“The Acceptable Time”
[2
Corinthians 5:20b-6:10]
March 1, 2017 Second Reformed Church
This evening – for Ash Wednesday –
we are looking at a passage in the middle of Paul’s second letter to the Church
in Corinth.
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of
the season of Lent. The tradition of imposing
ashes is older than the tradition of Lent and was received in the early church
no later than the second century, and had been practiced by believers in the
Old Testament since the earliest time.
The ashes are symbolic both of
repentance and of the shortness of our time on earth – and, therefore, the
urgency of our repenting and believing the Gospel for salvation as soon as
possible.
As we turn to the Scripture, we find
Paul writing to the Church in Corinth and, by what he writes, we conclude that
some of the Christians in the church – and it is important that we remember –
he is writing to Christians – are not seeking reconciliation with God.
So, we see, first, Christians need
to be reconciled to God.
“We implore you on behalf of Christ, be
reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that
in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him,
then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, ‘In
a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped
you.’”
Paul implores these Corinthian Christians
– he begs them – to be reconciled to God.
And we might wonder why Christians need to be reconciled to God. Aren’t Christians reconciled to God based on
the simple fact that they are Christians – they are believers in the Gospel of
Jesus Christ – they have been made with right God through Jesus?
Yes, sort of.
Yes, all we who believe in Jesus Alone for
salvation have been forgiven for all of our sins – past, present, and
future. However, we sin daily, and we
are called to confess our sins and to receive forgiveness daily. (If not more often.)
It seems that there were Christians in the
Church at Corinth who were sinning, and due to their continued sin, they began
to despair of confessing their sin and wondered, “What’s the point?” Or, perhaps, they thought, “I have already
been forgiven for all of my sins, what is the point of confession?”
I know there have been times when I sin –
and it’s a sin I have sinned before – and I just kind of sigh and pray “You
know I’ve sinned this same sin again, do You really want to hear it? Are You really going to forgive me after I
have sinned this sin again?”
But that’s the wrong attitude to
have: certainly we are to be striving
not to sin – rather to be holy – and we ought to be progressing in our holiness
overall. But until Jesus returns, we
will sin, and we need to be forgiven for that sin.
So, Paul writes to these Christians, and
he implores them – he begs them – to repent of their sin – to pray to God for
forgiveness and reconciliation – not because you lose your salvation if you
sin. No, anyone who truly believes is
saved – forgiven for their sin – now and always. No, it is not a question of our gaining and
losing salvation. Paul begs them to be
reconciled with God – we ought to repent of our sins – bring them to God and
ask for forgiveness, so we will be reconciled, for, at least, two reasons:
First, the provision for us to be forgiven
has already been made.
Paul explains that God the Father made
Jesus (the Incarnate Son) sin, Who knew no sin, and, He made us – all we who
believe – righteous.
Jesus did two things to reconcile us to
God: He allowed our sin to be imputed –
credited – to Him, and He imputed – credited – us with His righteousness.
So, when Jesus was hanging on the cross,
God saw all of the sin of everyone who would ever believe throughout space and
time in a Person, Jesus – making Him, as it were, sin itself. And God’s response to sin is to bear down His
full Wrath – Hell – upon sin, since God cannot tolerate sin. God is just, sin must be punished.
And, Jesus also freely credited us with
His Righteousness, so when God looks at us – and everyone who believes – He
sees someone who has perfectly kept the Law and never sinned.
Now, God isn’t tricked into this. This was a legal transaction that God participated
in because He so loved us that He chose to reconcile us – to make us right with
Him.
Secondly, it is a rejecting of grace not
to seek reconciliation.
Paul begs – implores – the Corinthian
Christians – to not receive the Grace of God in vain. Rather, humble yourself and ask God for
forgiveness. Don’t live a life of pride
and depression refusing to ask God to be forgiven.
Paul tells them that God says – at the
right time – God chose us and saved us through His Son, so continue in that
relationship – mature in that relationship, by continuing to humble yourself
and come before God, repenting of your sin, that He might declare you righteous
and forgiven – again and again.
Paul wrote to the Church in Galatia and
put it this way:
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the
law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is
hanged on a tree’— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come
to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith” (Galatians
3:13-14, ESV).
Jesus became the curse for us – He became
sin for us – He suffered all the penalty that can ever be suffered for us – and
then He blessed us with righteousness and the Holy Spirit Who leads us towards
holiness.
So, don’t give up. Don’t think that you have sinned greater than
God can forgive. Don’t think that you
have lost the relationship with God and He doesn’t want to talk with you and
hear your confession. Don’t think that
you lost the salvation that God gave you and keeps for you and makes sure you
continue in, because of a sin you have committed. Trust in His salvation. Repent of your sins, humble yourself, and be
made right with God day by day and hour by hour.
Second, Paul begs – implores – the
Corinthians Christians to be reconciled to God, because we have a call to
proclaim the Gospel to the whole Creation – now.
“Behold, now is the favorable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so
that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend
ourselves in every way: “
Now is the best time. Now is the right time. Now is the time that God will work through us
to bring people to salvation – to reconciled them to Him, just as He reconciled
us to Him. Each of us is called – with
different abilities and gifts and talents and strengths and weaknesses – but we
are called to proclaim to the east and the west and the north and the south
that Jesus Christ is God the Son and Savior – the Only Way to be saved – the
Only Way to be right with God – the Only Way to be reconciled to God.
And if we are sitting around,
navel-gazing, because we have sinned and we do not recognize that the provision
for reconciliation has already been made in Jesus and to reject that grace of
reconciliation every time we sin – is a sin itself – we sin in not bringing the
Gospel to the whole Creation.
God chose to save us through Jesus
and in Jesus – and He also chose to save others through Jesus and in Jesus –
and He chose to do this – normally – through us – believers.
And so Paul tells the Corinthians
that they are to be like him in his ministry – they are not to put any obstacles
in the way of believing the Gospel – we are not to set up any requirements in
addition to what God has said – and we are not to cheapen the Gospel and
portray it and what it does as something less than what God has said. We are to do and be everything we can – so our
lives and speech portray the Gospel – so others can see Jesus.
We are ambassadors – servants of
God. Our job is to say what God says. We have no right to muddy the waters and
confuse people and turn them away by telling them things other than what God
has said. It is a stumbling block and a
sin for us to take anything away or to add anything to the Whole Counsel of God
that we have in the Bible.
Then, Paul tells the Corinthians and
us that there are three general ways in which we are to commend ourselves to
the Creation with the Gospel:
First, we commend the Gospel by
being willing to suffer for the Gospel.
Paul writes, “by great endurance, in
afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors,
sleepless nights, hunger;”
Paul tells us, if it turns out that
our best witness to the Gospel is to endure afflictions – being sick, suffering
in various ways, hardships – in having a lousy job, or no job, or being
homeless, or in debt, calamities – having your loved ones killed or losing all
your savings, beatings – unjustly, imprisonments – unjustly, riots against us,
difficult labors for us to accomplish what others do with ease, sleepless
nights, hunger – if our best witness to the Gospel is seen in those types of
things and circumstances – and it often is – then would should receive them for
the sake of the Gospel with joy.
We’ve seen this before, and we need
to remember, we are not called to enjoy suffering or to seek it out, but if it
comes – for the sake of the Gospel – not from our sin, then it is a good thing
that God will work in us for our joy and His Glory.
It is possible to be unhappy with
our circumstances and still trust God and be filled with joy for the blessing
we have – especially the blessing of being chosen to proclaim His Gospel to the
world.
This is why the “prosperity Gospel”
is such a hideous heresy. God never
promised us that we would be wealthy and healthy and wise. No, God promised that we would suffer for the
Gospel – that’s His promise to us. And
those people who are peddling the lie that God wants everyone to be healthy and
wealthy and wise are setting people up for disappointment and discouragement
and worse.
This is nothing but idolatry.
We are called to suffer for the
Gospel.
Second, we commend the Gospel by striving
for holiness.
Paul writes, “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.”
Suffering is what happens to us;
striving for holiness is the call on us that we strive for, by the Power of God
the Holy Spirit Who enables us.
God wants us to be holy, and He is
working in us to transform us into the Image of Jesus, and we will be holy when
Jesus returns. But for now, we strive
towards holiness – we mature towards holiness – we make strides towards
holiness as time goes by. And that is a witness
to the world of the Gospel – we have been so changed by the Gospel, that our
lives have changed – we are not going to live the way we used to live – the way
everyone else lives – the way we are told to live.
No, we are going to strive to be
pure in our thoughts and conduct.
We are going to strive to know God and be able to tell others about Him and the
salvation He brings through His Son. We
are going to be patient with all people, because our desire is to glorify God
in proclaiming the Gospel. We are going
to show kindness to everyone. We are
going to genuinely show love to our neighbors – and they will see how we love
God as well. We are going to be
truthful, and not gossips. We are going
to seek to live righteously – sinlessly – through all the means that God has
given use.
And it
will make no difference to us if we are honored or dishonored, slandered or praised,
because we do not strive for holiness for the applause, but to show God to be
awesome – the One Holy God Who saved us by His Own Hand with no help from us.
Thirdly,
we commend the Gospel by having our joy and our hope in God and not in how we
are reacted to.
As Paul writes, “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.”
If our goal is to direct people to
Jesus, it won’t matter how they treat us.
If we truly strive to proclaim the Gospel without obstacles, then it
really won’t matter how people respond to us.
We are messengers proclaiming God’s Message of Good News. Right?
Our lives are secure in Jesus.
Our joy is secure in Jesus.
And we are the richest people in the
world in Jesus.
As Peter writes:
“Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be
born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in
heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though
now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that
perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory
and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (I Peter 1:3-7, ESV).
And Jesus says, “Blessed are the
meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5, ESV).
Everything God created belongs to
Christians. – to believers.
So, let’s get to work, now is the
acceptable time.
Repent of your sins and be
reconciled to God and continue to repent of your sins and be reconciled to God.
And go forth to tell the world that
Jesus Christ is the One Way to salvation.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, as we begin the season
of Lent, we ask that You would concentrate our lives on You. Help us to keep You before us, looking to You
– Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – for all that we need each day on earth to be
the people You have called us to be.
Strengthen us by the Holy Spirit to believe and repent and go forth with
the Gospel in Jesus’ Name – for it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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