THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO APOSTLE PAUL - Part 3

Continued from Part 2……………

Apostle Paul

We have so far seen that the Gospel of Paul was based on Faith in God and The New Covenant.

Now we come to the third aspect of the gospel according to Apostle Paul.

3.       IT IS A GOSPEL BASED ON RECONCILIATION:

Reconciliation means making peace, restoration or reuniting.  Paul expresses the thought of God taking the initiative to be reunited to the world; to be restored back with man – “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them” (2 Cor 5:19).  In the garden of Eden, it was Adam that hid himself from God; while God came looking out for him.

We cannot be reconciled with someone if we continue to blame them or raise accusations against them or issue ‘show cause’ notices to them.  In the same way, God cannot reconcile the world to Himself if he is still holding anger and grudge against it.  

Therefore, God in Christ took the blame and punishment for our sins and instead of raising an accusation against us or seeking for an explanation for our behavior is now saying, “Okay, I myself took the punishment, I took the blame;  you don’t have to be punished again.  I drop all charges against you.  I set you free.  I will not take into account any of your wrongdoing.”

God could do this because a crime can be punished for, only once.  God's wrath against man was satisfied when Christ took our place and suffered on the cross.

Imputing is to attribute, to attach or to credit.  It is an accounting term.  The discrepancy in God’s account journal was corrected, once and for all.  God is not imputing our sins on us.  Instead he put our sins on His son.

Reconciliation - God did by taking the sins of all humans – past, present and future – and laying them upon His son Jesus Christ and in return taking the righteousness of Jesus Christ and laying it upon us.  We are now clothed with Christ’s righteousness.  And God looks upon us He sees Jesus.  God loves us in the same way He loves Jesus (John 17:23).  This was divine exchange or divine reconciliation.

God made “Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Cor 5:21).

Jesus Christ became sin without committing any sin and we became righteous without doing anything right.

Paul affirms that “he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit” (2 Cor 5:5). 

The work of reconciliation was done by God Himself who also confirmed the transaction by giving us Holy Spirit.  Holy Spirit is endorsing the same when it is said, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom 8:16).

In order to guarantee that this transaction of divine exchange between God and man was final and binding, He sent Holy Spirit to us as a ‘down payment’ or an ‘imprest amount’ which was proof that we hereafter belong to God forever.

Eph 1: 13, 14 - In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

2 Cor 1:22 - Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Notice the sense of permanence in this transaction between God and man.  If we call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and recognize that His death was for our reconciliation to God, we become the righteousness of God of God and belong to God forever. Now, that is good news!

To be continued.................