Reconciled Unto God

Jacob gave us this invitation in the Book of Mormon: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved” (2 Nephi 10:24).  This concept of being reconciled to God was taught by both him and Nephi after their separation with Laman and Lemuel.  Nephi said this about their purpose in writing his account: “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23).  He emphasized the need for reconciliation for all of us when he said near the end of his record: “I also have charity for the Gentiles. But behold, for none of these can I hope except they shall be reconciled unto Christ, and enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the strait path which leads to life, and continue in the path until the end of the day of probation” (2 Nephi 33:9).  The only way to salvation involves being reconciled unto Christ.  Jacob similarly invited us, “Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God” (Jacob 4:11).  In each of these accounts Jacob and Nephi invited us to be reconciled unto God or to the Savior.  So what does that mean exactly for us to be reconciled to God? 

               The definition of the word reconcile that seems to most apply in this context is “to bring into agreement or harmony; make compatible or consistent.”  In each of these Book of Mormon references to reconciliation it is us that have to be reconciled to God, meaning that we are trying to bring ourselves into harmony with Him.  We are the ones who need to forsake sin, to develop the attributes of the Son, to change our wills to be aligned with God.  The process of reconciliation then is perhaps that same process that King Benjamin described in which we go from being a natural man and “enemy to God” to becoming a “saint through the atonement of Christ” (Mosiah 3:19).  Through Christ we are to work to change that part of our nature which is in opposition to the righteousness of God.  Christ’s role in fact is to facilitate this reconciliation, to through His atonement allow us to become like God.  Paul taught that God “hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ.”  More specifically, God “reconcile[ed] the world unto himself, not imputing their trespass unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”  So this reconciliation involves the fact that God doesn’t impute unto us our trespasses, or in other words, He can look past our sins because of the Savior’s sacrifice.  As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, we are reconciled unto God “in one body by the cross” (Ephesians 2:16).  It is the cross, the sacrifice of the Son, His great offering of mediation, that enables our reconciliation.  He brings us into agreement with the Father by cleansing and sanctifying us to be worthy of returning to the Father’s presence.  Of course, that takes place only through repentance, and Paul’s invitation to the Corinthians is just as important today as it was for them: “We pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).  And surely that is the work of a lifetime as we seek day by day to become more like God and put off our sins of the natural man through the atonement of Christ.