Reconciled to God while enemies !

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The Reconciliation is Complete! 3

The exact same truth of objective peace and legal reconciliation that the death of Christ secured for those He died for is clearly declared by the Old Testament prophets in Isaiah 53:5:

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

The Hebrew word for peace here is Shalom (שָׁלוֹם), which means: completeness, soundness, welfare, and the friendship of human relationships restored with God—especially within a binding covenant relationship.
Those for whom Christ died—those for whom He was wounded for their rebellion and bruised for their iniquities—have had actual peace and reconciliation with God legally effected for them. Upon Christ, God executed the full weight of His avenging Justice for their specific sins. Because His wrath was entirely appeased and Justice was perfectly satisfied on their behalf, true peace has been unalterably established.

This is why Isaiah 54:10 promises an immutable security:

“For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.”

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The New Testament Witness: Peace Accomplished
This prophetic promise of an accomplished Shalom finds its perfect New Testament fulfillment in Colossians 1:20, proving that reconciliation is a finished past-tense legal fact, not a passive future offer:

“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.”

Notice the phrase “having made peace.” The Greek word eirēnopoieō signifies to establish harmony and mend a broken relationship completely. Christ did not die to make peace a mere possibility if man cooperates; He already made peace by the shedding of His blood.

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What Constitutes the Gospel of Peace?

This brings us to the very definition of the Gospel. The Gospel does not come to tell dead sinners how they can make peace with God. Rather, the Gospel is the proclamation of the peace that Christ has already established.
Scripture identifies this specific message through four distinct cross-references, demonstrating that God sovereignly sends this Gospel directly to its intended beneficiaries (the regenerated elect):

• Acts 10:36 – The Message of Sovereign Peace:
  

  “The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all”
  The Gospel is a sent word. It announces peace by Jesus Christ—predicated entirely on His universal Lordship, not human acceptance.

• Ephesians 2:17 – The Proclamation to the Far and Near:
  

  “And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.”
  When the Gospel is preached under the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ Himself is dynamically proclaiming the finished reality of peace to the chosen sheep, whether Jew or Gentile.

• Romans 10:15 – The Beautiful Feet of the Sent Messenger:
  

  “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!”
  This quotes Isaiah 52:7 directly. The messenger is authoritatively sent by God to bring glad tidings—good news of an accomplished salvation—to those who have ears to hear.

• Ephesians 6:15 – The Firm Foundation of the Saints:
  

  “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;”
  The believer’s stand is anchored immovably because the Gospel they have heard is a message of established peace. It provides absolute stability because it rests on Christ's completed work of reconciliation.

Conclusion: Sent to the Beneficiaries

The Gospel is a specialized word of salvation sent providentially to a particular people—the regenerated who have been given a heart to fear God. It doesn't offer a conditional truce; it publishes an everlasting treaty of peace signed in the blood of the cross. 15

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Why “Be Ye Reconciled to God”?​

Let's read the whole context:

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
—2 Corinthians 5:17

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”
—v.18

Then Paul explains that ministry:

“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.”
—v.19

And only then:

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ... we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.”
—v.20

Notice the order.

God reconciled.
God made the new creature.
God did not impute their trespasses.
God committed the word of reconciliation.
Then the ambassadors say, “Be ye reconciled.”

So the imperative does not prove that Christ's reconciliation was incomplete until the sinner believed.

The reconciliation has already been attributed to God in Christ:

“who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ”

and:

“God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.”

That agrees perfectly with Romans 5:10:

“When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.”

And Colossians 1:21–22:

“Yet now hath he reconciled... in the body of his flesh through death.”

So what does “be ye reconciled” mean?​

The Greek καταλλάγητε (katallagēte) is a passive aorist imperative.

The passive voice means the people addressed are presented as receiving the action, rather than performing the action upon themselves.

But I don't need to claim that the passive voice by itself proves irresistible grace. The context already tells us who accomplished the reconciliation: God, through Christ.

The imperative is therefore not:

“Go accomplish your own reconciliation with God.”

Nor does it mean:

“Christ has merely made reconciliation possible; now you must complete it.”

Paul has already said:

“God... hath reconciled us.”

The ambassadors are proclaiming the word of reconciliation and calling the hearers to embrace, acknowledge, and walk in the reconciliation accomplished in Christ.

This is where the Vital and Practical Phases come in​

Christ's death accomplished the Legal reconciliation.

The Holy Spirit accomplishes the Vital work of giving spiritual life.

Then the regenerated sinner responds in the Practical phase through faith, repentance, and conversion.

That's why Ezekiel 36:27 is so relevant:

“And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.”

God commands His people to walk, but God also promises to cause them to walk.

And 2 Corinthians 4:6 gives us the same principle:

“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

The Gospel of reconciliation is proclaimed externally, but God shines that truth into the hearts of His people.

So “be ye reconciled” is not evidence that Christ left reconciliation unfinished.

It is the Gospel summons by which the reconciled sinner is brought to consciously embrace and manifest what God has already accomplished in Christ.

And notice what Paul does NOT say​

He does not say:

“Christ has made reconciliation possible.”

He says:

“God... hath reconciled us.”

He does not say:

“God has made a way for your trespasses eventually to stop being imputed.”

He says:

“not imputing their trespasses unto them.”

He does not say:

“Christ will reconcile you if you believe.”

Colossians says:

“Yet now hath he reconciled... in the body of his flesh through death.”

And Romans says:

“we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.”

Therefore:

The Cross accomplished reconciliation.
The Spirit gives life.
The Gospel announces reconciliation.
Faith receives and embraces Christ.
The believer walks in the enjoyment and manifestation of that reconciliation.

The imperative does not travel backward and make the Cross effective.

Christ reconciled.

“Be ye reconciled” is the Gospel call to the sinner to enter into the conscious enjoyment, acknowledgment, and manifestation of what God has accomplished through Christ.

The Cross accomplished the reconciliation; faith does not complete it. 15

 

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Being reconciled to God even when they were being enemies, is proof that their sins had been done away with, and God not imputing them to them 2 Cor 5:19, else they could not have been reconciled to God and received into His favour, which being reconciled entails. The greek word for reconciled in Rom 5:10 is katallasso, which does mean that God receives one into His favour, having reconciled that one to Himself 2 Cor5:18; to be restored to favour; and once again this is true of all sinners Christ died for, which reconciled them to God while they themselves were being enemies, that is being hostile to God and opposing Him.15

 

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More on the word of reconciliation!

The World here spoken of here 2 Cor 5:19

19 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.

First of all, the World here are a mixture of jew and Gentile Elect! And a aspect of their reconciliation to God is God not imputing, charging or reckoning their sins, trespasses, iniquities unto them. 20

 

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So those Christ hath reconciled, God doesn't impute with sin, even though they sin! They are of these blessed ones spoken of here Rom 4:8

8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

This applies to the world of God's Elect here 2 Cor 5:19!How we know that its Gods Elect? Because Paul calls them the Chosen in his first epistle to the Corinthians 1 Cor 1:27-28

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

 

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Good News Hard to Believe!​

And what might that good news be?

That sinners were reconciled to God while they were still His enemies!

Paul declares:

“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.”
—Romans 5:10

Think about what Paul is saying! These were not people who had first made themselves godly, repented, or believed and then persuaded God to reconcile them. They were enemies, alienated from God and hostile in their minds through wicked works (Colossians 1:21).

Yet Paul says:

“We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.”

How could such a thing be?

Because God had loved and chosen His people in Christ before the foundation of the world:

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”
—Ephesians 1:4

For those whom Christ represented, He did not merely make reconciliation a possibility. He accomplished the work appointed to Him through His death. He bore their sins and satisfied divine justice, so that their reconciliation rests upon His finished work—not their prior worthiness or independently supplied faith.

Paul says:

“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.”
—Colossians 1:21–22

Notice the purpose: “to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.”

Christ’s death accomplished reconciliation with a definite saving purpose.

Then, in the appointed time, the Holy Spirit gives spiritual life, and the sinner comes to Christ in faith and repentance. That response is real and necessary—but it does not travel backward and make Christ’s death effective.

The Legal Phase rests upon Christ’s death. The Vital Phase is the Spirit’s work of giving life. The Practical Phase is the regenerated sinner’s believing and repenting.

That is sovereign grace!

The sinner does not make himself worthy of reconciliation. Christ is the ground of it. The sinner does not create saving faith independently. God’s grace brings him to believe.

The wonder of the Gospel is not that God reconciles people after they have made themselves worthy, but that Christ reconciles His people through His death while they are still enemies—and brings them, by His saving work, into the holiness and glory He purposed for them.

That is indeed good news hard to believe! 20

 

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The wonder of the Gospel is not that God reconciles people after they have made themselves worthy, but that Christ reconciles His people through His death while they are still enemies—and brings them, by His saving work, into the holiness and glory He purposed for them.

That is indeed good news hard to believe! 20

Yet, somehow, you don't believe that the same rule applies to the future of Israel/Israelites, even though the Bible shows us how it does.

This just sounds so hypocritical coming from you based on our past conversations.

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