Reconciled

July 8

I Chronicles 18-19

Psalm 78:56-64

Proverbs 17:14-15

Romans 5

Reconciled

“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly.  For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die.  But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!  Much more then since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath.”  Romans 5:1-2, 6-9 HCSB

In Romans 5, Paul explains how we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.  This reconciliation is not something we are waiting for, but in every way, we are already righteous, holy, and acceptable to God.  We have obtained access to God through Jesus by faith.  I once heard an illustration that explains this very well.  You are sitting in your house with your family watching TV when the doorbell rings.  You open the door, and a young boy is standing at your door asking to come in.  Before you let him in you would ask him some questions.  You would want to know his name, where he lives, who his parents are and what he wants.  It would be unsafe for you to allow him into your house with your family if you didn’t know who he was or what he wanted.  You would not give access to your home to a stranger.  However, if you are sitting at home watching tv with your family and your son comes home with a young boy you don’t know your reaction would be very different.  Your son would bring him in, introduce him to you and tell you a little about him.  You would welcome him with open arms and offer him something to eat.  He would be treated as a guest and given access to your home.  Before we know Christ, we are strangers.  We do not have access to God, but once we know the Son, we have access to the Father.  Jesus brings us home and welcomes us as an honored guest.  It is not based on who we are or what we have done, but rather, we are given access because we are with the Son. 

“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  This verse refutes the idea that we need to clean ourselves up before we can come to God.  Some people have the idea that we can’t come to God when we are at our worst, but that we have to clean up our lives and make ourselves more presentable to get to God.  I’ve heard people say that they would not be allowed in the church doors because of all the bad things they have done. Unfortunately, there are churches where this may be true, but it could not be further from the truth of the gospel.  Jesus welcomes us just as we are.  It is impossible to “clean” up enough to be presentable to Him.  Thankfully, that is not what He requires.  We are told that a humble and contrite spirit pleases Him more than anything else.