Theological Term of the Week

reconciliation
The restoration of peaceful relations between parties who are in conflict with each other. Used in regards to of the work of Christ on the cross, it points to the removal God’s enmity toward the sinner and the sinner’s enmity toward God and the establishment of blessed and abundant fellowship through the death of Christ

• From scripture:

  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:18-20 ESV)
  

• From The 1689 London Baptist Confession, Chapter 8, Of Christ the Mediator:

  The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, which he through the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the justice of God, procured reconciliation, and purchased an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those whom the Father hath given unto Him.

• From The Atonement: It’s Meaning and Significance by Leon Morris:

  There is never the slightest hint in the New Testament that reconciliation can be brought about by what we do. We created the barrier that separates us from God (and from one another), but we cannot break it down. There are theologians who stress the element of human responsibility in such a way as to indicate that man brought about the alienation from God and that man can and should end it. On this view God’s attitude was always the same. He has always loved us and he is simply waiting for us to return to him. As soon as we do, reconciliation is effected.
  
  But this is not what the New Testament is saying. The New Testament insists that something must be done about sin. It is not possible simply to ignore it, to count it as something that never happened. It did happen. Its results are with us. It has established a continuing enmity. For reconciliation to take place that enmity must be dealt with. And Paul emphasizes that this is what Christ did. Under this figure it is not said how the death of Christ put away sin, but it is said emphatically that is does. In redemption this is seen by way of paying the price, in justification by the bearing of penalty, and so on. There is no equivalent in reconciliation. But this way of looking at the atonement takes it that whatever had to be done was done. The important thing was the removal of the cause of the enmity and when Christ died on the cross he removed it.
  
  This is something that he alone could do. Man is so immersed in sin that he does not even make the motion of wanting to leave it, let alone to do away with it. And even if he wanted to it is so big a task that it is more than he can accomplish. It is beyond him. But it is not beyond Christ. It is the measure of his greatness that he was able to accomplish this great task and he did. ‘He is our peace.’

Learn more:

1. GotQuestions.org: What Is Christian Reconciliation? Why Do We Need to Be Reconciled to God?
2. John Gill: Of Propitation, Atonement, and Reconciliation, as Ascribed to Christ
   
3. Herman Ridderbos: Reconciliation
   

1 The Atonement: It’s Meaning and Significance, Leon Morris, pages 148-149.

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order

Theological Term of the Week

sacrifice
Used as a description of the work of Christ on the cross, this is a way of looking at Christ’s death that recalls the Old Testament system of sacrifices in which the blood of animals was shed and offered to make atonement for sin. Viewing Christ’s death as a sacrifice emphasises that it is the fulfillment of the pattern set out by the Old Testament sacrifices and “accomplishes in reality what the old sacrifices pointed to but could not do.”1

• From scripture:
  

  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:2 ESV)

  [Christ] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26 ESV)
  

• From The 1689 London Baptist Confession, Chapter 8, Of Christ the Mediator:

  The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, which he through the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the justice of God, procured reconciliation, and purchased an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those whom the Father hath given unto Him.

• From The Atonement: It’s Meaning and Significance by Leon Morris:

  No more than any of the other ways of looking at the cross does this one tell us the whole story. But it is an important chapter. It brings out the meaning of the cross in its own distinctive way. We may say that it puts emphasis on these things at least.

  1. Sin is defiling
  In an ancient sanctuary everything was arranged to put emphasis on the holiness of God. Even ceremonial faults were seen as defiling and sin was much more so. Sin stained the worshipper and made him unclean. Sin meant that he was not fit to approach the holy God.

  2. Purification
  When a sacrifice was offered the worshipper was cleansed. Whether it was a ceremonial defilement or a moral lapse, the offering of sacrifice was seen as purging the sin so that the worshipper was now in a state of purification. His sin was completely removed.

  3. The death of the victim counts
  In a sacrifice the blood must be manipulated in prescribed ways and part or all of the animal must be burnt on the altar. All this speaks of the necessity for death, nothing less, if sin is to be put away. Sin is not some trifle, to be airily dismissed with no effort. Sin means death and nothing less suffices to take it away.

  4. Salvation is at a cost
  David showed an insight into the meaning of sacrifice when he said to Araunah, ‘I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offering that cost me nothing’ (2 Sa. 24:24). The use of the terminology of sacrifice means that the way of forgiveness is costly. It is not until we come to the death of Jesus on the cross that we can see the full meaning of costliness. but inherent in the concept is that forgiveness comes only at cost.

  5. Spiritual sacrifices.
  The New Testament writers look for a response to the sacrifice of Christ. The believer must offer himself as a living sacrifice, which certainly means that his whole way of life is to be different because of what Christ has done for him. The sacrifice of Christ means that the way of salvation is free; but it does not mean that it is cheap.

  But the really important thing is that Christ has made the perfect sacrifice, and ‘there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.’

Learn more:

1. J. I. Packer in Concise Theology: Sacrifice: Jesus Christ Made Atonement for Sin (pdf)
2. Shawn M. Hall: The Death of Christ: Fulfillment of the Old Testament Sacrifices
   
3. Michael Lawrence: Biblical Theology: Sacrifice (mp3)

1 The Atonement: It’s Meaning and Significance, Leon Morris, page 63.

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order

Theological Term of the Week

incarnation
The act of God in which God the son, the second person of the Trinity, took upon himself a human nature so that his divine nature and human nature were joined together in one person who is both truly God and truly man.

• From Philippians 2:5-8:
  

  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (ESV)
  

• From The Belgic Confession, Article 18: The Incarnation:

  The Son took the “form of a servant” and was made in the “likeness of man,” truly assuming a real human nature, with all its weaknesses, except for sin; being conceived in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, without male participation.

  And he not only assumed human nature as far as the body is concerned but also a real human soul, in order that he might be a real human being. For since the soul had been lost as well as the body he had to assume them both to save them both together.

  Therefore we confess … that he “shared the very flesh and blood of children”; that he is “fruit of the loins of David” according to the flesh; “born of the seed of David” according to the flesh; “fruit of the womb of the virgin Mary”;”born of a woman”; “the seed of David”; “a shoot from the root of Jesse”; “the offspring of Judah,” having descended from the Jews according to the flesh; “from the seed of Abraham”— for he “assumed Abraham’s seed” and was “made like his brothers except for sin.”

  In this way he is truly our Immanuel— that is: “God with us.”

• From The Wonder of God Over Us and With Us by John Frame:

  Have you ever considered the utter mystery surrounding the incarnation of Christ - God entering our time and space while remaining above time and space as our sovereign Lord? The eternal becomes temporal; the infinite becomes finite; the Word that created all things becomes flesh. It is beyond human comprehension. The one who knows all things (John 16:30, 21:17) must “grow in wisdom” (Luke 2:52). The all-sufficient one (Acts 17:25) must hunger and thirst (Matt. 4:2, John 19:28). The creator of all must be homeless (Matt. 8:20). The Lord of life must suffer and die. God in the flesh must endure estrangement from God the Father (Matt. 27:46).

  In Jesus (God the Son), God, who knows the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10), must watch His eternal plan unfold bit by bit, moment by moment. He grows from infancy to childhood to adulthood, responding to events as they happen. One time He rejoices; another time He weeps. From day to day, from hour to hour, the changeless God endures change. But God the Son incarnate is still God, still transcendent. As He responds to events in time, He also looks down on the world from above time and space, ruling all the events of nature and history.

  Why did God enter time in Christ? Joseph named his baby Jesus, “because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). It was the Father’s love (John 3:16) that sent His Son, “that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” The Son of God took on the limitations of time, even death, so that we who deserve death can have life without limit, forever with God. He died in our place, that we might never die.

Learn more:

1. J. I. Packer: Incarnation: God Sent His Son, To Save Us
   
2. Paul Helm: Incomprehensibly Made Man
3. Bob Deffinbaugh: The Importance of the Incarnation
4. Wayne Grudem: The Person of Christ, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (audio)

Related terms: 

• advent
• ascension of Jesus
• crucifixion (of Christ)
• deity of Christ
• humanity of Christ
• hypostatic union
• virgin birth

Filed under Person, Work and Teachings of Christ

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order