Category: sin

Reconciliation, Imputation, and Salvation #8

Monday, June 24, 2013

“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” (2 Corinthians 5:19 KJV).

Soul salvation from everlasting hellfire is the Holy Bible’s most important doctrine, so let us be particularly careful with today’s Scripture.

Today’s Scripture in its context reads: “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; 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” (2 Corinthians 5:19,20).

Reconciliation in the Bible is two-fold. God sent Jesus Christ to pay man’s sin debt, thus demonstrating His friendliness toward mankind in making a way to escape His righteous wrath. God is not angry with wicked man today because we live in this the Dispensation of Grace, and we receive an opportunity for salvation from sins. That is the reconciliation of today’s Scripture. But, Paul urged the Corinthians when they were lost, to be “reconciled to God” (verse 20). This is another type of reconciliation, one that comes through imputation.

The clearest Bible passage regarding imputation is Romans 4:3-8,23-25:

“For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin…. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”

Let us analyze this passage….

Reconciliation, Imputation, and Salvation #7

Sunday, June 23, 2013

“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” (2 Corinthians 5:19 KJV).

Soul salvation from everlasting hellfire is the Holy Bible’s most important doctrine, so let us be particularly careful with today’s Scripture.

Sin has separated man from God, thus necessitating reconciliation. Actually, the Greek word usually translated “reconciliation” in our King James New Testament is once rendered “atonement” in Romans 5:11. “Reconciliation” means “at–one-ment,” or “bringing two opposing parties together and making them one.”

When Jesus Christ died and shed His perfect blood, God the Father made Him a “propitiation” (Romans 3:25), a fully-satisfying payment for sin. Instead of punishing the world for their sins, God blamed Jesus Christ and made Him suffer God’s wrath instead (“not imputing their trespasses unto them;” today’s Scripture). “For he [God the Father] hath made him [Jesus Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21a).

The Bible calls Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork and its merits the “atonement” (Romans 5:11), for they pay the sin debt that keeps man from fellowshipping with God. When the Bible says, “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” (today’s Scripture), this reconciliation deals with the whole world, not just Christians—it involves all people, saved or lost.

Now, note verse 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.” Notice “as though God did beseech you by us”—Paul is referring to the past (notice past tense “did”), to the time when the Corinthians were lost, when he first preached to them about Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork (verse 21). Here, Paul said that although God reconciled the world to Himself (verse 19), Paul urged the Corinthians to be “reconciled to God” (verse 20)—this is the reconciliation for Christians.

Again, reconciliation needed for soul salvation is two-fold, which brings us to the doctrine of imputation….

Reconciliation, Imputation, and Salvation #6

Saturday, June 22, 2013

“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” (2 Corinthians 5:19 KJV).

Soul salvation from everlasting hellfire is the Holy Bible’s most important doctrine, so let us be particularly careful with today’s Scripture.

Our sin and sins gender God’s wrath, and we sinners in our natural state are separated from God, but God Himself provided a solution. Man had severed the relationship, but God was still friendly toward man. From the ministry of the Apostle Paul, we see how that salvation from sins through Jesus Christ is no longer limited to Israel (Matthew 1:21), but that it is now available to all people, everywhere!

Let us return to today’s Scripture and its context (2 Corinthians 5:18-20): “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 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. 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.”

Due to warped theology, confusion and questions have arisen regarding this simple passage. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” at Calvary’s cross, so does that mean…. That lost people no longer go to hell? That every person’s sins are completely forgiven? That everyone will make it to heaven eventually (the heresy of universalism)?

Let us be extremely careful to understand that the word “reconciliation” in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 is two-fold—it does not refer to a single event, but it is actually two events (reread the passage above and notice the two boldfaced terms “reconciling” and “reconciled,” which refer to separate issues). Confusion results because people assume these verses only teach a one-fold reconciliation, a single event.

As we will see, the key to understanding “reconciliation” in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 is the phrase in verse 20, “as though God did beseech you by us….”

Reconciliation, Imputation, and Salvation #5

Friday, June 21, 2013

“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” (2 Corinthians 5:19 KJV).

Soul salvation from everlasting hellfire is the Holy Bible’s most important doctrine, so let us be particularly careful with today’s Scripture.

As God looked down at the “Blue Marble,” He could see nothing but widespread rebellion. Such wretched creatures that He could squash with the breath of His mouth, and yet, He let them continue to exist! Adam and Eve never asked God for help with their sins, and neither did the rest of mankind, but God would seek out those sinners hiding behind religion. No person came forward to ask, “Wouldst Thou, God of heaven and earth, wouldst Thou die for my sins?” Regardless, that is exactly what He would do!

The LORD God promised Satan, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). This is the first message of Good News in the Bible: the seed of the woman would come one day and crush Satan’s head, defeating Satan’s evil plan and restoring creation to God’s headship.

It is beyond human comprehension just how many individual sins God tolerated for those next 4,000 years, but He patiently endured man’s wickedness—indeed, He was LONGsuffering! When the predetermined date arrived in order to fulfill the promise of Genesis 3:15, John 1:1,14 says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Sinful mankind had not approached God, so He sought him by coming to the planet on which he lived! God, rather than pouring out His wrath on wicked man, had come in the form of a man, Jesus Christ, to span the mighty gulf (sin) that had separated man from Him (today’s Scripture)….

Reconciliation, Imputation, and Salvation #4

Thursday, June 20, 2013

“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” (2 Corinthians 5:19 KJV).

Soul salvation from everlasting hellfire is the Holy Bible’s most important doctrine, so let us be particularly careful with today’s Scripture.

Satan had already declared war on his Creator God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, mankind, the Lord’s ally, willfully switches sides and becomes Satan’s servant by submitting to his will! Sin infiltrates planet earth, as it had the heavenly places sometime earlier.

Adam and Eve know they are now in a major dilemma. Genesis 3:7 says they, in a feeble, desperate attempt, try to cover their sins by gathering fig leaves and sewing them to make aprons for their now naked bodies (the first act of religion, or as a dear Christian brother calls it, “Operation: Fig Leaf!”). In the coolness of the day, as the voice of the LORD God rings out, Adam and Eve flee and hide amongst the trees (verse 8). Sinful man cannot and will not approach his righteous Creator God, so man’s Creator will come and find him!

After the LORD God brings Adam and Eve to accountability, He declares to Satan, the serpent: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (verse 15). We will discuss this important verse later, but let us focus on verse 21 for now: “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” The LORD God graciously provided a solution—a blood sacrifice—to Adam and Eve’s sins, for their attempt to “cover up” their own sins with fig leaves was useless! Note that they never asked for His help either.

Some 4,000 years later, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). That love that sent Him looking for Adam and Eve, motivated Him to come seek us “hiding amongst the trees,” and to offer another blood sacrifice—Himself….

Reconciliation, Imputation, and Salvation #3

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

“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” (2 Corinthians 5:19 KJV).

Soul salvation from everlasting hellfire is the Holy Bible’s most important doctrine, so let us be particularly careful with today’s Scripture.

“Reconcile” means “to call back into union and fellowship; to restore to friendship or favor after estrangement;” “reconciliation” is “the act of restoring a former friendship.” Two of the Bible’s clearest examples of reconciliation are Genesis chapter 3 and today’s Scripture.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). Originally, mankind was completely compatible with God: his soul was alive with God’s life, his spirit was illuminated with God’s truth, and his body executed God’s will. Having no sin to divide them, Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and with each other.

“Wherefore, as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). When Adam capitulated to Satan’s tempting in Genesis chapter 3, that perfect relationship he had with Eve and their Creator was severed.

“And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8). “For every one that doeth evil hateth light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds be reproved” (John 3:20). Adam and Eve needed help in addressing their sin, but they never approached God until He went looking for them and called them to fellowship (Genesis 3:9-13)… and He shed animal blood to cover their sins (verse 21).

All of Adam’s descendants inherited a sin nature, a character that is anti-God, a hostile attitude toward their Creator. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), thus necessitating a worldwide reconciliation (today’s Scripture), which Genesis chapter 3 typified….

Fully Furnished and Forgetful

Monday, June 10, 2013

“And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;” (Deuteronomy 6:11 KJV).

Israel has a wonderful prospect, though she deserves it not….

It has been almost 40 years since Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage. She has just experienced four decades of wilderness wanderings due to her unbelief and rebellion against JEHOVAH (Numbers 14:26-39; cf. Hebrews 4:7-19). Now, Moses has reached the end of his life (120 years), and will be dead by the end of the book of Deuteronomy (Moses’ generation, that which rebelled years earlier, has already passed away at this point).

Most of Deuteronomy is Moses repeating to Israel—that is, those new generations of Jews born during the forty years of wanderings—the laws of God, to the intent that they will avoid the mistakes of their sinful, faithless ancestors. Moses encourages these “youngsters” that JEHOVAH promised their fathers this land, which they will enter and possess after his demise.

Read today’s Scripture in its context: “And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage” (Deuteronomy 6:10-12).

Notice the goodness of JEHOVAH—He will let undeserving Israel go into the Promised Land, and they will inherit all the possessions of the Gentile inhabitants! Observe Moses’ warning: do not forget JEHOVAH! Now, notice what JEHOVAH said through the prophet 900 years later: “Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number” (Jeremiah 2:32).

May we never let material possessions cause us to forget our Lord Jesus Christ!

For In This We Groan #4

Friday, May 31, 2013

“For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:” (2 Corinthians 5:2 KJV).

Having been stricken with a bacterial infection of the sinuses and eyes for the past week, I can give a hearty “Amen!” to today’s Scripture!

Physical death is actually a blessing for us Christians—it severs the final link we have to this fallen creation. (Can you imagine living in these bodies forever?) Once we leave these physical bodies, we are eternally, physically isolated from sin, and we go to be with the Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever!

In the context of today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul writes that God the Father has given us “the earnest of the Spirit.” “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (verses 5b-8). By giving us Christians the indwelling Holy Ghost, God has guaranteed that He will one day rescue our physical bodies from sin (just as He has already rescued our spiritual bodies from sin).

While we moan and groan during sickness, let us remember that this body is not meant to last forever anyway, for it would pollute heaven. Our suffering is simply a testament that the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ still has a mighty work to accomplish—the redemption of these mortal “vile” bodies and their transformation into immortal and perfect glorified bodies like Jesus Christ’s (Philippians 3:20,21).

Dear readers, take comfort. This limited body of flesh and blood is not our permanent abode. It is merely the vehicle that carries around our soul and our spirit in this time-space continuum we call the natural world. As today’s Scripture states, it is actually our soul that is groaning, the “real” us inside this weakly and sickly physical body. How we long for a change of clothes, some which will not turn to rags! Patiently waiting for the “wardrobe upgrade….” 🙂

For In This We Groan #3

Thursday, May 30, 2013

“For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:” (2 Corinthians 5:2 KJV).

Having been stricken with a bacterial infection of the sinuses and eyes for the past week, I can give a hearty “Amen!” to today’s Scripture!

Notice the boldfaced expressions, “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life” (2 Corinthians 5:2-4).

According to the Bible, our physical bodies are actually clothing. The “real” us is inside, a member of the invisible (spiritual) realm! Job 14:22 supplements: “But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.” These aching, sickly physical bodies are merely vehicles for our soul and spirit inside them (hence, the language of the passage in the previous paragraph about “clothing”).

We who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ are redeemed spiritually from Satan and sin. However, these bodies of flesh and blood are still connected genetically to Adam and the fallen creation, so they die. Once they die, our souls and spirits no longer have a means of traveling. This is why resurrection is necessary. Our “unclothed” souls and spirits need new garments, and this new wardrobe is the glorified body the Lord Jesus will give every Christian believer at the rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-55). This is the “redemption of our body” mentioned in Romans 8:23 and Ephesians 4:30.

Our physical bodies are referred to as “tabernacles” in Scripture (2 Corinthians 5:1,4; 2 Peter 1:13,14). When we are conceived in the womb, these frail structures are “pitched,” and our soul and spirit spring up from within them. Unlike a permanent structure, however, they can and do suffer “dilapidation” quite easily. Eventually, they are “taken down.” But, the soul and spirit simply move on (necessitating the need for a new, resurrected and glorified body, a new set of clothes)….

For In This We Groan #2

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

“For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:” (2 Corinthians 5:2 KJV).

Having been stricken with a bacterial infection of the sinuses and eyes for the past week, I can give a hearty “Amen!” to today’s Scripture!

In this world where Satan and sin reign, sickness is a part of life as well. Our “groaning” in today’s Scripture is further explained in Romans 8:22-25: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”

Paul writes in the context of today’s Scripture, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). This is the “redemption of our [physical] body” of Romans 8:23, when “the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ… shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body…” (Philippians 3:20,21).

When the apostle pens, “Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 5:5), what he meant was, “[Christ] In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13). “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).

This sealing by and with the indwelling Holy Spirit is God’s promise that He will one day deliver our (ailing) physical bodies from sin just as He has already delivered our spiritual bodies from sin….