You Were Never Far: Reconciling the Truth About Separation

Reflections With Scripture from the NTE

For most of my life, I was taught that sin separates us from God—that we’re born far from Him, spiritually dead, and outside of His presence. But as I’ve spent more time with the words of Paul, especially in 2 Corinthians 5:14–21 and Colossians 1:21, I’ve come to see that the real separation isn’t from God’s side. It’s in our minds.

Paul writes in Colossians 1:21 (NTE):

“And you too, though you were once alienated and hostile in your minds, as expressed through your evil deeds,”

Did you catch that? The alienation wasn’t objective, eternal, or legal—it was mental. It was how we perceived ourselves, how we thought about God. The hostility wasn’t coming from God toward us—it was us living in darkness, believing lies, and walking as if we were strangers to the One who created and sustains us.

But that mindset was never the truth of who we were. It was a false mindset, a veil over our hearts. And through Christ, that veil has been lifted.

The Love That Changes Everything

In 2 Corinthians 5:14 (NTE), Paul says:

“For the love of the Messiah leaves us no choice, because we have reached the conclusion that one died for the sake of all; and so, then, all died.”

That’s radical. It means that when Christ died, we all died with Him. His death was our death. His resurrection, our new life. Whether we knew it or not, we were included in something far bigger than our own decisions or awareness.

This is not a message of exclusion or transaction—it’s a message of revelation and reconciliation. Paul goes on:

“And he died for the sake of all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died and was raised on their behalf.”(2 Corinthians 5:15 NTE)

The purpose of Christ’s death and resurrection isn’t just forgiveness—it’s a complete reorientation of life. We’re invited to awaken to this reality and live from shared resurrection life.

Not Becoming New—Awakening to the New

“So then, if anyone is in the Messiah, there is a new creation! Old things have gone, and look—everything has become new!”(2 Corinthians 5:17 NTE)

Paul doesn't say you must strive to become new—he says, you are. The old mindset of alienation is part of what’s gone. A new way of seeing God, yourself, and others has dawned. This is the gospel: the unveiling of what already is in Christ.

God's Initiative, Not Ours

“It all comes from God, who reconciled us to himself through the Messiah, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”(2 Corinthians 5:18 NTE)

This is God’s initiative, not ours. God didn’t wait for us to come to Him—He came to us in Jesus to reveal that we’re already reconciled. And now we’re called to participate in making this known—not to reconcile people to God, but to announce the reconciliation God has already accomplished.

“This is how it came about: God was in the Messiah, reconciling the world to himself, not counting their transgressions against them, and entrusting us with the message of reconciliation.”(2 Corinthians 5:19 NTE)

This verse obliterates the religious myth of a wrathful God needing payment to forgive. God wasn’t punishing Jesus instead of us—He was in Christ, healing the breach, refusing to count sin against us. The problem was never God’s judgment of us—it was our alienation and unbelief. This is love in action: God reconciles the world, not by exclusion but embrace.

If God isn’t counting our sins against us, then why is religion still obsessed with them? Always saying we’re separated from God and need to do something to get right. News flash: God already dealt with our sin. It’s gone. He’s not holding anything against us—so why are we?

Be Reconciled to What Already Is

“So we are ambassadors, speaking on behalf of the Messiah, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore people on the Messiah’s behalf to be reconciled to God.”(2 Corinthians 5:20 NTE)

Paul doesn’t say, “Get God to reconcile with you.” He says, “Be reconciled”—meaning, wake up to what is already true. The reconciliation has already happened—it’s our awareness and trust that must catch up.

“The Messiah didn’t know sin, but God made him to be sin on our behalf, so that in him we might embody God’s faithfulness to covenant.”(2 Corinthians 5:21 NTE)

This is the mystery of the cross: Jesus enters into our darkness, our sin, our distorted mindset—not to appease God, but to absorb and undo it. So that we could see what has always been true—that we are, in Him, the very righteousness (rightness, covenant-fulfillment) of God.

Summary: Not Separation, but Alienation in the Mind

Paul’s entire message here mirrors Colossians 1:21:

• Alienation is in our minds, not God’s.

• Christ didn’t come to fix a God problem—but a human perception problem.

• God has reconciled the world to Himself in Christ—not by holding sin against us, but by entering into it and healing it.

• The good news is not “You’re far from God, but can come near”—it’s “You are reconciled—wake up to it!”

Final Thought

You were never far. God didn’t have to be persuaded to forgive you. In Christ, He showed that reconciliation was always His idea—not a reaction to sin, but the unveiling of eternal love.

So today, let the gospel do what it’s meant to do: Awaken you to the truth that you are, and have always been, held in the heart of the Father.