The Gift

''But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ'' - Romans 5:17

I have to share what Joseph Prince spoke of at Hillsong London.
In the swoop of one sermon that so profoundly deconstructed and unveiled the deeper meaning of a well read verse to many, I find myself in awe and adamant of a heart change.

I am made in absolute perfection and ultimately righteous or made right and reconciled with God because of the beautiful sacrifice of Jesus and the gift it represents. You see, it is a gift -  not a reward. We cannot earn righteousness as one does with a reward  because then it would not be a gift. Not only that. Gifts cannot be returned to the giver and will not be taken back either. So there is absolutely nothing I can do, whether it be of the most utmost evil or greatest good, that can break this gift of reconciliation or make me more eligible to ask of it.

To live in such security in knowing it is already mine is breathtaking and almost too much to bear.
The word 'receive' in the verse is meant as daily partaking and drinking of the grace gift - for our feeble minds can so easily sway.

And I do not want to ever forget the gift I have been given.

Grace.