Morning Thoughts - by Elder Philip Conley

Morning Thoughts

II Corinthians 5:18-19, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."

This morning, there are many that do not understand what the doctrine of imputation entails. These verses (yea the whole chapter) are rich in detail with the work of Christ for His people, and what He accomplished for them. This act of Christ forever puts away anything that could be made in accusation against us. The devil and all his army have no case in the highest court in existence. The righteous Judge will not listen to their argument, for the Judge's Son won the case when He suffered, bled, and died on Calvary's cross.

The doctrine of imputation taught in these verses goes beyond what the majority of people teach and preach. Most preach a gospel that Christ did the work, and there is still something for us to do to get there. This is only half of the doctrine of imputation. The whole doctrine of imputation means that Christ bore all of our sins (when they were laid upon Him), and we, in turn, received all of His righteousness. It is a two-fold act. Paul says that the Lord does not impute our sins again unto us, for Christ has already imputed the righteousness that will not pass away.

To say that Christ bore our sins, but we need to do something is the same thing as saying that we could still (by our actions) have sin(s) imputed back to us. From the moment that Christ imputed His righteousness to His people, we forever stand INNOCENT in the sight of the Almighty. It is true that we have been forgiven and pardoned, but on top of all that, we are innocent! That is the meaning of Paul's teaching in Colossians 2. All those things written against us have been blotted out (as though they never existed).

To preach all the counsel of God, we must tell both sides of the story. The Lord has not removed us from ungodliness to perhaps find it again and return to our wallow. Rather, He turned ungodliness from us so that we could never find it again. There is no way that man can taint or stain what Christ has done for us. To do that, we would have to have more power than He does, and that is an impossibility. So, we have been imputed forever clean, and as such are reconciled to God. Reconciliation means that the past is no longer remembered with pain or anguish. For example, if anyone has lost a loved one, the pain is great and seems unbearable. We cannot remember occasions of fellowship that we had in the past without sorrow and heartache. However, over time and with the grace of God, we can begin to remember fondly again those times that we had with them. That is when we have been reconciled to our current condition in life.

With God (who lives outside of time), we are reconciled to Him through the imputation of His Son. Therefore, He does not remember those things that we formerly did that were unpleasant in His sight. Rather, He remembers our sins and iniquities no more. What a mystery! How is it that an omniscient God does not remember something? However, our innocence shows that He remembers them no more. Let us ever thank Him for His grace that our iniquities have not been imputed back unto us. And, may we ever preach the whole story (as much as we can know it here below) of what Christ has accomplished for us.

In Hope,

Bro Philip