Romans 5:17
"For if by one man's offense death reigned by one, much more they which "receive" abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ."
"Receive" here refers to the Greek word "lam-ban-o"(G2983), which the Apostle Paul uses, in reference to the context, to mean: "receiving something which CANNOT be rejected"...
As example, Apostle Paul uses it in Romans:
Romans 1:5 -"through whom we "receive" grace and apostleship..."
Romans 5:11 -"whom we have "received" the reconciliation..."
Romans 8:15 -"but ye "received" the spirit of adoption, where we cry, Abba, Father."
Romans 13:2 -"And they that withstand shall "receive" to themselves judgement... "
Then, this "receive" the abundance of grace here have a really strong meaning! it means:
1. You will receive grace even if you don't want it..
2. You will receive grace even if you reject it...
3. You will receive grace even if you don't deserve it! (though it wouldn't be grace if you deserve it..)
Then what is this GRACE that you would receive whether you like it or not? Let us see from the context:
1.) We receive the grace of THE RENEWAL OF NATURE!(Rom. 6:6) - our natures will be renewed whether we like it or not. Once we loved sin, we were slaves... but when this POWERFUL grace comes in, we are transformed! We are freed from the power of sin, that results in our "change of taste"... we now become ashamed of the things we used to enjoy(Rom 6:23), and we begin to truly hate sin and find pleasure in God. Now, as a result of that transforming grace, we do things that leads to holiness, thus we become repentant, and strive hard to PUT AWAY, LEAVE BEHIND, PUT TO DEATH, the deeds of our old nature!
2.) We receive JUSTIFICATION !(Rom 5:16) - we become legally declared righteous before God's courts..
3.) We receive ETERNAL LIFE! (Rom 5:21) - we would live to enjoy God forever! On and On and On and On til the times of no end! such joy and ecstasy in the Lord beyond comprehension!
4.) We receive RECONCILIATION! (Rom 5:11) - we are God's objects of wrath and fury, and God is our object of hatred, BUT NOW, through the death of Jesus, we are Reconciled! hostility is removed!
We Thank You Lord that your grace is more powerful than our rejection! We thank you that your grace is powerful enough to remove the evil in our hearts that would have caused us to reject you. Your grace is powerful enough to cleanse us from our unbelief! If your grace were weaker, we wouldn't have been saved... THANK YOU AMAZING GRACE!
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*** On the other hand, "receive" has another Greek work --> "Dechomai"(G1209) which means, "to recieve something WHICH CAN BE REJECTED"... as contrasted to "Lambano"(G2983) which is a stronger verb... and in Romans 5:17, "lambano" is used... NOT "dechomai"...
In Romans 5:18, Christ died for ALL... and that "ALL" pertains to those who "receive"... thus careful interpretation of Rom 5:17 and Rom 5:18, would mean: Christ died for ALL who RECIEVE (Particular Atonement)... thus, those for whom Christ died would NOT FAIL to receive that abundance of grace!(Irresistible Grace)
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