Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Pastors’ Column – 02/09/15



A mediator is a person who intervenes between two, either in order to make or restore peace and friendship, or to form a compact or ratify a covenant. Today, we would call a lawyer a mediator because he/she represents a client and advises them on their legal situation.

Paul writes in 1 Tim 2:5, “For there is only one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” In the days of Jesus there was a great influence from Roman and Greek culture, and in this culture, they worshipped many different gods. They imagined that a number of intermediaries existed between God and man. Paul speaking a message of only one mediator between God and man was something new.

Since there is but one mediator between God and man, man can be saved only through the reconciliation made possible through Jesus. John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Jesus is man’s only access to God. Any other way to approach God is worthless.

Every believer has a direct accessibility to God and can get forgiveness by appealing directly to God for it. We need no mediator other than, or in addition to Jesus Christ. There is only one mediator between God and man.

So, does the church stand as a mediator between man and God? Has the church become the dispenser of salvation, rather than the recipient of salvation? Can you obtain God’s forgiveness without making a public confession?

James 5:15, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man accomplish much.” When one confesses his sins to one another, it is not to be viewed as being necessary for one’s salvation. This is just the case of a man acknowledging his faults and requesting the prayers of his brethren to help him to overcome them.

Let us remember that no one other than Christ can grant forgiveness. No priest, nor the church stands between God and man. There is but one mediator between God and man.








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