The Awesome Gift of Righteousness

For if by one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17

So many believers struggle with whether they deserve to be blessed, favored, and victorious. That is actually the wrong question to ask. We should be asking if Jesus deserves to be blessed, favored and victorious. Because you are in Christ, having a blessed future is not based on how much you strive to be perfect or how hard you work at changing yourself. It’s all based on the person of Jesus.

One of my favorite scriptures is 1 John 4:17. It proclaims, “As He is, so are we in this world.” Does Jesus deserve to be blessed, favored and victorious? Then so do you. This is what being in Christ Jesus means. It means that today, God looks at you and sees you based on the perfection of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ righteousness is yours. In fact, the Bible explains that because Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us, we are now the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Righteousness is a legal term. It means to have a right standing before God. The Vines Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words defines righteousness as “that gracious gift of God to men whereby all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are brought into right relationship with God.” In other words, your right standing before God is based upon Jesus’ right standing before God.

Today, you are as righteous as Jesus because your righteousness is from Him. He purchased if for you at the cross. When you received Him as your Lord and Savior, He took away all your unrighteousness once and for all and gave you His gift of righteousness. This righteousness is something that you can never obtain or achieve through your right doing; it can only be received by your right believing in Jesus.

Do you know what happens when you receive this gift of righteousness? The Bible declares that “those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). So, when you reign, your addictions and habits don’t. When you reign, sicknesses doesn’t. When you reign, fear, depression, and every obstacle that is keeping you from living your life to the fullest will be torn down. PTL