Reconciliation – another facet of Election

The doctrine of election is no doubt one of those “secret things that belong to the Lord our God” (Deut 29:29), and we must rest in the fact that God in His infinite wisdom and knowledge understands it completely and unequivocally. For us it is a paradox, something that seems to not be in agreement or contradicts itself, yet is true. The truth of election is that God has, in His Master Plan, chosen us for His universal body, the church before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). Additionally, it is understood that we, although chosen, have a responsibility to respond to His grace by faith. This is not a situation where it is an “either/or” but is a “both/and.” For example, Jesus was “both” 100% God “and” 100% man. Of course, we could go on but, because this doctrine is so difficult and divisive, especially within the Baptist church, we have dismissed it and flippantly bypass and refuse to discuss and study this great doctrine. This must not be so, and we must remember our Christian heritage and understand that great men in the past struggled with this and other such difficult doctrines that we today better understand them because they asked the difficult questions and embraced the tension. In addition, Paul in all his letters to the churches thought it to be such an important doctrine that he includes it in all his letters. I believe that God, in His sovereignty, has left this and other difficult doctrines, for us to wrestle with and to know that there is always going to be a tension when one delves into this and other deep doctrines in Scripture. We, I believe, in pouring over Scripture and studying this and other difficult and yet great doctrines will come to know our Savior and God better and will lift Him back up to His rightful place as the Sovereign God. We, as humans, and throughout history in trying to understand God have shamefully pulled Him down and put Him into a box that we can systematize and understand. We must not allow ourselves to do this and remember what Isaiah said, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:9).

I want to look at just one more facet, of the many, in the doctrine of election. That is the doctrine of Reconciliation. The emphasis of reconciliation is that of making peace with God. Man who was estranged from God is brought into communion with God. Sin had created a barrier between man and God and rendered man hostile toward God (Isa. 59:1–2; Col. 1:21, 22; Ja. 4:4). Through Christ that enmity and the wrath of God was removed (Rom. 5:10). Reconciliation may thus be defined as “God removing the barrier of sin, producing peace and enabling man to be saved.” There are two parts to reconciliation. The objective aspect of reconciliation is that in which man is reconciled to God prior to faith and man is rendered savable (2 Cor. 5:18a, 19a). This is provisional reconciliation. The subjective aspect of reconciliation is that in which man is reconciled to God when he believes (2 Cor. 5:18b, 19b). This is experimental reconciliation.

The word reconciliation comes from the Greek word katalasso, which means “to effect a change, to reconcile.” God is the one who initiated this change or reconciliation; He moved to reconcile sinful man to Himself (2 Cor. 5:18, 19). On the other hand, man is the object of reconciliation. It was man who had moved out of fellowship with God; therefore, man needed to be restored. This reconciliation has been provided for the whole world, but it is effective only when it is received by personal faith.[1]

Reconciliation is manward: man was the one that had moved out of fellowship because of sin, and man needed to be reconciled to renew the fellowship.[2]

Thus, God is and was beforehand with men and He has reconciled Himself to the world through the cross and does beseech or implore men to accept reconciliation. The key is to remember who the initiator is – it’s God! It is our responsibility, and I believe this is probably the best term to use, to grasp His overtures or initiative of grace, as He is the offended One, who has acted first with the word of appeasement, which is another word for reconciliation. We need not to call in question His willingness to save, but must deplore and condemn our own foolish maliciousness. If we do not come to God as one who seeks favor, we live in contempt, anger, malice, self-sufficiency, and God calls that enmity or a deep rooted hatred (Rom 8:7; Ja 4:4). That’s why the Scriptures teach us the necessity of a Mediator, a Messiah, to be embraced in love with all our heart. Jesus then, is the One who we submit to as our king to rule us, as a Prophet to guide, as a Priest to take away our sin and death, and all this by faith in the beloved Son. On the negative side, the Bible also teaches us that we are not to guide ourselves, nor to obey ourselves, not to try and rule and conquer sin, but to cleave to the One who will do all and has done all for us. We must, in the difficulty of this doctrine, understand that our salvation is Christ’s work, but to cleave to Him by faith is our responsibility, and with this faith is the necessity of our daily repentance as mourning for our sin which Christ by grace removed.

We then must ask and pray as Paul did in Ephesians 1:15-23, to teach us that faith apprehends Christ’s righteousness not only for the satisfaction of justice, but as unspotted evidence of His love towards us. It is the infection of faith through the light of the gospel that we respond to and become His child (1 Cor 4:4; Jn 1:12). We also must ask for help that we would make use of His work of salvation as the ground of peace, and of His favor to, and acceptance of us the sinner, so that we may live always near the cross.

[1] John F. Walvoord, Jesus Christ Our Lord (Chicago: Moody, 1969), p. 182.
[2]Paul P. Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1997, c1989), 324.