2 corinthians 5

Read 2 Corinthians 5 at Bible Gateway.

Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 2 Cor 5:5

That we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us is a guarantee, a down payment, God’s marker, that on the day our earthly body dies, we will not become unclothed, but further clothed with immortality, dwelling forever in the presence of the Lord.

In fact, the sins of the world are no longer separating the world from God, because Jesus died for all, therefore all died (2 Cor 5:14). It is actually not true when people say, if you accept Jesus you will receive forgiveness for your sins. Every person on the earth has already received forgiveness for their sins. There is no sin now separating anyone from God, all have been reconciled as far as God is concerned. That is the message of reconciliation – most people don’t know it.

So what sends a person to hell? Jesus said all sins will be forgiven man except one – blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. When someone bows the knee to Jesus Christ, they have repented of blasphemy, rebellion, resistance against the Holy Spirit, because it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to draw people to Christ. People cooperate with that drawing, by coming, by acknowledging, by humbling themselves. If they resist until they die, then they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit.

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 2 Cor 5:18

Reconcile is katallasso in Greek, and it literally means “to change mutally, to compound a difference.” It is an accounting term – to reconcile the account books so that they add up. Vine’s Dictionary of Greek Words says it means to exchange when speaking of money, and to change from enmity to friendship when speaking of persons:

“With regard to the relationship between God and man, the use of this and connected words shows that primarily ‘reconciliation’ is what God accomplishes, exercising His grace towards sinful man on the ground of the death of Christ in propitiatory sacrifice under the judgment due to sin, 2 Cor 5:19, where both the verb and the noun are used (cf. No. 2, in Col 1:21). By reason of this men in their sinful condition and alienation from God are invited to be ‘reconciled’ to Him; that is to say, to change their attitude, and accept the provision God has made, whereby their sins can be remitted and they themselves be justified in His sight in Christ.

“Not once is God said to be ‘reconciled.’ The enmity is alone on our part. It was we who needed to be ‘reconciled’ to God, not God to us, and it is propitiation, which His righteousness and mercy have provided, that makes the ‘reconciliation’ possible to those who receive it.”

Webster’s says that reconcile means “to restore to friendship or harmony; to make consistent or congruous; to bring one thing into correspondance with another, and implies that there is an underlying compatibility with things that merely seem incompatible.”

Through Yeshua, God has made me and you compatible and harmonious with Him! We are no longer at enmity! Have a wonderful day today as you meditate on that!