Redeemed, Justified, and Reconciled to God


	Lesson Four Redeemed, Justified, and Reconciled to God In this lesson, we will cover: I. Redemption A. Redeemed by Christ through His Blood B. Redeemed from Slavery of the World C. Redeemed from Bondage of Law D. Redeemed from an Aimless Manner of Life E. Redeemed from Death's Reign II. Justification A. Justified not by works but by Christ B. Justified by Faith C. Justified by Grace D. Result of Justification III. Reconciliation to God A. Enemies of God B. Reconciled Through Christ's Death C. Result of Reconciliation Adam Clarke's Sharing on the Word of Reconciliation Adam Clarke (1760-1832) wanted to be a preacher. So in 1782 he traveled from his hometown of Londonderry in Ireland to England to join the work of a famous evangelist of his day, John Wesley. On this journey he stayed briefly in Liverpool at a boarding house where a Scotch gentleman and a naval officer were residing. The naval officer declared that he was a member of the Roman Catholic Church. That gave Clarke the opportunity to talk to them from Scripture and reason about the erroneous doctrines of transubstantiation, the invocation of saints, the worship of images, purgatory, auricular confession, and the priest's power to forgive sins. But it was the last topic of the discussion that totally changed the lives of those in the boarding house. Clarke began by talking about the nature of sin, the condemned state of fallen man, and the impossibility that any one could take away guilt but Christ. Then he spoke of the terrible doom that awaited the unforgiven. Finally he urged them to be reconciled with God. Clarke said that reconciliation was impossible except through the great sacrifice made by Jesus Christ. He also said that reconciliation was effectual to no man who did not truly repent and implicitly confide in it. During his speaking, God gave him uncommon power and freedom of speech. The company heard him with a fixed and solemn gaze. At length they showed by tears that the word had entered their hearts. At last, when he invited them to pray, they fell on their knees in prayer. There and then they experienced that wonderful reconciliation to God. Reference: J.W. Etheridge, The Life Of Adam Clark, 1858 Redemption In Lesson 3 we learned that because we were constituted sinners, we needed God to forgive our sins and save us from those sins. In this lesson we will see that God wants to redeem us, justify us, and reconcile us to Himself. By accomplishing all this, He will gain us as a people to fulfill His eternal purpose. Redeemed by Christ through His Blood The prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament tells us that our Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth (Isa. 54:5b). Another prophet, Jeremiah, tells us that our Redeemer is strong and thoroughly pleads our case before God (Jer. 50:34). Who is a redeemer? He is one who pays the ransom price on behalf of a bound person to gain his deliverance. He is also one who buys an enslaved person with a view to free him. Christ is our Redeemer. He came to the earth as the Son of Man "to give His life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28; cf. Mark 10:45). This means that He paid the ransom price for all men by dying on the cross (1 Tim. 2:5b-6a). Through His own blood He accomplished redemption for all of us (Eph. 1:7). This is why when you believe in Him, you are fully redeemed. Why must Christ redeem you? It is because you were enslaved and bound to the world, the law, an aimless conduct, and death. We will now look at these reasons in more detail. Redeemed from Slavery of the World Christ redeemed you from the slavery of the sinful world so that you can fulfill God's eternal purpose. We can see this point from an Old Testament picture in which God redeemed the children of Israel from Egypt. In this picture Egypt illustrates the sinful world that is usurped by God's enemy. At that time the children of Israel were enslaved under the Egyptian taskmasters. They had been enslaved for four hundred thirty years before they groaned to God about their slavery (Exo. 12:40-41; 6:5). When God heard their cry, He redeemed them "with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment" (Exo. 6:6). His redemption freed them from the burdens and slavery of the Egyptians. Today, the sinful world is still under the control of Satan. The Bible states, "The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19b). Like the children of Israel you were bound under the burdens of this sinful world and you were enslaved to it. This is why Christ had to judge this world and cast out the ruler of this world so He could redeem you from the world (John 12:31). This Old Testament picture also shows us God's purpose for redeeming the children of Israel: "I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the LORD" (Exo. 6:7-8). Similarly, today we have been redeemed to be in the church, the kingdom of Christ who is the reality of the promised land (Col. 1:13-14). In the church Christ is the Head and we the believers are His Body, which God needs for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose (see Lesson 15). Redeemed from the Bondage of the Law "Do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?" (Rom. 7:1) This verse shows that you needed redemption because you were bound to the law. The law could be the Mosaic law. Or it could be some other law that binds us - for example, the law that wills to do good (Rom. 7:21). The grip of the law over us is strong. For this reason, "God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law" (Gal. 4:4-5a). Now that you have been redeemed, you do not have to struggle to keep the law as its slave. Instead, through your redemption you can enjoy the riches of God's eternal life as His son (Gal. 4:5b). Redeemed from an Aimless Conduct You also needed to be redeemed from your vain and aimless conduct. First Peter 1:18 says, "You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers." With this redemption, you can now become holy in your conduct even as He who called you is holy (1 Pet. 1:15). Redeemed from Death's Reign Since Adam's time death reigned over mankind (Rom. 5:14, 17). In the Old Testament God made a promise to mankind: "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O Death, I will be your plagues; O Grave, I will be your destruction" (Hosea 13:14a). This promise of God was fulfilled by Christ in the New Testament age. Christ partook of blood and flesh so that through death He might accomplish two things: (1) destroy the devil who has the might of death, and (2) release those who were held in slavery because of their fear of death (Heb. 2:14-15). Thus, by dying on the cross Christ redeemed you from death itself. Justification Justified not by Works but by Christ Christ's redemption secured your release and deliverance from the world, law, aimless conduct, and death. However, you remained unrighteous in the eyes of God. This is because, from the time of your first birth, you have been disobedient to Him, resisting Him, and sinning against Him. In other words, you were never right with God. No matter how much God loves you, He cannot simply overlook your unrighteousness. He is the righteous God. His throne and kingdom are based on His righteousness. At the same time, you cannot make yourself right with God. No matter how hard you try, your righteousness can never measure up to His standard. In fact, according to the Bible, all your righteousnesses are like a soiled garment (Isa. 64:6). Therefore you need to be justified. Justification means to be made right with God and be approved according to God's standard of righteousness. According to the Bible, you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God (1 Cor. 6:11). This means that by receiving Christ as the life-giving Spirit into you, you are made right and approved according to God's standard of righteousness. Justified by Faith Paul says, "A man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law" (Rom. 3:28). We are not justified through our own effort or by keeping the law. Rather, we are justified by believing in the Lord (Acts 13:39). God is "the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26). This justification by faith leads us to live with Christ by faith. According to Romans 6:7-8, when we have died with Christ and are justified, we must believe that we will live with Him. Justified by Grace Not many Christians realize that God justifies us by His grace (Rom. 3:24; cf. Titus 3:7). Paul explains, "If by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work" (Rom. 11:6). To experience grace, we must humble ourselves and turn to God. In Luke 18 the Lord tells a parable about two men going to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men - extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess'" (vv. 11-12). The tax collector, however, "standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'" (v. 13) Here the words be merciful also means "be gracious" or "to give grace." The Lord Jesus concluded the parable by saying, "This man went down to his house justified rather than the other" (v. 14a). Justification is by grace. We must be like the tax collector, to humble ourselves and ask God for grace. Result of Justification When we are justified, we are saved from the wrath of God (Rom. 5:9). God's wrath was due to our disobedience, the hardness of our heart (especially in resisting the gospel), and our sin, which are all against His righteousness. God's wrath is manifested in His punishment of man. Through justification we are delivered from all these penalties. When we are justified, we also have peace with God (Rom. 5:1). This peace was accomplished through the blood Christ shed on the cross (Col. 1:20). With this peace our soul can be restful, being assured of its salvation through Christ. As a result, we have nothing to fear and we can be content with the earthly lot that God has determined for us, no matter what it is. No longer do we need to stay away from God for fear of His righteousness and holiness (Exo. 33:20). We have become near to Him in the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13). Furthermore, through justification we become "heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:7b). To be heirs means to enjoy God's life as our rightful portion. This rich inheritance is for our glorification as full-grown sons of God. Romans 8:30b states, "Whom He justified, these He also glorified." Experientially glorification is a life-long process. Reconciliation to God Enemies of God In addition to your sinfulness and unrighteousness, you were an enemy of God. The Bible says that you were "once alienated and enemies in your mind because of your evil works" (Col. 1:21). James 4:4b says, "Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." Reconciled through Christ's Death As God's enemy, you needed more than redemption and justification; you needed reconciliation. Reconciliation is the process that restores you to man's former state of peace with God. First Peter 3:18a says, "Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." Romans 5:10 says, "When we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son." It is through Christ's death that you were reconciled to God. This is the only way for your relationship with God to be fully restored. Result of Reconciliation Through reconciliation Christ presents us holy and without blemish and without reproach before Him (Col. 1:22). This allows us to "continue in [our] faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel" (v. 23). As a result, "having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Rom. 5:10). In addition, God makes us ambassadors - that is, representatives - for Christ, committing to us the word of reconciliation so that we may share it with others (2 Cor. 5:19-20). As believers, we must firmly trust that we have been redeemed, justified, and reconciled to God. These spiritual facts provide the strong foundation for our Christian life. We should not abide in our feelings, but simply believe that the Lord Jesus has accomplished all this for us. Discussion Questions 1. How are we redeemed? Why do we need redemption? 2. What is justification? How are we justified? What happens to us after God has approved us according to His standard of righteousness? 3. Why must we be reconciled to God? What is the result of being reconciled to God? Practical Tips Stand on what Christ has accomplished. Often your feelings change according to your outward situations. After having believed, you may even feel that you are not redeemed, justified, or reconciled to God. At this time you must learn to reject your feelings and stand on the accomplishments of Christ. Try to boldly declare in this way, "Lord, I thank you that You have redeemed me, justified me, and reconciled me to God. You have accomplished all this for me. There is nothing more that I need to do now." Be familiar with the verses for each point. The Bible is the basis of our faith. Memorize all the verses that are cited in this lesson. These verses will strengthen your faith. Share your faith with others. As in the case of Paul, God has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18). God wants us to share the gospel so others can be reconciled to God through the death of Christ. Do not hesitate. The more you speak these things to others, the more they will be real to you.