“More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Romans 5:11
March 24, 2023
Let’s take another trip to the bank. The bank, as it were, is the person of Christ. By virtue of our connection to Christ in the new birth, not only is there redemption, we have reconciliation. The problem of God’s hostility and enmity toward sinners is addressed in the possibility of peace with God. The truth that reconciliation comes about through the death of the Lord Jesus marches forward, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son…” (Rom. 5:10). Lewis Sperry Chafer says, “To be perfectly reconciled to God on the ground of the merit of Christ, as is true of every child of God, is a position of blessedness indeed and is one of the riches of divine grace.” By the way, this is what makes reconciliation possible and mandatory in resolving personal conflicts. “First be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift” (Matt. 5:24b). In Christ, we can bank on being reconciled to God and being reconciled to those we have wronged. That is living out the gospel.
H
“To reconcile means to restore a relationship, to renew a friendship. So an original relationship is presupposed which having been broken, has been recovered by Christ.” John R.W. Stott