mark s wrote:mark s wrote:I cannot agree with these things.
If you follow this logic through, it is universalism.
Man is urged to "be reconciled to God. Why?
Not, "believe in God", but specifically, be reconciled to God. Why is man being told this?
Much love!
Mark
OK . . . so then, why is man being told that he has to become reconciled to God?
Much love!
Mark
The reconciliation that God in Christ executed on the Cross
was from the past judgment Adam ( and his offspring)
came under as a result of Adam's sin.
That is finished. God in Christ cleaned the slate for past sins (those committed by Adam and his offspring.)
The
reconciliation that is now being urged men to achieve with God is gained
by believing in His Son.And this is a
requirement under the New Covenant.In other words there are
two distinct reconciliations we see in the scriptures. Here are some passages:
2 Corinthians 5:17-19 New International Version (NIV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
Romans 5:10
For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
How are we saved after having been reconciled to God? Through Christ's life in us
by the birth of the Spirit under the second covenant, that is, the New Covenant.
Colossians 1:21-23 New International Version (NIV)
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[a] your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.
And how do we continue "in your faith"? By being born again in the Spirit under the New Covenant.
blessings
sonbeam