In Romans 5:12 – 21, the words “gift” (or “free gift”) and “grace” are used ten times. The grace, or free gift, referred to in these verses are all referencing the free gift of righteousness that is ours in Christ because of God’s abundant grace. Before Calvary, sin reigned, but now, in Christ, righteousness reigns. Righteousness is the antidote to sin. It is not just the antidote to sin’s condemnation but also the antidote to sin’s power in a person’s life. If Jesus at the cross had only paid for sin’s penalty, then we would be guaranteed a place in heaven one day, but also guaranteed to live in hell on earth because we would still be slaves to sin. Jesus didn’t just come to change our destination by overcoming sin’s penalty and giving us a righteous position before the Father so that we would go to heaven one day; he came to change our destiny while still on earth by giving us the gift of a life of righteous practice which bears the fruit of life and life more abundant while still on earth. You see, at the cross, Jesus placed us in his person, and because my life is hidden with Christ in God, I have his righteous standing before the Father, but because I am in his person, I also have his righteous walk available to me daily. Verse eighteen of Romans 5 speaks of the righteousness of life. Righteousness is a life; the life of Jesus. Remember what 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “The Father made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.” When it says in Romans 5, “where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more,” he’s not just referencing the fact that no matter how much I sin, my righteous standing is secure before the Father because of what Jesus did for me, but also is referencing the fact that no matter how big the sin has been in your life, the free gift, that is the grace gift, of who Jesus is in me, guarantees a righteous victory over that sins power to control me. Because I have the righteousness of God in Christ, I have His righteous standing before the Father and His righteous life when facing the enemy. This is why it says in 5:17 that those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one Christ Jesus.
