reconciled to God

Jesus’ ministry on earth began when he was declared by John the Baptist to be, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). After Jesus was baptized, Matthew tells us that a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Not long before he was crucified, Jesus revealed to his disciples his purpose for coming to earth. Jesus told them, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28). The Greek word that is translated ransom, Lutron (looˊ-tron) is “used metaphorically for the ransom paid by Christ for the delivering of men from the bondage of sin and death (Matthew 2);28; Mark 10:45)” (G3083). Paul explained in his first letter to Timothy that Jesus was acting as a mediator between God and man when he died for the sin of the world. Paul said we should pray for all people because, “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Timothy 2:3-6),

Jesus compared his position as the Son of Man to that of a slave (Matthew 20:27-28). Jesus served his Father and mankind by coming to earth to reconcile all people to God. In this relationship of servitude, Jesus was one whose will was completely subject to the will of another, the lowest term in the scale of servitude. A mediator, as a go-between, is “one who intervenes between two parties” (G3316). It was necessary for Jesus to intervene between God and mankind because of the wrath of God against sin. Paul said in his letter to the Romans, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Romans 1:18). Paul indicated that God’s kindness is meant to lead people to repentance and then, went on to say, “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:4-5). Jesus took the wrath of God upon himself through his death on the cross. It says in Isaiah 53:5, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” Speaking of God’s eternal covenant of peace, Isaiah’s prophecy about Jesus’ crucifixion states, “’For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,’ says the LORD, your Redeemer” (Isaiah 54:7-8).

Paul explained that God’s love for humanity was expressed by him sending his Son to die for individuals that didn’t deserve his forgiveness. Paul said:

For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:6-11)

Paul identified reconciliation as the means by which peace with God is accomplished. The Greek word that is translated reconciliation, katallage (kat-al-lag-ayˊ) means “exchange (figurative, adjustment), i.e. restoration to (the divine) favor” (G2643). To be reconciled means that we change toward God, we are no longer considered to be his enemies (G2644). Peace with God means “metaphorically, peace of mind, tranquility, arising from reconciliation with God and a sense of divine favor (Romans 5:1; 15:13; Philippians 4:7 [cf. Isaish 53:5])” (G1515).

Paul explained that the reason why Jesus’ righteousness could be attributed to sinners was because Adam’s sin was attributed to everyone who was born after him. Paul said, “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:18-19). Paul expanded on his explanation of Christ’s work of reconciliation in his second letter to the Corinthians. Paul stated, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

Jesus concluded his ministry on earth with a statement about having overcome the world. After his disciples indicated that they believed he came from God, Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:31-33). Jesus may have made reference to his disciples deserting him because he wanted them to be aware that his work of reconciliation was still incomplete, even though he stated that he had already overcome the world. It wasn’t until his disciples were justified by faith that they obtained access into God’s grace and peace with God was possible. Regarding his death and resurrection, Jesus said, “I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe” (John 14:29). When Jesus’ disciples believed, they were justified by faith and afterward, had peace with God (Romans 5:1).

In his letter to the Romans, Paul used Abraham’s faith to illustrate how justification works. Quoting from Genesis 15:6, Paul said, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3). The Greek word that is translated counted, logizomai (log-idˊ-zom-ahee) means “to reckon or count to someone, particularly: to put to one’s account (Romans 4:4); hence figuratively: to impute, to attribute: generally, of God’s imputing righteousness (Romans 4:6, 11)” (G3049). The thing that caused righteousness to be imputed or attributed to Abraham was him believing God. Believing God has to do with confiding belief in the truth, being persuaded of the truthfulness of God (G4102). Paul explained about Abraham’s faith:

In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:18-22)

Paul said that Abraham’s faith did not weaken when he thought about how old he was or the fact that Sarah was not able to conceive a child (Romans 4:19). “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God…That is why his faith was ‘counted to him as righteousness’” (Romans 4:20, 22). Unbelief is not just a lack of belief but can be a turning away from the truth such as in apostasy (G570) or an unwillingness to be persuaded, obstinacy (G543). Abraham grew strong in his faith and was “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:20-21).

Paul used the word logizomai eleven times in Romans Chapter 4 to emphasize the point that God has an accounting system that is used to consider sins against him. Faith is what gets measured by God to determine our right or wrong standing before him. Paul explained in his letter to the Ephesians that faith is not something that we can produce on our own, it is a gift from God. Paul said, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Paul indicated that the heart is where faith originates, stating, “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10:10). Paul also said, “faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Jesus talked about this in his explanation of the Parable of the Sower. Jesus said:

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. (Luke 8:11-15)

Matthew’s version of Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower included a statement about the amount of fruit that could be produced by holding God’s Word fast in an honest and good heart. Matthew said, “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty” (Matthew 13:23). Matthew indicated that the key to bearing fruit was understanding God’s Word. The Greek word that is translated understands, suniemi (soon-eeˊ-ay-mee) means “to comprehend; by implication to act piously.” When suniemi is used figuratively, it means “to bring together in the mind, to grasp concepts and see the proper relation between them. Hence, to comprehend, understand, perceive” (G4920).

James emphasized the point that faith without works, or the producing of fruit, is useless to us in God’s accounting system. James reasoned, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead” (James 2:14-17). James argued that it was the acting out of one’s faith that God counts to him as righteousness. James asked, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’—and he was called a friend of God” (James 2:21-23).

Paul cautioned the Corinthians against boasting about outward appearances rather than what is in the heart (2 Corinthians 5:12). Paul made it clear that being reconciled to God was the primary objective of God’s justification of sinners. Paul said, “So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:16-21, NLT).