​2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
 
Having satisfied God that the sin issue has been dealt with and that the redemption price had been paid, Jesus Christ had successfully reconciled the world to God.  All debts had been paid and the stain of sin removed meant the books could be balanced.  Just one thing remained.  Only the righteous inherit the Kingdom and that is where justification comes in to play.  As Paul explained in Romans Justification has always been by faith.  Genesis 15:6 And he (Abram) believed in the Lord, and He (the LORD) accounted it to him for righteousness.  Believing in Jesus Christ for everlasting life also brings Justification. 
 
Romans 4:5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. 
Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
The somewhat complex doctrines of Propitiation, Redemption, Reconciliation and Justification deliver a very simple answer to the question of whether or not we will be with God in Heaven when we die.  There is also an elegant symmetry to the whole thing.  It was Adam’s unbelief that brought death into the world.  He chose to believe Eve rather than God when it came to the forbidden fruit.  So, God has made belief the requirement for restoring everlasting life and entrance into the eternal Kingdom.   
 
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
 
Why not start the New Year off with the new everlasting life Jesus Christ offers everyone who will believe in Him for it.   You can do that right now.  Take God at His word, believe what He has promised and life everlasting is yours.  If you do believe then tell Him, say a prayer and thank God for the new life He has given you in Jesus Christ.  

2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
 
Jesus Christ’s became the Propitiation for our sin which removed our liability for punishment.  But what about our guilt?  A thief can pay his debt to society by serving a jail sentence, but he still has a record as a thief.  His record remains on file and therefore his guilt.  But Jesus Christ did more than just take on our liability for punishment when He died on that Cross.  Check out what God revealed to the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5. 
  
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
 
Reconciliation means our record has been brought into balance with God.  What Dr. Crichton, the president of the college I attended, called being worthy of blame, in other words guilt.   Jesus Christ was also erasing our record of sin while on the cross by taking on our guilt.  God no longer imputes our sins to us.  Impute means to charge or assign to one’s record.  Think of it as a credit charge statement.  The statement is a record of all the purchases you made using the card.  If the credit company decided to not impute the charges to your account, nothing would show up on your statement.  You would have a zero balance. 
 
In the case of our final destiny, we have what I’ll call a righteousness account.  A statement of how good or bad we have been.  If you have not believed in Jesus Christ for everlasting life you have a zero balance in your righteousness account and likely did not know that.  Jesus Christ has removed your liability for punishment and the record of your guilt for you.  But that is still not enough to get you into Heaven when you die. 
 
You still need everlasting life.  John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  Believe that Jesus Christ is the giver of everlasting life and that He gives it to everyone who believes Him for that life.  Because that is what brings the final step which is called justification.  

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2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
 
OK, the Bible says that so it must be true, right?  Well, it is or we have to change our understanding of the Bible as the word of God.  Since I believe the Bible is the revealed word of God, I’m going to look for reasons to believe it.  One reason many people never realize the simplicity that is in Christ is because they’ve never really investigated what God has done through Christ to make it so.   The Apostle Paul wrote about the preparatory work God did to make Justification by faith possible without compromising His character or integrity.  He was able to remain Just and Righteous while still achieving His stated objective in Romans 3:21-26.
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21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, …..26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:21 & 26
 
What has been reveal is that Jesus Christ is our redeemer.  Romans 3:24-25 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.
 
Propitiation is a legal term meaning Satisfaction.  Jesus Christ has satisfied the Father’s need for Justice by paying for us our debt for sin.  If God’s absolute sense of justice has been satisfied then there is nothing left of our debt for sins committed.  The debt to God has been paid.  That leaves God free to justify any who meets His terms for Justification.  Those are spelled out in several Scriptures, the most famous being John 3:16.  The only thing God requires is that we believe in Jesus Christ for everlasting life.  He is the giver of everlasting life and will give to everyone who believes He for it.    
Next let’s look at reconciliation. 
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