Forgiven, reconciled, and saved?

Reconciliation, unlike forgiveness, is a two-player game. Both sides need to play. Consider the husband who wishes to be reconciled with his estranged wife. He loves her with an unconditional love that keeps no record of wrongs. In his mind there is no hurt or offense that has not been forgiven and forgotten. So in his love he has come to the table of reconciliation declaring that all is well from his side. Would you say they have been reconciled? Well that depends on the wife. Unless she chooses to be reconciled, there is no reconciliation.

Now let’s imagine that the wife is so damaged by an unhappy childhood that she unfairly projects her brokenness onto him. Even though he is a perfect gentleman and beyond reproach, in her mind her husband is an angry and violent man. This is how fallen humanity relates to our loving Father in heaven. Even though God has been unfailingly good to us, in our fallen state we think the worst of Him. We imagine Him to be angry and violent.

For as long as we are separated from the life and love of God by our imagined offenses, are we reconciled? Of course not. If the man in our story went around telling others that he and his wife were reconciled – even as she continued living with another man – they would think he was nuts. Yet this is exactly the message that many are preaching.

Has the world been reconciled to God? Paul’s answer was “Yes and no.” From God’s side, reconciliation is an historical event. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ…” (2 Cor 5:18). God has come to us with open arms. He holds nothing against us – not our sins, not our past, not anything. “While we were still sinners Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). Glory to God!

However, there is no reconciliation in fact unless we respond to His overtures. Hence Paul’s exhortation, “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20). God loves the world so much that He came and died for us. His heart yearns for the lost and broken. He does not want an historical reconciliation that is not presently true. He wants His kids!

Those who preach historical reconciliation argue that fallen man’s estrangement is based on a lie. Men fear God needlessly and I agree. God is not angry with us. He really does love us. And it is certainly not wrong to preach that God has reconciled us to Himself through Christ since this is what Paul preached. But with equal passion we must also preach the other side, as Paul also did: We implore you – be reconciled to God.

- Paul Ellis