On Feb 28, 2013 10:08 AM, "eldoret gentry" <eldorets> wrote:
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> Good morning everyone,
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> 2 Corinthians 5:20-Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
> In the previous verse 19 apostle Paul is explaining what Christ did to reconcile us, which means to be brought back into God’s favor. In order to do that Christ did not count our trespasses against us, but paid them! So now we are "out of debt" to Him and able to function peacefully without feeling like we owe God death and hell because of our sin, which would be condemnation.

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> As Christians and "receivers" of this ministry of reconciliation (vs18), the Bible says we are "ambassadors" of this same act of grace God has shown us through Christ. Yet in order for people to see the relevance of Christ work, God makes His appeal through us! So the question for all of us as Christians is whether we keep track of others trespasses/sins, whether against us or not? If we do, we have people in our debt, so how can our hearts ever function from a place of reconciling?

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> When we operate from a place of people "owing" us or even believing people "owe" others, you mentally have to forfeit the ministry of reconciling people to God. Because to be "owed" payments for sins committed is to make Christ sacrifice completely irrelevant to our everday life. As Christ takes priority in our lives, He demands us to reconcile ourselves to Him constantly, which is something we can’t afford, yet He doesn’t hold us in debt, but literally died and rose to pay it! Though difficult, this is exactly the ministry He calls us to. Die to our ego’s, self-image, and defeated emotions, to have a renewed mind that functions according to the gospel that reconciled us from condemnation.

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> In His Love, Ld
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