We all like receiving free gifts. Probably the best news we could ever hear is that we have been given the gift of righteousness without having to do anything for it. All our own efforts to become righteous are in vain. What we could not do, God did for us by sending His Son to die for us. The Bible calls it a free gift: we don’t deserve it, we cannot pay for it, earn it or work for it. The only thing we have to do is believe it! Righteousness means right standing with God. It means that we can stand in His presence clean and without sin because the blood of Jesus has washed us. But we have to receive it. Romans 5:17 says, “those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through Jesus Christ”. The more we realise that we are righteous, the less we will want to sin. Paul exhorts us to “Awake to righteousness and sin not!” God has given us power over sin so we need to unwrap this gift, examine it, use it – apply it to our lives and enjoy it!
