There are many nations in our present day world where the word “Reconciliation” is being used widely. However it is not easy to ascertain what people mean when they use the term. Over all it appears to mean the situation where 2 groups of people put aside their differences and come to some form of agreement.
But how do more expert people define the term?
Some definitions
reconciliation (n.)
mid-14c., reconciliacioun, “renewal of friendship after disagreement or enmity, action of reaching accord with an adversary or one estranged” (originally especially of God and sinners), from Old French reconciliacion (14c.) and directly from Latin reconciliationem (nominative reconciliatio) “a re-establishing, a reconciling,” noun of action from past-participle stem of reconciliare (see reconcile).
From 1729 as “act of harmonizing or making consistent.” Other early noun forms included reconcilement (mid-15c.), reconciling (late 14c.).also from mid-14c.
a situation in which two people or groups of people become friendly again after they have argued:
an act of reconciling, as when former enemies agree to an amicable truce.
the state of being reconciled, as when someone becomes resigned to something not desired.
1a : to restore to friendship or harmony
b: Settle, Resolve reconcile differences
2: to make consistent or congruous. reconcile an ideal with reality
3: to cause to submit to or accept something unpleasant
4a: to check (a financial account) against another for accuracy
b: to account for
- Oxford Languages
- the restoration of friendly relations.
- the action of making one view or belief compatible with another.
So the term can have a variety of meanings ranging from the concept of restoring previous friendships to that of learning to submit or accept something unpleasant.
However the term has been in use in the world for centuries. We see its use in the Old Testament in describing situations going back over 3000 years. We will now look at all of the uses in the Bible of the terms reconcile, reconciled, reconciling and reconciliation.
1]. Reconcile
1 Samuel 29:4. G1259 [diallassō; διαλλάσσω]. [NOTE 1.]
David had fled from Saul who had planned to kill him and joined with Achish, the king of Gath. David planned to go into battle alongside Achish but the commanders of the Philistines became angry as they thought that David might turn against them in battle. This was their reasoning, “He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here?” They thought that if David turned against them in battle and killed many of the Palestinian troops, it could be a way of bringing reconciliation with Saul. So the word is used here to describe bringing about a better relationship by doing something that would please Saul who was angry with David.
Acts 7:23-26. G.4871, [synallassō; συναλλάσσω].
“When he was forty years old, it came into his [Moses’] heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarrelling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?” Moses tried to bring about reconciliation between 2 of his own countrymen by bringing to an end the quarrel between them. The proposed reconciliation was based on the fact that they belonged to the same group of people and it was wrong for them to be quarrelling.
Eph 2:13-16. G604 [apokatallassō; ἀποκαταλλάσσω]
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” Here the reconciliation is between Jews and Gentiles whom Christ has brought together through His death on the cross. He made them into one new man who could live together in peace. But there was another aspect to this reconciliation. He reconciled them both to Himself through that same death on the cross, thereby killing the hostility. We see that it is the shed blood of Jesus that brings about reconciliation between humans and reconciliation with God.
2]. Reconciled.
Mat 5:23 -24. G1259 [diallassō; διαλλάσσω]
“So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” The Christian family are one in Christ and should show that unity in all they do. That means that if someone is coming to worship God and remembers that another believer has something against them, they should first attempt to get right with the Christian brother before offering their gift to God. That is our Christian responsibility to our reconciled fellow believers.
Rom. 5:10 – G2644 [katallassō; καταλλάσσω]
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.“ This is another passage which attributes reconciliation to God as being due to the death of Jesus on the cross. He died for us while we were still enemies of God. However now as God’s reconciled people we are being saved by His life within us.
1 Cor. 7:11 G2644 [katallassō; καταλλάσσω]” “To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband 11 (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife.” Because true Christian marriage should be seen as the bringing together by God of 2 people in love, that bond should remain permanent. A temporary separation should lead to a reconciliation with the husband or else they remain single.
2 Cor. 5:18 G2644 [katallassō; καταλλάσσω] “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”[G2644]. Believers have been reconciled to God through Christ and have been given the ministry of reconciliation. That means sharing the good news that God reconciles sinners to Himself in His love.
2Cor 5:19 G2644 [katallassō; καταλλάσσω]” “that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” [G2644]. In the previous verse it was the ministry of reconciliation that believers received. Here it is the message of reconciliation they are to share faithfully. That message is about Jesus through whom God reconciled the world to Himself, because in trusting Him, their sins would no longer be counted against them.
2Cor 5:20 G2644. [katallassō; καταλλάσσω] “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” This is the third time in 3 verses that Paul states that believers have a message to share and as such we are His ambassadors. It is as though God is making His appeal through His people.
Col 1:20 – G0604 [apokatallassō; ἀποκαταλλάσσω]
“and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Here is the reminder that reconciliation comes from the initiative of God who has made it possible for guilty sinners to be reconciled to Himself. Humans cannot reconcile themselves to God. They can only accept by faith the reconciliation that God offers them in Christ. In receiving Him as Saviour and Lord they are receiving the reconciliation that is to be found in Christ alone.
Col. 1:22 – G0604 [apokatallassō; ἀποκαταλλάσσω]
“he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.” There are two important truths to be found in this verse. The first is that reconciliation in their case was already an accomplished fact. Before their conversion, the Colossians had been Gentile sinners, alienated from God. Now through their faith in Christ, they had been brought into a relationship with God by His grace to them in Christ. The second truth shows that the privilege in being reconciled also brought a responsibility to live for God from that time on. Though they were once guilty sinners in His sight, God reconciled them to Himself so that they might live holy and blameless lives before him.
3]. Reconciliation.
Rom. 5:11. G2643 [katallagē; καταλλαγή]
“More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” The Believers Bible has this commentary on verse 11, “Reconciliation refers to the establishment of harmony between God and man through the sacrificial work of the Saviour. The entrance of sin had brought estrangement, alienation, and enmity between man and God. By putting away sin, which had caused the alienation, the Lord Jesus restored those who believe on Him to a state of harmony with God. We should note, in passing, that God did not need to be reconciled. It was man who needed it, because he was at enmity with God.”
Rom. 11:15 – G2643 [katallagē; καταλλαγή]
“For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?” Because Israel as a nation had hardened their hearts against God, it gave an opportunity for the Gentiles to hear and respond to the gospel. Many responded and were reconciled to God. But later when Israelites would eventually accept the gospel and receive Christ as their Messiah, it would be like being raised from the dead to life for those Israelites.
2 Cor. 5:18 G2643 [katallagē; καταλλαγή]
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled [G2644] us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” As we saw above believers have been reconciled to God through Christ and have been given the ministry of reconciliation. That means sharing the good news that God reconciles sinners to Himself in His love.
2 Cor. 5:19 – G2644 [καταλλάσσω; katallassō] and G2643 [katallagē; καταλλαγή]
“that is, in Christ God was reconciling [G2644] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” [G2643]. God is seen as the author of reconciliation, and ii was through Christ that he achieved the reconciliation with sinners. Because Christ died to take away the sins of the world, it meant that God no longer held their trespasses against them.
4]. Reconciling
2 Cor. 5:19 – G2644 [katallassō; καταλλάσσω]
“that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” God planned for reconciliation to take place through Christ and because He died to take away sin, it that He no longer held sin against them. In fact believers were entrusted by God to share the reconciliation message with other people.
Summing up
What is seen as common in all these Bible verses, is that reconciliation between a holy God and imperfect sinners was accomplished through the death of Jesus on the cross. In every case God is seen as bringing about reconciliation. So we see that reconciliation consists of having a right relationship between God and sinful humans who respond in faith to Him.
All this could not have been accomplished in any way by human initiative. It needed the grace of God working through Christ’s death on the cross to bring about the reconciliation that was needed between sinful humans and a holy God. And it was through their reconciled lives as believers that they recognised that they had been reconciled to one another in Christ. So the message of reconciliation they were to share was not a demand, “Be reconciled to me” but “Be reconciled to God.” True reconciliation can only come about when both parties are both reconciled to God.
So it must be asked of the nations of the world what they mean when they demand reconciliation. Are they demanding, “Be reconciled to me by meeting my demands!” or do they mean, “Let’s both be reconciled to God, so that true love [God’s agape love] flows between us.” The first option is not really an option because even God Himself does not make demands for people to be reconciled to Him. His reconciliation is based on grace [His undeserved favour] in which says to us, “I want you to be reconciled to me and in my self-giving love I have made that possible for you through the death of My Son. Receive my gift to you in receiving Him and we will be reconciled. Not only that but you will be reconciled to everyone else who has received My Son as Saviour and you will be one in Him!” Oh that the peoples of the world have that in the minds when they speak about reconciliation!
—————————————————————————————————————————-
[NOTE 1]. The letter [G] following the Greek word refers to the Greek words in the Greek versions of both the Old and New Testaments. The number is the number of the entry of a word in Strong’s Concordance.
holbeck 
486. RECONCILIATION. What Does It Mean For Today?
There are many nations in our present day world where the word “Reconciliation” is being used widely. However it is not easy to ascertain what people mean when they use the term. Over all it appears to mean the situation where 2 groups of people put aside their differences and come to some form of agreement.
But how do more expert people define the term?
Some definitions
reconciliation (n.)
mid-14c., reconciliacioun, “renewal of friendship after disagreement or enmity, action of reaching accord with an adversary or one estranged” (originally especially of God and sinners), from Old French reconciliacion (14c.) and directly from Latin reconciliationem (nominative reconciliatio) “a re-establishing, a reconciling,” noun of action from past-participle stem of reconciliare (see reconcile).
From 1729 as “act of harmonizing or making consistent.” Other early noun forms included reconcilement (mid-15c.), reconciling (late 14c.).also from mid-14c.
a situation in which two people or groups of people become friendly again after they have argued:
an act of reconciling, as when former enemies agree to an amicable truce.
the state of being reconciled, as when someone becomes resigned to something not desired.
1a : to restore to friendship or harmony
b: Settle, Resolve reconcile differences
2: to make consistent or congruous. reconcile an ideal with reality
3: to cause to submit to or accept something unpleasant
4a: to check (a financial account) against another for accuracy
b: to account for
So the term can have a variety of meanings ranging from the concept of restoring previous friendships to that of learning to submit or accept something unpleasant.
However the term has been in use in the world for centuries. We see its use in the Old Testament in describing situations going back over 3000 years. We will now look at all of the uses in the Bible of the terms reconcile, reconciled, reconciling and reconciliation.
1]. Reconcile
1 Samuel 29:4. G1259 [diallassō; διαλλάσσω]. [NOTE 1.]
David had fled from Saul who had planned to kill him and joined with Achish, the king of Gath. David planned to go into battle alongside Achish but the commanders of the Philistines became angry as they thought that David might turn against them in battle. This was their reasoning, “He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here?” They thought that if David turned against them in battle and killed many of the Palestinian troops, it could be a way of bringing reconciliation with Saul. So the word is used here to describe bringing about a better relationship by doing something that would please Saul who was angry with David.
Acts 7:23-26. G.4871, [synallassō; συναλλάσσω].
“When he was forty years old, it came into his [Moses’] heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarrelling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?” Moses tried to bring about reconciliation between 2 of his own countrymen by bringing to an end the quarrel between them. The proposed reconciliation was based on the fact that they belonged to the same group of people and it was wrong for them to be quarrelling.
Eph 2:13-16. G604 [apokatallassō; ἀποκαταλλάσσω]
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” Here the reconciliation is between Jews and Gentiles whom Christ has brought together through His death on the cross. He made them into one new man who could live together in peace. But there was another aspect to this reconciliation. He reconciled them both to Himself through that same death on the cross, thereby killing the hostility. We see that it is the shed blood of Jesus that brings about reconciliation between humans and reconciliation with God.
2]. Reconciled.
Mat 5:23 -24. G1259 [diallassō; διαλλάσσω]
“So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” The Christian family are one in Christ and should show that unity in all they do. That means that if someone is coming to worship God and remembers that another believer has something against them, they should first attempt to get right with the Christian brother before offering their gift to God. That is our Christian responsibility to our reconciled fellow believers.
Rom. 5:10 – G2644 [katallassō; καταλλάσσω]
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.“ This is another passage which attributes reconciliation to God as being due to the death of Jesus on the cross. He died for us while we were still enemies of God. However now as God’s reconciled people we are being saved by His life within us.
1 Cor. 7:11 G2644 [katallassō; καταλλάσσω]” “To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband 11 (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife.” Because true Christian marriage should be seen as the bringing together by God of 2 people in love, that bond should remain permanent. A temporary separation should lead to a reconciliation with the husband or else they remain single.
2 Cor. 5:18 G2644 [katallassō; καταλλάσσω] “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”[G2644]. Believers have been reconciled to God through Christ and have been given the ministry of reconciliation. That means sharing the good news that God reconciles sinners to Himself in His love.
2Cor 5:19 G2644 [katallassō; καταλλάσσω]” “that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” [G2644]. In the previous verse it was the ministry of reconciliation that believers received. Here it is the message of reconciliation they are to share faithfully. That message is about Jesus through whom God reconciled the world to Himself, because in trusting Him, their sins would no longer be counted against them.
2Cor 5:20 G2644. [katallassō; καταλλάσσω] “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” This is the third time in 3 verses that Paul states that believers have a message to share and as such we are His ambassadors. It is as though God is making His appeal through His people.
Col 1:20 – G0604 [apokatallassō; ἀποκαταλλάσσω]
“and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Here is the reminder that reconciliation comes from the initiative of God who has made it possible for guilty sinners to be reconciled to Himself. Humans cannot reconcile themselves to God. They can only accept by faith the reconciliation that God offers them in Christ. In receiving Him as Saviour and Lord they are receiving the reconciliation that is to be found in Christ alone.
Col. 1:22 – G0604 [apokatallassō; ἀποκαταλλάσσω]
“he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.” There are two important truths to be found in this verse. The first is that reconciliation in their case was already an accomplished fact. Before their conversion, the Colossians had been Gentile sinners, alienated from God. Now through their faith in Christ, they had been brought into a relationship with God by His grace to them in Christ. The second truth shows that the privilege in being reconciled also brought a responsibility to live for God from that time on. Though they were once guilty sinners in His sight, God reconciled them to Himself so that they might live holy and blameless lives before him.
3]. Reconciliation.
Rom. 5:11. G2643 [katallagē; καταλλαγή]
“More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” The Believers Bible has this commentary on verse 11, “Reconciliation refers to the establishment of harmony between God and man through the sacrificial work of the Saviour. The entrance of sin had brought estrangement, alienation, and enmity between man and God. By putting away sin, which had caused the alienation, the Lord Jesus restored those who believe on Him to a state of harmony with God. We should note, in passing, that God did not need to be reconciled. It was man who needed it, because he was at enmity with God.”
Rom. 11:15 – G2643 [katallagē; καταλλαγή]
“For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?” Because Israel as a nation had hardened their hearts against God, it gave an opportunity for the Gentiles to hear and respond to the gospel. Many responded and were reconciled to God. But later when Israelites would eventually accept the gospel and receive Christ as their Messiah, it would be like being raised from the dead to life for those Israelites.
2 Cor. 5:18 G2643 [katallagē; καταλλαγή]
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled [G2644] us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” As we saw above believers have been reconciled to God through Christ and have been given the ministry of reconciliation. That means sharing the good news that God reconciles sinners to Himself in His love.
2 Cor. 5:19 – G2644 [καταλλάσσω; katallassō] and G2643 [katallagē; καταλλαγή]
“that is, in Christ God was reconciling [G2644] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” [G2643]. God is seen as the author of reconciliation, and ii was through Christ that he achieved the reconciliation with sinners. Because Christ died to take away the sins of the world, it meant that God no longer held their trespasses against them.
4]. Reconciling
2 Cor. 5:19 – G2644 [katallassō; καταλλάσσω]
“that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” God planned for reconciliation to take place through Christ and because He died to take away sin, it that He no longer held sin against them. In fact believers were entrusted by God to share the reconciliation message with other people.
Summing up
What is seen as common in all these Bible verses, is that reconciliation between a holy God and imperfect sinners was accomplished through the death of Jesus on the cross. In every case God is seen as bringing about reconciliation. So we see that reconciliation consists of having a right relationship between God and sinful humans who respond in faith to Him.
All this could not have been accomplished in any way by human initiative. It needed the grace of God working through Christ’s death on the cross to bring about the reconciliation that was needed between sinful humans and a holy God. And it was through their reconciled lives as believers that they recognised that they had been reconciled to one another in Christ. So the message of reconciliation they were to share was not a demand, “Be reconciled to me” but “Be reconciled to God.” True reconciliation can only come about when both parties are both reconciled to God.
So it must be asked of the nations of the world what they mean when they demand reconciliation. Are they demanding, “Be reconciled to me by meeting my demands!” or do they mean, “Let’s both be reconciled to God, so that true love [God’s agape love] flows between us.” The first option is not really an option because even God Himself does not make demands for people to be reconciled to Him. His reconciliation is based on grace [His undeserved favour] in which says to us, “I want you to be reconciled to me and in my self-giving love I have made that possible for you through the death of My Son. Receive my gift to you in receiving Him and we will be reconciled. Not only that but you will be reconciled to everyone else who has received My Son as Saviour and you will be one in Him!” Oh that the peoples of the world have that in the minds when they speak about reconciliation!
—————————————————————————————————————————-
[NOTE 1]. The letter [G] following the Greek word refers to the Greek words in the Greek versions of both the Old and New Testaments. The number is the number of the entry of a word in Strong’s Concordance.
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About Jim Holbeck
Once an Industrial Chemist working for the Queensland Government but later an Anglican minister in Brisbane, Armidale and Sydney. Last position for eighteen years before retirement in 2006 was as the Leader of the Healing Ministry at St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney.