"The Ministry of Reconciliation"
by Art Elorza
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 making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Cor. 5:18-20)
Today's church is confronted by a seemingly endless variety of ministry methods, strategies and styles. Some argue that the church should agitate for social and political change to force cultural morality, or even help usher in the kingdom (postmillenialism). Others insist the church's message should be inoffensive, upbeat, and affirming, to create a positive atmosphere in which nonbelievers can feel welcome and not threatened (pragmatism). Still others believe their church's primary task is to defend its theological distinctive (denominationalism).
But there is no confusion in Scripture about what the church's mission is to be---evangelism. This definitive passage clearly articulates the heart and soul of the church's responsibility as it represents Jesus Christ in the world. God has called all believers, especially pastors, to proclaim the message of reconciliation---a term which appears in some form five times in these three verses.
The glorious good news of the gospel is that the sin-devastated relationship between lost sinners and the holy God can be restored. That at first glance seems impossible. God's perfect, infinite, righteous justice demands the punishment of all who violate His law. Standing before the bar of His justice are helpless, guilty sinners, unable either to satisfy God or to change their condition. But through God's plan of reconciliation all the hostility, animosity, and alienation separating the Holy One and sinners vanishes, and those who were one His enemies become His friends. The calling and noble privilege of preaching this message of reconciliation is the most important duty in the world, since it deals with eternal destinations.
The gospel of reconciliation was the heart of Paul's preaching. To the Romans he wrote, "So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Rom. 1:15-16). Paul also expressed the burning desire of his heart to preach the message of reconciliation in his first inspired letter to the Corinthians:
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void...But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness...My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of Spirit and of power. (1 Cor. 1:17, 23; 2:4)
In Ephesians 3:8 he expressed the wonder that to him, "the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ." Paul never lost his focus on the simple, straightforward message that sinners can be reconciled to God through the cross of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 2:2)
In this, the most theological section of this epistle, Paul gives a comprehensive statement of how God has made this reconciliation possible. The text reveals that reconciliation is by the will of God, by the act of forgiveness, and by the obedience of faith.
RECONCILIATION IS BY THE WILL OF GOD
Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, (5:18).
The phrase all these things points back to the immediately preceding section of this epistle, which described the total transformation taking place at conversion (vv. 14-17). In that passage Paul described believers' death and resurrection in Christ as being transformed into new creatures. All these things, that is, those related to the transformation, come from God (cf. 1 Cor. 8:6; 11:12; James 1:17); sinners cannot be reconciled to Him on their own terms. Unregenerate people have no ability to appease God's anger against sin, satisfy His holy justice, or conform to His standard of righteousness. They are guilty of fatally violating God's law and face eternal banishment from His presence. The deadly, deceptive plan of all false religion is that sinners, based on their own moral and religious efforts and achievements, can reconcile themselves to God. But God alone designed the way of reconciliation, and only he can initiate the reconciliation of sinners; that God...reconciled us to Himself is precisely the good news of the gospel.
God so loved the world that He made the way of reconciliation. He desired to reconcile sinners to Himself---to make them His children. Such a desire is not foreign to God's holy character but consistent with it. One of the glorious realities of God's person is that He is a Savior by nature.
From before the foundation of the world, God freely and apart from outside influence determined to save sinners in order to eternally display the glory of His grace. He chose those He would rescue from His own wrath on sin and wrote their names in the Book of Life. He is no reluctant Savior; in fact Scripture frequently give Him that title (ps. 106:21; Isa 43:3, 11; 45:15, 21; 49:26; 60:16; 63:8; Hos. 13:4; Luke 1:47; 1 Tim. 1:1; 2:3; 4:10; Titus 1:3,4; 2:10, 13; 3:4,6; Jude 25).
From Genesis 3:8-9 where God said, "Where are you?" he has been seeking to save sinners. Ezekiel 34:16 says, "I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick." He Himself is the eager reconciler, as Paul wrote to the Romans:
"Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." (Rom. 5:9-11)
It is to God's plan through Jesus Christ that we owe the gratitude for our reconciliation.
Both the verb katallasso (reconciled) and the noun katallage (reconciliation) appear in the New Testament only in Paul's writings. The terms always portray God as the reconciler and sinners as the ones reconciled, since it was human sin that ruptured the relationship between God and man (cf. Isa. 59:2). In Romans 5:11, Paul declares, "We also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." To the Ephesians Paul wrote:
"But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity." (Eph. 2:13-16)
Work in progress, still typing!!
