Reconciliation to God

One of Paul’s most distinctive teachings about the death of Christ — something especially associated with him and logically flowing from what we have already seen — is the idea that Christ’s death brings about reconciliation to God. This theme shows up clearly in passages where Paul speaks of Christ’s death as restoring peace between God and humanity.

In Romans chapter 5, verse 1, Paul pulls together his earlier teaching — especially Romans chapter 3, verses 22–26 — and describes its outcome as “peace with God through Christ,” a peace that comes from “being justified by faith.” Later in that same chapter, verse 10 restates the argument of verse 9 by saying that believers have been “reconciled to God through the death of His Son,” treating this as another way of saying that they have been “justified in His blood.” Then, in verse 11, Paul adds, “through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

The Justice of God

We have already seen strong and repeated evidence that Paul taught the following: the justification announced by Christ — received personally through faith — comes to humanity through Christ’s death on the cross. Christ willingly gave His life at God’s direction, and this extraordinary act was necessary because of human sin. Paul also described Christ’s death as the ransom-price that secures salvation, emphasizing just how costly that salvation is and how absolutely essential Christ’s death was as the only way to achieve it. Alongside this, Paul spoke of Christ’s death as a propitiation for sin, linking it with the sacrificial system of the Old Covenant, where animals were slain to deal with guilt.

Taken together, these ideas make something very clear: apart from Christ’s death, salvation would have been impossible. Only through that death could humanity be freed from moral bondage, and only then could people escape God’s anger toward sin.

Results Attained: Preliminary Issues & Justification by Faith

Let’s pause for a moment and take stock of what we’ve established so far.

Looking at the visible universe, we saw strong evidence pointing beyond it to an unseen, intelligent Creator and Ruler. And within human moral awareness, we found an expectation that all people will ultimately be repaid according to their actions. The uneven justice we observe in this life makes it clear that a final and complete reckoning must lie beyond death.