what you sow. Sin cannot unravel your righteousness, but it can unravel your life. So yes, we are to abstain from sin. But even if you do sin, God is not holding it against you.
So:
– Don’t judge your future by your past.
– Judge your future by God’s purpose for your life!
– Repent, receive forgiveness, forgive yourself, and move on!
– God is not through with you!
– He wants you use you by GRACE!
*** God wants to bless you – NOT BECAUSE YOU ARE SO GOOD – but because HE IS SO GOOD! ***
The gift of righteousness:
This is our inheritance from Jesus: We are made right.
(2 Cor 5:21 KJV)
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
– Jesus had NO sin.
– There was NO sin in Him.
– Jesus was MADE sin.
– So we could be MADE righteous!
– We had NO righteousness in us.
– We were MADE righteous!
*** Establish yourself in the righteousness Jesus died to give you. ***
*** You are not righteous because of what you do, or what you fail to do. You are righteous because of what Jesus did! ***
So what does this mean for you today? I have shared a bunch already, but here are a few parting thoughts:
1. God loves you despite your flaws. He loves you by His unearned grace.
2. God wants to bless you because He is good! Not because you are.
3. God knows you are not perfect, and He called you anyway!
4. All God is looking for you to do is BELIEVE! When you BELIEVE and you RECEIVE His Grace, He can flow through you to do the supernatural and accomplish the impossible.
5. The Law was focused on man working for God. Grace is focused on God working for man. Grace takes the pressure off of you! Your work is ONLY TO BELIEVE!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for loving me enough to plan my existence before the world began. You knew WHEN and WHERE I would be born because He came up with the WHY! I am not a mistake. I am here for Your Purpose. You knew I would be born a sinner, with the inheritance of Adam. But You also knew, in advance, that I would accept the Gospel message and be Born-Again in Christ Jesus. You allow me to make my own decisions and You planned my life out in accordance with those decisions. You have made plans to bless me richly by Your Grace. The more I understand the abundance of Grace and the gift of righteousness You gave me in Christ Jesus, the more free I am to live and enjoy the life Jesus died to give me. I used to live my life with all sorts of pressures. But the more I receive and understand Your Grace, the more I can release the pressures of life over to You. I know I have Grace to face whatever I encounter and I know Your Grace is on me to WIN every time. I will become the man/woman I was born to be. I will change the world! Because it’s not me doing it. It’s You Father, living in me, giving me the words and performing the work! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
