ROMANS 5:17 (KJV) FOR IF BY ONE MAN’S OFFENCE DEATH REIGNED BY ONE; MUCH MORE THEY WHICH RECEIVE ABUNDANCE OF GRACE AND OF THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL REIGN IN LIFE BY ONE, JESUS CHRIST.
How God desires that all His children would live in absolute victory, dominion, and success! The Word of God shows us that His plan and heart for man from the very beginning was that he would dominate. After he had created man, He Blessed them and said, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue i: and have dominion over the fish of the seas and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26) God never made man to be beaten and battered through life, he created man that would rule and subdue the earth. However, when Adam sinned, death reigned. But thanks be unto God, our Lord Jesus Christ abolished death and made us Kings and Priests unto God and His father (Rev 1:5-6).
What does it mean to be king? In our opening scripture, the Word of God says, “…much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.” The Greek rendering of the word ‘reign’ means ‘to king’ or ‘to be king’.
Therefore, in the Greek construction, that verse would read, “…much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall king or be kings in life by one, Jesus Christ.” A king reigns. To reign is to exercise authority, control and influence. Simply put, to reign is to exercise rule and to be in charge.
Every child of God is a king in this life, born, predestined and assigned to reign in this life (Revelation 5:10). You’re not going to reign in heaven because there’s nothing to reign over in heaven. You’re to reign as king and function with authority in the earth. There is not even one child of God that was born to be a victim in this world! In fact, though you are in this world, you are not of it.
Therefore, refuse to be ruled by the world and its diabolic systems that are programmed for failure. God wants and expects you to king in life over demons, sickness, disease, poverty, want, failure, circumstances and death!
As a child of God, it is imperative for you to understand that life is spiritual and therefore, the Spirit of God wants you to be trained in the things of the spirit so that you may reign in life. Thus, in this series, you will receive training that will equip you to reign in this world.
For you to reign in this life, it is needful for you to: 1. Understand righteousness and, receive & personalize grace; 2. Know and Do God’s Word; and, 3. Practice Hearing and Obeying God’s Voice.
Understanding Righteousness and, Receiving & Personalizing Grace.
FOR IF BECAUSE OF ONE MAN’S TRESPASS (LAPSE, OFFENSE) DEATH REIGNED THROUGH THAT ONE, MUCH MORE SURELY WILL THOSE WHO RECEIVE [GOD’S] OVERFLOWING GRACE (UNMERITED FAVOR) AND THE FREE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS [PUTTING THEM INTO RIGHT STANDING WITH HIMSELF] REIGN AS KINGS IN LIFE THROUGH THE ONE MAN JESUS CHRIST (THE MESSIAH, THE ANOINTED ONE). ROMANS 5:17 (AMP)
According to Romans 5:17, you rule and reign as a king when you receive the gift of righteousness and abundance of grace.
Understanding Righteousness
Righteousness is the ability to stand before God, man and the devil without a sense of guilt, fear or condemnation. It is also the nature of God that produces in a human person, the rightness of God. It is God’s ability in every child of God that causes him to do right. It is a FREE GIFT from God and not a reward for good works. You RECEIVE a gift. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
When you get born again, righteousness is imparted into your spirit and you become a partaker of God’s divine nature-righteousness (2 Peter 1:4). Since you have God’s nature of righteousness in you, sin has no power over you and therefore death cannot reign over you.
You reign. Now you understand why the understanding of the doctrine of righteousness is vital-it makes you a master in life. It gives you a sense of dominion so that nothing can move you; you are always in charge, and in control of circumstances.
The lack of understanding of the doctrine of righteousness is the heart reason for many condemned and fearful children of God. When you understand the doctrine of righteousness, the devil and his demons can never successfully threaten you. You know who you are.
The article ‘the’ is used to show that the gift righteousness is definite. It shows us that you have the same ‘level’ of righteousness with every other Christian; whether they just got born again, or they have been born again for many years; whether they are mature Christians or baby Christians. In other words, just as you cannot increase or decrease in humanity, you do not increase or decrease in righteousness.
Receiving and Personalizing the Abundance of Grace
What is Grace? Many people describe grace as ‘unmerited favor’ but Grace is much more than that. It is the divine influence on the heart of a man that is expressed outwardly. It is the out-working of a divine inward influence in your spirit (or heart) through God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. In other words, it is the glory of God working in your spirit; the overflowing of God’s ability at work in your life.
The phrase ‘abundance of grace’ in Romans 5:17 describes unlimited overflowing grace. This overflowing grace is only beneficial to those who receive it. Note also, the word ‘receive’ is translated ‘lambano’ from the Greek. It means to ‘take, catch, or seize something and make it yours (personalize)’. It does not in any way mean passive receiving. You don’t wait for it to come to you; rather, you reach out, catch it and make it yours. Apostle Paul told Timothy, “…Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:1).” He was simply encouraging Timothy to take advantage of (lambano) the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Therefore Beloved, don’t take little of the grace; rather, lambano as much grace as you require to reign in this life.
Notice, that the article ‘the’ that has been used before ‘gift of righteousness’ has not been used for ‘abundance of grace’. That’s because, in as much as you cannot increase or decrease in righteousness, there is such a thing as growing in grace. As you study and you grow in the knowledge of God and of our Lord Jesus, grace is MULTIPLIED in your life (2 Peter 1:2). Therefore, be diligent in your study and meditation of the Word of God because grace will not be added, but multiplied in your life.
Finally, beloved, the summary of today’s teaching is this: that we begin to reign in life when we understand the doctrine of righteousness and lambano the overflowing grace that has been lavishly made available to us by our father.
God bless you.
