[The following devotional is a part of our 2015 Easter Season Devotional Book “Passion Road.” We will be posting a devotional each day on this blog between February 18 – April 5, 2014.]
Reconciliation by Jonathan Holmes
Read: Romans 5:1-11
From the great theological book of Romans we get big terms like redemption, sanctification, reconciliation, and justification. All of these terms together provide an incredibly rich framework in viewing the doctrine of salvation. In chapter 5 Paul writes to the church in Rome to remind them of what was accomplished through the life and death of Jesus.
Jesus died for the ungodly, the enemies of God, while we were still sinners so that we might be justified before God. The term justification means to be legally declared righteous before God. How is this possible? Through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This means that if you are a believer, God the Father sees you as pure and holy in His sight simply because you have been reconciled with Christ. This should cause us to look at our lives differently—not based on how you see yourself, but how the Lord sees you through His son. You are no longer an enemy, but a son or daughter in a reconciled relationship with your Father.
The term reconciliation is found multiple times in Paul’s letters (Eph. 2:11; Col. 1:19), most namely in 2 Corinthians 5. Paul presents again that reconciliation has been accomplished in the life and death of Christ, but it goes a step further and says that we also now have the ministry of reconciliation. The beauty of the gospel is that Jesus invites those He has reconciled to the Father to now work in sharing the message of reconciliation. The reconciled sharing the message of reconciliation.
“For the sake of each of us he laid down his life–worth no less than the universe. He demands of us in return our lives for the sake of each other.” – St. Clement of Alexandria (190 AD)
Questions:
- When you think of yourself being “justified” before God, how does that affect the way your look at life and yourself?
- Read Romans 4:4–8. Have we been justified by works? Why or why not?
Prayers for Lent
- Thank Jesus for His sacrificial death on your behalf.
- Pray for someone you know who doesn’t know the Lord, that they will come to know the reconciliation that only comes through know Jesus Christ as Lord.