The Results Of Reconciliation Series

Conviction #3: We have received reconciliation. Would you notice that reconciliation must be received in order for it to be activated in one’s life? God initiates reconciliation with His enemies and we are recipients only when we receive what He offers. John 1:12: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, Pastor Dick and I, along with three of our elders: Chuck Carroll, Jon Dewald, and Lloyd Troyer attended a leadership conference in Indiana. Jon drove and would always go out and get the car when we were leaving the church and pick us up. On Wednesday night, the four of us were waiting out in the cold weather, and when we saw him pull up, Lloyd and I jumped in the suburban, with Pastor Dick and Chuck right behind us. When I got in the back seat I looked up at the driver and realized that we were in the wrong vehicle! The driver was nice and said, “You’re in the wrong vehicle but you’re welcome to stay.” We turned beat red and bolted out of there in a hurry. I’m really glad we did because it was then that I noticed the Michigan license plates and realized that we would have been headed to that desolate land on the wrong side of the lake.

I wonder, are you in the right vehicle right now? There’s only One who can get you to the right place. Jesus said it this way in John 5:24: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” Perhaps you’ve been trusting in other methods but I’m here to tell you that if you’re in the wrong vehicle you’ll go to the wrong place.

Corollary #3: We rejoice in God. This is the third time in Romans so far that Paul has referred to rejoicing in God. The Greek word joy means “to exult and rejoice jubilantly, or to be thrilled.” Notice that we are to be thrilled with God Himself. This could be translated this way: “glorying in God.” Psalm 35:9: “Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation.”

Sir Thomas Moore used to complain about the English Reformers because he said they were “too frivolous, too giddy, and too joyful in their salvation.” I wonder how many people would make that complaint about me. Has it been awhile since you exulted in an expression of your salvation? Are you thrilled with God today or are you bored with Him? I don’t believe Christians can lose their salvation but they can certainly lose the joy of their salvation. Watch this video clip and like David in Psalm 51:12, ask God to “restore the joy of your salvation.”

Video Drama

Through faith in Jesus,

• We have been justified by His blood and we shall be saved from God’s wrath.

• We are reconciled by His death and we are saved by His life.

• We have received reconciliation and we rejoice in God.

When God forgives sin,

He purges the RECORD

Erases the REMEMBRANCE

And empowers the RECEPIENT

Closing Song