{Who reconciled us to himself through Christ} (	ou
katallaxantos h(886d)as heaut(9369) dia Christou). Here Paul uses one of
his great doctrinal words, katallass(935c), old word for exchanging
coins. Diallass(935c), to change one's mind, to reconcile, occurs in
N.T. only in  Mt 5:24  though in papyri (Deissmann, _Light from
the Ancient East_, p. 187), and common in Attic. Katallass(935c) is
old verb, but more frequent in later writers. We find
sunallass(935c) in  Ac 7:26  and apokatallass(935c) in  Col 1:20f.  Eph
2:16  and the substantive katallag(885c) in  Ro 5:11  11:15  as well
as here. It is hard to discuss this great theme without apparent
contradiction. God's love ( Joh 3:16 ) provided the means and
basis for man's reconciliation to God against whom he had sinned.
It is all God's plan because of his love, but God's own sense of
justice had to be satisfied ( Ro 3:26 ) and so God gave his Son
as a propitiation for our sins ( Ro 3:25  Col 1:20  1Jo 2:2  4:10 ). The point made by Paul here is that God needs no
reconciliation, but is engaged in the great business of
reconciling us to himself. This has to be done on God's terms and
is made possible through (dia) Christ. {And gave unto us the
ministry of reconciliation} (kai dontos h(886d)in t(886e) diakonian t(8873)
katallag(8873)). It is a ministry marked by reconciliation, that
consists in reconciliation. God has made possible through Christ
our reconciliation to him, but in each case it has to be made
effective by the attitude of each individual. The task of winning
the unreconciled to God is committed to us. It is a high and holy
one, but supremely difficult, because the offending party (the
guilty) is the hardest to win over. We must be loyal to God and
yet win sinful men to him.