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.BiblicalUniversalism.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   whenindoubt1@charter.net .