So basic is this truth that without objective reconciliation there is no thought of salvation, of regeneration, of faith, of Christian life. The initiative in reconciliation, moreover, is all on God’s side; through his Word, the gospel, God reveals to sinners that he is fully reconciled with them because of Christ. The vicarious atonement or redemption of Christ underlies God’s reconciling activity. Reconciliation took place not by God’s exercise of divine fiat or decree of power but through Christ