Reconciliation, an accomplished fact

[newnature]

Reconciliation is an accomplished fact. It is entirely outside of yourself, and it is simply to be received. There is a new view of living, no longer for self, but for God; to die to self and live to Christ.

God has taken the initiative to reconcile man back to himself. God is not reconciled to man, as though God were partly to blame for the enmity. Rather, man is reconciled to God, for it is man who moved away from God. When people need to be reconciled to one another, it normally involves a situation where fault lies on both sides to some degree. Not so with the case between man and God, man has moved away from God, and it is man who needs to be reconciled back to God, not God back to man.

The basic idea of reconciling is to change or make otherwise. This is the reverse of Hellenistic religion, where it is the human being that seeks restoration of the gods’ favor, and also of Judaism, where confession of sin and repentance are the means by which reconciliation with God is sought. It is not that we must reconcile ourselves to God. Rather, we are to be reconciled, that is, to accept what God has already achieved.

It is not merely that we acquire a right standing or do good works; we actually become righteous. For through what Christ had accomplished, we truly assume his righteousness, just as Christ assumed our sin. If our debts are not posted to our account, it is because someone else has legally assumed them. Christ righteousness ours, and our sin his.

[Churchwork]

I do think there is some doubletongue in your comment.

In order to accept what God has done for us, we need to repent, opening ourselves to receiving the gift of faith, therefore and be converted: "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel'" (Mark 1.15). "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3.19). Conversion (salvation, new birth, regeneration, born-again) follows repentance and belief in Christ. God says search Him out with all your heart and soul, only then shall you find Him. "Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live!" (Deut. 30.19) "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men" (Tit. 2.11). "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3.9).

God reconciles us to Him by what Jesus did on the cross, but this reconciliation must be received by us. Without us being willing to receive it, it remains unappropriated. Where your doubletongue is most apparent to me is in talking about reconcilation. We must reconcile ourselves to God by repenting and believing in Him. There is no other way. If you don't confess your sin and repent, the means by which to be reconciled with God, you remain as lost as ever, and have entered the heresy of Calvinism in which you claim you were irresistibly selected which is a lie. God gives us the free choice and does not irresistibly select anyone or pass over anyone. What love is that?

There are two righteousness. The imputed righteousness of Christ given to the saints as well as our own righteousnesses unto rewards. The latter flow from the first as one grows in Christ. If you overcometh you will receive the reward of returning with Christ to reign during the 1000 years on earth. If you remain a babe in Christ, a carnal Christian, you will lose this reward.

I've noticed those who don't accept the Triune God also reject Heb. 4.12 "dividing soul and spirit." When a believer accepts the grace of our Lord Jesus in being his substitute on the cross, although he may remain woefully ignorant of his being crucified with Christ he is given God’s life nonetheless and has his spirit quickened. This imparted new life brings with it a new nature as well. Hence there now exists both two lives and two natures in the believer: the soul life and the spirit life on the one side, the sin nature and God’s nature on the other.