Chapter 21: Use 2: Discovering Mistakes about Reconciliation
Mediator—but for what purpose? To save from sin. From what sin?
What is sin? Sin must be made known if Christ is the Reconciler between God and us, because reconciliation implies a breach, and a breach that is made by sin. If you do not understand what that breach is, how can you honour Christ as Mediator?
Therefore, you must understand what that breach is: it is the enmity that exists in your hearts by nature. You must understand what that enmity is and be aware of it; otherwise, you can never give glory to God in Christ. Although many speak so much about Christ and free grace, it is evident from their lives that they do not truly give glory to Christ. Christ has little reason to be thankful for any honour they offer Him in their conduct; rather, they blot and stain the name of Christ. And why is this? The truth is, they never rightly understood
Christ as a Mediator; they never knew what it meant to need a Mediator between God and themselves, and so, having only a superficial knowledge of Christ, Christ receives only superficial glory from them.
That is the first use.
Chapter 21 Use 2: Discovering Mistakes about Reconciliation 2. If God has reconciled Himself to the world in Christ, then we are to take notice of the great mistakes that exist in the world regarding the point of reconciliation with God. Certainly, if this
is true—that the only way to make our peace with God is in Christ—then the world is generally mistaken in this great matter of reconciliation with God. And a mistake in this is a destructive, damning error; a soul may perish eternally merely through a misunderstanding in the matter of reconciliation.
A person may be troubled by sin, may cry out about their sin, may break off from practising sin, and may cry out to God in prayer, asking Him to pardon and be reconciled to them. Yet, if they misunderstand and do not realise that it must be God, in and through Christ, who reconciles Himself, this error may prove to be a fatal one. Even if they were to cry out about their sins all their days, they might perish in the end if they do not know and rightly understand how to accept God's mercy as it is in Christ. If they do not understand that it is God in Christ who reconciles Himself to the world, they will be lost.
We know that the vast majority of people look for reconciliation with God merely in a natural way. They have sinned against Him, and they will cry out to Him for mercy and pardon, thinking that this alone will be sufficient to make peace between God and them. I remember that Luther had a notable statement concerning this, in his meditation about the way that God has appointed for reconciling man to Himself, which is in Christ. He said, "It is intolerable and horrible blasphemy to imagine any work by which you may presume to please God." He then explained why: it is intolerable and horrible blasphemy for anyone to presume that any work can pacify God when it is clear that God cannot be pacified in any other way but by the blood of His Son—one drop of which is more precious than the entire creation.
Reflecting on God reconciling the world to Himself, and that this was done through such a costly way as the blood of His Son, whose single drop is of greater value than all creatures in heaven and earth,
Luther affirmed that it is indeed a horrible and intolerable blasphemy for anyone to think they can pacify God by any other means. When God has appointed such a way of reconciliation, it is especially heinous for a person to neglect this and believe that any work of their own will suffice. For those who hear the Gospel preached and yet still think of finding another way of their own, neglecting the way God has appointed, this is truly a most intolerable and horrible blasphemy.
Certainly, it is something that greatly provokes the Lord when a sinner, made aware of the breach that exists between God and themselves, thinks that this breach can be healed by acts of repentance, good intentions, or good works. The Lord refuses to consider such a sinner in their foolishness, for one to think that the breach between God and them is a matter of such little consequence that it can be resolved by prayers or fears or anything else they can do. All of this is nothing more than untempered mortar.
Indeed, when there is repentance and a turning to God, it is a good sign that God is at work within a person's heart. But repentance alone cannot achieve the task; it is in Christ, it is the blood of the Son of God that must provide satisfaction for sin—it is this that brings about reconciliation. This is the essential doctrine of the Gospel, and until you receive this truth into your understanding and into your heart, all other things we preach will be of no benefit to you. It will never do you any good until you have embraced this truth. You will never sanctify God's name, nor glorify God in your actions, nor have any true peace within yourself, until you come to accept this truth in your heart: that God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.