Article #27 - Ministry of Reconciliation
Ministry of Reconciliation
What exactly is this "ministry of reconciliation" that Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 5:18 where he writes, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation?" There seems to be a different opinion about what he meant by this in some circles. Just how we are suppose to "Be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20)?
There are many that look upon the word "reconciliation" and automatically seem to think that it refers to the sacrament of confession as the means to get reconciled with God. This is reflected in the following quote - Archbishop Fulton Sheen expressed this sentiment when he said, "Whenever you see the hand of absolution of the priest, the priest raises his hand for absolution, picture Christ. He is the priest behind the priest, and his hand is dripping with the blood that was shed for the forgiveness of our sins, and it washes us pure and clean." This denomination teaches that the power to forgive sins was given to the apostles by Christ Jesus himself: "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:23).
However, the Bible clearly tells us of a different meaning to the word "reconciliation." First, we see that Nelson's Bible dictionary is in agreement with the need for reconciliation, as expressed above when it says that reconciliation is "The process by which God and man are brought together again." The need is there, no doubt about that. The problem is about how someone gets reconciled to God. Here lies the deception from that particular denomination as they view works as an essential part of the salvation process, as if one can merit their salvation. The Bible tells us that works is a big part, but not about our works. It is the finished work of Jesus Christ crucified that reconciles people. And we are to believe in that alone for our sins to be forgiven. For our salvation is dependent upon God's grace, not our deeds. And when a person depends upon a priest, they are not depending upon Christ, but upon a sacrament (a work) that they can do. The Bible clearly denies this in Romans 11:6, "And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work." Furthermore, the Bible is clear about not meriting grace by what we do when it says "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8,9) In other words, it says, "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." (Romans 3:28)
How does the Bible tell us to be reconciled and what is the ministry? It's the Gospel!!! God so loved the world that He did it all at Calvary, no need for a priest. The verse taken to be evidence above (John 20:23) isn't giving the apostles any power to forgive sins, but rather they can share the gospel of grace. If you believe in the Blood shed at Calvary for your sins to be wiped clean, the apostles would inform you that you're saved. It's that simple!!! "And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself." (Colossians 1:20) Praise God.
What exactly is this "ministry of reconciliation" that Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 5:18 where he writes, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation?" There seems to be a different opinion about what he meant by this in some circles. Just how we are suppose to "Be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20)?
There are many that look upon the word "reconciliation" and automatically seem to think that it refers to the sacrament of confession as the means to get reconciled with God. This is reflected in the following quote - Archbishop Fulton Sheen expressed this sentiment when he said, "Whenever you see the hand of absolution of the priest, the priest raises his hand for absolution, picture Christ. He is the priest behind the priest, and his hand is dripping with the blood that was shed for the forgiveness of our sins, and it washes us pure and clean." This denomination teaches that the power to forgive sins was given to the apostles by Christ Jesus himself: "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:23).
However, the Bible clearly tells us of a different meaning to the word "reconciliation." First, we see that Nelson's Bible dictionary is in agreement with the need for reconciliation, as expressed above when it says that reconciliation is "The process by which God and man are brought together again." The need is there, no doubt about that. The problem is about how someone gets reconciled to God. Here lies the deception from that particular denomination as they view works as an essential part of the salvation process, as if one can merit their salvation. The Bible tells us that works is a big part, but not about our works. It is the finished work of Jesus Christ crucified that reconciles people. And we are to believe in that alone for our sins to be forgiven. For our salvation is dependent upon God's grace, not our deeds. And when a person depends upon a priest, they are not depending upon Christ, but upon a sacrament (a work) that they can do. The Bible clearly denies this in Romans 11:6, "And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work." Furthermore, the Bible is clear about not meriting grace by what we do when it says "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8,9) In other words, it says, "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." (Romans 3:28)
How does the Bible tell us to be reconciled and what is the ministry? It's the Gospel!!! God so loved the world that He did it all at Calvary, no need for a priest. The verse taken to be evidence above (John 20:23) isn't giving the apostles any power to forgive sins, but rather they can share the gospel of grace. If you believe in the Blood shed at Calvary for your sins to be wiped clean, the apostles would inform you that you're saved. It's that simple!!! "And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself." (Colossians 1:20) Praise God.
posted by Ron Kempen @ 4:55 AM
5 Comments:
At 7:30 AM,
Matthew said…
"The verse taken to be evidence above (John 20:23) isn't giving the apostles any power to forgive sins, but rather they can share the gospel of grace."
No, John 20:23 does give the Apostles the power to forgive sins. It is plain to see:
"‘As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’" (John 20:21–23).
It is right there. Don't twist the verse at all. Jesus Christ gave them the power to forgive sins. So now whenever we are forgiven by a priest's prayer of absolution, we are truly being forgiven by Christ.
This sacrament and Baptism both come from the work of Jesus Christ on Calvary. Please see this website for more information:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Forgiveness_of_Sins.asp
Thank you again for the opportunity for discussion.
At 7:31 AM,
Matthew said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 3:25 PM,
Michael said…
Ok, you made two points in this question. So first I am going to touch upon the need for good works and that we cannot enter heaven by just faith alone or (Sola Fides).
Here are a few clips on why works is counted by God and not just faith or grace alone.
“Even so let your light shine before men, in order that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven.” Matt 5:16
”Make no mistake: GOD is not mocked, for a person will reap only what he sows, because the one who sows for his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows for the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due season we shall reap our harvest if we do not give up.” Gal 6:7-9
”Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Phil 2:12
Grace can be all that is needed for salvation in certain cases, such as for babies who are Baptized and die afterward, as they have no faith, and cannot do good works, or for those who repent on their deathbeds.
”And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for strength is made perfect in weakness’.” 2Cor 12:9
”But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s bestowal.” Eph 4:7
”And of His fullness we have all received grace for grace.” John 1:16
Grace is a free gift from GOD, and a sufficient amount is given to each and every one of us for our salvation. Without it, we can do nothing at all. We cannot ‘save’ ourselves without the help of GOD.
Faith: Is the assent given to GOD’s truth. 1Thes 2:13
”Faith, however, is believing what you do not yet see; to which faith the reward is seeing what you believe.” St. Augustine, Sermons 43:1
”And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could move mountains, and have not charity (love), I am nothing.” 1Cor 13:2.
Faith, however, is interwoven with love. Faith without love is useless. After reading that verse, how could anyone say they are saved by Faith only, or alone?
Works: We work out what GOD works in our hearts. Works are the fruit of faith. As already mentioned, “We work out our salvation with fear and trembling.” Whenever St. Paul said works are not needed, he was referring to the old Mosaic Law or works of darkness. He did not mean the good works rendered by the Law of Grace (Trent, session 6, chapter 4) of the New Covenant..
In Matt 25:31-46 are many examples of doing good works, proclaimed by Jesus Christ. There is the separation of the sheep from the goats which relate to, the feeding of the hungry, clothing of the naked, visiting the sick and those imprisoned, and more. Notice that both the sheep and the goats believed, but only the sheep did good works. In verse 46, Jesus cautioned as to what will be the reward of those who do not do these things, and of those who do, “And these will go into everlasting punishment, but the just into everlasting life.”
”But their end will be according to their works.” 2Cor 11:15
”Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER in heaven shall enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 7:21
”But why do you call Me, ‘Lord, ‘Lord’, and do not practice the things that I say?” Luke 6:46
”Let them do good and be rich in good works, giving readily, sharing with others.” 1Tim 6:18
”And they who have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; but they who have done evil unto resurrection of judgment.” John 5:29
”And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth. Yes, says the Spirit, let them rest from their labors, FOR THEIR WORKS FOLLOW THEM’.” Rev 14:13
The works which you do in this life will follow you forever.
Good works are needed along with faith…
Why do Catholics believe that good works are necessary for salvation? Does not Paul say in Romans 3:28 that faith alone justifies? (See the note on Romans 3:28 above. The word ‘alone’ was injected by Martin Luther in his translation. If St. Paul, who writes fluently and uses many approaches to explain justification by faith, and who uses the words ‘faith’ and ‘alone’ many times in this very Epistle, meant to write ‘Faith Alone’, he most assuredly would have done so). Catholics believe that faith and good works are both necessary for salvation, because such is the teaching of Jesus Christ.
What Our Lord demands is ‘faith which works through charity’. (Gal 5:6).
Read Mt 25:31-46, which describes the Last Judgment as being based on works of charity.
”For God has done what the Law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the Law might be FULFILLED IN US, who walk NOT according to the FLESH but according to the SPIRIT.” Rom 8:3-4.
”For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Gal 5:13-14
Thus, although faith is the beginning, it is not the complete fulfillment of the will of God. Nowhere in the Bible is it written that faith alone justifies. When St. Paul wrote, ‘For we account a man to be justified by faith, without the works of the Law’ (Gal 2:16), he was referring to works peculiar to the old Jewish Law, and he cited circumcision as an example.
The Catholic Church does not teach that purely human good works are meritorious for salvation; such works are not meritorious for salvation, according to her teaching. Only those good works performed when a person is in the state of grace, that is, as a branch drawing its spiritual life from the Vine which is Christ (Jn 15:4-6), only these good deeds work toward our salvation, and they do so only by the grace of GOD and the merit of Jesus Christ. These good works, offered to God by a soul in the state of grace (i.e., free of mortal sin, with the Blessed Trinity dwelling in the soul), are thereby supernaturally meritorious because they share in the work and in the merits of Christ.
St. Paul shows how the neglect of certain good works will send even a Christian believer to damnation: ‘But if any man have not care of his own, and especially of those of his house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel’, (1Tim 5:8).
Our Lord tells us that if the Master (GOD) returns and finds His servant sinning, rather than performing works of obedience, He ‘shall separate him, and shall appoint him his portion with unbelievers’, (Lk 12:46).
Our Lord Himself said:
’For the Son of man…will render to every man according to his works’, (Mt 16:27).
’And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward’, (Mt 10:42).
Catholics believe, following the Apostle Paul, that ‘every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labor’, (1Cor 3:8).
’For God is not unjust, that he should forget your work, and the love which you have shown in his name, you who have ministered, and do minister to the saints’, (Heb 6:10).
’I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day: and not only to me, but to them also that love his coming’, (2Tim 4:7-8).
Still, Catholics know that, strictly speaking, God never owes us anything. Even after obeying all God’s commandments, we must still say:
’We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which we ought to do’, (Lk 17:10).
As St. Augustine stated: ‘All our good merits are wrought through grace, so that God, in crowning our merits, is crowning nothing but His gifts’. Had St. Paul meant that faith ruled out the necessity of good works for salvation, he would not have written:
’…and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing’, (1Cor 13:2).
If faith ruled out the necessity of good works for salvation, the Apostle James would not have written:
’Do you see that by works a man is justified; and not by faith only’?...For even as the body without the spirit is dead; so also faith without works is dead’, (James 2:24-26).
Or: ‘What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but hath not works? Shall faith be able to save him’? (James 2:14).
If faith ruled out the necessity of good works for salvation, the Apostle Peter would not have written: ‘Wherefore, brethren, labor the more, that by good works you may make sure your calling and election. For doing these things, you shall not sin at any time. For so an entrance shall be ministered to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’, (2Pet 1:10-11). If faith ruled out the necessity of good works for salvation, the primitive Christian Fathers would not have advocated good works in such powerful words…
Summary:
Are we saved by Faith Only?
No, this is “Sola Fides”, and it is taught by a few Protestant sects. It is impossible, for salvation by Faith alone, for we can do nothing of ourselves without the Grace of GOD, and again Good Works. The only verse in the entire Bible where the words Faith and Only appear together is in James 2:24 where he said, “You see that by works a man is justified, and NOT by faith only.”
Are we saved by Works Alone?
No. Mere human works are useless without the grace of GOD and faith working through love.
Can we say we are “Saved” by just accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior?
No. This is what some Protestant sects teach, Baptists especially. This teaching excludes doing Good Works and essentially says that as long as we accept Jesus Christ, we can do anything we want to do. If this teaching were true, then what is the purpose of the Ten Commandments (Trent, session 6, chapter XI)? Why did Jesus Christ say, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of Heaven; BUT HE WHO DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER IN HEAVEN SHALL ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.” Matt 7:21.
Now how can anyone DO the will of the Father without doing Good Works?
At 3:32 PM,
Michael said…
Now I am going to touch upon why we need the sacrament of Penance or reconcilliation. I believe that you have mis interpreted the verse that you are reading from, a common problem when Protestants Don the Papal Hat and become their own Pope.
GOD forgave sins through a human nature.
Matthew 9:2-7, “…And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Take courage son; your sins are forgiven you…For which is easier to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”, then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your pallet and go to your house.””
GOD uses His priests as His instruments of reconciliation. The New Covenant priesthood is prefigured or ‘typed’ in many places in the Old Testament. Here are several examples from the Old Testament of reconciliation and atonement being performed by a priest:
Leviticus 4:20, “…Thus the priest shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven.”
Leviticus 4:26, “Thus the priest shall make atonement for the prince’s sin, and it will be forgiven.”
Leviticus 4:32, “Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.”
Leviticus 4:35, “Thus the priest shall make atonement for the man’s sin, and it will be forgiven.”
Leviticus 5:5-6, “…then whoever is guilty in any of these cases shall confess the sin he has incurred, and as his sin offering for his sin he has committed he shall bring to the Lord a female animal from the flock, a ewe lamb or a she-goat. The priest shall then make atonement for his sin.”
See also Leviticus 5:10,13,16,18, 12:8, 14:18-20,31, 15:15,30, 19:22.
Leviticus 6:7, “And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord; and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he has done in trespassing therein.”
Leviticus 7:7, “Because the sin offering and the guilt offering are alike, both having the same ritual, the guilt offering likewise belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it.”
Leviticus 16:32, “This atonement is to be made by the priest who has been anointed and ordained to the priesthood in succession to his father.”
Leviticus 19:20-22, “If a man lies carnally with a woman . . . they shall not be put to death . . . but he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the Lord, to the door of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him . . . before the Lord for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.”
Numbers 6:11, “The priest shall offer up the one as a sin offering and the other as a holocaust, thus making atonement for him for the sin he has committed by reason of the dead person.”
Numbers 15:25, “And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them…”
Numbers 15:28, “And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for him who sinned inadvertently; when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven.
This GOD given ministry is shown very plainly in Holy Scripture:
Matthew 16:19, when Jesus gave the power and authority to Peter, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 18:18, Jesus gave this power to all of the Apostles, “Amen I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven.”
John 20:21-23, “He therefore said to them again, ‘Peace be to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you’. When He had said this, He breathed upon them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained’.”
Matthew 10:40, “He who receives you receives Me; and he who receives Me, receives Him who sent Me.”
Luke 22:29-30, “And I appoint to you a kingdom, even as My Father has appointed to Me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in My kingdom; and you shall sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
2Corinthians 5:17-20, “Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. 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. So we are ambassadors for Christ, GOD making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
Clearly, the Apostles were given the authority to remit sins, or to bind them, in the person of Christ. How are they to accomplish this if they do not know what sins to remit or to bind? The sinner is required to confess his sins as shown.
1John 1:8-10, “ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
The Apostles obviously would not live forever, and sin will always be with us, so they passed the authority on to others.
2Corinthians 2:10, “Whom you pardon anything, I also pardon. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I have done for your sakes, IN THE PERSON OF CHRIST.”
The priest says in the confessional, “I absolve you of your sins.” The priest is acting in Personna Christi, in the person of Christ. Since the priest is acting in the person of Christ, then it is Christ to whom you confess your sins. It is Christ alone who remits them. Jesus Christ uses the priest as His voice and His hands.
As mentioned earlier, the prophets of the Old Testament spoke in GOD’s name. They spoke IN THE PERSON OF GOD. The priests of the New Covenant speak IN THE PERSON OF CHRIST.
GOD never changes.
Matthew 9:5-8, “For which is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven you, or to say arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins” – then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your pallet and go to your house”. And he arose, and went away to his house. But when the crowds saw it, they were struck with fear, AND GLORIFIED GOD WHO HAD GIVEN SUCH POWER TO MEN.”
The New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is revealed in the New.
Christ, the High Priest of the New Covenant, ordained the apostles to continue His priestly mission. James 5:14-16, (14) “Is any among you sick? Let him bring in the presbyters (priests) of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; (15)and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he be in sins, they will be forgiven him. (16) Confess, therefore, your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be saved. For the unceasing prayer of a just man is of great avail.”
St. James taught us that we must go to the “presbyters”, and not to just anyone, to receive the “anointing”, and the remission of sins. First, he told us to go to the presbyters, or priests, in verse 14. Verse 16 continues with the word “therefore”, so that word is a conjunction that connects verse 16 back to verses 14 and 15. It is the priests to whom St. James told us to confess our sins.
Why do we go to confession? What is the real reason?
We go to meet Christ…
At 1:12 PM,
Ron Kempen said…
St. Micheal:
While you are correct in quoting James as your "proof" for works, you misunderstand that James does NOT fight Paul's verses about Faith alone saving anyone. Just as we see that Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8+9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" he follows verse 9 with verse 10 which says "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Don't you see that our works, no matter how nice, or sacrificial or whatever you do does not remove one part of man's sin. That was done by Jesus death at Calvary. The proper interpretation thus stands as I wrote it - By faith alone is one saved. Catholics also like to make the claim that we now have a free "do as you wish" card. No that is not the truth but we are able to know that our relationship is not predicated upon our behavior for we will as long as we have these cursed human bodies, occasionally sin. It also enables us to see sin as sin and then to deny doing it Such is not the case for Catholics as many follow sinful traditions that nullify Scriptures. Thus when we die, our works will show that we followed Christ as per being Biblical, whereas you followed Catholicism
and their "traditions" and you will be judged accordingly still in your sins.
Now aas far as your reply to my reconciliation article - First you go to show how the priest were needed in the Old Testament. But Hebrews 7:23,24 says, "And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood." Jesus is still waiting for us to "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16.
Secondly you misquote the verses from Matthew 16, and so on as if Jesus was giving the Catholic priest "the Power" to be His Ministers. My article explains the correct interpretation. When one places their trust in Christ Jesus and His finished work done at Calvary, they are then purged of any and all sins. The Apostles knew this and this is what they could share with others as they would learned what a person's beliefs were. It's the same today as it was then. What are you trusting in for your sins to be washed away? Your priest supposedly (you say) can give absolution. For how long? Till you need another confession? So what you are suggesting amounts to hoping that you don't die on a Monday or Tuesday before you go to confession, Right? Or that you might not die while driving to church to go to confession? Your way isn't thus believing in Jesus, but rather your ability to tell a priest your sins and by this you become cleansed? Sure does sound like you think you can merit salvation by how often you attend confession. No that is NOT the Gospel of Grace but of works - things that you do. And this is just another way in which Satan can keep you in bondage to your priest. No thank you! Jesus died so that I might live and it is upon HIS work at Calvary that I place my trust .... again my artice is correct!!!
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