Charles Stanley Daily Devotional 12 August 2021 In Touch Ministries Daily Message
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Topic: From Alienation to Reconciliation
Today’s Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21
14Â For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;
15Â and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
16Â Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
17Â Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
18Â Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19Â namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20Â Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21Â He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Charles Stanley Daily Devotional 12 August 2021 In Touch Ministries Message
One of the hardest truths for many nonbelievers to accept is that they’re enemies of God. Even though they aren’t close to the Lord, they still consider themselves good people. Surely, they think, I haven’t done anything bad enough to make myself His enemy. But the truth is, everyone begins life alienated from God because all mankind is born into sin (Psalm 51:5; Rom. 5:12).
To be saved, a person must first understand that the gap between perfect God and sinful man is vast. Human beings like comparing themselves with others to illustrate how good they are, but the standard for goodness isn’t other people; it’s a holy, perfect God. The only way to reach Him is through faith in His Son for forgiveness and reconciliation (John 14:6). Whoever rejects Christ’s offer of salvation simply cannot spend eternity with God.
Only the cross of Christ spans the gulf between alienation and reconciliation. Jesus took our sins upon Himself and underwent the punishment we deserved. Now any person who trusts in the Savior’s substitutionary atonement can enter into a new life of communion with God.
Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 12-14
In Touch Daily Devotional 12 August 2021 Message. Dr. Charles F. Stanley is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta and founder of In Touch Ministries, both located in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Stanley’s heart’s desire is to get the gospel to “as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, as clearly as possible, as irresistibly as possible, through the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God.