Reconciled To God

Second Corinthians 5:18-20 reads:

18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Whenever God repeats Himself, He is emphasizing something. In the verses above, a form of the word “reconcile” appears five times in three verses. God is stressing the point of reconciliation.

To whom do we need to be reconciled? That is answered in v20, “…be ye reconciled to God.”

Most people don’t think about God daily, and even for those who do, He is often not part of the thought process. For example, when we see the weather, we think, “That’s good, it’s going to be sunny today.” Few think, “Look at the beautiful weather God has brought us today!” Because of this lack of God being constantly on our minds, we tend not to think that anything is wrong between the two of us, yet God says we need reconciliation.

Looking at our passage, we see that we are reconciled to God by Jesus Christ, that the entire world has access to this reconciliation, and that the result of the reconciliation is that our trespasses are not imputed (to lay the responsibility on) on us.

Why do we need to be reconciled to God?

God is holy; we are sinful. Regardless of how minor or innocent we think our sins are, our sins have separated us from God. Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

God, who desires to be with us, must provide an answer to this sin and separation problem. He must be the one to solve the problem because He is the holy one. Any solution we come up with will be tainted with sin. Also, even if we were capable of living the rest of our lives sinless, that does not take away the sins we’ve already committed. In other words, even with a sinless future, the past would still need to be reconciled.

The law requires a sinless sacrifice to erase sin and reconcile us to God. Hebrews 9:22, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

The sacrifice of animals is not enough to take away our sins. Hebrews 10:4, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”

Only the blood of Christ can reconcile us from our sins.

Colossians 1:20-22, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight.”

Other verses on the sin-cleansing power of the blood of Christ.

Matthew 26:28,” For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

Romans 5:9, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

1 Peter 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

There are dozens more verses, but we’ll let those three do the talking for now.

We can see that the blood of Christ is the cleansing agent for our sin. How then is the blood applied? How does the blood of Christ wash our sins away?

When there is faith in the blood of Christ, the blood is applied.

Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Galatians 3:22, “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”

Romans 3:25, “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.”

Are you reconciled to God?

If you are thinking that you are not that bad, or that you haven’t done anything that everyone else hasn’t done, you are probably right. The problem with that is that God is holy and sinless, and His sinless perfection cannot allow you into his perfect eternity. Only the blood of Christ can erase your every sin and reconcile you to God.

You may be thinking on the other end of the spectrum. You may be thinking that you are so bad, so evil, that God cannot save you. Well, you are wrong. The blood of Jesus Christ was shed for the entire world, and that includes you. There is nothing impossible for God, even saving a wretch like you, regardless of what you may have done.

Everyone is under sin, but everyone can be reconciled to God through faith, by the blood of Jesus Christ.