The Ministry of Reconciliation as Believer-Saints of God

The Ministry of Reconciliation

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” — II Corinthians 5:17,18

The Bible teaches in II Corinthians 5:17 that God has RECONCILED us to Himself by Jesus Christ. It is tragic that so many false ministers nowadays are teaching a perverted gospel that requires people to be willing to change their life, stop sinning or commit their life to God in order to be saved. The Bible says that God reconciles us by Jesus Christ; and it is not by our own self-righteousness nor based upon our own righteous good works. Isaiah 64:6: But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags

Likewise, the Bible says in II Corinthians 5:18 that God has given to us, i.e., to believer-saints, the MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION. What a beautiful truth. The word “reconciliation” here is the Greek word katallage and means “to restore (to divine) favor.” Only the Gospel of the resurrected Christ Jesus can do this for us. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…” As believer-saints, God has entrusted to us the wonderful responsibility of partaking in the ministry of reconciling lost sinners with our Creator by way of the once for all time blood sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the Cross. This is why every born-again believer-saint heed the words of Paul and be aggressive concerning soul winning, so lost sinners can be reconciled with God as we are also reconciled.

II Corinthians 5:18 says that every believer has been given the Ministry of Reconciliation. Proverb 11:30 states, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” What an opportunity God has given to us to partake of reconciling sinners with their God by sharing the Gospel with them. There is no greater duty nor privilege for the Christian than soul winning.

II Corinthians 5:18-21: "Now all these things are from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Five times in those short verses we have the magnificent word "reconciliation" is used. Reconciliation as a result of Christ's Redemption defines the primary theme, which is all about the ministry of reconciliation – that priceless gift we have today for our ministry today – we are Ambassadors for Christ with the ministry of Reconciliation – not priest who daily ministry sacrifice for sins – reconciliation means that God has already forgiven completely our sins, that is why He can freely reconcile us to Himself.

God has called us to preach the ministry of reconciliation. It is our duty to proclaim to both lost people and saved people that they can be reconciled to God. For the lost, this is the glorious message of reconciliation to sinners, to free them from the bondage of sin and the bondage of the law; which could never save. This is the gospel for today, the good news, because the relationship of hostility, the relationship of hatred, the relationship of animosity, the relationship of enmity, the relationship of alienation between God and sinful man can be totally changed so that enemies can become forever friends of God and In Him. That, my friend, is the grace gospel.

The ministry of reconciliation is then the greatest FINISHED work in the world which God did for us who were unable to save ourselves. It is the greatest calling for us ambassadors and it is the greatest privilege to be given the responsibility to preach the ministry of reconciliation that the Apostle Paul preached. This is what we live and die for, why we share the gospel for, why we preach grace, why we edify the saints for, in order that in the end the ministry of reconciliation might effectually reach sinners and others who are under 'another gospel or works oriented gospel'. Certainly we would all agree that no message equals this one in importance, so that the Apostle Paul says we have been given the ministry of reconciliation.

In II Corinthians 5:18 , it says, "He has committed to us the word of reconciliation." Literally, "he has committed to us" means he has placed this in us. This ministry of reconciliation has been given to us to preach the word of reconciliation. This is the most needed ministry because apart from the reconciliation that God freely provides to man, aside from this reconciliation, men will spend eternity in burning hell, and not receive the grace of God in heaven eternal.

The Apostle Paul was committed to the straightforward, direct proclamation of the ministry of reconciliation. In the second chapter of 1 Corinthians 2:1, he says,

I Corinthians 2:1: And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
I Corinthians 2:2: For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." Paul know that these believer-saints know Christ Jesus, but what Paul was seeking was for them to know the meat of the doctrine of the ministry of reconciliation, and the demonstration of the Spirit and of power that their fate should not rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God.

In II Corinthians 5:20, Paul uses a very graphic term to describe the nature of the calling we have - at calling when he says in verse 20, "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ". Quite an interesting term, presbeuane(?) from the verb presbeuo. It's a very rich term. It is related to the term, though it's not the exact term, it is related to the term for elders. But in this case it is the word for ambassador. Presbeuoand, presbutesare which means old, which, of course, is connected to presbuteros, which means elders, which we are! It is a word that means ambassador, but it has that idea of being old because in ancient times old and experienced men were usually the ones chosen to be ambassadors of emperors and of kings. It's a very noble word.

Ambassador's still have a nobility. Today, ambassador's serve foreign countries and has nobility and dignity. An ambassador represents his government in all of its character and all of its dignity. To scorn then or falsely libel then an ambassador, or to mistreat him, is the same as scorning and mistreating the government which he represents. To send him away is to break off relations with the government and the ruler and often is a declaration of war, or eminent hostility. An ambassador speaks as a holy instrument as his ruler's mouthpiece. He never utters his own thoughts. He never offers promises, demands his own things, but rather those things of his ruler. An ambassador is a person and character and possesses the weight of the authenticity and dignity of his ruler. An ambassador is in a foreign land and in that foreign represents his own ruler, or monarch, or kingdom. An ambassador brings the message of his sovereign. This is our role as an ambassador for our sovereign God and Christ. This is our calling. Ephesians 6:20: For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. We all are – together with the Apostle Paul – ambassadors in bonds for Christ Jesus!

Paul says the evangelist and pastor-teachers comes with authority from his King, representing the sovereign God and His Kingdom. He comes with a word of reconciliation from the court of heaven to plead with people to be reconciled to God who is King of all the earth. And God is still making such appeals to sinners and He's still using evangelist and pastor-teachers to do it. In Romans 10:13-15, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" God still preaches the ministry and message of reconciliation through the foolishness of evangelist and pastor-teachers and all believer-saints. We all then are ambassadors for the ministry of reconciliation, preaching the word of reconciliation for the eternal God on behalf of Christ Jesus.

In II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”, it is summed up in this way - therefore if any man is in Christ, in His death, in His burial and in His resurrection, he is a new creature, old things passed away, behold new things have come. This represents a tremendous transformation which is the result of the reconciliation from God.

In Verse 18, when it says, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ" is referring to what Christ did on the cross to die for us, thus allowing us to die with Christ, rise together with Christ, and walk in newness of life with Christ. This reconciliation from God results in a particular transformation, conversion, salvation, all connected with the new man, the new creature, the new life in Christ, death, burial and resurrection in Christ. Sinners cannot decide for themselves to be reconciled to God and therefore make an effectual reconciliation work for them apart from God. Sinners have absolutely no power to satisfy God's anger, and no power to satisfy God's holy justice, and no power to satisfy God's holy righteousness.

For the sinner, there is no power apart from God to mitigate God's anger toward them. They have no power in prayer or good works to change their own certain destination in hell, which is God's eternal banishment from His presence. There is only one approach to change that relationship of hostility and enmity between them and God – and that is reconciliation from God, apart from man's effort. That is the grace gospel, God effectually did it all with His way of reconciliation. He reconciled Himself with sinners in order to make sinners His friends, and yet without violating His holy justice. It is all of God, nothing of man, otherwise, it would violate His holy justice. The falsity of all the religions of the world apart from Christianity is based on the premise that somehow man can find a means by which to somehow mitigate the hostility of God. False religions across the world are somehow trying to turn God's anger into acceptance, to appease Him. Man can't do it.

Paul says all salvation ways are from God alone who reconciled us to Himself. And here he states what is the objective aspect of reconciliation, God has provided a reconciliation. God Himself is the reconciler. Reconciliation is a divine provision by which God's holy displeasure against man was appeased. The hostility removed and relations restored. And this is at the very heart of the grace gospel, this reconciliation.

In Romans 5:1-110, "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 atonement."

God provided it. God accomplished it. All we can do is accept it. It is freely offered to us as a gift. It isn't achieved or affected by us, it is only accepted or rejected. In Colossians 1:19-22, speaking of Christ, Paul writes,

Colossians 1:19: For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Colossians 1:20: And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Colossians 1:21: And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Colossians 1:22: In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

God by His own will and design takes His Son and uses Him as the means to reconcile sinners to Himself. To do that, He has to put His Son on a cross, to pour out His life in order that He may by the fleshly body of Christ through death reconcile alienated and hostile sinners to Himself and make them holy, blameless and beyond reproach. That's the grace gospel, to reconcile alienated and hostile sinners to Himself!

In essence that is what God did for us. He looks at our massive culpability, the unpayable debt of the parable of the ruler in Matthew 18, he looks at our unpayable debt and He says He's not going to count their trespasses against them. In fact, how does He do that? By covering them with the righteousness of Christ. It doesn't mean that we're not sinners in reality, we still are, but it means we are covered in the righteousness of Christ, blanketed, robed. And our sins then are made invisible, forever, at the moment of our salvation. God never counts our sins against Him.

This is the means which God and Paul calls it 'justification'. Justification is the declaration by God in which He declares the sinner righteous because He has fully and completely covered the sinner with the holy righteousness of Christ, from the finished work of the cross. God now and forever does not count our sin a and trespasses against us. On the contrary, God fully cloths us with the imputed righteousness of Christ Jesus, our Redeemer. That is what happens when you put your faith in Christ. At that very moment of salvation, you are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. God then imputes upon you Christ's righteousness and does not count your sin and trespasses against you – never!

By your own works you cannot become righteous – that is impossible! Salvation is not by works of the law or good works of man deeds.

Isaiah 64:6: But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags

What it does mean is that when you put your faith in God, you have trusted in the person of Jesus Christ to be redeemer and sacrifice for all your trespasses and sins, and by this faith, God covers your sin with the righteousness of Christ, imputing to you Christ's righteousness in His declaration of His justification. This effectually makes you permanently just and holy before Him. Whenever you sin in this earth, God only sees His Son and Christ's righteousness which He imputed to your account. You are eternally saved from the moment of salvation and His declaration of His justification. No one and nothing can separate you from Christ. No church organization can separate you from Christ. No holy man can separate you from Christ. Nothing. God has guaranteed this.

Romans 8:38: "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Romans 8:39: Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Since reconciliation and justification is the heart of Paul's gospel, then as B.B. Warfield once wrote, "Substitution is the heart of the heart of the gospel."

"Well, we're ambassadors then. And the message we preach is reconciliation through the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ and we beg sinners to be reconciled to God who has provided a reconciliation and who is pleading with them even through us. Everything we do, particularly you preachers and pastors, missionaries, everything we do is directed toward the faith of sinners who can be reconciled to God. That's our call, the ministry of reconciliation."

This Ministry of Reconciliation for us believer-saints and sons of God — is a most priceless gift - and a much more noble responsibility than simply performing as an Old Testament priest. This present glory - reconciliation and justification and ambassadorship - is much more glorious:

II Corinthians 3:9: For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
II Corinthians 3:10: For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
II Corinthians 3:11: For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

Unless you are Gary Zimak, I don’t think you have permission to use the words “Following the Truth.” That is the name of his ministry.

http://www.thecatholictruth.info/

To me, this is trying to steal Zimak’s personality. Could the title of Zimak’s ministry be removed from the title line, please.

You are infringing on Zimak’s ministry.

And BTW, it is a Catholic Ministry.

Gary Zimak is the founder of Following The Truth Ministries (http://www.followingthetruth.com), a lay apostolate created to assist Catholics in learning more about their Faith. He is a regular guest on EWTN Radio’s “Son Rise Morning Show”, Ave Maria Radio’s “Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo” and appears frequently on several other Catholic radio programs. In addition to writing for CatholicLane. Mr. Zimak hosts a daily program on BlogTalkRadio and posts frequently on his blog, Facebook and Twitter. He is a member of Catholics United For The Faith and the Knights of Columbus and resides in New Jersey.

Perhaps one of you can contact Mr. Zimak to verifiy his rights to the name "Following the Truth."

Please post to the original thread:

Following The Truth: Confession – Is It Still Necessary? (Catholic or Open)

Thank you a bunch!

At the bottom of the homepage of Zimak's website:

Sorry... I didn't know that following the truth of God's Word was copyright as a concept or article name. Thanks for changing the post title.

At least now everyone can now learn how to follow the truth of God's Word for the Ministry of Reconciliation for Believer-Saints of God.

BTW: God's Word is much higher than any man's copyrighted word.

P.S. God was never wrong in anything He said to the Apostle Paul to write, that is why God is absolutely perfect in His revelation of the Mystery and the Ministry of Reconciliation for Believer-Saints of God.

No one is questioning St. Paul, just the myriad of different theologies by as the personal theologians claiming to “rightly divide” what he taught and wrote.