(2 Corinthians 5:14-19) “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation”.
A believer in the Lord Jesus Christ becomes an active ambassador when he (or she) takes responsibility for presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ to the community of the world in which he lives. These studies are to help prepare you for the conflict. Preparation means flexibility and the ability to use God’s word in witnessing. Knowledge of the basic doctrines of salvation is necessary for witnessing. You need to now about Reconciliation, Propitiation, Redemption, Imputation, Regeneration, and the Barrier as a starter. The ambassador’s adversary is not the Unbeliever but Satan who holds him captive.
Listed below are six characteristics of an ambassador for Christ.
1. An ambassador is a distinguished and privileged messenger who represents sovereignty. The Roman Emperor used the ambassador to represent his provinces. He was directly commissioned by the emperor to represent him in foreign lands. He spoke for the emperor in his absence and conveyed his sovereign word. This is illustrated in two parables of Jesus (Luke 14:31-32, and 19:12-14).
2. Every believer has ambassador status in Christ based on position truth. This is one of twenty status privileges of royal family received at the moment of salvation which can never be lost in time nor eternity. Every believer is the official representative of Jesus Christ to the world. (Eph. 2:19; Col. 4:5-6; 1Thess. 4:11; Phil. 3:20)
3. The believer becomes an active ambassador when he takes responsibility for presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ to the community of the world in which he lives (Eph. 6:15; 2 Cor. 5:15; Acts 1:8; Col.4:3-4). The ambassador has been given the message of reconciliation (2Cor. 5:15-20)
4. The ministry of reconciliation is called evangelism because the message is the gospel (euangelion). Every person needs to be reconciled because of Adamic sin (Rom.3:10-12, 22-25; 5:12-21). The message of the ambassador for Christ is the gospel of grace salvation (Rom. 1:16; Eph. 2:8-9; 1Cor. 15:3-4; 1Thess. 1:5).
“that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,that He was buried,that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures”.
5. The effectiveness of the service of an ambassador for Christ will depend on three key mental attitudes listed in Romans 1:14-16: I am a debtor; I am ready; I am not ashamed. Debtor shows an attitude toward the mission field which is people who need to hear the gospel. Ready shows an attitude toward the mechanics of the gospel of Christ. Not ashamed shows an attitude towards the message of grace salvation to these people.
6. The ambassador’s adversary is Satan and not the unbeliever (Eph.6:10-17; 2Cor. 4:3-4, 10:3-4; 1Pet. 5:8). The problem that the ambassador for Christ faces in the world is not the light of the gospel but the eyes of understanding of the unbeliever in the angelic conflict (Matt. 13:18-23; 1Cor. 1:18).
Listen to what the Parable of the sower means. The seed is the word of God. (Luke 8:5-15 KJV)
:
"Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of theirhearts, lest they should believe and be saved.They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, whichfor a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked withcares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground is they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it,and bring forth fruit with patience.”
The Christian is commanded to “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to standagainst the wiles of the devil.” (Eph. 6:11). The pieces of armor represent the techniques of the Christian way of life, or the means by which the believer overcomes his enemies and lives a victorious life in the devils world. Just as a good soldier must go through a period of training before he can use his equipment expertly, so a good soldier of Jesus Christ must learn to use what God has provided.
Ephesians 6:14
"Stand, therefore, having about your waist the equipment belt of truth, and havingput on the breastplate of divine righteousness;” The belt of truth is the Word of God on which anchors the breastplate of righteousness. The belt must be put on first, then the breastplate. The righteousness of God is the basic protection of the believer.
Ephesians 6:15
“Having shod your feet by means of full preparedness on the good news of God’speace.” Preparation means flexibility and the ability to use God’s Word in witnessing. Knowledge of the basis doctrines of salvation is necessary for witnessing. You need to know about Reconciliation,Propitiation, Redemption, Imputation, Regeneration, and the Barrier, as a starter.
Ephesians 6:16
“In addition to all this, having taken up the shield of the believer’s faith, wherewithyou shall be able to extinguish or cut off the fire arrows of the wicked one.” The shield stands for the faith of the believer in the promises of God. Faith must have an object and the object of the believer’s faith is the Word of God. For the unbeliever it is the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31).
Ephesians 6:17
“And receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword provided by the Holy Spirit,which is the Word of God.” It is the soul which is said to be saved; and the soul is in the head (with its mentality, volition, self-consciousness, emotion, sin nature). So it is appropriate that the helmet is used to represent salvation.
Belt of truth:
Knowing the Word of God is the basics of everything in the Christian life. Through the Word we learn how to use all that God has provided for our Christian life.
Breastplate of righteousness:
The filling of the Spirit allows the Holy Spirit to produce the fruit of the Spirit in our life (Gal. 5:22-23) producing the character of Christ.
Shield of faith:
It is knowing and using the promises of God’s Word to keep us from sin. This allows us to ward off the temptations to sin. (Faith-rest, is trusting the promises of God.)
Shoes of preparation:
To carry the gospel of Jesus Christ requires knowing the basic salvation doctrines. You don’t have your shoes on without this preparation.
Helmet of salvation:
Protects our minds against any doubts concerning our salvation. If you think you can lose your salvation, you cannot advance, grow, or serve the Lord.
Sword of the Spirit:
All of God’s Word is effective in our life-battle, but we must study and meditate on it every day, then practice what we have learned.
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It is up to you to learn to use your armor!
Know God’s Word, its doctrines, promises and techniques; believe it, and He will make it powerful and victorious in your life.
“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”
The word gospel is translated from the Greek euaggelos, which means "good news." Bad news, therefore, such as doctrines pertaining to evil or to personal sins, do not properly belong under the
category of the gospel. The Gospel includes all of the doctrines pertaining to salvation, including: Redemption, Expiation, Reconciliation, Propitiation, Imputation, Justification, Positional Truth, and Sanctification. It also includes the doctrines pertaining to the Lord Jesus Christ, including: the Hypostatic Union, Impeccability, the Deity of Christ, etc.
There are six uses of the term "gospel" in the New Testament:
1. The gospel of Christ; Romans 1:16, 17, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ..." This is an emphasis on the Person of the gospel.
2. "My gospel”, Romans 2:16. This means that the gospel belongs to every believer.
3. "Our gospel", 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4. This verse speaks of the believer's possession of the gospel and the importance of communicating it as God gives opportunity in witnessing.
4. "The gospel of peace", Ephesians 6:15. This emphasizes the doctrine of Reconciliation in the gospel.
5. "The everlasting gospel", Revelation 14:6. This emphasizes the proximity of eternity for unbelievers during the Tribulation.
6. "The gospel of the kingdom", Matthew 24:14. This emphasizes the fulfillment of the unconditional covenant to the born-again of Israel.
The fundamentals of the gospel are given in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.
· Christ died as a substitute for our sins (His spiritual death - "It is finished!")
· Christ died physically, and was buried
· Christ rose from the dead
The enemy of the gospel is Satan (as the ruler of this world, 2 Cur. 4:3, 4).
The believer's attitude toward the gospel is expressed in these verses:
(Ephesians 2:8-9) “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. “
(Romans 11:6)“But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basics of works, otherwise grace no longer grace.”
(Romans 6:23) “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Grace means that you do not earn or deserve anything from God but that you receive salvationthrough the person of Jesus Christ by faith.
(Galatians 3:26) For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. .”
(Acts 16:31) “… and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.”
Jesus Christ is the issue in salvation.
(John 1:12) “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe in HIS NAME.”
(John 14:16) "Jesus said to him,” I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through ME.”
Salvation is possible only through Jesus Christ’s death & resurrection.
(2 Cor. 5:21)“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
(Romans 1:16) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,”
Christ’s suffering solved the problem of sin and his resurrection solved the problem of death.
You have only two alternatives: either to live with God in eternity or to die separated from Him forever. Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ will be resurrected, just as He was.
Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ; faith alone and only.
(John 3:15-16) “That whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
(John 3:18) “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
(John 3:36) “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
The word "barrier" refers to those characteristics of man and of God which cause man to be alienated from God. The Barrier, as described in six parts below, represents mankind's need to be reconciled to God by God's grace provision.
1. Every person has a retroactive "position" in Adam. Because Adam died spiritually, every person is born spiritually dead. Read (1 Cor. 15:22) and (Eph. 2:5, 6). This problem is solved by God's offering to us a "position" in Christ, a condition which forms the basis for the doctrines related to Positional Truth. Read (1 John 5:11, 12); (1 Cor. 15:22); (Eph. 1:7).
2. Man's physical birth places him in a condemned human race: (1 Cor. 15:22); (Eph. 2:5, 6). This problem is solved by God's allowing us to become members of His family through regeneration: (John 1:11, 12; 3:3); (Gal. 3:26); (Titus 3:5).
3. God's perfect character, His Glory, His perfect Essence, disallows imperfection of any kind. Example: The Ten Commandments. Read (Rom. 3:23); (Gal. 3:22, 23); (Ps. 145:17). But the death of Christ on the cross paid the penalty for our sin. He was our propitiation. Propitiation is "the work of the Lord Jesus Christ by which He appeases the wrath of God and conciliates Him who would otherwise be offended by our sin." Read (1 Jn 2:2); (Rom. 3:25).
4. Man's personal righteousness falls short of God's perfect Righteousness: (Isa. 64:6); (Rom. 3:10-12); (Rom. 5:6-11). This problem is solved in two ways. First, by Justification, "God's act of grace by which He pardons the sinner and accepts him as righteous on account of the atonement of Christ." Read (Rom. 3:24; 5:1). Then, by Imputation, "the act of God by which He credits human sin to Christ in order that He may in turn credit righteousness to men." Read (Rom. 3:22); (2 Cor. 5:21).
5. Man's personal sin causes him to fall short on a day by day basis: (Rom. 3:23). This problem is solved by Redemption, by which man is purchased from the slave market of sin and set free as a citizen of the heavenly Kingdom: (John 8:31-16); (Eph. 1:7).
6. Man stands under the penalty of sin: (Rom. 6:23); (Rom. 5:12). The penalty for sin was paid by Jesus Christ on the Cross. This is known as Expiation, a blotting out of sin: (Col. 2:14).
• With The Barrier removed, man is free to approach God. And God is free to treat man in Grace. God's righteousness and justice are satisfied. The complete penalty has been paid.
• There is no double jeopardy for sins committed. "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." Therefore, the only issue to be faced by any person is whether he believes in Jesus Christ and His work on the Cross. Read (Acts 16:30): (John 3:15-17, 36; 5:24).
The removal of the barrier is called RECONCILIATION.
A Purpose in Life
• Once you believe in Christ, you have a new purpose in life: you have a message, a ministry, and a title - ambassador for Jesus Christ. God has given us a message worth telling: Christ has solved the sin problem (1 Cor. 15:3-4) and made peace between man and God.
• Remember that you cannot love Jesus nor live your life unto Him apart from Bible doctrine resident in your soul; nor can you make salvation clear without understanding the issue. That is the purpose of these lessons - to clarify the doctrines pertinent to salvation so that you can fulfill accurately your ambassadorship.
“We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor 5:20) (NIV)
The word reconciliation refers to the process of changing something thoroughly and adjusting it to something else that is a standard. For example, when you adjust your watch to a time signal, you are reconciling the watch to a time standard. Or when you reconcile your checkbook, the standard to which you match it is the bank's record of your account. On rare occasions the bank must reconcile its accounts to yours.
In the Bible, reconciliation is the word used to refer to the process by which God changes human beings and adjusts them to the standard of His perfect character. (Rom.11:15) refers to the "reconciling of the world". The Greek word used here is the noun katallagei. This word is also used in (Rom.5:11), "...but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation."
Reconciliation is an important consideration in the study of the doctrine of The Barrier. By the death of Christ on the Cross, the world is thoroughly changed in its relationship to God, (Eph.2:14-18) and (Col.1:20-22). That is, through the Cross of Christ the world is so altered in its position respecting the character and judgment of God that God does not now impute sin to human beings. The world is therefore rendered savable!
A person profits from reconciliation by faith in the Gospel. Once he becomes a believer, a person can partake in all of the blessings which accompany his position in Christ, including the privileges accruing from reconciliation.
Notice that God is never said to be reconciled to man. God is immutable, so He does not change. Reconciliation is only possible in one direction. What sometimes seems to be a change in God is actually an unchanged attitude of God viewing a reconciled man. God, having how accepted Christ's work, is able to continue to be just toward man. He can now offer salvation.
A person profits from reconciliation by faith in the Gospel. Once he becomes a believer, a person can partake in all of the blessings which accompany his position in Christ, including the privileges accruing from reconciliation.
The believer, in turn, has the responsibility of becoming a minister of Reconciliation, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of Reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18-19).
The truth of Reconciliation is one of the key salvation doctrines to be used in witnessing to those without Christ.
(Rom. 5:6-11) (NIV) “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation”.
(Rom.4:24)
"
But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead";
To impute means "to set something to one's account." The Greek verb for imputation is logidzomai. It is used more than 40 times in the New Testament, ten times in (Romans Ch.4) alone, the imputation chapter. In the KVJ of (Romans 4) it's translated "counted" in (Rom.4:3,5), "reckoned" in (Rom.4:4,10), and "imputed" in (Rom.4:6,8,11,22,23,24).
Three Imputations in the Bible
1. God imputes to us what actually belongs to us in the first place. Where (Romans 5:12) says that "death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned", death is part of our spiritual heritage from Adam. Death has been reckoned to our account. Adam's sins were not his alone, but it was placed on every person's account, on the debit side, you might say.
2.God the Father imputes to the Lord Jesus Christ that which does not belong to him. (2 Cor. 5:21) says that "he (Christ) was made to be sin for us, even though he knew no sin...” This is the Bible concept of substitution; Christ died for our sins, not his own. Isaiah 53:4-6. The verse does not say that Christ became a sinner, but that sin was set to his account that was not his.
3. God imputes (credits) to the sinner what is not actually his. Again, (2 Cor. 5:21), "that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Here, the actual perfect righteousness of God is credited to us. This righteousness, which is placed on the credit side of our ledger, is known as imputed righteousness or justification.
God declares men to be righteous on the basis of faith. Read (Romans 4:3). "Abraham believed God and
it was counted to him for righteousness". God makes men righteous on the basis of practice by the
Word (John 17:17) and the filling of the Holy Spirit.
God’s Grace Provision
(2 Cor. 5:21) “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
As the unique person of the universe, Jesus Christ is both true humanity and undiminished deity. (John! 1-2). As God, He possesses eternal life and is therefore is not subject to death (Psa. 90:2); as Man, He died on the cross. Like all who have died, He too must now be buried; yet the grave had no power over Him.
The death of Jesus Christ (Matt. 27:27-50). After He had been cruelly beaten, the God-Man-Savior was led away to a place called Golgotha, or Calvary. He wore a crown of thorns, and the sharp thorns dug painfully into His head and face. He was struggling up the hill, staggering under the heavy load of the cross. It was nine o’clock in the morning when the soldiers nailed Him to the cross. They lifted up the cross and set it into place between two other crosses.
Two Old Testament Saints wrote what they had been allowed to see about the death and burial of
the Lord Jesus Christ. David saw the Lord crucified and wrote in Psalm 22 how Christ was nailed to the cross and suffered the most painful and slow kind of death a person could die. He heard the very words The Lord Jesus would scream out on the cross: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me” (vs. 1)? He saw the enemies of Jesus, shaking their heads and pointing to the cross, saying, “He trusted on the Lord … let God deliver him!” (Vs. 8). He knew exactly how much pain the Lord Jesus would suffer in His body. He even saw the nail prints in His hands and feet and almost felt His terrible thirst (vs. 13- 17). He also saw the Roman soldiers dividing Jesus’ clothing and rolling dice for His robe (vs. 18).
Isaiah had also seen the whole picture of how the Savior would be crucified and wrote it in Isaiah 53. He said Christ would die between two wicked men - thieves. He wrote how our He suffered pain and shame sakes and also death for sinful “us”.
It all came true. Even the crowds of curious people who stood about watching. And others walking past, shaking their heads and making fun of Jesus. “If you are the Son of God, come down
from the cross.” They yelled. “He saved others, himself he cannot save. Let’s see if God will help
him now!”
Christ could have come down from that cross but the cross was why He came. He came as the Lamb of God to die on that cross to take away the sins of the world. For three long hours God the Father judged our sins in the Lord Jesus. God can have nothing to do with sin; that’s why the Father and the Holy Spirit turned away from the Son. Yes, David had heard right: the Lord did scream out, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me”?
The bur1al of Jesus Christ (Matt. 27:57-61) Where would Jesus be buried? He had died on the cross like a criminal; He should really be buried in the “potter’s field” where the two thieves would be buried. But a rich man named Joseph wanted to bury Jesus properly so he asked Pilate for His body to place in a tomb that he had bought for his own burial. Nicodemus brought with him nearly one hundred pounds of sweet smelling spices for the burial. Together they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it carefully in strips of linen, sprinkling the spices between the many layers of cloth, for this is the way the Jews buried their loved ones in those days. (Little did they know that Jesus would only be there for the weekend.)
The tomb is sealed. (Matt. 27:62-66) The Lord’s enemies had not forgotten that He had said that He must stay in the grave three days and three nights before He would rise from the dead. So they went to Pilate to have to tomb sealed and guards put on watch until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal the body away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead. They thought that now they could relax; they were rid of Jesus once and for all. What a surprise they had coming.
There is no excuse for anyone to die in their sins. Jesus Christ died for all our sins. He took our place that we might live forever with Him. If you have not believed in Him, the Bible says you are dead - even while you are still living - dead in sins (Eph. 2:1-5) You are dead to God and can have no fellowship with Him, now or forever. But you can change that right now; you can be made alive in a second. 1 John 5:12 is God’s promise to you, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
You can have new life simply by believing that Christ died for your sins, that He was buried and
rose again – for you.
The word "barrier" refers to those characteristics of man and of God which cause man to be alienated from God. The Barrier, as described in six parts below, represents mankind's need to be reconciled to God by God's grace provision.
1. Every person has a retroactive "position" in Adam. Because Adam died spiritually, every person is born spiritually dead. Read (1 Cor. 15:22) and (Eph. 2:5, 6). This problem is solved by God's offering to us a "position" in Christ, a condition which forms the basis for the doctrines related to Positional Truth. Read (1 John 5:11, 12); (1 Cor. 15:22); (Eph. 1:7).
2. Man's physical birth places him in a condemned human race: (1 Cor. 15:22); (Eph. 2:5, 6). This problem is solved by God's allowing us to become members of His family through regeneration: (John 1:11, 12; 3:3); (Gal. 3:26); (Titus 3:5).
3. God's perfect character, His Glory, His perfect Essence, disallows imperfection of any kind. Example: The Ten Commandments. Read (Rom. 3:23); (Gal. 3:22, 23); (Ps. 145:17). But the death of Christ on the cross paid the penalty for our sin. He was our propitiation. Propitiation is "the work of the Lord Jesus Christ by which He appeases the wrath of God and conciliates Him who would otherwise be offended by our sin." Read (1 Jn 2:2); (Rom. 3:25).
4. Man's personal righteousness falls short of God's perfect Righteousness: (Isa. 64:6); (Rom. 3:10-12); (Rom. 5:6-11). This problem is solved in two ways. First, by Justification, "God's act of grace by which He pardons the sinner and accepts him as righteous on account of the atonement of Christ." Read (Rom. 3:24; 5:1). Then, by Imputation, "the act of God by which He credits human sin to Christ in order that He may in turn credit righteousness to men." Read (Rom. 3:22); (2 Cor. 5:21).
5. Man's personal sin causes him to fall short on a day by day basis: (Rom. 3:23). This problem is solved by Redemption, by which man is purchased from the slave market of sin and set free as a citizen of the heavenly Kingdom: (John 8:31-16); (Eph. 1:7).
6. Man stands under the penalty of sin: (Rom. 6:23); (Rom. 5:12). The penalty for sin was paid by Jesus Christ on the Cross. This is known as Expiation, a blotting out of sin: (Col. 2:14).
• With The Barrier removed, man is free to approach God. And God is free to treat man in Grace. God's righteousness and justice are satisfied. The complete penalty has been paid.
• There is no double jeopardy for sins committed. "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." Therefore, the only issue to be faced by any person is whether he believes in Jesus Christ and His work on the Cross. Read (Acts 16:30): (John 3:15-17, 36; 5:24).
The removal of the barrier is called R E C O N C I L I A T I O N.
A Purpose in Life
• Once you believe in Christ, you have a new purpose in life: you have a message, a ministry, and a title - ambassador for Jesus Christ. God has given us a message worth telling: Christ has solved the sin problem (1 Cor. 15:3-4) and made peace between man and God.
• Remember that you cannot love Jesus nor live your life unto Him apart from Bible doctrine resident in your soul; nor can you make salvation clear without understanding the issue. That is the purpose of these lessons - to clarify the doctrines pertinent to salvation so that you can fulfill accurately your ambassadorship.