Jesus, the Reconciler
Dr. Frederick K.C. Price
Apostle Paul says in Colossians 1:20-23:
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight;
23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
God made peace through the blood and the cross of Jesus in order for Jesus to reconcile all things to Himself. "All things" include everything in earth and heaven.
Then Paul continued, and you, that were sometime [at one time] alienated.... How were you and I and all men alienated? We were separated from God by sin. We were enemies of God in our minds because of wicked works. We were unregenerate. We had received and inherited Adam's sin nature, and that caused us to be separated from God, having no communion or fellowship with Him.
Romans 5:12 tells us:
Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned;
How were we reconciled in the body of His flesh through death? Jesus--a spirit with a soul and body--had to leave His physical body and go into the pit of Hades to serve our sentence. Jesus' body remained in the grave while He (the spirit and soul parts of Him) went into Hades.
He did this in order to present us holy, unblameable and unreprovable in God's sight. But there is a very important condition attached to salvation: "If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast."
The very fact that Paul said, "If indeed you continue in the faith," means it is possible for you not to do so. There is a doctrine called eternal security, which basically means, "once saved, always saved."
There is eternal security--if you stay in Christ. No one can steal your salvation. God will not let you go. However, I believe the Word teaches that it is possible to forfeit your salvation, or to give it up. But that would be no accident. That would have to be done on purpose, an act of your will.
"Losing your salvation" would have to be a volitional, deliberate, calculated, premeditated act of your will, a decision to repudiate Christ knowingly. If I cannot give up my salvation, then why would Paul say if indeed you continue in the faith?
How did you get saved in the first place? How did you become a Christian? How did you become a child of God? How did you get your name in the Lamb's Book of Life? You did it by receiving Jesus by faith.
Jesus was, and is a gift from God to the world. Therefore, salvation is a gift. There is only one way to obtain a gift, and that is to receive it. You cannot buy it. You cannot earn it. There is nothing, you can do to become worthy of it.
The moment you buy something, earn something, work hard to become "good enough" to get it, it ceases to be a gift. It becomes a reward for works or a form of payment, such as a salary.
Therefore, if you did not earn your salvation by doing some works, then you cannot lose it by works. Somehow we believe the blood of Jesus is powerful enough to save us, but not powerful enough to keep us. We believe we receive salvation as a gift, but we can lose it through works, not so!
Works are irrelevant and immaterial. As a matter of fact, you do not go to hell because of your sins (evil works) anymore than you go to heaven because of your good works. Your destination is hell if and because you refused to receive the gift of Jesus Christ that God sent to earth to reconcile you with.
Your final and eternal destination is dependent on only one thing: what you choose to do with Jesus, your Reconciler.
Apostle Paul says in Colossians 1:20-23:
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight;
23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
God made peace through the blood and the cross of Jesus in order for Jesus to reconcile all things to Himself. "All things" include everything in earth and heaven.
Then Paul continued, and you, that were sometime [at one time] alienated.... How were you and I and all men alienated? We were separated from God by sin. We were enemies of God in our minds because of wicked works. We were unregenerate. We had received and inherited Adam's sin nature, and that caused us to be separated from God, having no communion or fellowship with Him.
Romans 5:12 tells us:
Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned;
How were we reconciled in the body of His flesh through death? Jesus--a spirit with a soul and body--had to leave His physical body and go into the pit of Hades to serve our sentence. Jesus' body remained in the grave while He (the spirit and soul parts of Him) went into Hades.
He did this in order to present us holy, unblameable and unreprovable in God's sight. But there is a very important condition attached to salvation: "If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast."
The very fact that Paul said, "If indeed you continue in the faith," means it is possible for you not to do so. There is a doctrine called eternal security, which basically means, "once saved, always saved."
There is eternal security--if you stay in Christ. No one can steal your salvation. God will not let you go. However, I believe the Word teaches that it is possible to forfeit your salvation, or to give it up. But that would be no accident. That would have to be done on purpose, an act of your will.
"Losing your salvation" would have to be a volitional, deliberate, calculated, premeditated act of your will, a decision to repudiate Christ knowingly. If I cannot give up my salvation, then why would Paul say if indeed you continue in the faith?
How did you get saved in the first place? How did you become a Christian? How did you become a child of God? How did you get your name in the Lamb's Book of Life? You did it by receiving Jesus by faith.
Jesus was, and is a gift from God to the world. Therefore, salvation is a gift. There is only one way to obtain a gift, and that is to receive it. You cannot buy it. You cannot earn it. There is nothing, you can do to become worthy of it.
The moment you buy something, earn something, work hard to become "good enough" to get it, it ceases to be a gift. It becomes a reward for works or a form of payment, such as a salary.
Therefore, if you did not earn your salvation by doing some works, then you cannot lose it by works. Somehow we believe the blood of Jesus is powerful enough to save us, but not powerful enough to keep us. We believe we receive salvation as a gift, but we can lose it through works, not so!
Works are irrelevant and immaterial. As a matter of fact, you do not go to hell because of your sins (evil works) anymore than you go to heaven because of your good works. Your destination is hell if and because you refused to receive the gift of Jesus Christ that God sent to earth to reconcile you with.
Your final and eternal destination is dependent on only one thing: what you choose to do with Jesus, your Reconciler.
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