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Posting
No. 24
Reconciled!
- Past Tense
We
celebrate “God and sinners reconciled!” when we sing, “Hark! the
Herald Angels Sing.” On the basis of the Scriptures
all Christians throughout history have confessed that every person
who will be saved has been reconciled to God through the
life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This incontrovertible fact
was announced when Jesus cried out “It is finished” and “The curtain
of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” Notice
the past tense :
Luke
1:68 - "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he
has come and redeemed his people."
Rom.
3:25 - “God presented him a sacrificial atonement”
2
Cor. 5:18 - “All this is from God, who reconciled himself
through Christ”
2
Cor. 5:19 - “God was reconciling the world to himself in
Christ, not counting men's sins against them.”
Gal.
3:13 – “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, by
becoming a curse for us.”
Eph.
1:7 - “In him we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins”
Col.
1:22 - “But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical
body through death”
2
Tim. 1:10 - “Our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed
death and brought life and immortality to light”
Titus
2:ll - (RSV) “For the grace of God has appeared for the
salvation of all men.”
Heb.
1:3b - “After he had provided purification for sins, he
sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven.”
Heb.
9:12 - “He entered the Most Holy Place once for all
by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.”
Heb.
10:10 – “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of
the body of Jesus Christ once for all .”
I
Peter 2:24 - “He himself bore our sins in his body on the
tree”
Rev.
5:5 “The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed
.”
Rev.
5:9 - “Because you were slain , and with your blood you purchased
men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”
Because sinners “have been made holy through the sacrifice
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” the passive command “Be
reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20) can not mean that we must do something
to complete the work of reconciliation. The apostles did not conditionally
offer “the message of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:19).
As they earnestly begged the masses, “on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled
to God,” they did so on the basis of the fact that “God made him
who had no sin to be sin for” them, “so that in him [they] might
become the righteousness of God.” To “be reconciled to God”
sinners who hear “the message of reconciliation” must simply trust
or believe the good news that they “have been reconciled to God.”
This trust or belief that they “have been reconciled to God” does
not add to or complete the work of reconciliation that was perfectly
accomplished by Jesus Christ. However, for sinners to finally
refuse to believe “the message of reconciliation” will one day be
testimony against them. This is a paradox that the Bible
leaves with us.
All that is said above appears
to be contradicted by those passages of Scripture that are readily
understood to teach that sinners must do something in order to “be
reconciled to God.” One of many such passages is Romans 10:9-11:
“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,' and believe in
your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,
and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trust in him will never be put
to shame.'”
We make two observations concerning
Romans 10:9 – 17 and the many parallel passages found throughout
the Scriptures:
FIRST:
These admonitions come in the context of persons who have
the written Word of God presented to them in a meaningful way.
We may not assume that these identical responses are required of
those who, throughout their lifetime on earth, have never heard
“the message of reconciliation.”
SECOND:
The Bible makes a distinction between objective and subjective
salvation (See Posting # 7, at www.evangelicalinclusivism.com
). Jesus Christ accomplished the former. He “once
for all by his own blood, . . . obtained eternal redemption.”
Nothing can be added to or taken from Christ's work of reconciliation
in behalf of everyone who will be saved. Subjective salvation
occurs when the Holy Spirit transforms the sinner's heart, soul
and mind so that he or she desires to live in obedience to God's
will.
This distinction is made evident,
for example, when Paul says, "I have become all things
to all men so that by all possible means I might save some"
(1 Cor. 9:22). Neither Paul nor anyone else can participate in Christ's
work of “saving” sinners. That was accomplished “once
for all.” Jesus is the only savior.
However, the Holy Spirit can
use human beings to bring the testimony of what God in Christ has
done to reconcile sinners to himself and use this testimony as a
means to transform their heart, soul and mind thus equipping sinners
for good works and bringing to them the joy of their salvation.
In this sense Paul and the church today can be used to subjectively
“save” sinners.
Romans 10:9-17 and the
many parallel passages are necessarily speaking of this subjective
aspect of salvation. What each of these passages say is unquestionably
true and effective.
These passages do not inform
sinners of what they need to do or know to be “reconciled to God.”
Rather, they serve the same purpose as Question and Answer # 2 of
the Heidelberg Catechism. They proclaim to sinners “What
[they] must know to live and die in the joy of this comfort [of
knowing they have been reconciled to God through Christ].”
“Until men and women learn the good news of their salvation, they
continue to live as if nothing had happened. They remain
as they had been – without hope, not knowing God, unaware of his
forgiveness and favor. The gospel ministry is for the sake
of such men and women – that they may obtain salvation, subjectively
as well as objectively (2 Tim. 2:10). Like Paul at ancient
Corinth, we also need to declare the gospel fearlessly and without
ceasing, for God still has many people who have not yet heard the
good news of what he has done for them in Jesus (Acts 18:9-10; 2
Cor. 5:18-19; 2 Peter 3:9)” (Dr. Edward Fudge, What's Good About
the Good News? P. 125).
Cordially,
Neal Punt whenindoubt3@charter.net |
