Day 16

 Romans 5:17 speaks the language of contrast: death and life, transgression and grace, loss and gift. Paul is honest about the reach of brokenness. Sin did not merely wound humanity; it reigned. Death became the dominant power shaping human life. That is the depth of the problem Scripture names.
 
But Paul’s emphasis falls on what comes after those words: “how much more.”
 
“How much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.” God’s response to human brokenness is not measured or cautious. It is abundant. Grace does not simply counteract sin; it overwhelms it. Where death once ruled, life now has the final word.

Notice what is required of us: not earning, not proving, not fixing—receiving. Grace is described as a gift, and righteousness as something given, not achieved. God’s abundance does not wait for us to get it right. It meets us in what has already gone wrong and offers a new way of living shaped by Christ.
 
To “reign in life” does not mean control or ease. It means that death no longer gets to define the story. Shame does not have the last word. Failure is no longer final. God’s abundant grace restores dignity and opens the possibility of a life marked by freedom, hope, and belonging.
 
This verse reminds us that abundance is not about having more, but about being given what truly gives life. In Christ, God does not ration grace. He pours it out.