Section 9
king because we are now in another kingdom. Once we were in the kingdom of death, and sin was our king through death. Now we are in the kingdom of life, and grace is our king. "Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life." This thought is very deep. Why must grace reign through righteousness? Because we were sin ners. If we had not been constituted sinners, we would have been clean and righteous, with noth ing in our being contradicting God's character. If such had been the case, we would not have needed righteousness. However, we were con stituted sinners. How can grace, which is God Himself, reign over such unrighteous people? Grace needs an instrument, a means, to reign. This instrument, this means is God's righteous ness. Thus, grace reigns through God's right eousness unto eternal life. Because Christ has died on the cross to accomplish redemption for us and because God's righteousness has been re vealed to us, we have a position to enjoy God as grace. We even have the position to claim God as our grace. Therefore, grace can reign through righteousness unto eternal life.
Let us apply this to our experience. Suppose I am a sinful, dying man. I am condemned to death, and death reigns over me. One day I