LIVING THE LIFE
ROMANS 5:17
ROMANS 5:17 NKJ
17 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.)
OBSERVATION:
Paul is contrasting the error of Adam with the work of obedience that Jesus did for us.
By one man's offense. When Adam sinned in the garden, he opened the door to death. Spiritual death took place in Adam and Eve, and that spiraled down into all aspects of our life on earth.
When God made man and placed them, Adam and Eve, in the garden, all was well. But Adam's fall has impacted all of mankind. We still see the effects of spiritual death in the earth today.
But thank God for Jesus! Jesus made it possible for us to receive spiritual life in our inner man. We are no longer separated from God; His very life is in us.
So, this is what Paul is referring to in this verse. Those of us who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will now reign in life.
Notice we did not earn an abundance of grace. And we could not earn righteousness. It was a gift. We can be participants in these wonderful gifts because of what Jesus has done for us.
APPLICATION:
This is where it gets good. The abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness is not something we get in heaven. They are available to us here and now.
So now, because of His grace and righteousness, we are not dominated by the death and darkness in the world.
We can live with joy instead of despair. We can live progressively freer from fear. We can have peace in a world marked by anxiety. We have the Holy Spirit helping us and guiding our way.
Instead of being ruled by situations and circumstances, by God's grace, we overcome them. God's life and light in us is stronger than the darkness around us. We are free to live a different kind of life. And it's a good kind of life.
People talk of 'living the life.' We are doing just that.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Father, for the abundance of Your grace and the gift of righteousness. I am living the life with You.