July 24, 2014 BE RECONCILED TO GOD
I think that most Christians equate being reconciled to God with salvation: a one- time deal. However, in 2 Corinthians 5:20 Paul is pleading with believers to be reconciled to God. “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God was entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” According to chapters 6 and 7, as well as other portions of the letters to the Corinthians, it’s apparent that some of the Corinthian Christians, perhaps many, were living lives that were displeasing to God and therefore needed to be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 7:1 reads: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” There is a fundamental issue that we as Christians must deal with and it is found in 1 Corinthians 5: 15: “..and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” Paul also says in other scriptures that we have been bought with a price and are slaves to righteousness. The idea of not living for ourselves is foreign to the culture in which we live today. God is grieved with any sin of any type we allow in our lives whether it be sins of the flesh or sins we commit in our thought life, or wrong responses, etc. We must remember that Jesus gave His life to redeem us and to deliver us from the power of sin that held us in its grip before we were born again. God is grieved when we allow sin because He knows what fruit sin produces and He desires the very best for us and He is jealous of our relationship with Him. Sin also breaks our fellowship with God. Paul goes on to encourage believers to “perfect holiness in the fear of God”. Even though we get a new heart and spirit when we are born again, there is still a matter of maturing or growing in our walk with our heavenly Father. One of my daughters said that she heard a minister of the gospel once say that “because we are Christians, we should have a good nature”. That is so right! God is about newness, love, reconciliation, forgiveness, truth, hope and faith. May each of us be about “perfecting holiness in the fear of God”. If we find that we need to be reconciled to God, He stands with open arms ready to be reconciled!
Blessings,
Buddy
I think that most Christians equate being reconciled to God with salvation: a one- time deal. However, in 2 Corinthians 5:20 Paul is pleading with believers to be reconciled to God. “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God was entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” According to chapters 6 and 7, as well as other portions of the letters to the Corinthians, it’s apparent that some of the Corinthian Christians, perhaps many, were living lives that were displeasing to God and therefore needed to be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 7:1 reads: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” There is a fundamental issue that we as Christians must deal with and it is found in 1 Corinthians 5: 15: “..and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” Paul also says in other scriptures that we have been bought with a price and are slaves to righteousness. The idea of not living for ourselves is foreign to the culture in which we live today. God is grieved with any sin of any type we allow in our lives whether it be sins of the flesh or sins we commit in our thought life, or wrong responses, etc. We must remember that Jesus gave His life to redeem us and to deliver us from the power of sin that held us in its grip before we were born again. God is grieved when we allow sin because He knows what fruit sin produces and He desires the very best for us and He is jealous of our relationship with Him. Sin also breaks our fellowship with God. Paul goes on to encourage believers to “perfect holiness in the fear of God”. Even though we get a new heart and spirit when we are born again, there is still a matter of maturing or growing in our walk with our heavenly Father. One of my daughters said that she heard a minister of the gospel once say that “because we are Christians, we should have a good nature”. That is so right! God is about newness, love, reconciliation, forgiveness, truth, hope and faith. May each of us be about “perfecting holiness in the fear of God”. If we find that we need to be reconciled to God, He stands with open arms ready to be reconciled!
Blessings,
Buddy
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