From the Greek word katallasso, meaning, "to change from enmity to friendship; to change from being an enemy to being a friend." God accomplishes our reconciliation to Him, offering His grace to sinful man through the death of Christ. Jesus paid the price due for our sin. Because of this grace (Jesus Christ), men are invited to change their attitude, accept the provision God has made to remit (a dismissal, or release; a passing by of debt or sin; a passing over; to send away--to forgive) sin and be justified (made right) in God's sight IN and THROUGH Christ. God did this while we were still His enemies. Romans 5:9-11 says, "Since we have now been justified by His [Christ's] blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have now received reconciliation."
As enemies of God, man is hostile to God (see Romans 8:5-11), and until a change of attitude takes place, men are under condemnation, exposed to God's wrath. The death of God's Son is the means to remove this condemnation and receive the reconciliation. God then favors us. Christ was the atonement for our sins--the sacrificial offering which was acceptable to God--the pure lamb without spot or blemish Who became sin for us, (2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 1:17-21). We do not receive atonement. We receive the results of the atonement, which is "reconciliation." Christ's sacrifice remitted our sins (paid the price and cancelled the debt that WE owe for our sins) so that we can therefore be reconciled to God.
God is not reconciled to man. God is unchanging. WE must be reconciled to God--change from enemy to friend. This can only be done IN and THROUGH Christ because God's sacrifice of His Son was to make Christ, Who knew NO sin, to become sin on our behalf. Why? So that WE might become "the righteousness of God" IN Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21). IN Christ, God offers men the opportunity to be reconciled--to become not enemies of the cross, but friends of God and Christ through faith and obedience.
The action of reconciliation is complete. The call, the offer, the invitation must go out to the world. Those who are reconciled to God have the command, the work, the service of spreading this Good News of reconciliation to others in the world, speaking ONLY the Words of God since we become Christ's ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20), as though God were speaking through us using the Words of Jesus. And Jesus only spoke the Words of the Father, (John 8:28-29, John 12:49-50).
The subject of "reconciliation" is presented in all of its beauty in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21: "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, Who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them [remission or forgiveness of sins]. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made Him Who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
(See also Atone / Atonement / Atoning, Friend / Friendship, Grace, Just / Justice, Mercy, Propitiation, Redeem / Redemption / Redeemer, Righteous / Righteousness.)
From the Greek word exagorzao. It is a strengthened form of the Greek word agorazo, which means, "to buy back"--like purchasing a slave so that you may free him. It also means, "to release on receipt of a ransom--to release, to liberate, to deliver--by paying a price."
The Lord our Redeemer is compassionate: "‘In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,' says the Lord your Redeemer," (Isaiah 54:8).
Christ paid the price for our sins by His death on the cross. We may be redeemed (bought back at a price) from the bondage of sin and liberated into the love of God by the blood of Christ. Romans 3:23-24 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Ephesians 1:7 says, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace."
Because we are redeemed--bought at the greatest price ever paid and ransomed from sin and death--we are no longer our own. We are a possession of God. Ephesians 1:13-14 says, "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of His glory."
God's children are to live as those who are redeemed (bought at the price of the blood of Christ), and are to be pure because they are now HIS people: "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very Own, eager to do what is good," (Titus 2:11-14).
(See also Atone / Atonement / Atoning, Friend / Friendship, Grace, Just / Justice, Mercy, Propitiation, Righteous / Righteousness.)
From the Greek word metanoeo (meta meaning "after," implying change, and noeo meaning "to perceive with the mind, to understand, to know by experience and observation"; noeo comes from the Greek word nous which is "the mind, the seat of moral reflection, the place of understanding, feeling, judging and determining"). Always in the New Testament, "repent" is to understand what one has done in the past to wrong, or separate oneself from God, and feel sorrow for what was done in the past as well as for the separation. This understanding and resultant sorrow are brought about by the hearing of the message of Truth--Christ, the Word of God. The understanding and sorrow spark, or kindle, a change of mind/heart involving both a turning away from sin AND a turning to God. The final outcome for the truly repentant one can only be obedience to God's Will. Repentance is not just an understanding of, and sorrow for, past sins. It includes the ACTION of change, which comes from belief, or faith, in the bearer of the message heard--Christ, being "God with us"--AND in the message itself--Christ, being the "Word of God." Both must be present AND accepted by the sinner to cause him to "repent." Resulting actions are confession of the Name of the One you will now turn to in love, devotion, reverence, service, awe and worship, AND baptism WITH Christ into His death, burial and resurrection, being baptized INTO the Names of the Ones you will now live a changed life FOR and IN (the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit being One). Repentance is the result of hearing and believing (having faith in) Jesus and His message (the Word) from God. Confession and baptism are the results of repentance, a change of mind/heart that leads to a change of life.
(See also Baptize / Baptism / Baptizing, Confess / Confession, Faith...Belief..., Obey / Obedient / Obedience, Sin / Sinful / Sinner, Word....)
A raising up, or, rising; to cause to stand; to cause to come forth from death to life; to stand or come out from, or, to rise from, the dead.
Jesus rose from the dead early on the first day of the week, (Mark 16:9). Jesus is the resurrection and the life, (John 11:25-26). David prophesied of the resurrection of Christ, and many were witnesses to the fact that Jesus indeed was resurrected from the dead, (Acts 2:29-36, Acts 10:41-43). There will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked, (Acts 24:15). Believers who have been united with Christ in His death through baptism will also be united with Him in His resurrection--a resurrection to a new life--dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ, (Romans 6:5-18). If Christ had not been resurrected from the dead, we would be without hope, (1 Corinthians 15:12-19). Jesus is the firstfruits of those who are raised from the dead, and those who belong to Him will be raised when He comes again, (1 Corinthians 15:20-28). Christ came to earth in the likeness of man. At the resurrection of the dead, we shall bear the likeness of the Man from heaven--Jesus Christ, (1 Corinthians 15:42-49). At the last trumpet, the dead will be raised imperishable, and will be changed, (1 Corinthians 15:50-54). To know Christ and the power of His resurrection is to attain to the resurrection of the dead, (Philippians 3:10-11). The dead in Christ will rise first, (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). We have a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (1 Peter 1:3-9). Baptism saves one by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (1 Peter 3:21-22). (See below for "Comments By Hodge on the Resurrection.")
COMMENTS BY HODGE ON THE RESURRECTION
The importance of Christ's resurrection will be seen when we consider, that if He rose from the dead, the Gospel is true, and if He did not rise from the dead, it is false. His resurrection from the dead makes it clear that His sacrifice was accepted. Our justification was secured by His obedience to the death, and therefore He was raised from the dead, (Romans 4:25). His resurrection is a proof that He made a full atonement for our sins, that His sacrifice was accepted as a satisfaction to divine justice, and His blood a ransom for sinners. It is also a pledge and an earnest of the resurrection of all believers, (Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:47-49; Philippians 3:21; 1 John 3:2). As He lives, they (all believers) shall live also.
It proved Him to be the Son of God, inasmuch as it proved all His claims, (John 2:19; 10:17). If Christ did not rise, the whole scheme of redemption is a failure, and all the predictions and anticipations of its glorious results for time and for eternity, for men and for angels of every rank and order, are proved to be chimeras (a false hope or something that is untrue). "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept."
Therefore the Bible is true from Genesis to Revelation. The kingdom of darkness has been overthrown, Satan has fallen as lightning from heaven, and the triumph of Truth over error, of good over evil, of happiness over misery is for ever secured. Hodge.
(See also Judge, Judgment, Just / Justice.)
From the Greek word dikaiosune. It is the character or quality of being right or just. Thus, God IS righteous AND God IS righteousness. It is whatever is right or just in itself. Therefore, God AND His Will--His Word, being Jesus Christ--are right or just, meaning that they are righteous, (1 John 2:1). It is whatever conforms to the revealed Will of God. Thus, we are made righteous by obedience to God's Will because we CONFORM to His Will. It is whatever has been revealed by God to be acknowledged and obeyed by man. Therefore, we fulfill God's righteousness by being obedient to His righteous Will. It is the sum total of the requirements of God. Thus, we live in a righteous state when we put the righteous Will of God to work in our daily lives. We are made right, or, we are justified, in God's eyes when we live a life obedient to His righteous Will. The righteous live by faith, (Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11). The prayer of a righteous man is powerful, (James 5:16). The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, (1 Peter 3:12). The breastplate of righteousness is part of the armor of God, (Ephesians 6:14). The believers have in store for them a crown of righteousness, which the LORD, the Righteous Judge, will award to them, (2 Timothy 4:8).
(See also Just / Justice, Obey / Obedience / Obedient.)
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