Reconciliation

Based upon the redemption accomplished by Christ on the cross, we are not only justified by God, but also reconciled to God.

Greek:
katallasso, to change, to exchange; hence, of persons, to change from enmity to friendship, to reconcile.
apokatallasso, to reconcile completely, to change from one condition to another, so as to remove all enmity and leave no impediment to unity and peace.
katallage, the noun form, reconciliation, a change on the part of one party, induced by an action on the part of another.

(From The Expanded Vines, by W.E. Vine)

According to the Bible, those who have not been redeemed by the blood of Christ and therefore, justified in His blood by God, are not only sinners, but even enemies of God. There are two portions in the New Testament that deal specifically with this situation. Let's take a look and see what they have to say:

In Romans 5:6-11, the unredeemed are seen as weak ungodly sinners. As such, they are enemies of God. But God loves us. He created us for Himself. He desires to be our friend and us His. The problem is not with God, but with us. As we saw in the previous lesson, we were not right with God. But through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, and faith in Him, we can be justified by God. Because of this accomplished redemption which results in being justified by God to all who truly believe, we can now be reconciled to God. Our situation can be changed from enemy to friend. He has removed all the enmity and has left no impediment to unity and peace with Him. We can once again, and for eternity, be friends of God; not because of anything we have done, but because of what Christ has done and our faith in Him.

Colossians 1:21-22 is the other portion that makes known our condition as enemies of God before redemption. At that time, we were both alienated from God (see also Eph. 4:17-18), and enemies of God in our minds because of our evil works. Once again, the problem was with us, not with God. But glory be to Him, "He now has reconciled us in the body of His flesh through death". He paid the price that was necessary to restore our friendship with Him!

As a concluding word for this topic, I give you my highlighted version of Second Corinthians 5:18-20:

"But all things are out from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; namely, that God in Christ was reconciling the world to Himself, not accounting their offenses to them, and has put in us the word of reconciliation. On behalf of Christ then, we are ambassadors, as God entreats you through us; we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."

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