A convicted terrorist from Guantanamo Prison is pardoned, released and then rehabilitated so completely, he qualifies to be a federal judge. You didn’t hear about that? Good. I don’t think that has been suggested… yet. But something more astonishing is what happens to someone who is reconciled by the blood of Jesus (See: Reconciled). Paul didn’t want anyone to miss the full measure of what that means, so he said:
“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—” (Colossians 1:21-22)
When God reconciles us, He changes us from His enemies to ones who are free from accusation! From evil behavior to holy! That’s quite a jump, from one extreme of the moral spectrum to the far, opposite end. Hard to fully comprehend because we can’t manage anything like it on our human plane.
Perhaps you are thinking, “Well, I’m a bit alienated from God – I’m not perfect by any means – but I wouldn’t consider myself to be an enemy.” But God sees no middle ground. If you are not for Him, you are against Him. He does not grade on a curve. Same thing between evil and holy: no shades of gray in the middle. That’s not to say there’s no moral difference between you and a terrorist. God assigns these radical judgments “in His sight.” See that, at the end of the quote above?
God takes an enemy, reconciles him or her through the sacrifice of Jesus, “to present“ that person to Himself completely holy, unable to be justly accused of anything. God sees the reconciled according to what that person will become. It does not say this transformation happens immediately, but that this is the ultimate purpose and what will be accomplished. Perhaps you have put your trust in Christ, accepted this gift and still recognize a few things in your life for which you could be accused. Yeah, me too, except with me it’s more than a few. But understand this and hang on to it: Because God sees no middle ground, He takes no halfway measures. He will do everything necessary to bring you to the finish line, faultless in His sight. He will not leave you, halfway. Paul says, in another letter, he is
“… confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
No halfway measures.
Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Thanks for the reminder of this radical concept. This should be our challenge to those who have become comfortable thinking that surely they are good enough (while being lukewarm about Jesus’ sacrifice) for the Holy God.
Also, what a crazy concept that the reconciliation is a process, not an achieved state, and one that He is driving, not something we can drive.
Keep up the faithful “rightly dividing the word of truth”
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