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.
God is about the task of reconciling the world back to Himself. This statement assumes there is a need for reconciliation which is explained that God was not counting their trespasses against the very ones He was trying to reconcile. This statement is often passed over too quickly, but it is in fact a profound statement of God’s posture to sinful humanity.
Not counting their trespasses against them means that God is very aware of their transgressions but He is not keeping a mental record of their transgressions for the sake of some future action. In other words, He has not already sealed their fate nor made plans for final judgment. Instead, He pursues them and invites them to be reconciled to Him so that future judgment can be avoided.
The danger for many Christians is we act the opposite of God. We become aware of their sin, and rush to final judgment because we conclude they are bad and we mentally seal their fate by concluding they deserve judgement, and we leave them to their fate. We intentionally ignore these people or avoid them because their behavior is offensive to us, and we convince ourselves they would not respond to the gospel because they are bad.
God seeks to connect with broken, sinful, and wounded people to reconcile, heal and help them discover their true identity, significance, and security. He is not ignorant of their sin. He is fully aware of their actions and choices do not align with His desire or His character. Many are in active rebellion against His existence, and many mock the idea they need to be reconciled to anyone.
We often struggle connecting with our own family and other believers much less strangers and even less inclined with sinners. We hold grudges, we avoid people who do not agree with us personally and theologically, and we often judge and dismiss people who have sinned against us. We love our independence and privacy and often feel no compulsion to connect with people who are not like us, much less are sinners.
Our willingness to connect is a divine call but more importantly a divine empowerment. Only the love of Christ can compel us to connect with others (2 Cor. 5:14-15) because only His love compels us to live for Him and not ourselves.
In His grace,
Brad Little
