The concepts of consensus and reconciliation

First of 2 parts

CONSENSUS refers to a general agreement among a group of people (Collins Dictionary) about something. It is an idea or opinion that is shared by all people in a group.

Meanwhile, reconciliation is an action of making one view or belief compatible with another (Oxford Languages).

Reconciliation is an act of causing two people or groups to become friendly again after an agreement or disagreement. It is a process of resolving any discrepancies among entities that may have been discovered.

Religiously, reconciliation is to restore friendship or harmony, especially between God and human beings.

While all the members of this Church built by Christ Himself believed that its successes, triumphs, and victories in all of its endeavors – either in the local spectrum or global arena – are due to the handiwork of the Almighty Farther – the only one and most powerful God.

The Lord God has appointed a Messenger in the person of Brother Felix Y. Manalo who pioneered this last work of salvation – the reconciliation between the people and the Lord God.

In this regard, an article titled "Reconciling people to God" written by Brother Dennis C. Lovendino, INC Minister of the Gospel, published in the Editorial Section of the "Pasugo: God's Message" in its September 2022 issue will be quoted in this issue.

"The biblical account of Cornelius' calling into the true faith offers an unassailable proof that having fellowship with God's messenger is indispensable for anyone to have a relationship with Him.

"A Roman army officer with exemplary character that, by human standards, is a surefire way to get to heaven, Cornelius received a divine instruction to summon Apostle Peter. His servants traveled from Caesarea to Joppa – a good 38-mile journey – to fetch Simon, who spoke God's words to the centurion and his family, baptizing them afterwards (Acts 10:1-48).

"That singular historical narrative debunks, once and for all, the prevalent albeit mistaken belief that all that it takes to be counted worthy by God are 'good' works, such as being prayerful, charitable, and God-fearing. For Cornelius' virtuous deeds, which 'have come up for a memorial before God' (Acts 10:4 New King James Version), to have actual worth to Him, the centurion was instructed to listen to a God-sent preacher of the gospel and receive baptism and the Holy Spirit that 'marks us as God's own (Eph. 1:14 New International Reader's Version).

"What Apostle Peter fulfilled is precisely the vital role of God's messengers: to bring and reconcile people to God. Such reconciliation is essential since man's relationship with his Creator has been severed due to sin (Isa. 59:2) – turning him into God's enemy (Col. 1:21). Without being reconciled with God, man has been consigned to suffer His fiery indignation on Judgment Day and ultimately, eternal perdition in the lake of fire, which is the second death (Heb. 10:26-27; 2 Pet. 3:7, 10; Rev. 20:14).

"Such is the payment God has decreed for sin, which, lamentably, all men have committed (Rom. 6:23; 5:12) – with Christ as the sole exception (1 Pet. 2:22). Yet, the benevolent Father does not take pleasure at all in seeing the wicked die (Ezek. 18:23), thus He extends His hand of reconciliation to all: 'Yet from the days of your fathers, You have gone away from my ordinances And have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,' Says the LORD of hosts. 'But you said, 'In what way shall we return?' (Mal. 3:7 NKJV).

"That is what 'religion,' in essence, is all about. Derived from the Latin religare, it means to 'bind back' – synonymous with 'reconcile,' from Latin reconciliare, meaning to 'bring back together.' The history of religion, in fact, is a thrilling account of man's attempts to return or reconcile to his Maker.

"This reconciliation of man to God is His ultimate goal of sending His messengers, as mentioned in the commissioning of Apostle Paul: 'I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles. To whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me' (Acts 26:17-18 NKJV).

"In the Christian dispensation, God sent His greatest Messenger, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who, in turn, sent His apostles (Matt. 4:18-21; John 20:21- 22). When Jesus was already in heaven, He called and chose Saul, a Jew who used to be an avid persecutor of the Church, to be His apostle. Saul, later named Paul, was sent to the Gentile regions to bring people 'from the power of Satan to God,' that is to reconcile then to God.

"Like Apostle Paul, the ones appointed by God to effectuate man's reconciliation to Him are described as 'ambassadors for Christ: 'Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 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. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God' (2 Cor. 5:18-20 NKJV).

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If you want to know more about the things that you ought to do to be saved come Judgment Day – the Second Advent of Lord Jesus Christ, please call telephone numbers +632981-4311/981-1111/719-78000 or email queries to [email protected].

Dr. Antonio G. Papa is currently a trustee of the New Era University in Quezon City and the second head deacon at the Local Congregation of Indang, Ecclesiastical District of Cavite South. He is a retired university professor at the College of Economics, Management and Development Studies, Cavite State University (CvSU) in Indang, Cavite. In 2018, he served as a scientist 1 and consultant at Marinduque State College in Boac, Marinduque. He is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education degree at the Don Severino Agricultural College now CvSU in 1978, and both Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Extension Education at the University of the Philippines at Los Baños, College, Laguna in 1986 and 1991, respectively.