dougluedeke

Reconciliation means to be brought back into a right relationship after estrangement. To bring into agreement. Before salvation we have no righteousness of our own: at salvation we are made "the righteousness of God in him" II Corinthians 5:21. God could never agree with our unrighteousness, but he is in agreement with the righteousness of his son, which we have been given. Only in Christ are we made in agreement with him. There is nothing in us that he can agree with. In the Authorized Version the only present tense is " being now justified" Our justification is present and complete in Christ. We did no work to obtain justification so we can do no work to maintain justification. It is always present tense, now, and 50 years from now. We are justified. Always. Both verse 9 and 10 say " we shall be saved from wrath" and " we shall be saved by his life." We shall not recieve any wrath from God in future judgement. I Corinthians 3:13 "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. v15 he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved. "

It is imperative that we realize that Christ died for the ungodly, which is me. If you are holding on to any hope of being good enough to go to heaven then you can not be saved. We must come to realize that we are completely ungodly, completely unable to save ourselves, and that He is completely able. We must realize that in being ungodly, we have no means to save ourselves. He does it all. He gives all who are saved the faith to be saved. The only thing we bring to salvation is the ability to chose. Even though we are ungodly, God has given to us the ability to chose or reject His Son. Jesus said we must come to Him as a little child. A child has nothing of value to give, except their love, trust and obedience. As the ungodly, we have nothing of value to give in exchange for salvation. He gave it all in sacrifice, and He gives it all in the ages to come. It is all of Christ. He has the preeminence. Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus

We shall have tribulation, just like everybody else in the world; saved or unsaved. The big difference is that while in our tribulations God gives us hope, patients, experience and love by the Holy Ghost. The unsaved who suffer along with us should see the difference in how we endure hardships, which will direct their attention to God. Our joy during hardships brings glory to God. The lost can see how good God is to us, which will draw them to Christ. This gives glory to God.

For Abraham, his faith was believing that God could do the impossible by making him the father of many nations. For us, it is believing that God can do the impossible by justifying us in His sight. By forgiving us for our sinfulness and giving us a place in His presense. It is just as impossible for us to earn heaven as it was for Abraham to have as many children as the sand, or the stars in heaven. He gets all the glory for our justification. He gets all the glory for the offspring of Abraham. It is impossible for us to get any credit, for without Him we can not be justified. " Lest any man should boast."