17 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.
and also Ephesians 4:7:
7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
I jotted down these key words: righteousness,, being made right with God, grace, joy,loving kindness, mercy, governed by the divine, gratefulness.
Now the root word of ‘dorea’ is the Greek word ‘dōron’ meaning ‘sacrifices and other gifts offered to God’ or ‘money cast into the treasury for the purposes of the temple and for the support of the poor’.
An internal response to our relationship with Christ
In this I see two things. The first maybe obvious, Jesus Christ being the ultimate sacrifice. But I also feel it signifies an internal response. One that I have written about a lot the last few months. It is the internal change that begins to take place if we have truly given ourselves, devoted our selves to Jesus Christ. It may be (as it is for me) a very slow change, but I believe as we devote ourselves to Heavenly Father’s plan & marvel at the sacrifice of His son that there is an inward transformation where we begin to seek obedience to their plan. We begin to thirst to obedience (righteousness). I believe this becomes a form of worship. Not obedience out of duty or service or obligation, though sometimes those things are OK. But the deep desire to please God through our actions and our lives, worship by obedience.
So I believe this gift is the gift of:
1) knowing Jesus Christ, having this work of righteous begun in us, the ‘payment’ of this immeasurable debt
2) then with baptism the receiving of the Holy Ghost
3) the inward transformation where we begin to respond to the above gift, by pouring out our lives in worshipful obedience to Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ
Did you get something else? Please, post it here! I’m not teaching (in no way qualified). Just sharing.
