God Reconciled You - Have You Reconciled Him?

Your home for Mid-Acts Bible study, this is WTTR, and what a joy and privilege it is to be alive and able to serve our Lord.
Here sipping coffee when a question came to mind, God reconciled you, but have you reconciled him?
Something we as ambassadors for Christ's sake should be asking those we come in contact with.
Colossians 1:21, let's get it started, let's start there.
Here we see where Paul says, very plainly, And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled...
Hath he what?
Reconciled.
Now, what does this match?
Ask yourself, what does this match?
It matches 2 Corinthians 5:19, God reconciling the world unto himself matches, "hath he reconciled," here in Colossians 1:21.
But, now watch this, but it does not match the verse 20, "be ye reconciled."
See, God reconciled you, but have you reconciled him?
When did God stop imputing my sins?
He stopped imputing my sins before I was born.
That's how God reconciled me through Christ, through Christ and what he did.
Now, how do I, be ye reconciled to him?
And of course, that's by grace through faith.
But how many do you think know this truth?
Not many.
That's the sad state we're in.
2 Corinthians 5:19, To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; (the world) and hath committed unto us (the believers) the word of reconciliation.
Now think hard.
If this is what Paul wrote to our Gentile ancestors, if he wrote that to them back there in the 1st century, long before we were born, don't you think this applies to us now?
It applied to them, so it applies to us, and since we just read how God stopped imputing sins unto the world, just how is it that you can go on social media today and see full-grown adults with a functioning mind, we presume, saying that God is still imputing sins?
It's almost as if they've been brainwashed and conditioned to look right past the truth.
If understanding what God accomplished on the cross was a complex issue, this might make sense, but it's not.
According to some of the Facebook geniuses out there, the Bible has mistakes, and where Paul wrote, "world," he really meant believers.
Or, maybe it was the King James committee, maybe they got it wrong.
What were they thinking?
Even though God, when Jesus was there on the cross, he stopped imputing the world's sins, most don't dare mention this, keeping them there under the, you need to get your sins forgiven bondage.
This false teaching, it's responsible for the severe psychological effects that it's had on so many.
When did God stop imputing my sins?
The jury is not still out on this one.
They quickly returned with a verdict that said, before you were born.
Just shy of two thousand years ago, and took place on a hill called, Mount Calvary.
Happened there.
The word of God says he stopped imputing sins to the world, and not just the believers.
During your ambassadorship for you who are serving the Lord today, being faithful ambassadors, one thing I'm going to assure you, you're going to find this out.
The world is not short of those who are willing to change the words right here on the page.
To manipulate the word of God.
No one has the authority to change the word of God, and the ones who do, should be marked and avoided, at all cost.
No one has that authority.
No Facebooker, no podcaster, no YouTuber, no Tik Toker, no church pastor, has that kind of authority.
So, stop claiming to be a Bible believer when in fact you're a Bible corrector.
Bible believers, when asked the question, When did God stop imputing my sins?
We know the answer, Romans 5:6, For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Wait a minute.
We were classified as ungodly?
When was that?
Oh, that was before we believed.
So, how do they ignore these truths?
Verse 8, verse 8, let's continue, But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
There it is again, this, this is repetitive, it keeps appearing.
You see, this isn't talking about after we joined the believer's club.
No, God stopped imputing sins when we were, quote, "Ungodly," and, quote, "Sinners."
Romans 5:10, For if when we were enemies..., whoa, whoa now, stop right there.
The religious minded, they come here and they'll say, I don't like it, I don't like that where how Paul says, "When we were enemies."
I think it should say, "believers."
Yeah, that's much better.
This is what they do.
You better watch out.
You better watch who you call friend.
Not all Facebook friends are really your friends.
Friends in name only, they don't all have your best interest in mind.
Some are envious, jealous, sneaky, and underhanded.
I mean, it doesn't say, "believers," does it?
For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.
That's plain, and that's good news, is it not?
I hear some, they'll, they'll acknowledge that God stopped imputing the world's sins, but then they turn and say, But no one receives the benefit of that until they believe.
What?
Well, that's false.
Around 8 billion people in the world, and the Holy Ghost isn't killing anyone for sins.
So, tell me again, how they didn't get the benefit of Christ dying for their sins.
They certainly did.
Oh, they're not saved, but they're alive.
And they have grace to thank for that.
The dispensation of grace.
God's not pouring out his wrath, he's not striking anyone dead for blasphemy.
None of us had to become a believer to get the benefit of the cross.
The crosswork of Christ, his crosswork affects even the very enemies of God.
The benefit is, their sins aren't being imputed, so you don't need to believe to get the benefit.
2 Corinthians 5:18, 2 Corinthians 5:18, God reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
And in verse 20, we see, Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Here's God making an appeal.
See that?
If you're an ambassador for Christ's sake, God's making an appeal through you.
To do what?
To go tell the world he's not taking inventory of their sins.
And all that's left, the only thing left to be done, is to be reconciled to God by believing this incredible news.
You see, when, when you're dealing with people who have been told all their lives, I mean, almost all they've ever heard is what a low down rotten sinner they are.
And how they're never going to amount to much of anything, and, and the preachers, all they've done is told them about, Hey, you're on your way to hell for those sins.
Listen, once they hear this good news, once they hear this good news you and I have for them, their ears perk up, their ears perk up and they, they're primed, they're then primed for salvation.
The foundation has been laid.
They're not saved, but they're savable.
See, hearing this good news doesn't make them want to sin more.
They're already doing that, but it does tend to make them stop, stop and reflect on how deep God's love for humanity must be.
For him to do such a thing.
Grace or no grace, God has always and still does forbid us from taking sin lightly.
God hates sin.
May it not be.
The word of reconciliation doesn't promote sin, it simply tells the unbeliever that there is no sin standing between them and God.
There is no sin that Jesus failed to take care of at Calvary.
He thoroughly satisfied the Father, and the Father stopped imputing sins.
Put a period right there, put a period on it because there is no continuation.
Oh, sin's still a problem, sin still exists, but there's no sin standing in, listen, if you're out there, and you consider yourself not saved today, you listen to me, there's no sin standing between, there's nothing you need to go do about any sin to come to the Father.
You just need to believe this good news.
God stopped imputing sins.
He placed them on Jesus, therefore, they're not placed on you.
And it was Jesus, it was he who died for all your sins, who was buried with all your sins, the stone was rolled back, and he didn't bring any of your sins out with him.
So, there's no sins he brought out to impute to your account, and all you need to do now, is believe the good news that he died for your sins, he was buried, and he's risen to give you eternal life.
Believe that and get your salvation settled today.
We can then go further into God's word.
Hey, just call us, email us, we'll go further with you and show you now how you should live as a saved person.
But how you live can't save you.
What you do about your sins can't save you because your sins are not being imputed.
That's totally illogical.
Okay, let's go back here, back to Romans 5:10, For if, when we were enemies..., ...much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Saved by what?
Getting my sins forgiven?
That's what they're telling me.
No, that's a lie, it's a lie that's been disseminated by the religious system, but we're saved by his life, and his life must be received through faith.
If I'm saved by his life and his life's eternal, then I'm eternal.
Because I'm now in Christ, and my life is Colossians 3:3, hid in God.
God the Son lived a perfect life in obedience to God the Father.
His perfect life is what enables the believer to, by grace through faith, have his righteousness, have his righteous life show up in my account.
This is the best news ever.
You're not going to hear anything better.
God deciding to stop charging your sins to your account, that happened before you were born.
But, it's while you're alive here on earth that you can receive this life, this eternal life.
No one needs to be bothered by searching around and trying to figure out how to get God to stop imputing your sins, because he did that 20 centuries ago.
It's taken care of.
Let's move on to more important things like salvation, and then how a saved person lives, and then how a saved person can show others how to be saved.
You don't need your sins forgiven, you need a life status update, a status change.
Not from unforgiven to forgiven, but from forgiven to justified.
Forgiven doesn't equate to justified.
Forgiven doesn't equate to not guilty.
Forgiven people who have yet to believe the gospel, they're still guilty.
Those forgiven people are still guilty of what God forgave them for.
Being forgiven and being justified are different.
And justified people, they have believed Paul's gospel, and they're the ones with the new status that declares them to be not guilty in Christ.
Romans 5:13, watch this, (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Is the law in effect today?
Then sins aren't being imputed?
Why is that hard for some?
Maybe it's their addiction to religion that keeps them from seeing this.
Hey, you stick around long enough and what you're going to find is, there are some in grace circles who, even though their claim is they left religion behind, you're going to notice that they're still plagued by some of its trappings.
Mark my word, if it hasn't already, it will happen.
You'll notice this.
You'll also find that most people love categories more than they do people.
Now, saying that God doesn't stop imputing my sins until I do something, well that's moving the non-imputation away from the cross and toward myself.
Be careful who you listen to.
Be careful who you depend on for your truth.
There's a lady on Facebook, and here lately she's decided that she's well versed enough to explain the mystery of reconciliation to everyone, even though she doesn't understand what the word, "was," means.
And while there's only a few that follow her, that's to me, that's a few too many.
And none of them seem to understand what, "was," means either.
Incredible.
In 2 Corinthians 5:19, where Paul said, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, she apparently having missed the word, "was," claims that God IS reconciling the world unto himself as if it's taking place today.
No, the Father already completed his part by offering the perfect sacrifice of his Son right there on the cross.
It's over, and that's why Paul wrote, "was," not, "is."
Was reconciling, not is reconciling.
As much as it pains the limited forgivers, the 2 Corinthians 5:19, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses into them, it's past tense.
There's no way around it.
He's not imputing trespasses to anyone in the world, and while they should be celebrating this good news, they're on Facebook trying to diminish from it.
Acting as if God is presently today on a daily basis reconciling the world unto himself.
That's incorrect.
Paul wrote, "was," for a reason, God was in Christ doing something, but not anymore.
He stopped the imputation of sins, that was finished on the cross of Christ.
Now, if you want to know what is happening today, what's happening today on a daily basis, you need to keep reading.
Just read the next verse, verse 20.
That's where you'll get your answer.
2 Corinthians 5:20, Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead..., and here's your answer, ...be ye reconciled to God.
THIS is what's happening today.
People all around the world, who God's not charging sins to, they're being reconciled to him on a daily basis by grace through faith.
But verse 19 was when God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and that's not happening.
Him doing his part was finished.
He reconciled the world unto himself, but the world reconciling themselves to him, that's different.
Two different things that transpire at two different times.
The limited forgivers get this wrong.
They're all fouled up and can't seem to string a couple of verses together.
This is what happens when you, when you place a man on a pedestal.
When you allow yourself to be impressed by someone because they have an online Bible school.
You let your guard down and stop testing the words that leave their mouth.
You allow his word to become your standard of truth.
So, it's no wonder that some tend to miss what seems to be so simple for others to get.
Over time, ignorance, it accumulates.
It accumulates and it can cause you to catch one of the oldest diseases known to mankind, one that affects the mind and, and causes the herd mentality.
It affects those who have a desire to belong, so bad, that they're willing to compromise, to conform and fit in.
It's when you adopt a belief without critically thinking it through, because that's what the rest of the pack believes.
Paul don't teach you to do that.
Hey, if we fit in, great, outstanding, it's certainly not a bad thing to be among like-minded believers, but, conformity is not the answer, compromise is not the answer, never compromise truth for numbers, never compromise truth for fellowship.
Paul doesn't teach us to conform, but to transform.
To conform is to blend in, to comply, to imitate, to adopt a belief because others believe it.
For some, that's their currency.
Their currency is the acceptance and approval of others.
Insomuch that they'll turn a deaf ear to reason and logic to get it.
But now to transform, that's totally different.
That's different altogether.
A transformation of the mind requires you to walk away from the previous patterns you once followed.
It's a discipline, and it's a continuous process, one that hopefully leads the believer to spiritual maturity.
Take a look here at 2 Corinthians 5:18, as we close, 2 Corinthians 5 verse 18, and notice this, notice the language.
Paul wrote, And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
You see that?
Notice the language here.
God, who has reconciled us to himself.
Sounds like verse 19, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.
Sounds just like it, but it doesn't sound like verse 20, Be ye reconciled to God.
That's so different.
But people conflate these.
See, the problem we keep noticing is how many there are who like to discuss scriptures no doubt, but aren't really paying attention to what they're reading, to what they're discussing.
Here, it's quite obvious that they're missing the language change.
In verse 18, it starts with, God reconciled us to himself.
Then gets repeated again in verse 19, God reconciling the world unto himself.
But, it changes.
In verse 20, it changes with, ...be ye reconciled to God.
That's the other side of the coin.
The first two are what he did, but the last one, that's what we do.
Don't miss it.
Grace and peace.