The New Covenant Ministry of Reconciliation - Glenna Andersen

Main message: Paul’s ministry of reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5 shows that believers should live to please God, be controlled by Christ’s love, see people through spiritual eyes, and carry the gospel as God’s ambassadors. Because Christ died for us and made us new, we are called to stop living for ourselves and urgently invite others to be reconciled to God.

Key points:

• Believers seek God’s commendation, not human approval, because they will stand before Christ’s judgment seat.
• Christ’s love constrains and motivates Christian life and ministry; his death and resurrection mean we now live for him.
• Christians should view people according to spiritual reality, not outward appearance: in Christ or outside Christ.
• Anyone in Christ is a new creation; the old life is gone and new life has come.
• God initiated reconciliation through Christ, making believers his ambassadors with a message to plead with others to be reconciled to God.
• The gospel centers on substitution: God made the sinless Christ to be sin for us so we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Scriptures mentioned: 2 Corinthians 4:1-2, 2 Corinthians 5:10-21, Acts 25:23-24, Mark 3:21, Philippians 3:8, Romans 14:10-13, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 10:17, 2 Timothy 1:12-14