In this familiar Bible portion, the Apostle Paul invites you and me to be reconciled to God. What does it mean to be "reconciled" to God? Why is it necessary? How can we bring about this condition?

By definition, reconciliation implies that hostilities have existed between two or more parties, and that these hostilities have been brought to an end through negotiation and mutual agreement. The dictionary says that"reconcile" means "to win over to friendliness; to bring into agreement or harmony." And that's what it means to be reconciled to God: to be brought into agreement and harmony with Him and His Son, Jesus Christ!

The bible teaches that man, by nature, is in rebellion against God.

     "...the mind set on the flesh (natural mind) is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the Law of God, for it is not even able to do so;" Romans 8:7 NAS

We learn in Paul's Epistle to the Romans that man's deliberate rejection of God's rule and authority brought him under God's wrath. God demonstrated His wrath by turning away from man; by allowing manıs unrestrained wickedness to carry him to unbelievable depths of sin and perversion. (See Romans 1:18-32.)

     "Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them." Romans 1:24 NAS

     "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper." Romans 1:28

Soon man had become a slave of sin powerless to overcome his own sinful nature. Romans 7:14-24

     "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish." Romans 7:18,19 NAS

     "but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" Romans 7:23,24 NAS

What began as sinning by choice had become slavery to sin! Hostility hung like a great cloud between man and his Creator! That's why it's necessary for us to be reconciled to God!

But God is a God of love, and His anger against sin could not diminish His great love for man! The Bible declares that it was love for us that moved Him to send His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on a Cross to deliver us from our sin!

     "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 NAS

God cannot defy His own nature! His JUSTICE demanded the penalty for sin be paid in full.

     "For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23a NAS

     "...without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." Hebrews 9:22b NAS

Furthermore, His HOLINESS insisted that His people be righteous rather than sinful.

     "...that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:21 NAS

Finally, His great LOVE required that a way be found to cleanse us of our sin, and reconcile us to Himself: A plan of salvation!

     "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9 NAS

Jesus Christ, God's Son, met each of these requirements on our behalf in His death, burial and resurrection.

     --The blood of Sacrifice He shed for us on the Cross of Calvary met the demands of God's JUSTICE.

     --The forgiveness of sin, made possible by His shed blood, satisfied the requirements of God's LOVE.

     --The righteousness provided for all who put their trust in Christ fully met the demands of His HOLINESS.

It is on the basis of Jesus Christ's wonderful act of love on the Cross of Calvary that God now offers "reconciliation" to helpless sinners everywhere!

     "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 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. Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him Who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 NAS

We said earlier that reconciliation involves an end of hostilities through "negotiation" and "agreement." We must be careful that we do not become confused about this point! When there is a need for reconciliation between two people, they usually sit down at a "bargaining table" and begin negotiations in a spirit of "give and take." Each party is careful to maintain a fair balance between his "giving" and his "taking."

However, when God, the Sovereign Creator, offers reconciliation to His creatures, the situation is somewhat different by the very nature of things. God does NOT invite us to sit down at a "bargaining table" with Him to negotiate terms of peace! What utter arrogance it would be to even suggest such a thing! Yet many folks attempt to do just that! But no -- God is offering us a reconciliation that has already been negotiated on our behalf! In our sinful condition we have no access to the "bargaining table!" We have no bargaining power; nothing of value to offer a Holy God! (Ephesians 2:11-18)

     "...remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Ephesians 2:12 NAS

But Jesus Christ, the Son of God, long ago in eternity past, had already negotiated our peace with the Father in the Councils of Heaven! He offered His own blood as a sacrifice for our sins. He offered His perfect righteousness to be credited to our account. God accepted His offer on our behalf because it satisfied every requirement of His Divine Nature: His JUSTICE, His HOLINESS and His LOVE!

     "For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." Romans 8:3,4 NAS

So God did not compromise His Justice or His Holiness: He remained Holy and Just, and became the Justifier of all who put their trust in Jesus Christ!

     "being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publically as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just, and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." Romans 3:24-26 NAS

Salvation, then, comes by the grace of God, in response to faith. It is simply receiving Godıs offer of reconciliation on His terms. It is a free gift. Christ Himself met all the terms of the agreement. When you receive Christ, the cloud of hostility between you and God has been forever lifted; You are at peace and in harmony with God! God is no longer angry with you, and you are no longer in rebellion against Him! God is saying to you in effect: "When you receive My Son by faith, as a Gift from Me, I will do the following things for you:"

1. "I will credit His death, burial and resurrection to your account."

     "...having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;" 2 Corinthians 5:14 NAS

     "Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life."Romans 6:3,4

2. "I will bring you into vital union with Christ as a member of His body!"

     "...we are members of His body." Ephesians 5:30 NAS

3. "I will cause Christ to live His life in your body!"

     "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me." Galatians 2:20 NAS

4. "I will make you a new person in Christ!"

     "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come." 2 Corinthians 5:17 NAS

5. "I will give you the Spirit of Christ to cause you to love and serve me as He did."

     "But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." Romans 8:9b NAS

     "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Galatians 5:22-24 NAS

6. "I will give you PEACE with Myself; no longer to be My enemy!"

     "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," Romans 5:1 NAS

7. "I will give you a new set of enemies: Instead of fighting Me, you will now be at war with the WORLD, the FLESH and the DEVIL; but Christ in you will:

     a. Overcome the World:"

     "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world -- our faith." 1 John 5:4 NAS

     b. Crucify the flesh:"

     "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Galatians 5:24 NAS

     c. and withstand the DEVIL!"

     "Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." Ephesians 6:11 NAS

8. "I will cause your life to bring glory to Me because Christ will be your Lord!"

     "for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His goodpleasure." Philippians 2:13 NAS

9. "I will give you Eternal Life ­ a home with Me forever."

     "For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 NAS

These are only a few of the many wonderful things God promises to do for you when you receive Jesus Christ as your own personal Savior and Lord. As you go on in your new life, you will discover a new desire to learn from God's Word, the Bible, which is spiritual nourishment for God's children. You will find that as you see the Son of God clearly revealed on the pages of God's Word, you will begin to look and act more like Him.

     "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:17,18

God offers all this as a free gift because of what His Son has done on your behalf! This, dear reader, is what it means to be reconciled to God!

Have you been reconciled to God? Many people have foolishly imagined that GOD would be reconciled to THEM! That will never be! But God has invited US to be reconciled to HIM! HE has declared the terms of peace. Those terms have been fully met by Jesus Christ. When we receive, as a free gift of God's grace, the salvation provided by the Lord Jesus Christ, we are given His life. We no longer "live unto" ourselves; we now "live unto Him Who died...and rose again!" 2 Corinthians 5:15

Are you reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ? That, dear friend, is ETERNAL LIFE!

Today it is the privilege of every Christian, on the authority of God's Word, to offer peace with God to Hellbound sinners on the basis of the blood of Christ which was shed on their behalf on the Cross of Calvary. If you have not been reconciled to God, won't you confess right now that you are a sinner in need of reconciliation, and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as YOUR Savior and Lord? It is only through Him that reconciliation with God is possible, because only Christ, the sinless Son of God, could satisfy Godıs righteous requirements. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY! Those who reject God's gracious offer of salvation through faith in Christ in this life will suffer forever in the Lake of Fire!

     "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 NAS

Won't you put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ today? That's what you can do to become reconciled to God!

If you have trusted Christ through reading this booklet, please write and tell me about it. I would be very happy to hear from you and rejoice with you!