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Question 10

The lesson ends with a tension: we should “joyfully exalt” in reconciliation and not live in shame, yet Origen warns that returning to works God detests makes a person act like an enemy again; what does it look like to cultivate confident rejoicing without sliding into complacency, and how would a church help people do both—celebrate grace and fear returning to enmity?

Another way to ask: We’re told to rejoice confidently in being made right with God, but Origen warns we can act like enemies again if we go back to what God hates. How can someone stay joyful without getting lazy, and how can a church help people celebrate grace while still taking sin seriously?

Direct Answer Bercot’s lesson holds both together by teaching we should rejoice confidently that we are loved and reconciled, while also refusing to return to sin, because ongoing sinful works rebuild “enmity” with God. A church would therefore encourage joyful gratitude for reconciliation alongside clear calls to repentance, endurance, and coming into the light.

Support from Transcript:

Romans 5:11: “we also exalt in God… by whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
Bercot: God doesn’t want us to “continually dwell in remorse and sorrow,” but to “joyfully exalt.”
Chrysostom: being saved while wicked is “a great sign” we are “exceedingly loved,” and friendship with God is a source of “glory and confidence.”
Yet Bercot adds: “we must never return to our prior life of sin.”
Origen questions ongoing sin: can such people be “reconciled… through the blood of Christ” if they “do the things of an enemy”? Returning to enmity after reconciliation is “a great shame.”

Discussion Follow-ups What practices in your church help people rejoice openly in grace, and what practices help them take sin seriously before it hardens into returning to ‘enmity’?

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