The Old, Old Story

Q: What does the Bible say about reconciliation with God?

The Bible reveals that reconciliation with God is accomplished through Jesus Christ, who removes our enmity and restores peace. Reconciliation with God is a central theme in Scripture, particularly highlighted in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, where we learn that God has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This reconciliation is not something we achieve on our own; rather, it is a divine act of grace where God removes the hostility that existed between Him and sinners due to sin. Understanding our state as enemies of God, as depicted in Colossians 1:21, illustrates the depth of our need for reconciliation. The good news is that God, in His love and mercy, took the initiative to restore this relationship through the sacrificial death of Christ, whose righteousness is imputed to us. Thus, we are brought into a state of peace with our Creator.

Q: How do we know that Jesus was effective in reconciling us to God?

Jesus' effectiveness in reconciliation is confirmed because He bore our sins and gifted us His righteousness. The effectiveness of Jesus in reconciling us to God is grounded in the theological framework of substitutionary atonement. As stated in 2 Corinthians 5:21, 'For God made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.' This verse underscores that Jesus took our sins upon Himself, satisfying God's justice while providing us with His perfect righteousness. This transaction establishes a firm basis for our reconciliation, assuring us that through His sacrifice, we are not only forgiven but also equipped with a righteousness that meets God's holy standards. The message of particular redemption further solidifies this understanding, as it affirms that Christ's work on the cross was specifically intended for His elect, ensuring their reconciliation and salvation.

Q: Why is the concept of being reconciled to God important for Christians?

Being reconciled to God is crucial for Christians as it restores our relationship with Him and frees us from the penalty of sin. The concept of reconciliation is foundational to the Christian faith because it signifies the restoration of a broken relationship caused by sin. The reality that we were once enemies of God, as noted in Romans 5:10, highlights the gravity of our condition. Reconciliation, therefore, is paramount because it not only assures believers of their forgiveness but also of their new identity as children of God, who have peace with Him. This restoration enables communion with God and empowers us to live in accordance with His will. Additionally, the ministry of reconciliation, which Christians are called to partake in, serves as a reminder of our duty to share the gospel with others, inviting them into the same reconciled relationship with God that we have received.

Q: How does God's sovereignty relate to our reconciliation with Him?

God’s sovereignty is paramount in reconciliation, as it underscores that all aspects of salvation, including our restoration to Him, are ultimately orchestrated by His will. God's sovereignty deeply enriches the doctrine of reconciliation by affirming that the entire process of salvation is orchestrated by His divine plan and purpose. As affirmed in 2 Corinthians 5:18 that 'all things are of God,' it emphasizes that it is God who takes the initiative in reconciling humanity to Himself. This perspective combats the notion that reconciliation is reliant on human effort or decision-making; rather, it is a gracious act resulting from God's will. Furthermore, understanding God as sovereign in this reconciliation gives believers confidence and assurance that their salvation is secure, as it rests in the hands of an all-powerful and faithful God who guaranteed it through Christ’s atoning work.

I'm going to read again from
2 Corinthians 5 in a few moments. While you're turning there, I'll
share something with you. I heard the gospel, this old,
old story. exactly 40 years ago this month. This is April 1st, 1990. And
I heard this gospel of God's redeeming, effectual, saving work 40 years ago this month. And I received a letter. I've
been preaching it that long, 40 years. And I received a letter
this week that is a first. A first in 40 years. The first time I've ever received
a letter that stated what this person stated. It's a first. That's a long time. I've received
a lot of letters in 40 years. Television, I get thousands and
thousands of letters. But Cecil, this was a first.
I got a letter from Alan. and Betty Rowe, an Australian. And they happily reported that
they had found a young man preaching the gospel of God's grace. They were listening to him. They
said he preaches so well, he's just clear in his message and
clearness, expositions of the word, and clearness, enunciation
of the truth of God's grace. But he doesn't preach long enough,
they said. I've never heard anybody say
that. He doesn't preach. Imagine. All right. I don't think I've ever been
accused of not preaching long enough. Charles Spurgeon brought a message
to his congregation on this same subject, the old, old story. He used a different passage of
Scripture. But that was his subject that
Sunday evening. And before he began his message,
he looked out over the congregation and he spotted a visiting preacher,
a preacher from America, a very well-known preacher. He called
him a doctor of divinity. And this is what he said when
he got up to preach. He spotted this notable preacher
in the congregation and he said this. This is what he said as
he began his message. There is a well-known preacher
in our congregation tonight, a doctor of divinity. This man
heard me preach many years ago. He was here. And he's been back
to his dwelling place in America, and now he has come here again
tonight to hear me preach. I could not help fancying, as
I saw his face just now, that he would certainly think that
I was doting on the same old subject and harping on the same
old string. I could not help fancying, as
I saw his face, that he may be thinking that Mr. Spurgeon has not advanced one
single inch upon any new domain of thought, but Mr. Spurgeon is preaching the same
old gospel in the same old terms. Now, he said, Dear brother, if
that is what you are You're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. For
he continued, I received many years ago, in my case 40 years
ago, I received from my master orders
to stand at the cross of Calvary until he returns. Well, my brother,
he has not yet returned, but I mean to remain there until
he does. If I should disobey his orders
and leave these old simple truths which have been the means of
saving many sinners, I know not how I could expect his blessings. I stand at the cross of Christ
and I tell out the old, old story, stale though it may sound to
those who have itching ears, and worn threadbare, as many
critics may say, but it is of Jesus Christ that I love to preach. I love to preach the Christ.
who loved me and died for my sins. He is my righteousness. He is my substitute. He is my
sin offering who died just for the unjust that he might bring
me to God. I love to tell the story of unseen
things above, of Jesus and his glory of Jesus and his love. And when, in scenes of glory,
I sing the new, new song, it will just be the old, old story
that I have loved so long. One more time, let's ring the
gospel bell and invite men to the feast. Isn't that what the
old farmer's wife did when she went out having prepared dinner
and the men were out in the fields and she'd ring the bell? That
meant come and dine, didn't it? Well, let's one more time, one
more time, in case somebody hasn't heard it, ring the gospel bell
and call men to the feast. Let's one more time, one more
time. Let's preach ruin, redemption,
and regeneration. Isn't that what Roland Hill said?
Every sermon ought to contain, and if it didn't contain ruin
by the fall, redemption by the blood, and regeneration by the
Spirit, it ought not to have been preached. I stand by that. One more time, let's point men
to Christ. like John the Baptist of old,
and say, Behold, the Lamb of God, the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. How about turning to 2 Corinthians
5, verse 18, and let's see what this says. One more time. It
starts off this way, verse 18, And all things are of God, underscore
that, All things are of God. Now, I know this. I've studied
these scriptures, I've written a commentary on these scriptures,
and I know that this statement, all things are of God, refers
primarily to verse 17. I know that. Verse 17 says, therefore,
if any man be in Christ, if any man be in Christ, he's a new
creation. Old things are passed away, their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more, God said. Behold, all
things have become new. Behold, I make all things new.
That man who's in Christ has a new heart, God gave him. He
has a new nature, God gave him. He has a new name, God gave him.
He has a new family, God gave him. He has a new standing God
gave him, and all things in salvation are of God. I know that. All things are of God. But brother, like Charlie Payne used to say,
brother, you can't take that too far. All things are of God. Huh? All things are of God. I'm not just talking about the
salvation of a soul. I'm talking about all things
are of God. All things that lead to the salvation
of the soul. All things that result from the
salvation of the soul. I say all things are of God.
All things in creation are of God. What was that psalm I read
a while ago? His voice causes the hands to
cave. His voice holds the waters in
their boundaries. His voice causes the rain to
fall. His voice causes the snowflake
to flutter to the earth. He speaks and lightnings come
and go. God's voice. All things in creation
are of God. All things in providence are
of God. All things in life and death
are of God. All things in salvation are of
God. Hold that scripture in 2 Corinthians
and turn over to the book of 1 Samuel. Here is a woman who
knew God. Here is a woman who knew something
about the glory of God. Her name was Hannah. And she
says in 1 Samuel 2, verse 6, The Lord killeth, and the Lord
maketh alive. All things are of God. The Lord
bringeth down to the grave, and the Lord bringeth up. Verse 7,
the Lord maketh poor, the Lord maketh rich all things of God. The Lord bringeth low and the
Lord lifteth up. Verse 8, the Lord raiseth up
the poor out of the dust. The Lord lifteth up the beggar
from the dunghill to set them among princes and to make them
inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth
are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them. And he will
keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent
in darkness, for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries
of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall he
thunder upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king, and anoint
and exalt the horn of his anointed, all things of God. If you begin this old, old story
and preach it accurately and effectively, you don't start
with man, you start with God. Please remember that. Anytime
you bear witness to the gospel, anytime you're called upon to
preach the gospel, you don't start with man. That's where
the world's gospel starts. But our gospel begins with God,
for all things are of God. If he blesses me to understand
this word, he'll have to bless me. To love this Word, he'll
have to give me that love. To believe Christ, Terry, he'll
have to give me that faith, all things of God. If I go home from
this service today to enjoy dinner with my family, it'll be by God's
permission. If I'm back standing here tonight,
it'll be by God's permission and God's providence and God's
purpose. My friends, all things are of God. I believe that. I
believe that more now than I've ever believed. I thought I used
to believe it. The Lord maketh poor, the Lord
maketh rich, the Lord lifteth up, the Lord bringeth down, the
Lord maketh, giveth life, and the Lord takes life. That's right. All things are of God. Alright,
read on. reconciled us to himself by Jesus
Christ. God hath reconciled us. My friends,
to be, what is it to be reconciled? Well, it's to be forgiven of
all transgressions. To be reconciled is to be forgiven. Reconciled. You've used the word,
are you and your two man and his wife separated? Are you and
your wife reconciled? Are you reconciled? Do you know
what it means to be forgiven? It means to be friends again.
Do you know what it means? It means to be friends again.
Enmity is removed and you're friends again. You've been reconciled.
It's to me, it's to be at peace. Now then, a man cannot preach
the gospel of reconciliation. who does not understand something
of the wrath and anger and judgment of Almighty God. Can't do it. Today's gospel, today's preacher,
and this is just so, today's preacher, today's gospel presents
a God who is all love and no wrath. Isn't that right? Then how is it that he needs
to be reconciled? I don't understand it. The preachers tell me, here I
am, I'm just an ordinary person, here I am, Mr. John Doe out here. And the preacher is preaching
on television and radio and he says, God loves you! God loves
you! I love you! Jesus loves you! And Jesus died for you! And I
want to say back to him, if he would hear me, then I'm in pretty
good shape. If all heaven loves me, and Christ
died for me, but here's my question, why'd he have to die for me if
God loves me? You don't reconcile friends.
You don't reconcile people who are at peace. You see, here's
two young couple, a boy and a girl, sitting there, they're engaged
to be married, they got their arms around one another and they're
staring into one another's eyes and saying all these sweet nothings,
and you come up and say, I'm going to reconcile you all. Isn't
that silly? I'm going to reconcile you all.
I'll tell you this, the Bible says, I don't know what men,
but the Bible says, God's angry with the wicked. That's what
the Bible says. The Bible says, God hateth the
workers of iniquity. That's what the Word says. The
Word of God tells me that we're children of wrath, even as others. In other words, the Bible tells
me, he that believeth not on the Son, the wrath of God abideth
on him. The Bible tells me in Romans
1.18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness. God is angry. God's at war. That's right. But you have something here.
All things start with God, commence with God, are of God, who has
purposed who has been willing, who has, if you like the word,
decided in eternity that he would reconcile, that he would be reconciled
to those who were objects of his wrath. So he reconciled us
to himself. We didn't do it, he did it. He's
the, listen, he's the reconciler, he's the reconciled He's the reconciliation. That's
right. He's the reconciler, he's the
reconciled, and he's the reconciliation. It says here, listen, all things
are of God, we have three persons here, God, who hath reconciled,
who hath forgiven, who hath made peace, who hath made friends
with us. Us. You want to see about us? Turn to Colossians 1. There are
two things that the natural man won't face. And one is his own condition
and the wrath of God, which is the result of his condition.
That's two things the natural man won't face. He will not admit
to being a sinner. He just will not. He will not
admit to being a depraved, dead, worthless, hell-deserving sinner. He will not face it. And he will
not face the wrath of God. Listen to Colossians 1, verse
21. And you, that were at one time,
that sometimes at one time, alienated enemies in your mind by your
what? Wicked works. Has He now reconciled? Who? He did. You didn't do it.
He did it. He did. He reconciled folks like
you and me. How did He do it? In the body
of His flesh through death. Are you a sinner? Come on. Are you a sinner? I was preaching
on television, a young man up in West Virginia. This was four
years ago. I was preaching on television.
And I said this, he said first time he'd ever turned that program
on, he really was looking for another program. He liked the
music on another program and he just caught me. And he said,
you stopped and you said, there are a lot of differences between
you and me and everybody else, but one thing we got in common,
you're a sinner and I'm a sinner. And he said it just flew all
over him. He turned that television off. I ain't no sinner." And
he said, I sat down in my chair. But in a few minutes, he said,
I got up and I said, maybe I am a sinner. And he turned it on
again. David Klein, you know him, up at Zeppelin. God saved
him. Are you a sinner? Christ died
for sinners. Let me ask you another question.
Are you without strength? Are you ungodly? Oh, that's rough. Me ungodly? Well, what is it to be ungodly?
It's to be unlike God in any way. In any way. If you're not perfect in love,
perfect in faith, perfect in holiness, then you're ungodlike,
aren't you? Huh? Come on now. Ungodly. Well, Christ died for
the ungodly when we were without strength. Christ died for the
ungodly. He died for sinners. But boy,
I tell you, it's hard to get us to admit that we're us. But I tell you the good news,
all things of God who himself hath reconciled us. Why? Because we were enemies. God commended his love for us
in that while we were what? Enemies! Enemies! He reconciled us unto himself
by the death of his Son. Enemies, children of wrath, even
as others. Grown 1990 compromisers and preached
God loves everybody. The Bible doesn't say that. God
loves me and in Christ. That's the only way a holy God
can love anybody. God's angry with the wicked.
And if He's not angry, why did He have to be reconciled? Why
did He have to be reconciled? He reconciled us to Himself by
Jesus Christ. There's that old story. There's
the gospel. All things are of God who Himself
purposed it, executed it, planned it, applied it, sustains it. Consummates it, all things are
God, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The author and finisher
of faith. And he, according to his own
will and purpose, hath reconciled, forgiven, put away the enmity,
made friends with us by Jesus Christ. By Jesus Christ. There are two vital things necessary. We all better learn this. There
are two vital things necessary in this reconciliation. Now think
about it. God is God. Holy, perfect, we
are sinful. And God has purposed to reconcile
us. He has purposed to lift the beggar
from the dunghill and exalt him and put him on the throne with
the princes. But there are two things vitally Necessary, if
God's going to do that for us, if we're going to be reconciled.
Here they are. Two things. Who shall stand in His presence? Who shall ascend unto the hill
of the Lord? Who shall stand in His presence? He that hath
clean hands and a pure heart, who has never sworn deceitfully,
who has never lifted up his soul to vanity. Righteousness. To reconcile us, he had to provide
us with a righteousness. And where's that to be found?
Not in us. I might get people to come down the aisle and sign
a pledge card and agree never to get drunk again, never to
kill anybody, never to commit adultery again, never to bow
to an idol, never to do this, that, and the other. And they
may never do those things outwardly, but who's going to keep them
from doing it inwardly? And that's where God looks on the heart.
So that righteousness is shot, isn't it? Well, He's provided
us with a righteousness in Christ who came down here in the flesh,
born of a woman, made under the law, and He did perfectly love
and obey God, not only in deed but in thought, not only in action
but in attitude. And He charged to us, imputed
to us that righteousness that God might accept us. But the
second thing that's necessary is for peace, reconciliation's
peace. is our sins have got to be paid
for. The law of God said the soul that sinneth shall die.
I've sinned, I've got to die. Sin, when it's finished, brings
forth death, I've got to die. Where am I going to find a death
that will satisfy God's justice for me? Christ died, died for
our sins, see? So all things are of God, that's
where it starts and ends. who hath according to his will
and purpose reconciled us. He hath put his arms of love
about us and drawn us to himself, having put away our sins, having
justified us, having covered us with the righteousness of
his Son, having made us meet, fit, sufficient for the fellowship
of God." We're friends again. Huh? He did it. All right, the next line in verse
18, and hath given to us this ministry of reconciliation. What
is a ministry of reconciliation? That's what our ministry is.
Our ministry is not a proposition, it's a proclamation. Our ministry is not out here
trying to invite people to straighten up. Our ministry is to announce. and proclaim that the work has
been done. That's right. We have a ministry
of announcing reconciliation in Christ. That's the gospel of His grace. I told them up Dingus the other
night, we who preach, we have a solemn charge going to all
the world, preach this ministry of reconciliation to every creature,
this gospel. We have a solemn warning. If
any man preach any other gospel, let him be accursed. We have
a solemn problem. Most men won't believe it. But his sheep will. You know,
we're all familiar with John 6, verse 37, aren't we? All that
my Father giveth me will come to me. Him that cometh to me
I'll know why is cast out. Are you familiar with John 6,
verse 36? the verse preceding verse 37.
Our Lord was speaking to those people and He said this to them.
He said, you've heard me and you've seen me, but you don't
believe me. But all that my Father giveth
me will come to me. Somebody's going to believe.
Who are they? Well, they came to him in John
10, they said, if you be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said,
I told you and you didn't believe me. You don't believe me because
you're not of my sheep. But my sheep hear my voice and
they follow me. Some are going to hear. And God
has given us this ministry of reconciliation. All right, verse
19, watch this. Right outside that in your Bible,
the word namely. N-A-M-E-L-Y. That's what this
is saying. Principally. Namely. In other
words, to wit means that is to say. All things of God, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, our righteousness and
sin offering, and has given us this ministry, this message of
reconciliation, and it's namely this. that God was in Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? He's God. He's God Almighty. That's flat-footed,
bare-faced, in simplicity, I declare unto you that Jesus Christ is
none other than Almighty God, Creator, Eternal Father, Prince
of Peace. I am that I am. That's who Jesus
Christ is. Is that all right, Charlie? That's who He is. God was in
Christ. God said to the Son, Thy throne,
O God, is forever. He's the brightness of His glory.
He's the express image of His person. Our Savior said, If you
see me, you've seen the Father. God's three persons, but God's
one. That's right. There are not three
gods, just one. And the enemies of what we call the Trinity are
always harping on that. You've got three gods. No, you
don't. You've got one. You've got one revelation of
God, one manifestation of God, one expression of God. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ. God was in Christ. All right,
watch it. Reconciling the world unto himself because he was angry,
because his wrath was upon sinners. because his judgment and condemnation
was upon sinners, because God's not happy with us. That's it. Because God could have nothing
to do with us in our natural state, in our sinful state, in
our fallen state. God will not speak to nor be
spoken to by any rebel. God dwells in a life to which
no man can approach, regardless of what he says. Namely, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, because Jesus Christ paid the
debt for his people. He worked out a perfect righteousness,
and not for all, but for some. He said, I don't pray for the
world, I pray for them which Thou hast given me. Well, what
does the world mean there, preacher? It means Jew and Gentile, black
and white, male and female, old and young, learned and ignorant,
rich and poor. What other word could you use
there? What other word could you use?
He reconciled a world of sinners. He reconciled all sorts of sinners. He reconciled sinners from every
nation, tribe, kindred, tongue unto heaven. He reconciled them.
They're friends. They're forgiven. They're at
peace. What's this? Not imputing. What's the word impute mean?
Charge, reckon, not charging their trespasses unto them. The
debt's paid. You don't owe a dime. Not a dime. It's paid. Some of you have experienced
this. I don't have this thing now because
I live in a parsonage, but one time I built a house and I owed
about $12,000. That's back in 1957, 58. But I had a payment book thick
as a Bible. You've had them. Some of you
got them. But some of you older people, and paid that last one. I'll bet you when you went down
to Home Federal or wherever and tore out that last payment thing
and paid it, you just felt like, boy, you know, whoo! Free! No more payments. You kind
of skipped all the way home. You opened the door and came
in and said, honey, it's ours! Well, that's what he's saying
here. Nothing's charged against me. Don't owe a dime. That's right, not a dime, not
a penny. Don't owe a dime. Jesus paid
it all, all the debt I owe. Sin left a crimson stain. I'm
free, free, free, white as snow. Not free. Blessed is the man
to whom God will not charge sin. Well, how in the world could
he not charge my sins? I've sinned this morning. The thought of sin, the imagination
of sin, not loving God with all my heart, not letting any of
the old wild birds of the world fly through my head, and I'm
trying to worship God. There's a thousand ways we sin. How in the world could God not
charge sin because He charged them all to Christ and Christ
paid it in full? That's particular redemption,
that's effectual redemption, that's redemption gets the job
done, and all for whom He did that are saved, they are reconciled
to God. You can't un-reconcile a man
whom God's reconciled. If God's reconciled, if Christ
gave me a perfect righteousness and put away my sin debt, nothing
I can do can unreconcile God. And God has reconciled to us
before we ever reconciled to Him. God loved you before you
loved Him. God called you before you called
Him. He sought you before you ever sought Him. He was reconciled
when Christ died. Now watch this. and hath committed to us this
word of reconciliation, this message. Now then, think about
this. Ready for this? Us preachers,
apostles, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did
beseech you by us, we pray you, be ye reconciled to God. Lay down your shotgun. That's
what that's saying. Lay down your righteousness.
Lay down your religious traditions. Quit waving them in God's face.
Put them down and surrender, and you'll be reconciled to God.
And get out of your mind any hard thoughts toward God, any
antagonism toward God, any rebellion against God's Word. That's what
he's saying. All things of God. We're enemies,
sinners, just name it, ungodly. But God will have a people. He's
going to have a kingdom. He's going to have people like
Christ. He's going to have some people in heaven that loves what
He loves and likes what He likes and does what He does. Just like
that. So He purposed to reconcile some
folks. He purposed to put away the enmity,
put away the wrath, put away the judgment, put away the condemnation.
And before this world ever began, He designated Christ as the surety
and the Lamb slain. And in time, He sent Him. 2,000
years before I was ever born. I heard the Gospel 40 years ago,
but the Gospel is older than 40 years. And He's reconciled to me. He
loves me. He loves Saul of Tarsus when
he's on his road to Damascus hating Christians. He loved him.
But Saul didn't love God. He wasn't reconciled to Christ.
He's mad. He was a mad dog, wasn't he?
He repped in his religion, repped in his darkness, repped in his
enmity, repped in his Sabbath days, repped in his tithing,
repped in his righteousness, going down the road to kill everybody
who disagreed with him. And God, everybody who loved
him, loved him, was reconciled to him. Why? Because Christ died
for him. Christ gave Paul a righteousness
already. Christ was up there seated at
the right hand of God, already seated, finished His work for
Saul. But Saul was mad, and God stopped
him and said, how long are you going to keep up this rebellion?
Why do you kick against the pricks? Why are you persecuting me? Why
do you hate me? Why? How long? Well, who are
you? I'm Jesus of Nazareth. That's
who I am. And then he was reconciled. He
said, Lord, here I am. What would you have me do? I'm
broken. I'm broken. I'm down here in
the dust. I'm down here on the ground looking up. So that's
what I'm saying. I'm an ambassador. That's what
he said. We are ambassadors for Christ as though God is speaking
to you this morning like He spoke to Solitarsis. Be reconciled to God. You might
as well. You're not going to change God
through your animosity and antagonism and hatred. You're not going
to change God. You can kick against the pricks. You can knock it.
You can say, I hate that doctrine of sovereignty. I hate it. But
he's still sovereign. I hate that effectual atonement.
It's still effectual. I hate preachers telling me how
wicked I am. You're still wicked. I'm not
saying it won't change you. Huh? Come on now. You know that's
so. We're not going to change it.
Why don't we lay down our swords? Why don't we put up our shotguns?
Why don't we give up our religious traditions? They haven't got
you any peace, and they're not going to. You can stand in whatever
a person pleases. When you die, you're going to
stand before God. You can stand there any way you
want to. You can stand on your church membership. You can stand
on your baptism. You can stand on your good works.
You can stand on your morality. Okay, your Baptism or Methodism
or Catholicism, stand where you want to. But oh, you've got some
things to, you've got some criteria to meet. You've got a righteousness
to produce. You've got a justice to face.
And I don't want any, I want to stand right here, in Christ,
having nothing, knowing nothing, and doing nothing, except looking
to Him. I'm reconciled. God, you're God.
You're God. You do with me what you will,
but I sure wish you'd have mercy. That's right. That's be ye reconciled
to God. Why? For? These words are so
clear. See, all things of God, namely,
this is it, now then, We're ambassadors. You be reconciled to God, why?
On what grounds do you tell me to be reconciled to God? On what
grounds do you command me to look to Christ? On what grounds
can I come? For God hath made Christ to be
sin for us. He knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. That's your warrant. warrant for believing. That's
your permission to come. That's your right to come. If Christ was not made sin for
us, we have no basis on which to plead or to plead or to come. But I'm an ambassador. I speak. We speak as though God were beseeching
you, as though God were speaking. Be reconciled to God. far, this is our warrant, this
is our ground, this is our right to be reconciled to God, to come
to God. For God made Jesus Christ to
be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. That's the old, old story.

The Old, Old Story

What does the Bible say about reconciliation with God?

How do we know that Jesus was effective in reconciling us to God?

Why is the concept of being reconciled to God important for Christians?

How does God's sovereignty relate to our reconciliation with Him?

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The Old, Old Story

What does the Bible say about reconciliation with God?

How do we know that Jesus was effective in reconciling us to God?

Why is the concept of being reconciled to God important for Christians?

How does God's sovereignty relate to our reconciliation with Him?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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