Reconciliation – Romans 11:11-15

 I gave some thought to reversing messages and teaching this lesson this morning. Obviously, these verses come before the verses that we looked at earlier today. And this has a gospel theme, but the truth is, Paul’s reference did not. His mention of “reconciliation” is not about salvation from sin, but about national or ethnic reconciliation. The principle is quite similar, but the effect is vastly different. We’ve touched on this subject in Romans 5, but that was nearly a year ago, and it was not as thorough I plan to be this evening. In my preparation, I ran into a message by a man named Spencer which I liked, and if you had a copy you’d find that I’ve borrowed quite liberally from his outline.

Let’s begin with a common experience. You have just received your bank statement and as you compare those figures with those in your check book, you find that they don’t match. This happened to me twice this past week. Obviously, someone has made a mistake, and even though you’d like to believe that it was the bank, it was probably you. Now that many of us have debit cards, which deduct purchases directly from our account, it is not at all uncommon to have differences when the statement arrives. And at that point it is necessary to “reconcile” your balance with that submitted to you by the bank. For me, and for most of us, this needs to be done every month as soon as the statement arrives. You have to either find your error in addition or subtraction, or you have to include that debit which you forgot to write down earlier. I use a computer program to keep track of my finances, so it is an easy procedure to “reconcile” my accounts.

That brings us to a definition.The basic idea of reconciliation is “to cause to be conformed to, or adjusted to, a specified norm or standard.” In the case of your home bookkeeping you found it necessary to adjust your check balance so that it “conformed to” the amount published by your bank. In the case of Divine Bookkeeping there was found a necessity to have an adjustment made on man’s books which were out of balance with the Divine Standard. God’s act in bringing conformity of man’s account to the Divine Norm, by rectifying the “errors,” or the sin question that brought about the imbalance, was accomplished at the cross where the sinner is reconciled to God.

In the Greek New Testament, the basic word dealing with reconciliation means essentially the same as it does in English. This simple verb means “to change” or “to exchange.” From this verb comes the adjective which is translated “reconciled” in Paul’s epistles. And here in Romans 11 we have the verb form “reconciling” which still has the same basic meaning. It needs to be understood that sometimes the word is used negatively. In Acts 6:14 Stephen is accused by false witnesses of preaching that Jesus of Nazareth would “change” the customs delivered to the Jews by Moses. The accusers were using the word negatively, but actually the Lord really does intend to “change” or “reconcile” man’s self-designed customs into agreement with the Lord. Then in Romans 1:23 the apostle Paul declares that thankless man “changed” (in the sense of “exchanged”) the glory of the Creator for images of the creature. In I Corinthians 15:51 there is a wonderful twist to the use of the word. The apostle tells us of a “mystery” (a “revealed secret”) concerning the day of resurrection, when we shall all be “changed” or “reconciled” from corruptible to incorruptible beings.

By the way, this word had an interesting history of usage in secular Greek before it was taken up by the Spirit. It early acquired the technical sense of money exchange or of changing precious metals into money. Later it expanded to include the idea of giving one’s life as a mercenary soldier in exchange for a small salary and adventure. Then finally the term is found in constant use to describe the bringing together of individuals and nations who have been estranged. And its in this last usage that the writers of the New Testament deal when they speak of the work of Christ as the Reconciler of man to God.

So reconciliation is basically the task of the one sent to negotiate peace or settle a claim. In salvation it is therefore as our Mediator that our Lord reconciled man to God in the no-man’s-land of the cross of Calvary. As the only acceptable Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, by His death upon the cross, brought about a most amazing and complex work on behalf of man. By that sacrificial death He redeemed us, purchasing us to freedom from the shackles of sin and the Law. By means of the cross He was made to be a curse for us that He might be our Scape Goat, bearing our sins away into the wilderness, leaving them in the cold tomb of death to be remembered against us no more. By being slaughtered as the Sacrificial Victim, our heavenly Mediator provided righteous grounds for God to pour out wrath due to us on Him, in order that He might pour out His righteousness upon us who deserved only His wrath.

Of course, this pointed out that throughout all of the centuries of man’s rebellion and hatred, the love of God for His creature had not lessened in the slightest degree. God, in love, through Christ, reconciled the all things to Himself. Calvary balanced for all time the books of those He saved that sin might never again bring imbalance to demand a new accounting. The doctrine of reconciliation declares that God has done something for man which he could not do for himself. God has made Himself to be the Subject of Reconciliation, Man the Object of Reconciliation, through the Lord Jesus, the Mediator and Means of Reconciliation.

It must be remembered that GOD AND MAN are not TERMS which can ever be EQUAL.It is important that we realize and acknowledge that there is not even an intimation of equality of man with God in any Bible doctrine, including that of the Incarnation. This truth is nowhere more apparent than in the doctrine of Reconciliation. This is a declaration of the supremacy of God in every respect, as well as the love of God. However it is not God who must undergo a change, nor is it His account which is in need of alteration or reconciliation. There is no need for a change in the attitude of God toward His elect, for it has been Love from eternity. There is no equality of footing in this doctrine for it is the story of the Absolute One, who is Infinite in Power condescending to act towards rebel man in perfect grace in the latter’s desperate need for reconciliation. It is the Lord changing the accounts from “Sin’s Wages” to “God’s Gift,” from “Legal Righteousness which condemns” to “Divine Righteousness which exalts.” It is the Mediator exchanging the “Hostility of Man” for the “Peace of God.” It is that which God does and gives which is at the heart of the cross whereby man is reconciled. Only God could accomplish reconciliation. The books are cleared. The debt is fully paid.

In salvation divine reconciliation is accomplished by means of the cross and the shed blood of Jesus Christ. In Romans 5 Paul says: “when we were yet enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.” The life of Christ is not God’s answer to man’s need. It was by the death of Christ that our need was met. Again, in Ephesians 2:16, the apostle declares that reconciliation was accomplished at the cross – “that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.” Having acknowledged the estrangement between God and man, as well as between Jew and Gentile, Paul is asserting that Christ the Great Mediator has actually accomplished His role as Peace Maker. The saved were made nigh to God by the blood of Christ, and one another through the cross.

So “God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation” (Romans 5:8-10 ). In this passage we see that the cross is the letter of commendation from God to man, declaring His love for us in spite of our sinful condition. Not only is the cross God’s open love letter to man, but the blood of His Lamb, Jesus Christ, provides justification as well as reconciliation. Therefore, having been loved, justified, and reconciled by His death, we also find that it is through the very offering up of His Life that our salvation has come. Did I point out ten months ago that the last word in the tenth verse of Romans 5, translated “atonement” in the our Bibles is elsewhere translated “reconciliation?” This word is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament for the application of blood to the Mercy Seat. This was the symbolical way of teaching Israel that man could not be made to conform to the Divine Norm without the shedding of the blood of the Lord’s Goat – Christ Jesus. It is at Calvary that man is reconciled to God.

Turn to Colossians 1:20-22. Having declared that our Redemption and forgiven-ness is through the shed blood of the Son of God, with Whom and by Whom the Father created the all things the apostle declares that Christ ... “.. having made peace through the blood of His cross,” reconciled the all things to Himself, “whether they be in heaven or in earth.” The Believer who was alienated and at war with the Creator, Christ now has reconciled in the body of His flesh, by means of His death. A major part of the ministry of Christ, the Mediator, was reconciliation. Since man was at war with God the task was to bring about lasting peace. It was by the shed blood of Jesus that peace was made and the “all things” reconciled.

You may be wondering whether or not any of this is directly connected to our text in Romans 11. It does. Note here in Colossians that not only is the Believer declared to be reconciled by means of the death of Christ, but also it is said that “all things ” were made to conform. Not only are some sinners especially reconciled to God by means of the blood of Jesus, but, also, the entire sin-cursed world is in some ways reconciled. Romans 11:15 – “For … the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world…” The world in the sense of every person, place and thing in the world? No. The world in the sense of people from throughout the world.

Now turn to II Corinthians 5:18-20 – Probably the most important passage dealing with the doctrine of Reconciliation is to be found in the 5th chapter of Second Corinthians. Beginning at verse 18 we read: “And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech by us; we beg in Christ’s stead, Be reconciled to God.” In this passage there is a connection between the reconciliation of the world and the Believer in Christ. Having said that we who trust His Word have been (past tense) reconciled to God by means of Christ, we are told that we now have been given the “ministry of reconciliation.” This is explained as a sharing with the Gentile world that they, including unbelievers, are presented with this reconciliation. This “word of reconciliation” has been committed to us. The Lord is trusting us with the job of seeing to it that the Lost men and women of the world know that God has settled the sin question once-for-all at Calvary. Now, as representatives of Jesus Christ, you and I are to invited Gentiles like ourselves to accept the finished work of Christ at Calvary. Divine Righteousness is theirs, also, if they will but believe God’s Word of Love and accept the Life He offers them in exchange for their death.

Of course the grounds of this reconciliation is still the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was not saying that the casting aside of the Jews meant the reconciling of the world. No the putting aside of Israel, meant that the ministry of reconciliation was made more open to the Gentiles. The cross of Christ is the only means to reconciling our books with the Lord’s.

And this takes us back to chapter 8 and the ministry and message of reconciliation. God has done absolutely everything necessary to enable all men to return to Him without fear of retribution. The peace terms are simple. No matter if the lineage of a man be through Abraham or Laban – Shem, Ham or Japheth, reconciliation with God is a possibility. Humanly speaking however, repentance of sin is a necessity, and there must also be faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.