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The Gifts Of God

THE RIGHTEOUS ONE
BY REVD ‘REMI TEJUMOLA

ROMANS 5: 17-19 NKJV
17 For if by the one man’s offence 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.
18 Therefore, as through one man’s offence
judgment came to all men, resulting in
condemnation, even so through one Man’s
righteous act the free gift came to all men,
resulting in justification of life.
19 For as by one man’s disobedience many
Were made sinners, so also by one Man’s
obedience many will be made righteous.

The Chambers dictionary defines the word ‘gift’ as ‘something freely given’. In the Bible, we found out that there are various kinds of ‘gifts’ that God gives. In spiritual terminology, some of these gifts fall under the category of endowments or divine abilities. But here, in this teaching we will concentrate on ‘some things freely given’ by the Almighty God.

All the time gifts are given at no cost to recipients. All the time too, the giver of the gifts gave them out at a cost to him [the Giver]. Some time money is spent to purchase those gift items, some other times the giver has to let go of a precious possession. But all that the recipient does is receive the gifts with appreciation. [Please follow my line of thought.] God has given us free gifts at a cost to Himself and costing us nothing, but to just receive whatever He freely offers. Right now I will list out some things that God has freely provided for us all through Christ Jesus – His gifts to us:

1. The gift of salvation and eternal life (which also include the gift of righteousness – our subject) .

2. The gift of the Holy Spirit and the accompanying spiritual gifts (Acts 2: 38-39; 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11).

3. The gift of deliverance from the power of darkness (Colossians 1: 12-14).

4. The gift of healing from all sicknesses and all diseases through the stripes on Jesus’ back (Matthew 8: 16-17; 1 Peter 2: 24).

5. The gift of prosperity (2 Corinthians 8: 9).

As I prepare this material, I watched a video highlight of a Benny Hinn Miracle Crusade that took place right there in Tulsa, Oklahoma a few years ago. Many people got saved, healed, baptised in the Holy Spirit, and a host of other things. Then the reality of what I’m sharing here dawns more and more on me. God is so wonderful for all His wonderful gifts to us!

THE VITAL STEP
The gifts God gives are free though they cost Him the life of His only Son, Jesus Christ. One thing you need to understand is that no one gets away with anything – good or evil. What brought that to focus is the fact that Jesus was punished for all of our sins. Forgiveness of sin is very free but not cheap. Forgiveness of sins came at no small cost and it’s available to all, yet not everyone gets it. It’s available only to repentant sinners. No confession of sin, and no repentance from the same, no forgiveness from God. The justice of God must be satisfied. In Jesus, it was satisfied on our behalf. But the reality of that satisfaction will become evident in everyone who believes that Jesus Christ died for us and rose again from the dead according to the scriptures, receives Him as Saviour and confesses Him as Lord.

The word righteousness means ‘right standing’ which in biblical terms means ‘right standing with God’. Most people all over the world think that it means the goody-goody way that we live and behave. Some others thought it means being pious or religious. But no, it means being in right standing with God. To be in right standing with God is like a person who leads his life in a way that is not contrary to the laws with which his nation is governed. So a person who is in right standing with God lives like that before Him. His life does not violate the commandments of God in any way and at any level. He is God’s man or woman. But can we say that we’re really like that?

In the Old Testament times it was required that a truly righteous person qualifies for it in the manner in which his life is lived. But in the New Testament, it is the other way round: when a sinner repents from sin (regardless of how bad) and accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, he will instantly be given righteousness as a gift from God. So he became righteous only on the merits of Jesus, not his own. But it doesn’t stop there. God now demands that the recipient of the gift of righteousness begin to lead a righteous life which he received by the grace of God alone.

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