A NEW AND RECONCILED RELATIONSHIP

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ . . . Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” —Romans 5:1, 11

At times, Paul’s theology is dense. Before he was a pioneering missionary, he was a theological scholar trained by some of the best rabbis of his day.

So his theological earnestness was more than zeal; he was also deeply informed. Between his conversion and the missionary journeys that make up much of the story of Acts, he spent time—perhaps about twelve years, including time spent in the Arabian desert and in his hometown of Tarsus—studying into the story of Jesus and how He fulfilled the expectations of the Hebrew scriptures as well as the deepest human needs.

We see the results of that study in his letters to the churches, which tend to have a more scholarly tone than the sermons recorded in Acts. One of the key themes of Paul’s writing was the relationship between God and humanity. Paul believed that God was working, through Jesus, to restore the relationship that had been broken by sin, stretching all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Paul uses the language of peacemaking and reconciliation, recognizing both the fear and distance that had been introduced into humanity’s relationship with our Creator and the work of renewal that was underway. This was the experience that Paul was so passionate about inviting everyone to enter. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus offered a fresh start for humanity, whether Jew or Gentile—particularly in their relationship with God.

“So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God” (Romans 5:11, NLT).

This was something to be studied, celebrated, and shared.