“Be Reconciled”
[II Corinthians
5:20b-6:10]
February 13, 2013 Second Reformed Church
Christians need to be reconciled to
God. Does that sound strange? Christians need to be reconciled to God.
You may remember that the church at
Corinth was a mess: they were a port
city through which not only goods, but every idea and practice in the known
world flowed. The church – Christians –
found themselves engaging in many different kinds of sins – especially sexual
ones – and some had been persuaded by the “super apostles” – people who came claiming
to have a greater authority than Paul and the apostles and having secret
knowledge that Christians must embrace.
Paul wrote his letters to the Corinthians to get them to hold on to the
pure Gospel and to turn from sin and reject false teaching and false teachers.
Paul begins Second Corinthians by
following up on a problem that had occurred which he addressed in First
Corinthians – a man was having sexual relations with his step mother. Paul instructed the Corinthians to tell him
to stop, and if he would not, to hold back the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
from him until he repented and stopped the relationship. The man did so, but the Corinthians had not
received him back as their brother, so Paul had to instruct them to receive
him, as they would receive any repentant sinner.
Paul goes on to explain that our salvation
is through Christ Alone and believers now have the Holy Spirit living within
them, and the Gospel which shines brightly from our “jars of clay.” Paul emphasizes that the reconciliation that
we believers have is through faith alone through Jesus Christ Alone, and we
ought to be about preaching that message of reconciliation, not holding the sins
of the repentant against them, but leading them into reconciliation with God.
Here we see there are two
reconciliations: the reconciliation by
which one receives salvation, and the reconciliation saved Christians receive
through repentance because every Christian sins and needs to repent of his or
her sin every time he or she commits sin – not because we lose our salvation by
sinning and need to be saved again and not because Christ has to be sacrificed
again, but because the forgiveness for sin which Christ merited is applied to
us each time we repent of our sin.
Some teach that we can lose our
salvation, but that is not what the Scripture teaches: we cannot lose what we never earned. The Scripture is clear that salvation is a
gift of God, as He wills. Paul wrote, “For
by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it
is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians
2:8-9, ESV). And John concurs: “But to all who did receive him, who believed
in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of
blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John
1:12-13, ESV).
And some teach that Jesus’ Sacrifice
on the cross was not enough, but must be repeated. But the author of Hebrews states this is not
the case: “For Christ has entered, not
into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into
heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it
to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every
year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly
since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all
at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews
9:24-26, ESV).
Jesus died once for the sins of all
those who would ever believe in Him. And
that gift of salvation is God’s Gift as He wills, and we cannot and do not
choose it.
With that in mind, we turn to our
text:
“We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.”
Based on what we have just observed,
Paul is not calling non-believers to believe, nor is he calling Christians who
have lost their salvation to be saved again.
Rather, Paul is telling the Corinthians that Christians, being yet
sinners, need daily forgiveness. We need
daily reconciliation. We daily sin and
daily need to repent of our sin and receive the promise of remission – that
Jesus has already paid the debt for the sin that we commit today, tomorrow, and
all the sins of everyone who will ever believe.
We still must come repentantly to Jesus for our sins, even though He has
already paid the debt for them.
So, Paul was calling on the
Corinthians – and giving us the example – to turn from their sins and repent
and find the reconciliation – the forgiveness – that is ours in Jesus through
His One Sacrifice.
“For
our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God.”
The
historical facts of the Gospel tell us that Jesus lived a perfect life under
God’s Law, died for the sin of everyone who would ever believe, and rose from
the dead – victorious over sin and death and hell, and credited us – in our
account before God – with His Righteousness, so we are now seen through Jesus
as being righteous – as having kept the Law.
Is
there anything greater that God could have done than to come to earth in the
Person of Jesus to be our Substitute before the Tribunal of God? That the One Man Who never sinned would
willingly take upon Himself all of our sin and suffer eternal Hell on the cross
for each of us who believes in Him, that we would be forgiven for our sin, and
not only that, but for the sake of His Sacrifice as our Substitute, we would be
made righteous in the sight of God – and one day righteous in all reality?
This
is the Work of our Savior. Isaiah
prophesied of Him: “But he was pierced
for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the
chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah
53:5, ESV). And Paul wrote, “ For God has done what the law, weakened
by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous
requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the
flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4, ESV).
“Working together with him, then, we
appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.”
Paul tells the Corinthians that they
– the apostles – and other ministers of the Gospel – were working together with
God, not just to teach doctrine – as important as that is, but to continually
proclaim and preach the Gospel – to exhort their hearers – to push their
hearers – that the facts of the Gospel would move beyond mere orthodox doctrine
to a right heart reaction.
When the Gospel is preached – by the
Power of God applying the Word read and preached – the hearts of the hearers
ought to be turned to repentance for sin and to action, both to become more
like Jesus and to live holy lives. As
Paul wrote, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only
as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work
for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13, ESV).
Paul is not saying that we work for
our salvation, but once God has saved us, and by the Power of God Who dwells in
us, we ought to work – to strive – to fight – to live sinless lives, to become
holy. Something is wrong if what we
believe does not change how we live.
“For
he says, ‘In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I
have helped you.’ Behold, now is the
favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
Paul
quotes Isaiah speaking the Word of God to His people as they were still in
captivity in Babylon, and God told them that He would deliver them from
captivity, just as Paul applies this and says that now is the day that God will
deliver His people from their sin.
Salvation
was accomplished for all those who will ever believe on the cross, yet, we are
saved daily from our sin as well, either through taking the way of escape that God
always provides so we do not have to sin, or through repentance – receiving the
reconciliation with God that is ours through the One Sacrifice of Jesus.
And
so Jesus has opened the Door, Which is Himself.
The Way leads all those and whoever will believe to salvation, Who is
Jesus. We have been saved through Jesus’
Work and we are being saved each day as we progress in holiness. So we are reconciled with God – and our salvation
– our reconciliation cannot be lost – yet we are reconciled each day as we
repent of our sin, through the Work that Jesus already accomplished on our
behalf.
“We
put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our
ministry,”
Christians
– and ministers in particular – are then called not to put any offense, any
sin, any blockage, any stumbling block before anyone who is seeking
reconciliation with God. What does the
Scripture say? “But what does it say? ‘The
word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith
that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one
confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him
will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:8-13,
ESV).
Believe
in your heart and confess that belief with your mouth – that is what we find in
the Scripture. There is nothing more for
us to do to be saved. Salvation is God’s
Gift, and we recognize it and confess it – our belief in the historical facts
of the Gospel. Then, there is a lifetime
of work to do, but we sin in placing any impediment before someone who desires
to be saved. God says, believe in your
heart and confess with your mouth. If
you truly do that, you will be saved, and you will produce fruit that proves
your salvation – including the confession of your sins to God.
“but
as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way:”
And
we ought to do everything we can to keep people from falling into sin and,
rather, encourage them to repent and be reconciled to God. Paul gives the example of meat offered to
idols, which was no problem for him to eat, but he knew it would be a problem
for others to eat, so he put aside his liberty to eat meat offered to idols
when he was with them. As he wrote, “Therefore,
if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother
stumble” (1 Corinthians 8:13, ESV). It
is more important that people hear the Gospel clearly and repent, and our
brothers and sisters recognize and repent of their sin, than for any of us to
do something which might cause them to stumble and not believe and repent and
be reconciled.
Paul
writes that we, Christians, ought to be willing to be put out in any way – and
to be patient – if it will cause another to repent of sin, and we ought to
humbly seek to pursue holiness before God and others, by the Power of the Holy
Spirit, that the non-Christian and the Christian would see Jesus in us and hear
the Gospel from us. As Paul wrote, “Not
that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I
am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In
any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and
hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me”
(Philippians 4:11-13, ESV).
Paul
says that for the sake of the Gospel and Jesus, we ought to find ourselves
willing to go to any lengths: “by great
endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments,
riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience,
kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of
God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;
through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as
impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and
behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always
rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing
everything.”
Notice,
Paul is not saying that the Corinthians – or we – are to be doormats – we are
to use the weapons of our warfare as we seek to preach the Gospel and lead all
people to repentance, both outside and inside the Church. God has given Christians a set of weapons to
fight against the devil and sin, because we are in a war – though it is already
won through Jesus. Until His Return, we continue to fight. We continue to fight to preach the Gospel
clearly and to present reasons why it is true, and we fight against our own
urge to follow our sinful nature and sin against God, despite the fact that we
have believed and received forgiveness through Jesus.
Paul
explains that we have weapons – armor – which we are to use: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may
be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of
God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having
put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having
put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up
the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the
evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and
supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication
for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening
my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an
ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians
6:11-20, ESV).
We
don’t have time tonight to discuss all that is involved in this, but notice two
things: first, this is the armor of
Christians – those who have received faith and salvation as gifts from
God. Second, the armor is centered and
based on the Word of God and, in particular, the preaching of the Gospel. And so Paul tells the Corinthians – and us – to
use these to be content in whatever situation we find ourselves, and to preach
the Gospel and call all people to repentance.
And
so we see that Christians need to be reconciled to God. We do not need to be saved again – we are
saved once through the Work of Jesus Alone.
Yet, we continue to sin until Jesus returns. So, when we sin, we need to repent of our
sin, affirming and receiving the Work that Christ has already done to forgive
us for all of our sins and to make us righteous before God and to lead us, by
the Power of the Holy Spirit, to complete holiness when Jesus returns.
In
the meantime, we are to strive towards holiness and do everything we can to let
others know the Gospel that – by the Grace of God – they might believe. And we ought to help our brothers and sisters
to see their sin and repent of it and be reconciled with God.
Let
us pray:
Almighty
God, we thank You that salvation is completely Your Work. We thank You for the indwelling of God the
Holy Spirit and for how He is leading us towards holiness. We ask that You would help us to see our sin
and to repent of it – not fearing You, but resting in the reconciliation that
Jesus made for us through the events of the Gospel. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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