The Gift Of Righteousness

Romans 5:17
"For if by one man's offense, death reigned through the one, MUCH MORE those who receive {not everyone in the world, just those who receive} ABUNDANCE OF GRACE {not a trickle} AND THE GIFT {not a REWARD} OF RIGHTEOUSNESS will reign IN LIFE {not in heaven} through the One; Jesus Christ."

Grace is a gift you receive; not a reward for your performance.  Like any gift, it must be received; but it can also be refused.  That's why universal salvation, meaning that everyone is automatically saved, DOES NOT EXIST. There is a choice to be made.  And the grace we receive is "ABUNDANCE OF GRACE," not a little trickle.  HALLELUIA!

You don't need to shout from the rooftops, "Turn away from sin and return to righteousness!"  There is NO POWER in that......unless your whole purpose is to cause people to turn AWAY from righteousness.  Believe it or not, people really desire to live holy lives.  Most aren't looking for an excuse to sun more;  they're looking for a way out.  

Tell people how much God loves them.  Tell them how He died for their sins, how there isn't any good thing He withholds from those He loves.  When they accept His free gift, they now join the ranks of those withwhom He is well-pleased.  When the realization of that hits them, it causes their lives to be transformed FROM THE INSIDE OUT, without your efforts I might add, pastors!

The Holy Spirit IS THE ONLY ONE Who can get inside and transform lives.  Our job is to give Him the raw materials He needs to do His work:  Pictures of Jesus and His finished work of redemption, of His great love for us, of our complete lovexand acceptance by the Father and our continual, eternal, irreversible, irrevocable right standing before Him are His tools.

It's SO much better to use God's program, not the devil's lie of a little Grace, a little Law, i.e. your efforts + His forgiveness when you ultimately FAIL.....as if we weren't' already forgiven ALL and as if Jesus never died.

Church, IT'S JESUS +NOTHING.....PERIOD!

  

Trust me:  God's program works.  You ought to try it sometime.  It's so important that Christians are perpetually aware that, when they said, "Yes!" to Jesus, He bestowed on them His priceless, irreplaceable and IRREVOCABLE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.