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The Sin and the Gift

Romans 5:16 Again the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

The sin of Adam brought death.  We are born into this condemnation by no choice of our own.  Judgment followed Adam's disobedience and therefore has affected the nature of all mankind.  Paul says that the gift is not like the trespass.  This threw me because I was thinking they were similar in the "once for all" way.  While there is truth in that statement, there is more depth to the difference between the sin and the gift.  The sin affects our very nature, we have no choice.  The gift, though, comes through our acceptance, our choice to claim Jesus' death as our own and to be justified through him.  Grace is a gift.  A life-changing, life-giving gift.  Once we accept this gift, we are free of the condemnation from our sin nature.  While death comes as a result of our sin nature, the gift comes from a living source, Jesus.  As Paul says, "how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." (Romans 15:17)  Jesus is alive and the Spirit changes the very nature of our being!  We are no longer under the yoke of slavery.  "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." (Galatians 5:16)  We have been given the gift of life, free from condemnation, accept this gift through Jesus Christ and live in Him!

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