The ministry of reconciliation brings us back to God to such an extent that we become the righteousness of God in Christ; as the Lord shines on us and exposes us, we reject our disposition and condemn our peculiarity, and we just enjoy Christ and let Him live in us so that we may live out Christ as our righteousness.
Lord Jesus, bring us further with You today. Bring us back to God to such an extent that we become the righteousness of God in Christ. Amen, Lord, shine on us and show us how much we still live apart from You. May we realise how much we still live in sin by living in the natural man, the self, and the flesh. Keep us turning to You. Reconcile us further with God until we are in God and God is expressed through us! Amen!
In 2 Corinthians 5-6 we see that we are given the ministry of reconciliation, for God wants us to be further reconciled to Himself from living in the flesh; furthermore, we are being saved, even saved much more in the life of Christ.
Our being fully reconciled to God is our being saved to the uttermost. Only when we’re fully reconciled to God are we fully saved.
God not only reconciled us to Himself through Christ’s death on the cross from sin, but He wants to reconcile us further into God from living in the flesh, the self, the natural man.
We are still so natural! We need to be further reconciled to God! As we are being reconciled again and again, in all the aspects of our daily living, we will be able to bring others into God also.
The extent to which we can bring others into God to be reconciled with God is the extent to which we were reconciled to God. We need more reconciliation.
As we live our daily Christian life, doing this and that, we realise how much we still live in the self, we express the self, and the flesh is present with us.
How can we say that we’re reconciled to God if we still live in the flesh and in the self? We need to be further reconciled to God.
We may be in the Holy Place in the tabernacle, enjoying the Lord’s shining as the lampstand and partaking of Him as our bread of life; however, we need to advance in our journey into God.
We need to enter into the Holy of Holies through the veil; the flesh needs to be exposed and crucified so that we may enter deeper into God.
We want no separation between us and God; the flesh keeps us away from God, but when we’re identified with the crucified Christ, we can be one with God and even bring others into this organic union with Him. Amen!
Being Reconciled to God from the Natural Man to Become the Righteousness of God in Christ
As we enjoy and participate in the ministry of reconciliation, the consummation is that we become the righteousness of God in Christ.
We see this in 2 Corinthians 5:21 where Paul, after exhorting the Corinthian believers to be reconciled to God, even to be reconciled further into God, says that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.
The ultimate consummation of God’s salvation is the righteousness of God. Thank the Lord that, by being saved, we were brought into the kingdom of God, and we are now under the new covenant ministry.
This ministry imparts the Spirit of life into us; it is not a ministry of condemnation to bring us under the law but a ministry of the Spirit to minister the Spirit of life into us.
Before we were saved, we were in a condition that was altogether condemned by God.
We may have even tried to obey God, fulfil the law, and please God; however, we were under God’s condemnation, and we clearly sensed in our conscience that we were not at peace with God.
But through faith in Christ, we were justified by God, and we now have peace toward God.
We are under the new covenant ministry, which is the ministry of reconciliation, and we have peace toward God.
The issue of enjoying the Spirit of life in our Christian life is righteousness; we live in a righteous condition and situation, even living out Christ as our righteousness.
We thank the Lord that we have peace toward God, and we are justified before Him. Hallelujah!
However, if we’re honest with ourselves, we will admit that, even though we are justified by God and have peace toward God, there are still many things related to us that are not right.
The things we speak, the way we speak, and some of the things we do are not right. We may not have gross sins nor do we habitually sin, but we still live in our natural man, we express the self, and the flesh is present with us.
We may try to overcome the flesh and subdue the self, but it does not work; we still live in the flesh, and we realise that this is sin.
This is why we need to be further reconciled to God. An example of this is a man and a wife who may not be saved, and who have many problems in their married life, for they have difficulty getting along with each other. They may often fight.
But one day the man may get saved and come into the church life, and a change happens in him; he is happy, he may not argue that often, and his wife may notice this.
She may also hear the gospel and believe into the Lord, and now together they are reconciled to God and to one another. They are in a state that the Bible calls righteousness.
They are justified by God through faith in Christ (Rom. 5:1-2; Gal. 2:16; Rom. 3:24). However, in their daily living, the brother may have a very strong disposition, and his wife may be quite peculiar and seldom agrees with others.
They are reconciled to God, but they need to be further reconciled to God; what they have is halfway reconciliation, a halfway righteousness.
But when the Lord shines on the brother and the sister and exposes their disposition and peculiarity, they will simply repent.
The brother may condemn his disposition, and the wife will reject and condemn her peculiarity. They realise that they are not reconciled to God and to one another when they live in their natural life.
So they exercise their spirit and enjoy Christ, and on the negative side, they condemn their disposition and peculiarity. This is to experience being reconciled to God.
The result is that they will touch the Lord together; the brother’s disposition will not be visible, and the sister’s peculiarity will not be manifested, for the Lord will live in them as their righteousness.
God wants to make us the righteousness of God in Christ. He wants His righteousness to be manifested among us.
The end result of being reconciled to God is that we are brought into God to such a degree that we actually become the righteousness of God in Christ.
The end result of being saved in God’s life from the self, sin, the flesh, the world, and the natural man is that we become the righteousness of God in Christ.
Not only are we justified by God – we actually become the righteousness of God in Christ.
Justification by faith by itself cannot fulfill God’s purpose nor satisfy His heart’s desire.
God doesn’t want merely a group of people who are justified before Him; He wants His people to be fully reconciled to God so that they become the righteousness of God in Christ.
May we open to the Lord regarding this and cooperate with Him in prayer until He gains this in us and among us.
Lord Jesus, thank You for bringing us under and giving us the new covenant ministry, the ministry of Spirit and life! Hallelujah, we believers in Christ are no longer under the condemnation of the law with its demands; we are now under the ministry of the Spirit who gives life! Amen, Lord, impart Yourself into us as life more today. We open to You. We want to receive and enjoy You as life day by day. Fill us with Your life until we live out Christ as our righteousness. Reconcile us more to Yourself today. Shine on us, Lord, and show us the need to be further reconciled to God. May we see how much we still live in the natural man and in the self. Oh Lord, expose our disposition and peculiarities. Save us from living according to our disposition and expressing our peculiarities. May we agree with Your light and condemn our disposition and peculiarities. Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit to enjoy You! Reconcile us to Yourself until we become the righteousness of God in Christ! Amen!
We’re in the Process of Becoming the Righteousness of God in Christ until Righteousness Dwells in the New Heaven and New Earth!
God is righteous; righteousness is the foundation of His throne (Psa. 89:14; 97:2). Everything God does is based on His righteousness.
When He saved us, He did it based on Christ becoming our righteousness; we were not righteous, but Christ died for us, and by repentance and faith in Him, we are put in Christ, and Christ becomes our righteousness (Rom. 3:22; 1 Cor. 1:30; Jer. 23:6).
Today the earth is filled with unrighteousness, but in the new heaven and new earth righteousness dwells (2 Pet. 3:13).
This is what God will obtain: a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
In regard to the ministry of reconciliation, we see that the final product of this ministry is that we become the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21).
God wants to gain a group of people who are the righteousness of God in Christ today, so that He may be able to bring in the new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells.
He wants to bring everything back to God in righteousness, in a right way. He wants to head up all things in Christ through the church (Eph. 1:10) so that everything may be in good order.
In the new heaven and new earth nothing will be wrong, nothing will be out of order, and nothing will be unrighteous; everything will be right, in good order, and satisfactory to God. God will be able to look at the entire universe and justify everything.
Today, however, we are in the process of becoming the righteousness of God in Christ.
We have the assurance to say that we are a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), and we are thankful that Christ as the Spirit is with our spirit (Rom. 8:16), for the Lord is with our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22).
However, we do not yet have the boldness to say that we are the righteousness of God. We may be right with certain things, but we are not yet right with everything and everyone; we need to be further reconciled to God.
We are like a butterfly that has not fully emerged from its cocoon; we are in the process of becoming the righteousness of God in Christ.
We are still in the process; our “cocoon” is not yet fully done away with, and we are not yet the righteousness in Christ, but we are in the process.
We are now partially the righteousness of God, and we are advancing with the Lord to be further reconciled to God. We need to let the cross do a deeper and further work in us so that we may fully become the righteousness of God in Christ.
When others look at us, they see some righteousness and some unrighteousness; as we let the Lord work in us through His cross, as we cooperate with the Lord day by day, the outer man is being consumed and the inner man is being renewed (2 Cor. 4:16).
Eventually, at the latest in the New Jerusalem, we will fully be the righteousness of God in Christ. God will gain what He is after.
He will be able to boast to His enemy, Satan, and display to the whole universe that we, His people, are now the righteousness of God in Christ in full.
In the New Jerusalem, righteousness will dwell, and everything will be righteousness. Nothing will be defective, nothing will be unsatisfactory to God, and everything will be in order.
Today we’re in the process of being made the righteousness of God in Christ.
May we cooperate with the Lord and allow Him to operate in us through the cross, even to terminate the natural man, the self, the flesh, and the natural life, so that His righteousness may be displayed in us.
Lord Jesus, thank You for making us a new creation in Christ! Hallelujah, the old things have passed away: behold, everything is new, and we’re a new creation in Christ! Amen, Lord, we praise You for being in us as the Spirit who gives life. Impart more of Your life into our mind, emotion, and will so that You may saturate us with Your life. Reconcile us further to God. Keep us in the process of being made the righteousness of God in Christ. Amen, Lord Jesus, keep us in the process of being transformed into Your image until Christ is seen in us as our righteousness. Head us up in You in all things. Have a way in our being. We want to go on with You. We allow You to operate in us through the cross by the Spirit so that You may make us the righteousness of God in Christ in our experience! Amen, Lord Jesus, make us the same as You are! Work Yourself into us. Straighten up all things in our being and make us satisfactory to God! Hallelujah, in the new heaven and new earth righteousness will dwell, and we will be the righteousness of God in Christ for eternity! Amen!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers on this topic, and portions from, Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msg. 39, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Ministry of the Word and God’s Dispensing for God’s Economy (2026 March ITERO), week 2, “The Ministry of Reconciliation” – day 3.
- Hymns on this topic:
– All I have in Adam is but sin and death, / I in Christ inherit life and righteousness; / When in flesh abiding, Adam I express, / But when in the spirit Christ is manifest. (Hymns #593 stanza 1)
– Oh, how blest the love that spared us, / For the law had judged us dead. / God, to meet the righteous judgment, / Passed it on His Son instead. / Hallelujah! Our Redeemer, / Christ, to God has purchased us; / Now enjoying His redemption, / We become God’s righteousness. (Hymns #1203 stanza 2)
– With justice is Thy kingdom filled, / And peace upon it Thou dost build / With all in harmony; / In the new heaven and new earth / Thy righteousness will be their worth, / As promised, God, by Thee. (Hymns #21 stanza 6)
