Atonement brings us from alienation from God all the way to reconciliation to God. Our final level of reconciliation will be as complete as was true of our former level of alienation. We were alienated completely and we shall be reconciled completely. It is a perfect atonement, a perfect reconciliation.

The works of the devil separate us from God. When man sinned at the beginning he came under the authority and power of the wicked one. Over many thousands of years the nature of the adversary has been developed and revealed in mankind to such an extent that humans are conceived and born in sin.

Rebellion against God and His ways saturates our every fiber—we were born that way. The evil nature of people is not reconciled to the Father in a moment, although any person can gain forgiveness and come under the protection of God in the moment of receiving Christ.

The first step in the process of absolute reconciliation is the removal of the authority and the guilt of sin. This removal was accomplished perfectly on Calvary. Satan has no authority whatever over a human being who has asked Christ for salvation. At the moment of receiving Christ the individual passes from the authority of darkness to the authority of Christ.

God has provided the legal foundation for the change of authority. There is nothing anyone can do to prevent the change of authority from occurring when a human being fulfills the legal requirement by believing and being baptized.

At the moment of believing in Christ, the person is found to be not guilty, by the Judge of the court of Heaven. Therefore the authority of the wicked one is nonexistent as far as the believer in Christ is concerned. However, the Lake of Fire retains jurisdiction over sin whether found in a non-Christian or Christian.

What about the power of sin? So great is the power of sin over Christians that many churches deny that it is possible for the believer to overcome his sinful habits; although the Scripture states: "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live in the appetites of the flesh" (Romans 8:12).

We understand that Satan uses the lusts of our fleshly nature, guiding and deceiving us into the "works of the flesh." The world, Satan, and our fleshly nature conspire against us as we attempt to live in a righteous, holy, and obedient manner. We love to obey God but sometimes we find it difficult to perform His will with a pure heart.

If we will cooperate with the Spirit of God He will come in judgment against the control that the world, Satan, and our fleshly nature have over our behavior. The result of the Divine judgment will be the destruction of sin and the bringing of us into the fullness of resurrection life. Seen from this point of view, the judgment of God is to be greatly desired by the believer in Christ.

To the extent that we sin we have not been reconciled to God. It continues to be true, however, that our guilt has been removed and we are without condemnation as long as we are doing God's will to the best of our knowledge and ability.

The fact that sin still retains some control over our behavior is proof that a part of our personality has not as yet been reconciled to God. Our mortal body remains unredeemed. It is still under the power of the enemy. It is dead because of the sin that dwells in it.

Every part of our personality tha+t has been reconciled to God obeys God promptly. The part of our personality that still is hostile toward God and seeks to compel us to live in the lusts of the flesh is under the judgment of God and shall be destroyed. (from The Temple of God)