30 Days of Truth
Day 22 – reconciled and restored
Colossians 1:19-22 KJV
[19] For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; [20] And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say , whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. [21] And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled [22] In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Reconciliation is defined as the “restoration of friendly relations”.
Like most interactions with other people, true reconciliation requires both an offer and a response to that offer in order for any change to take place in a relationship.
If I offend you and you offer me forgiveness and I choose not to accept it, it doesn’t change the fact that I am forgiven of the offense.
However, it does change how I relate to you.
Forgiveness has the potential benefit of healing both the person that has been offended and the offender as well, but it only makes a change in the relationship if the offender accepts the forgiveness.
It doesn’t mean that the forgiver won’t continue to extend love and kindness to the offender.
God reconciled all things to Himself by the peace offering of Christ’s blood. Reconciliation was required for the entire world or there could be no peace and no chance of receiving salvation.
It has been taught that reconciliation only happens when we believe in Jesus, but reconciliation was a prerequisite to even receiving the offer of God’s salvation towards us.
The offer of reconciliation is fully accomplished on God’s end of the relationship because of what Christ already did and not because of anything we have to do (including belief).
Our belief in Christ does not cause God to extend reconciliation to us, it was extended to the whole world when Christ died on the cross.
Now it is up to us to accept God’s offer of reconciliation.
This acceptance of reconciliation changes how we relate to God, NOT how God relates to us.
Verses 21 and 22 say, “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:”
I should make note here that verse 23 adds a requirement for being presented holy and unblameable and unreproveable to God, and it says: “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;”
We must remain grounded in faith and not move away from the Gospel. The promise and hope of the Gospel cannot be taken from us, but we can move away from it and reject it.
Referring back now to verses 21 and 22: Our wicked works (sins) alienate us from God in our minds, but not in reality.
This mindset of alienation convinces us that we are enemies of God and unfit for reconciliation, but that is not what the Gospel teaches and not what Jesus demonstrated when He walked the Earth in human flesh.
Under the Old Covenant there was a real separation of relationship from God because of sin, but we are not under the Old Covenant and neither has anyone on Earth been under the Old Covenant since Jesus died on the cross.
Our mind can deceive us into believing that God does not love us because we’ve sinned, or that He has grown weary of our mistakes and sin-inspired behavior, but that is not true.
Our conscience condemns us, but God does not.
Our conscience is subject to the truth of God’s Word, but only as much as we renew our mind by focusing on God’s love and forgiveness and who we are in Christ.
You CAN live free of self-condemnation!