How does God reconcile us in Christ?
God reconciles us to himself through the death of Christ upon the cross.
Catechism for the Global Methodist Church, question 13
26Then he released Barabbas to them, but Jesus, having whipped him, he delivered in order that he be crucified. 50Then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 59And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. 60He placed it in his new tomb, which he had cut in the rock, and after rolling a large stone against the door of the tomb, he went away.
15Then Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them, and having whipped Jesus delivered him so that he might be crucified. 37Then Jesus uttered a great cry and expired. 45And when he had learned from the centurion, he gave the corpse to Joseph. 46And having bought linen, he took him down, wrapped him in the linen, and placed him in a tomb that had been hewn out of rock; then he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.
23But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. 24So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. 25He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, whom they asked for, but he handed Jesus over to their will. 46And Jesus called out with a great voice and said, "Father, into your hands I commit this spirit of mine." Then, having said this, he expired. 53And taking it down, he wrapped it in linen and placed it in an engraved tomb where no one had yet been laid.
16Then therefore he delivered him to them in order that he might be crucified. Therefore they took Jesus. 30When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished," and bowing his head he gave up his spirit. 33But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 38After these things Joseph from Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus but hidden because of fear of the Jews, asked Pilate in order that he might take up the body of Jesus, and Pilate permitted. He therefore came and took up his body. 39Nicodemus also came, the one who had come to him at first by night, bearing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. 40They therefore took the body of Jesus and bound it with bandages together with the spices, just as the custom of the Jews is to prepare for burial. 41Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new grave in which no one had yet been placed. 42Therefore on account of the Preparation of the Jews, because the grave was near, they placed Jesus there.
21But now the righteousness of God has been revealed apart from law, being attested by the law and the prophets. 22This righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, for there is no distinction. 23For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a mercy seat through faith in his blood, in order to demonstrate his righteousness by passing over the sins previously committed. 26This was done in the forbearance of God to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will hardly die for a just person; though perhaps for a good person someone might even be bold to die. 8But God commends his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more therefore, now that we have been justified by his blood, we will be saved through him from the wrath. 10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, we will be saved by his life. 11Not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
3For I delivered to you among the first things which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the writings, 4and that he was buried, and that he has been raised on the third day according to the writings,
God made peace with sinners through the death of his Son. The creed confesses it: "For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried." Article VIII of the Confession of Faith reads, "We believe God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The offering Christ freely made on the cross is the perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, redeeming man from all sin, so that no other satisfaction is required." Article XX of the Articles of Religion says the same: the offering of Christ, once made, is "that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world."
The death was a real death, in a real place, under a named Roman governor. All four Gospels record that Pilate "delivered him so that he might be crucified" (Mark 15:15), that Jesus "cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit" (Matthew 27:50), and that Joseph of Arimathea "wrapped him in the linen, and placed him in a tomb that had been hewn out of rock" (Mark 15:46). John also records the soldier's spear, so that "immediately blood and water came out" (John 19:34). Paul passed these reports on as the first things he himself had received: "that Christ died for our sins according to the writings, and that he was buried" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
Through that death God reconciles us to himself. Paul says God "presented him as a mercy seat through faith in his blood," so that God "might be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Romans 3:25-26). The initiative was entirely God's. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8), and "while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son" (Romans 5:10). ΒΆ102 of the Book of Doctrines and Discipline calls this justifying grace, received by faith, "what God does for us."
Christ died for all people. The Wesleyan tradition has always taught so, and no Methodist has to wonder whether the cross was meant for him. Every celebration of the Lord's Supper proclaims this death, and every confession of sin in worship rests on the fact that the sacrifice has already been made and accepted "through faith in his blood" (Romans 3:25).