In our study of the doctrine of witnessing Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; we are examining the doctrines that undergird the gospel so that we understand how and why it is God alone who made it possible for our so great salvation by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Eph 2:8-9;
We are now discussing the doctrine of reconciliation where God once and for all addressed the barrier between Himself and mankind and by extension the barriers that exist between people. The only solution to these problems is believing in Jesus Christ as savior and growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This means that reconciliation is totally the work of the integrity of God and of Christ's work in bearing our sins in His body on the cross. We see from this that reconciliation emphasizes God's perfect immutable integrity and therefore irrevocably establishes the eternal security of the believer.
Since we have been reconciled to God and possess His perfect righteousness, there is nothing we can think, say or do to cancel God's work of reconciliation.
We have noted that in God's Word the Greek word "eirene" translated peace is not only a synonym for reconciliation, but is the only way to completely understand what God did for us, and that there was nothing we could do for salvation.
Peace is a synonym for reconciliation, because being reconciled to God through faith in Christ establishes peace between God and the believer. Peace means that believers have His righteousness and His life.
Col 1:19-22; "For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him (fullness in the deity of Christ is divine essence, in the humanity of Christ is His impeccability in the prototype divine dynasphere),
v20 and through Him (humanity of Jesus Christ) to reconcile all things to Himself (God the Father), having made peace through the blood of the Cross, through Him (God the Son) whether things on earth (man) or things in heaven (angels).
v21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in your mind through evil works,
v22 yet He has now reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death (substitutionary spiritual death), in order to present you before Him (God the Father) holy and blameless and beyond reproach (ultimate sanctification)."
The manner in which Jesus Christ "reconciles all things to Himself" begins in an overt way. We believe in Jesus Christ as we see Him, but our faith in Him comes from our mind, from what we think. When we were behind the barrier, under real spiritual death, all our thinking was alienated from and hostile toward God.
Yet God the Holy Spirit was able to make the Gospel clear to our thinking, that the only way of salvation is faith in Jesus Christ. Believing in Christ was the first constructive thinking in all of our lives!
You expressed alienation and hostile thinking to God through sin, evil works, good deeds, human power, human ability, and human talent.
You will be presented "holy, blameless, and beyond reproach" in resurrection body in heaven. Only God's plan is capable of accomplishing this astounding feat.
Christ's work removes all aspects of the barrier between God and the unbeliever. The barrier of real spiritual death is removed by Jesus Christ's substitutionary spiritual death. Personal sins are removed by the unlimited atonement.
The Curse of the Law that describes the fact that it is impossible for man to comply with the morality of the Law was removed by Jesus Christ who paid for our freedom by becoming accursed as our substitute. and God's holiness is satisfied with the work of Christ in propitiation.
Each one of these items shows what God has done for the entire human race. So there is no barrier remaining, only an invisible line remains. Mankind steps across that line by faith in Christ alone. Eternal salvation is acquired by simply believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, because on the cross Jesus accomplished all the work that was necessary for our so great salvation.
The facets of the barrier are the issue in presentation of the Gospel in witnessing. For example personal sin is no longer an issue because all sins were already judged.
Under the doctrine of selection, human life is imputed to the human soul. God has a purpose for each member of the human race. This is proven by the fact He gave you human life.
Simultaneously, Adam's original sin was imputed to the genetically formed old sin nature, producing real spiritual death. Gen 2:17; Rom 5:12; Rom 6:23; Eph 2:1;
Spiritual death means total helplessness and inability to have a relationship with God. The old sin nature, spiritual death, and the imputation of Adam's original sin form a barrier between God and man, which prevents man from ever having any relationship with God.
Real spiritual death is solved by the substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. This means Jesus Christ received the penalty for all our sins when they were imputed to Him and judged, 1Pet 2:24; 1Pet 3:18; 2Cor 5:21;
This barrier is manifested by our personal sins when we are tempted by the old sin nature and our volition chooses to sin. Rom 1:18-32; Rom 3:9-23; Gal 5:19-21; 1Tim 1:14-16;
Gal 6:7; also tells us that we manufacture our own misery through our own volitional choices.
When Christ received the imputation of our sins, He removed the barrier between God and man. This is reconciliation for all mankind. As God, Jesus Christ can have nothing to do with sin. Sins were imputed to Christ's humanity and judged. This is why the sins of the entire world were carried "in His body."
All personal sins were judged and removed from the barrier under the doctrine of unlimited atonement as taught in 2Cor 5:14,15,19; 1Tim 2:6; 1Tim 4:10; Titus 2:11; Heb 2:9; 1John 2:2;
The curse of the Law is found in Eph 2:15; 1Tim 1:8-11; Rom 3:9-23, Rom 4:15, Rom 5:20, Rom 7:14; Gal 3:10-11;
The curse of the law places mankind into the slave market of sin. Freedom from the slave market must be purchased and only God through Jesus could offer the purchase price.