THE DAILY FOUNTAIN DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE OF THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)
DATE: THURSDAY, 10TH AUGUST, 2023
TOPIC: JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
TEXT: ROMANS 5
1. Therefore, having been justified by faith,we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2. through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3. And not only [that,] but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;
4. and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
10. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
11. And not only [that,] but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
12. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned
13. (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
15. But the free gift [is] not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.
16. And the gift [is] not like [that which came] through the one who sinned. For the judgment [which came] from one [offense resulted] in condemnation, but the free gift [which came] from many offenses [resulted] in justification.
17. For if by the one man's offense 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 offense [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.
20. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
21. so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
MESSAGE:
In today's passage, we are told about the justification that comes from the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Before the arrival of grace, law had been ruling the world. Sin entered into the world through the first Adam which brought death. However, God's grace manifested when He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to die for those without strength (v.6), and for the ungodly and sinners (vv. 7-8), which brought and still brings life to everyone who is justified by faith.
The grace that Christ brings to us justifies our faith in Him. We are not again under the works of the law. We should not allow sin to reign over our mortal body,. Rather, we should live above reproach and show forth the grace of God in us to others who have not received Christ. This does not mean that we are not prone to error, “to err is human but to forgive is divine.” Nevertheless, we should be convinced enough that our justification is not by the works of the law but by the grace of God who works in us.
PRAYER:
Lord, help me daily not to misuse Your grace and to live above the work of law. Amen.
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