J.A. Matteson
"...those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life...." (Rom. 5:17). In our daily experience we receive in two ways, actively and passively. Receiving a blow to the head in sports is passive. Receiving a Christmas gift is active. Grace is God's unmerited favor, we do not reach out and take hold of it as it is merely bestowed whether we appreciate it or not. As the Word says the rain falls on the just and unjust alike. The apostle also notes that we passively receive the gift of righteousness. How are we made righteous before God? Faith. Faith is the opposite side of the same coin of grace. In order for faith to be expressed we must first be the recipients of grace, the predicate in the apostles statement. As the Word says we love Him because He first loved us. Amazing grace indeed! We once were blind but now we see. Every blind man Jesus healed was a passive recipient of grace. Certainly the replacement of our heart of stone with a believing heart of flesh is no less a miracle of grace. Soli deo Gloria
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