Reconciliation - Jeremiah's Vow

Lent 2022 | Day 30: Forgiveness

Of the many character qualities we as Christians should cultivate, forgiveness may be one of the more difficult ones. Forgiveness is the act we perform toward another when we have been wronged. But when we are the victim of injustice it is difficult for us to let go of the desire for vengeance.

This desire is natural and one could say expected. The problem with our desire for vengeance, as it relates to forgiveness, is that it inhibits our ability to extend to others what God has extended to us. When we forget what we have received it becomes difficult to give that to someone else.

We in the church have oftentimes called people to forgive before they are ready to truly do so. This means the pain that was experienced because of what was suffered has not properly healed. It also means we have misunderstood a key aspect of what forgiveness is supposed to do.

The purpose of forgiveness is to release ourselves from the bondage of playing God in someone else’s life for what they did in ours. But it is difficult to see how this can be done and not feel as if the person whom we are forgiving is getting off scot-free.

A phrase that has often been used to describe forgiveness, and I believe incorrectly so, is the idea of “forgive and forget”. Now, I would like to say from the start that it is true God says that he casts our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). The God who is infinite in knowledge is able to “forget” our sins. The problem with trying to apply that ability to those of us who are still living in and managing the effects of this sinful world are too many to describe here.

What I would like to do is to show that forgiveness according to Scripture is not trying to forget what has happened. Rather forgiveness is the releasing of our desire to be the judge against the person who has wronged us. Why do I make this distinction? I do so because throughout Scripture we are reminded that God is the judge of all the earth. That God is the one who will make every injustice right. What many of us are upset about is the fact that God is not operating our timeline. We feel the weight of the injustice and therefore desire an immediate response to it. But this is not biblical forgiveness.

Bishop Luis L. Scott, the pastor of Ambassadors of Christ Fellowship, provides a helpful summary of the doctrine of forgiveness as articulated in Scripture. Forgive and forget is only possible by God. But we can mirror to the best of our abilities the kind of forgiveness that a broken and fallen person can perform by working to apply the following phrase: “forgive and forgo”.

What this phrase reminds us of is that forgiveness is the foregoing of what we believe is a just repayment for the injustice we have suffered. By foregoing our need to see the penalty of injustice meted out in our presence we are entrusting to God what only he can do and still be just — and that is to be a just judge against sin.

As we continue our steady march toward Easter morning is important for us to recognize that the kind of forgiveness we have experienced in Christ should be shared with others. This is not always easy. But it’s always required of us to try. It may take longer or shorter than we may be prepared to do. But the goal is not to get to the point where we can forgive and forgo on someone else’s timetable. The goal is to be able to forgive and forgo in such a way that we embody the fullness of God’s grace and mercy as we have experienced it. That way when others experience forgiveness they might see how much greater and more perfect God’s forgiveness is toward us all.

Lent 2022 | Day 11: Mercy

Mercy has often been defined as not getting what we truly deserve. I find this to be a helpful definition. But it only paints a part of the picture.

The Christian life calls us to look at the world around us through new eyes. It is an intentional effort to re-program our thinking to be more consistent with the character of God. But this can be challenging. Oftentimes in more ways than one. Our past histories and our present struggles can cloud our ability to see what God was doing and may still be at work doing.

This is why we must be a people marked by mercy. We have been the beneficiaries of God’s mercy. We have received that which we did not deserve. And more to the point that which we could never have earned.

It is an intentional effort to re-program our thinking to be more consistent with the character of God.
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The grace of God gives us what we do not deserve. And that is only one side of the story. The second side, the side that we are discussing today, is what God has kept away from us. It can be easy to think at times that what God kept from us was not as bad as what we have been experiencing. But the problem is this is not true.

The penalty of sin upon us is eternal separation from God. To be completely and totally outside of the presence of God. And while there are some who would reject that hell exists, they would misunderstand what hell is in doing so. The imagery of the New Testament can be graphic and describe things that are quite horrifying. But the physical imagery of fire and of rotted flesh truly pale in comparison to the idea of being separated from God.

This permanent state of separation is the result of a complete and utter rejection of the salvation God has provided through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. To speak of God as imposing upon us for all eternity a will, a love, a grace, a mercy that we have rejected would be an indictment against God’s character.

God does not desire to force upon us what we do not desire for ourselves. But to then claim that it would be unjust for God to not allow those who chose this separation to have it is somewhat odd. Those who have stepped out of this world and into the next rejecting God are not being denied access into his presence. They are entering into the next life getting what they wanted. To regret that decision once there could be described as suffering from a form of spiritual “buyer’s remorse.”

God has given us ample time and sufficient testimony in the creation and within our own hearts to make a choice as to where we will be. If we heed the call of the gospel in repentance from sin we will not only have God’s grace applied to us but we will experience the mercy of God over us.

The relationship between God’s mercy and the subject of hell has too often been detached and even dismissed. But the reason we need not only God’s grace, which makes us ready for heaven, and God’s mercy, which changes the trajectory of our eternal destiny, is that we could address neither of these predicaments without God. When we receive God’s grace we are redeemed from the effects of sin. When we receive God’s mercy we are restored to a relationship with God from the penalty of sin.

When we understand these fundamental differences and yet related realities we will grow in our appreciation for what God has done to bring us into a closer relationship with him.

In this season may we learn to rejoice for what God has not only promised but what God has accomplished.

For this God who has been rich in mercy has rained it upon us not only generously but beyond our ability to comprehend.

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesian 2:4-7 NKJV

Good Advice for Conflict Resolution

I found this referenced in a short letter from a minister to the Archbishop of Canterbury regarding how to come to a resolution to an ongoing issue in the Church of England. I was able to find the full book online. It is an interesting take on how Paul addressed the many and varied issues for which he was asked about for counsel.

This is a lesson we can all learn as well.

“Paul’s dialectical mind, instead of stopping short at the surface of these particular questions and losing itself in the details of a finely drawn casuistry, always ascends from facts to principles, and thus sheds a fuller light on all the difficulties presented to it by the way. After he has carried the mind of his readers up to the serene heights of Christian thought, he sweeps down from this elevation with irresistible force; and each solution that he suggests is simply a new application of the permanent and general principles of the Gospel.” (Auguste Sabatier, The Apostle Paul, (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1903), 161-162.)

Sermon | “The Means of Salvation: The Cross”

This sermon was preached at Ambassadors of Christ Fellowship on May 1, 2016.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹ For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰ and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. ¹¹ In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. ¹³ And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴ by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ He [Jesus] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him [-self, on the cross]. Colossians 2:8-15 (ESV)

Introduction

Today we will be looking at the means that God chose in order to bring about the salvation of this fallen world.

When we talk about our salvation, we are talking about an idea that encompasses other terms and ideas such as atonement, redemption, and reconciliation with God. The reality of salvation is a deeply theological one. What this means is that we are trying to get at the truth that supports what we see enacted in the world. This redemptive drama was played out on the stage of the Judean countryside and culminated at the cross of Calvary.

Last week we saw that one of the reasons that sin is applied to all, that all humanity is under the weight, burden, and condemnation of sin is because it reveals that we have made the same mistake as the Devil. We have robbed God of his glory and have taken for granted God’s kindness and grace. This is the offense. Now, it may not sound like much. However, when we consider that the one offended by our sin is perfect, pure, and incapable of sin we can begin to understand a little bit of why sin is such problem. Because of sin, a means for salvation had to be created and used to allow a fallen and sinful humanity to have a relationship with a holy God.

As I mentioned a moment ago, the subject that we will address this morning has to do with a theological topic that many times, in my mind, is vaguely understood. We will be talking about the means of salvation. Now, before we go any further, it is important to make sure that we understand what we are saying when we say that God has a means to salvation. The word “means,” in this context, is pointing to a method, manner, or process that is used to bring about the salvation of sinners. Because, in the end, that is what we need to know. We need to understand how God was able to accomplish what he says he has done for those who were destined for eternal separation and damnation from him and now are not.

When we talk about a means we should be trying to understand what has to be true about the parts in order for the result to make sense. In other words, we have to understand all, or at the very least, the primary elements of this thing we call salvation if we are going to respond to the Gospel’s call to repent and be saved. To begin with we have to come to a couple of important realizations. The first realization is that we do not and we cannot fathom what the true cost of salvation is. As hard as we may try, what it cost God to save just one sinner, let alone all sinners, is beyond any form of human communication to formulate.

And second, and this in my estimation is the more important realization, when we can begin to glimpse at the extent, breadth, and depth of our salvation we will be compelled to worship because of things that we never considered before. I hope to establish the first by pointing to several realities that Paul tucks into the scripture we read this morning and I pray that I might be able to get us to better see the reason for the second.

Among the writers of the New Testament, Paul is one of the best at packing in an incredible amount of information into a small space. In this paragraph of Colossians, he does that once again.

Because of our time limitations, I would like to point out four realities that we must grasp and do our best to understand if we are going to make sense of why God used the cross as the means of accomplishing his redemptive purpose.

If we are going to understand the means of salvation that God has used we have to take a short trip down theology lane. When we look at the scripture we will see that from beginning to end, redemptive history has been moving steadily toward a particular and specific climax. That point was found in the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. In Jesus, from his birth to his death and resurrection, the purposes of God found their final and perfect expression. When Jesus walked upon the earth, he was, literally, the embodiment of everything God is. This is the first reality that I would like to draw your attention to.

Reality #1: In Jesus we see everything that God is.

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (v. 9)

Allow me to summarize what I am about to say over the next few minutes. The mystery of the incarnation is what makes the whole of salvation possible.

I do not remember when it happened, but several years ago I was struck by the reality that Jesus is the complete and perfect expression of God in the flesh on the earth. In theological terms, we call this “incarnation”. When Jesus, the second person of the trinity stepped out of eternity and into the temporal reality of this world, he did so by joining spirit and flesh.

In the first Adam, God established the process by which a living spirit would be joined to a corporeal body. When we talk about the means of salvation, we must keep our focus on what it took for God to establish a way of accomplishing the redemption we enjoy. Therefore, the first incarnation was not Jesus. It was Adam. For the first time in the history of all things, a spirit had found expression in time and in a physical body. However, without the first, we would not be able to make sense of the second.

The second incarnation was not an act of creation like the first was. It was an act of submission. The first Adam was trying to become like God. But in the second Adam, God became like us. When we look at the Advent story of Jesus’ coming we must never lose sight of what it took Jesus to enter into the world.

In the book of Philippians, we find that early hymn of the church that tells us that Jesus, who is God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped but humbled himself and became like a servant. Have you ever heard of a humble God? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God of David. The God of Bible is the only God in the history of the world that has humbled himself for the sake of those who walk upon the earth.

When we want to understand what God is like, what God is thinking, what God wants for us to do, we have to look to Jesus. When we look at Jesus we are seeing God in the flesh. When we think about Jesus’ love we are contemplating the love of God. When we hear the words of Jesus as we read the scriptures we are hearing the very words of God on the lips the Nazarene carpenter.

Therefore, Paul’s declaration here in Colossians 2:9 is a stark and startling reminder that God has invested a great deal of himself in the salvation of sinners. God is not distant or dispassionate. God is intimately involved in the events and consequences of our salvation. That is reality #1. In Jesus, we see everything that God is.

Reality #2: With Jesus we become everything he is.

God made [us] alive together with him (v. 13b)

There are many in this world that talk about not being religious, but that they are spiritual. I would like to make a clarifying statement about this notion. To say that you are a spiritual person is like saying that you exist. That the ground is down or that the sky is up.

What tends to happen, what people are really saying, is that they no longer want to submit themselves to a structured way of organizing their lives. You see, we are not just spirits wrapped in bodies or bodies with spirits. We are an intentionally integrated whole. This is one of the primary reasons that a resurrection is needed. The union of the spirit with the flesh is an indivisible one. There is no separating the two once they are joined. This again reminds us and points to the true cost of Jesus’ incarnation, but it also points to the promise of what God is going to do to us because of what Jesus has done for us.

Jesus was raised from the grave and so too will we be. Paul tells us that God has made us alive with him. The structure of the statement reminds us that although we have not experienced this reality it is a completed and undeniable one. For those who have accepted the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus, there is no need to fear or be dismayed. We have been made alive WITH Jesus. So, we must ask ourselves: Where is Jesus? Right now? Is he not seated at the Father’s right hand? Is he not waiting for the appointed time that he will return and bring to a final and conclusive end the tyranny of sin and suffering, of disease and death, of sadness and sorrow that plagues the whole of creation?

Yes, this is what we have to look forward to when we recognize that not only do we see the fullness of God in Jesus, we experience the fullness of Jesus’ life in our very lives when we surrender our assumptions and preoccupations to the will of God.

One of my favorite promises related to what we have to look forward to when Jesus returns is found in John’s first pastoral letter. In chapter 3 we find these remarkable words.

² Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. ³ And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3 (ESV)

This is the second reality that Paul points to in our text: With Jesus, we become everything he is.

Reality #3: The record of our sin has been canceled and transferred so that we no longer are responsible for paying it.

by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands (v. 14a)

The third reality that I would like to point out to you today is that our debt has been canceled. Now, what the text does not say is that it was canceled on our account, but it was still outstanding. That means that someone had to pay it. I could not, therefore, Jesus stepped in and paid it for me.

In other words, a substitution took place. Jesus for me. His righteousness for my sin. His death for my life. His perfection for my imperfection.

Now, there is a curious clause in this part of the verse. It is the “legal demands” part of the verse. When you are reading the bible, it is important to make a note of things like this. Paul is pointing out that there is a real and legitimate reason for the debt of sin to be paid. There is a legal demand. We have to ask ourselves, what transaction took place that placed a lien on my soul.

The legal definition of a lien, according to Merriam-Webster is:

a charge or encumbrance upon property for the satisfaction of a debt or other duty that is created by agreement of the parties or esp. by operation of law; specifically : a security interest created esp. by a mortgage

Let’s walk through this. When I bought my house I did not have the funds to buy the property outright. That means that I entered into a legal and binding agreement with a lender to put up the money for the house. And, I made a promise to pay back the loan with interest until I could finally take hold of the deed. That deed is the document that says that I am now the rightful owner of the property. That mortgage is a lien. It says that if I should default on my payments the property, which I do not own, would go back to the one who paid the complete price for it.

What does this mean for us? It means that when we were born into this world we were born with a mortgage debt of sin that we did not choose for ourselves. It means that when I became aware of my debt I could make one of three choices. I could acknowledge that I had a debt that I needed to pay and try to pay it. Or, I could ignore the problem and live like a wanted until the owner came to evict me. Or, I could find a benevolent benefactor who would pay the debt for me and let me live in the house for free because I do not have the means of paying the bills of my own accord.

This is the predicament that we find here. When Jesus stepped into this world his ability to pay the debt of sin was infinite. In theological terms, we say that Jesus was “rolling in it.” Let’s look at another passage where Paul gives us a glimpse into the treasure trove of God’s abounding mercy and grace. In Ephesians 2 we find these words:

¹And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ²in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:1-7 (ESV)

The treasury of heaven is not filled with gold and silver, diamonds and diadems. What we consider to be precious and of great worth here on earth are the building materials of a far grander city. The vaults of God’s repository are filled with grace and mercy, peace and joy, truth and love. These are the treasures that fill the halls of the kingdom. These are the substances that we must walk in and walk through to get from our heavenly house to the throne of God.

When Paul proclaims that our debt has been canceled he is not saying that we are left bankrupt. No, a great transfer has taken place. The riches of God have been deposited into our accounts. The immeasurable riches of his grace are being poured out. This is why we worship. This is why we serve. This is why we sing. This is why we go into the world. This is why we give.

Annie Flint, a hymnist from a century ago, famously wrote these words.

1. He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

2. When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

3. Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

4. His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

But, we have one final reality to consider. Not only do we have the full expression of God in the person of Jesus; not only do we become everything that he is; not only do we have our debt canceled and receive the riches of God’s grace and love; we also have the confidence that what God has done will never fade and our sin will never come back to haunt us again.

The fourth reality is …

Reality #4: The debt of our sin was transferred to Jesus and he paid it in full with his own life on the cross.

Look at what Paul says at the end of verse 14.

This he set aside, nailing it to the cross (v. 14b)

The cross is the instrument that God used to accomplish his purpose of salvation. In order for the cross to serve as the tool of our redemption, God needed a man who could stand in the place of fallen humanity. He needed a sacrifice that would choose to die and not merely be dragged to its death. He needed a sacrifice that would satisfy the debt that had been incurred by sin.

Jesus is the Lamb of God. He is the perfect sacrifice because no one take his life. He lays it down of his own accord. And because Jesus is also God, because of the shedding of his innocent blood, that selfless and sacrificial act gives him the right to cover any and every debt that we as debtors bring to him.

This is the majesty of our savior. He has laid down his life for those who did not and do not deserve it. This is the very definition of grace. We did not deserve to be adopted into the family of the King of kings and yet we are. We do not deserve to be given the fruit or the gifts of the Holy Spirit and yet we are.

The reason we deserve to suffer under the weight of our sin is not because God doesn’t want to forgive. It’s because we do not want to be indebted to God. We have gotten so used to having our sin hang over our heads that we do not understand that God will never do that to us. He purchases our debt with the blood of his Son, and then he gifts our lives back to us.

Listen one final time to what Paul says in Galatians 5:

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatian 5:1 ESV

Jesus owns the deed on our lives and instead of demanding payment he tells us that we can enjoy the house he has bought. The proper response to this gift is gratefulness and worship. We should not feel restricted by the idea that we no longer belong to ourselves but to Christ. We should not feel that we have been cheated by the exchange of a life we did not own for a life that we know we have been given to enjoy.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would offer you this question. When you think about your salvation do you want to worship God for making it possible? Or are you thinking about the next thing you have to do to keep God happy? Or just yourself happy?

If our thoughts about Jesus’ sacrifice do not pull our hearts and minds and spirits to worship, we may need to reconsider what we claim to have.

Reconciliation with God is having your debts paid in full

Speaker:	Victor R. Scott
Date:	October 19, 2014
Scripture:	Hebrews 10:1-18
Outline:	Download PDF

Book Review | “The Bishop of Rwanda”

bishop-of-rwanda
DISCLAIMER: While I understand that this is one man’s retelling of the events, I will engage and comment based on the good faith effort of the author to represent the events he related.

There are few times that I can remember when I have read a book and been moved by its content. The Bishop of Rwanda by Bishop John Rucyahana is one of those books. It truly is not for the faint of heart. The gut wrenching, horrific events described (sometimes in graphic detail) are terrible to imagine and even more tormenting to the heart to know that other human beings endured. With the precision of a historian and the compassion of a pastor, Bishop John diagnoses the multiple streams that led to the murder of close to 800,000 of the nearly 1.2 million total Tutsis killed. Think of it for just a moment. The following description helps to put in perspective what that means.

“The typhoon of madness that swept through the country between April 7 and the third week of May accounted for 80 percent of the victims of the genocide. That means about eight hundred thousand people were murdered during those six weeks, making the daily killing rate at least five times that of the Nazi death camps.” [Kindle Location 1626]

The shear horror that was endured by the Tutsis and those who stood for and with them could not even be portrayed in film, described on paper or evoked through words. There is simply no way of understanding the full fledged depravity of the genocide. I would read descriptions of what happened and catch myself shaking my head at what I had just read. I know that we are almost two decades removed from the events Bishop John described, but there is a freshness to it all.

There are two aspects of the book that were particularly poignant. The first was the historical overview of what took place in Rwanda on a national-political level. The picture painted of the “imperialist” and colonial nations of Belgium and France are so unflattering as to be caricatures. The problem is that the truth will many times be unflattering and down right scathing. If even a portion of what was done by outside nations was done to Rwanda it reveals the tendency of the Western, first world nations to attempt to get away with whatever they can. The misconduct of the international community in the events leading up the genocide are not only deplorable, they are reprehensible. The intellectuals of the west failed to see the barbarism that was being unleashed in a small African country. The western world needs to look in the mirror and stop acting in such a duplicitous manner.

The second aspect of the book that stood out was the reality that what took place in the hearts and minds of the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity was of a spiritual nature first. Bishop John is quick to recognize the demonic currents underlying what took place among the general population. Even if those who killed were not motivated by hatred, to be carried along with the wave requires a kind of acquiescence to the spiritual forces at work. There is no doubt in Bishop John’s mind that the reason the effects of the propaganda and fear was so far reaching was because there was not true conversion among many who claimed to be Christian. The most disgusting of the acts enacted, and that go to the heart of my identity as a clergy person, were those of the religious leaders who became accomplices to the murders, sometimes even participating in them. It just doesn’t make sense!

As I finished the book and read of the changes that have come to Rwanda I was shocked to see that reconciliation was at the heart of the healing process. The programs and efforts by those who suffered and those who caused the suffering to reunite the nation were impressive and awe inspiring. Over and over again the reality of repentance and of forgiveness were put on display. Probably the greatest lesson that I will take away from reading The Bishop of Rwanda will be that forgiveness is a power designed by God himself. I leave you with the following insight forged in the crucible of suffering and pain.

“Forgiving something does not make the forgiven act less horrible, but it does break the power that act holds over you. The truth is that those who don’t forgive are dying from their unforgiveness. The bitterness eats them up. When you forgive, you are healthier and more alive.” [Kindle Location 2262]

Romans Series (Pt. 22) – Romans 5:9-11

We Have Life! (5:9-11)
Paul shares with us another benefit of being in relationship with Christ. We are declared righteous by the blood of Jesus. This is an amazing truth. Not only is God’s wrath no longer sitting on us, but we been given access to God our Father because of Jesus righteousness [2 Corinthians 5:21]. The reality that Christ’s death and life has given sinners new life through the spilled blood of Jesus is not an insignificant reality for the believer. Paul makes clear that the full benefits of salvation are a multi-layered reality.

Salvation is not something that just happens. Paul wants the Roman reader to have a clear understanding of what salvation is. Salvation is God’s great gift and this will only be understood by making sure that the Romans (and we, the contemporary reader) have a clear and accurate understanding of the completeness of the salvation that we have been given.

Paul identifies two facets of the salvation diamond for us to examine. Paul says that we are reconciled and saved. Paul separates the two so that we can see that they are not the same thing and so that we can know how they fit together. By reconciled Paul means that our offensiveness to God has been removed. Some may take offense to the thought that God had a problem with us while we were sinners. But we must accept this truth. We are no longer a stench in the nostrils of God.

By “saved” Paul moves us across the gap into the presence of God. It is not enough to be reconciled, to be made un-offensive. We have to recognize that without the grace of God we would not even be able to enter the kingdom of God. Paul appears to point to the fact that salvation is the transference of our citizenship papers from this world into the kingdom of God. Several passages will be helpful here.

¹⁴I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. [John17:14-19, ESV, emphasis added]

¹¹Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. ¹²Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. [1 Peter 2:11-12, ESV, emphasis added]

²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ… [Philippians 3:20, ESV, emphasis added]

This idea of being citizens of God’s Kingdom was language and imagery that the Romans understood, as did Paul. The rights and privileges of being Roman citizens were significant. Paul was trying to help them understand that the benefits of being participants in the heavenly kingdom were not to be dismissed. Or to be taken lightly. The citizens of God’s kingdom must carry a significant responsibility, as we are the ambassadors of Christ to this world [2 Corinthians 5:20].

Paul’s understanding of our salvation is thorough and complete. We no longer have to fear death or hell. Heaven is a real and sure hope for all that believe. Finally, our citizenship is transferred into the kingdom of God. Throughout this section Paul has been setting the stage that God’s character, word, and promises are trustworthy. And it is based upon these truths that we must proceed in our growing relationship with the God.