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Editorial
Alwyn Thomson
Comment:
Politics: serving God and doing good!
Ethel White
From
the Director: Cultivating the common ground
David W Porter
ECONI
Statement: Confidence in God
October 2002
Postbag: Letters to the Editor
Why
vote?
Alison Laird
Communities
of hope
Lord Alderdice
Transformation 2003: Killing for God?
View
from the south
Patrick Mitchel
Church
& state
Esmond
Birnie MLA
Taking
the plunge
John Kyle
Faith
in politics
Interview: Rt Hon Paul Murphy MP
Your
kingdom come
Heather Morrow
ECONI
Statement: Forum for Peace & Reconciliation
January 2003
Bible
study series: Faith in the future
David
W Porter
Through
a glass, darkly
Changing Women, Changing Worlds Conference
Review:
A night in November by Marie Jones
Noel
McCune
Book
Reviews
Alwyn Thomson
For
God and His Glory Alone:
Study 3: Reconciliation
For
God and His Glory Alone:
Study 4: Peace
Matt
5:23f
Rom
5:9-11
2
Cor 5:11- 6:2
Gal
3:26-28
Eph
2:14-18
Col
3:11
FOR GOD AND HIS
GLORY ALONE
Biblical Principles
Study 3
RECONCILIATION
“All this is from God,
who reconciled us to himself though Christ,
and has given us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was
reconciling the world to himsself in Christ,
not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us
the message of reconciliation.”
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
THE GOOD NEWS emphasises reconciliation. By his death Christ not only has reconciled us to God, but also has healed our divisions and abolished the barriers which separated us from one another. The ministry of reconciliation is the calling of all who follow Christ, and should therefore be visibly demonstrated. To fail to do so in a society that desperately needs the reconciling power of God is a denial of our discipleship.
As Evangelicals, we must accept our share of the blame for any way in which we have contributed to the alienation felt by many of the minority community in Northern Ireland. We have allowed our differences to be turned into barriers, and at times we have been active in that process. Such humanly constructed barriers are caused by our arrogance and attitudes of superiority. They not only mar our community life, but also restrict the effective sharing of the good news.
Read Matthew 5:23-24. Whether the grievance held against us is well founded or not, Jesus expects his disciples to be the initiators of reconciliation. Equally, just as God initiated our reconciliation with himself, so he expects us to initiate reconciliation with those whom we believe have wronged us (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). What steps could you take to aid reconciliation in your community? What are the implications of Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 5:16 that “from now on we regard no-one from a worldly point of view”?
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