In 2 Cor 5:18 Paul says “reconciled us unto himself” – who is the “us”? The context shows that this means believers. We read in 2 Cor 5:19 “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself” and in Col 1:20 “by him [Christ] to reconcile all things unto himself”, but what does this mean? It certainly does not mean the whole world is saved, as that would contradict every other scripture which teaches that you are saved when you believe (Mark 16:16, Acts 16:31, Heb 10:39, 1 Cor 15:2, Eph 2:8 and Gal 2:16). No, it simply means a similar thing to John 3:16 – “God so loved the world…” God loves everyone, and that love reconciles everyone to him. Reconciliation and love atre different from salvation. We have already shown that a person is not saved unless they believe. Just to make it abundantly clear, Paul states in the next verse, v.20, “be ye reconciled to God”. So we need to be reconciled to God, the love and reconciliation that God offered to the whole world through Christ must be received in order for a person to be fully reconciled to God.
More to be written, come back later.