Reconciliation simply means a change in status, and it is a
major issue recognizing reconciliation. Reconciliation from God’s
advantage point is an accomplished fact, and God is reconciled
where the totality of the sin debt of all men is concerned. None of
us measure up to the perfection of God, and the only reason God
could say through Paul, “Grace and Peace be unto you” is because
his son fully paid the price. How many of us have grown up with the
idea that God has to make a decision at some point in our life
whether or not to forgive us for our sins? God forgiving us is not
something he must decided to do.
The truth Paul has proclaimed in all of his epistles is we could
not get right with God in a million life times of trial and error.
We could never make ourselves right with God, and he had to do what
we could not do for ourselves. God had to make us right with him,
and he did so through the finished work of his perfectly righteous
son. How many of our sins were future when Christ died for our
sins? All of them were future, and God placed them all on his
perfectly righteous son. Christ’s test score is written on our
paper, it is an amazing transfer.
The issue of sin was settled as a result of Christ’s death upon the
tree of crucifixion, it is a son issue today, not a sin issue. Will
we accept what Jesus Christ accomplished as a result of his death
upon the tree of crucifixion or will we reject it, the son is the
issue with God today. God’s attitude of love forces no one to take
him at his word. God gives all the choice to accept what Christ
accomplished on their behalf today, or to reject it. God purchased
men out of sins dominion, never to be returned to the market place
of sin again. By removing the sin issue from the table of God’s
justice, God effectively canceled Satan’s ownership of all
mankind.
Reconciliation has to do with God’s justice being satisfied for
sins, reconciliation is a sin issue. Many teachers will tell us
that we can be reconciled, but that is not true, reconciliation was
accomplished as a result of Christ’s death upon the tree of
crucifixion, where Christ became sin for the entire human race. Our
sins were not stored on Christ to be brought back later; our sins
were paid for by him, and he satisfied totally the justice of God
for those sins.
Justification, on the other hand, is something entirely different;
it has to do with a judicial decree of the very righteousness of
God himself freely attributed to our account. To be justified (the
gift declaration of the very righteousness of God) means to receive
that gift that came to all men. No one can receive that unless that
person is placed into Christ. Being placed into Christ, joined to
Christ is the method whereby God justifies us; or righteousifies
us. We must believe that Christ put our sins (past, present and
future) away forever as a result of his death, in order to be
placed into Christ to have righteousness freely attributed to our
account.