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It is always difficult when a relationship breaks down. In place of warmth and affection there maybe alienation and hostility. There is then a need for reconciliation – the restoration of the relationship. The Bible uses the language of reconciliation to describe a vital aspect of salvation. Sinners are alienated from God and need a means of having that relationship restored. Consider 2 Corinthians 5:20 Reconciled to God.
1. The need for reconciliation
(i). Our sins make us God’s enemies. Note Romans 8:7 ‘hostile to God’. Sinners are in rebellion against our Creator and his laws. Sin infects every aspect of life, as Romans 1:21 reminds us. We are naturally God’s enemies and that enmity needs to be dealt with.
(ii). God’s holiness makes him our enemy. This is the heart of our predicament. A holy God must respond to sin with righteous wrath (see Romans 1:18). God would not be holy if he were indifferent to sin. His wrath is not an irrational outburst but a settled, proportionate opposition to the sin of man. We are naturally ‘children of wrath’ (Ephesians 2:3). This holy God is our enemy.
2. The provision of reconciliation
We are ‘dead in…transgressions and sins’ (Ephesians 2:1) and so reconciliation must be God’s work. Note v18 ‘God who reconciled us to himself’. The wrath of God must be dealt with first, and in a way that upholds his holiness. Reconciliation has been provided by God on the basis of the work of Christ on behalf of his people. Paul gets to the heart of the matter in v21. Christ’s life of perfect obedience to God’s law culminated at the cross where he took the sin and wrath that separate us from God and bore them in the place of all who put their trust in him – ‘one died for all’ (v15). Christ’s satisfying God’s wrath is termed ‘propitiation’ (1 John 4:10). God’s holy wrath is fully satisfied, and it is accomplished by God himself in Christ. Thus God’s alienation is removed.
3. The enjoyment of reconciliation
Reconciliation is received by faith (John 3:16) so we will ‘be reconciled to God’. Note:
(i). Sin forgiven. The full penalty has been paid (v19). The entire sentence has been served. As a result, ‘there is now no condemnation’ for believers (Romans 8:1).
(ii). Sin forgiven. The full penalty has been paid (v19). The entire sentence has been served. As a result, ‘there is now no condemnation’ for believers (Romans 8:1).
(iii). Sin forgiven. The full penalty has been paid (v19). The entire sentence has been served. As a result, ‘there is now no condemnation’ for believers (Romans 8:1).