Romans 5:10
For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!
When my bank sends me my statement, I will go through my checkbook register and reconcile it to the statement. If they don't agree on the balance, I don't tell the bank to change the statement, I change my checkbook register. The bank statement is the standard, and the error is in my register. When I correct the mistake, then it agrees with the statement.
God has reconciled us to Himself. He is the standard and we have made the errors. He forgives our sins through the price of our debt being paid on our behalf by Christ, He corrects our errors, and makes us right with Him, righteous. He writes our sin on Jesus' side of the register, then, to balance the books, He writes Jesus' righteousness on our side. Jesus didn't deserve to pay, and we don't deserve to receive. That's G.R.A.C.E.: God's Riches At Christ's Expense. His mercy is not giving us the punishment we deserve, and His grace is giving us His riches that we don't deserve.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
