|
WERE YOU RECONCILED TO GOD?
Men as they are naturally born are at
enmity with God. “...the carnal mind is
enmity against God...” (Romans 8:7). This
enmity is seen in men's actions: “...know
ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever
therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God,”
(James 4:4). The love of sin displays human beings for what they are:
enemies of God.
Once Adam walked with God, but he fell
from that holy estate, becoming the enemy of God. We, his offspring, display
our love for the world and its sins. But Christ came to destroy this enmity.
Paul wrote of this reconciliation work of Christ in Romans 5:10, saying:
“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his
Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
Often we hear of people saying that they have
made peace with God. Humbug! How can a sinner make peace with a holy God?
How can he pay for his sins other than by receiving the just reward for his
deeds? And how can a sinner do what Jesus Christ has already done?
Notice that this reconciliation took place
when we who are no longer enemies were yet enemies. So those who were
reconciled, being yet enemies of God, had nothing to do with bringing this
reconciliation to pass. Christ accomplished it by His death! You and I were
not even alive back then! If you are reconciled to God it is something that
God did for you before you existed.
Paul says that those reconciled by the
death of Christ are safe for they shall be “saved by his life.” Now either
they will be finally and completely saved and are therefore safe, or they
are not. In spite of what you may have been told, those for whom Christ died
are reconciled and are safe for they “shall be saved by his life.”
The question is expressed by our title:
Were You Reconciled to God? You were not there. Can you know for sure and if
so, how? The knowledge of your reconciliation comes from God's Word to those
who have had an experience of grace: to those in whom the Holy Spirit
resides. Again we quote Paul who wrote:
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of
God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none
of his,” (Romans 8:9). No good works or
religious rituals can cause the Spirit of God to dwell in you! The moving-in
of the Holy Ghost is called
being born again and man's acts and will have
nothing to do with it for this experience comes,
“...not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God,” (John 1:13). Have you had a
genuine experience of grace? That is the question!
|
