Dr Paul Allen

Kevin De Young  We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Cor. 5:10) In 2 Corinthians 5:18–20, Paul explains that he has a ministry of reconciliation. This invites the question: How are we reconciled to God? That may seem like a silly question to us. “What do you mean, how are we reconciled? We say we’re sorry for our sins. God says it’s not a problem. And everything’s all better.” But God’s forgiveness doesn’t work like that. It would be a violation of his own nature. God is loving, but he is also just. God cannot simply pass over our sins because he feels like it. Sin is a personal offence to God. If God were to look past our sin just because he really likes us, he would treat his name with contempt. There needs to be some kind of restitution for our wrongs and satisfaction of divine justice. Proverbs 17:15 says he who justifies the wicked is an abomination to the Lord....

The means of our reconciliation to God —the sacrificial death of Christ , the perfect forgiveness God applies to our sin—are divine works. But there is a human component that goes along with it. We bear some responsibility, too, if we are to be reconciled and redeemed. Paul hints at it in 2 Corinthians 5:20: “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us ; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” In God’s divine design, He has given each of us the responsibility to respond to the gospel in the obedience of faith. He doesn’t pluck us out of this wicked world against our will— we’re not robots that He merely has to reprogram. God is the initiator; He’s the Savior. But it does not happen without a response. The two little parables in Matthew 13 perfectly illustrate this point. Jesus said: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has ...