Ephesians, part 30, The Armor of God (part 2)

In regard to spiritual armor, Paul writes in Ephesians 6:15,

¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

The word picture shows someone who is being sent out with the message of “the gospel of peace.” He prepares for his journey first by putting on his shoes, so that the rough road does not slow him down or injure his feet. This is the only piece of armor that is said to prepare the ambassador for his journey.

The Ambassadors

He is indeed an ambassador carrying a message from God. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 says,

¹⁸ Now all these things are of God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ 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.

The message committed to us is “the word of reconciliation,” which is said to be “that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” The Greek word translated “reconciliation” is katallasso, which means literally, “to change or exchange, to cause one thing to cease and another to take its place.” The word was used in commerce to exchange coins or to make an equal exchange (coins for goods being purchased or bartered to the satisfaction and agreement of both parties).

The “word of reconciliation,” then, is an exchange where Christ purchased the world by His blood. Though His blood was worth far more than the entire debt of the world through all of history, He was willing to make that exchange.

Conciliation Precedes Reconciliation

In order to understand the precise nature of the word of reconciliation given to the ambassadors of Christ, we must compare katallasso with apokatallasso, a word that Paul used earlier in Ephesians 2:15, 16,

¹⁵ … so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, ¹⁶ and might reconcile [apokatallasso] them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

 Most translators make no distinction between katallasso and apokatallasso, because they fail to recognize the precise nature of this transaction. Neither do they acknowledge Paul’s clear teaching on the reconciliation of all things (Colossians 1:20). Katallasso is the appropriate word to picture God sending out an emissary to an enemy, telling him that the war is over and that God is no longer fighting them, that God is “not counting their trespasses against them.”

In other words, the entire world has fallen into sin, violating God’s rights. God has legal cause against their offensive behavior, but the blood of Jesus has paid the debt and satisfied His demands. Hence, God is no longer fighting them, nor does He consider them to be His enemies any longer. God then sends ambassadors to tell these former enemies that for His part, He has been conciliated (katallasso). The point of the message is to ask the other side to accept this conciliation, so that there can be a reconciliation (apokatallasso) of both parties.

God took the initiative and was conciliated before the world had time to respond in kind. Paul shows the same idea in Romans 5:10, where he says,

¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled [katallasso] to God through the death of His son, much more having been reconciled [katallasso], we shall be saved by His life.

Note that this describes a situation where God has conciliated them while they are still enemies. It is only when those enemies become God’s friends that a reconciliation (apokatallasso) has taken place. Hence, ambassadors for Christ are sent out with a message of conciliation, asking for a conciliatory response so that there may be a reconciliation.

Our Calling as Ambassadors

The ambassadors prepare for their peace mission by putting on their spiritual shoes. The purpose of reconciliation is to establish peace. Peace is about reconciliation. The peace offerings in the law (Leviticus 3) were designed to teach us the importance of God’s plan to reconcile enemies, just as the sin offerings were designed to teach us how to justify sinners.

Both justification and reconciliation are linked to the love of God in Romans 5:8-10, which is the prelude to Paul’s discussion about its universal application in Romans 5:16, 17, 18, 19. Unless prospective ambassadors for Christ clearly understand the word of reconciliation which they must convey to the world, how is it possible to fulfill that calling? Virtually all believers understand the message of justification, but how many understand the word of reconciliation?

So let us put on our spiritual shoes and thereby fulfill our call as ambassadors of Christ. Only by wearing those shoes can we fulfill the prophecy in Isaiah 52:7,

⁷ How lovely on the mountains [i.e., the nations] are the feet of him who brings good news [basar, “gospel”], who announces peace and brings good news [basar] of happiness, who announces salvation [yeshua], and says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”