New Creation (2 Cor 5:11-21)

The ministry of reconciliation (5:11-21).

• After declaring his aim to please the Lord whether at home in the body or away (5:9), and 
• reminding us that 'all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ' (5:10), 
• Paul tries to persuade others to be reconciled to God (5:11),
• while responding to criticisms of the way he conducts his ministry (5:11-15), and concludes with 
• the theological basis upon which reconciliation with God rests (5:16-21).

Defense of his ministry (5:11-15); Paul's motivation and conviction. "Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others" (2 Cor 5:11a). He isn't 'afraid' of the Lord, but he has a 'reverential awe' of him and recognizes that his whole life and ministry is under his scrutiny. With this awareness he persuades others. 2 ways to understand persuading others.

1. awareness of accountability to God motivates Paul to be diligent in his efforts to persuade others--to bring about in them the obedience of faith, as he was commissioned to do (1 Cor 2:1-5; 2 Cor 10:5; Col 1:28; Acts 9:20-22; 13:16-43; 17:22-34; 19:8-10; 26:24-29; 28:23). He sought to remove intellectual barriers, to overcome prejudice and ignorance and to convince by argument, testimony and the straightforward proclamation of the gospel.
2. the persuasion he practises was free from all dubious methods, carried out with a fear of the Lord, who expects nothing less than full integrity in his messengers [anticipating the defence of the conduct of his ministry that is to follow]. 'to persuade' (peitho): 'Am I now trying to win the approval [peitho] of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people?' (Gal 1:10). It implies persuasion by adulterating the gospel to please his hearers. So Paul's persuasion is not a persuasion which sacrifices the truth in order to please his hearers. His persuasion is straightforward, carried out with a fear of the Lord.

"What we are is plain to God" (2 Cor 5:11b). Paul's motives and actions lie open before God, who sees there is no deception involved in his attempts to persuade people. "And I hope it is also plain to your conscience" (2 Cor 5:11c). He appeals to their consciences (2 Cor 4:2) hoping that they'll recognize his integrity---and not to the criticisms of others, but to their own consciences.

"We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again" (2 Cor 5:12a). Paul is very sensitive about self-commendation (2 Cor 3:1; 10:18), with criticism directed against him for it. He denies that he's commending himself when he defends his character and his persuasion practises. Rather, he is "giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart" (2 Cor 5:12b). This is directed toward those who are critical of his motives and methods. So he defends his integrity so that his converts may deal with the criticisms against him. They feel justly proud of the way their spiritual father conducts himself, and to answer his detractors. 'We are here taught that the servants of Christ ought to be concerned for their own reputations only in so far as it is for the advantage of the Church.' [Calvin].

Who are "those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart" (2 Cor 5:12)? From ch. 1-7 and 10-13 the outward matters of those who prided themselves include the letters of recommendation they carried (2 Cor 3:1), their rhetorical prowess (2 Cor 11:5-6), Jewish ancestry (2 Cor 11:22), ecstatic visionary experiences (2 Cor 12:1) and the apostolic signs they performed (2 Cor 12:11-13). To them such outward matters were more important than the condition of a person's heart, which is what God sees.

"If we are 'out of our mind,' as some say, it is for God" (2 Cor 5:13a). 2 possibilities. [1] It could be Paul's response to charges that he was mad. Later in his career, Festes charged Paul of madness (Acts 26:22-24), which Paul rejects: "'I am not insane, most excellent Festus," Paul replied. "What I am saying is true and reasonable" ' (Acts 26:25). Charges were also made against Jesus for being mad because of his zeal (Mk 3:21) and because his teaching offended his hearers (Jn 10:20). [2] It could be Paul's response to those who denied that his ministry was truly spiritual because he gave no evidence of ecstatic experience. To this Paul would reply, 'If we do experience ecstasy, that is something between us and God' - it's not something to bragged about in support of the validity of my ministry. [1] is preferable--to insist on his rationality rather than on his ecstatic experiences.

"If we are in our right mind, it is for you" (2 Cor 5:13b). If we adopt the first of the alternatives above, then Paul is saying, 'Even if [as some say] we are mad, that is but the result of our faithfulness to God in preaching a pure gospel, but if we are in our right mind [as we are], then that is for your sake [who benefit from the sober truth we speak].' On the second alternative, Paul is saying, 'If we do experience ecstasy, then that is something between us and God [not something to be displayed before others as proof of the spiritual character of our ministry], but if we are in our right mind [and use reasonable, intelligible speech], that is for your benefit.'

"For Christ's love compels us (2 Cor 5:14a). Compels (synechei) basic meaning is To press together, constrain.' Paul says, 'I am torn [synechomai] between the two' (Phil 1:23), where Paul faces the possibilities of departure to be with Christ through death or a longer life for ministry. He felt the pressure of 2 alternatives, motivated to do one thing, and to do the opposite. It is the pressure not so much to control as to cause action. It is motivational rather than directional force. The verb in the present tense emphasizes the continuous pressure upon Paul (2 Cor 5:14) from the love of Christ. This can either as Paul's love for Christ (objective genitive), or Christ's love for Paul (subjective genitive). What follows (2 Cor 5:14b-15) favors the latter. Christ's love shown in his death for all motivates him for ministry. Christ's love so deeply influenced Paul that he gave his whole life to his service. Why? 

"because we are convinced that one died for all" (2 Cor 5:14b)--not some vague idea of Christ's goodwill that moved him. Died (apethanen) [aorist tense], points to the historic event of the cross. But it was not the bare fact of Christ's death that moved Paul; it was the death of Christ understood in a particular way--his death for all (hyper panton). Hyper could mean 'instead of' (i.e. Christ dying 'in place of' all) or 'for the sake of' (i.e. Christ dying 'for the benefit of' all). Which one?

Other Pauline texts. 'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, by becoming a curse for [hyper] us, for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole" ' (Gal 3:13). Christ clearly endures God's curse instead of us with absolutely no reason for him to endure God's curse otherwise. So on the 'pole' (his death upon the cross), he bore the curse of God instead of us. Therefore, "one died for [hyper] all" (2 Cor 5:14b) means that Christ died instead of the all. This preserves the logical connection with what follows: "and therefore all died" (2 Cor 14c). If Christ did not die instead of the all, then the all cannot be said to have died [the meaning of 'world' (2 Cor 5:19)]. Only because Christ is the incarnate Son of God could the death of one be for all. Only the death of this one could redeem us from the curse of the law; the death of a mere human being could never achieve this. It is the exceptional character of Christ's love, which moved him to die in our place, which alone accounts satisfactorily for its great motivational power in Paul's life. 'The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me' (Gal 2:20). Further clues concerning the significance of Christ's death (2 Cor 5:18-21).

The purpose of Christ's death. Negatively: "And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves..." Positively: "but for him who died for them and was raised again" (2 Cor 5:15). Those who benefit from Christ's death and resurrection reverting to living for themselves is ever present; it happened to a number of Paul's associates (Phil 2:21; 2 Tim 4:10). What kept Paul on the right path, and will keep us there too, is an awareness of the exceptional character of Christ's love for us. We love him and desire to live for him as we realize that he loved us and gave himself for us (Gal. 2:20).

God's reconciling act in Christ (5:16-21). "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view" (2 Cor 5:16a). From the time Paul realized the significance of the death of Christ - 'one died for all, and therefore all died' (2 Cor 5:14) - the love of Christ expressed in his death 'for all' was the motivating force in his life (2 Cor 5:15; Gal 2:20), and it also changed his whole outlook (Phil 3:4-8). He could no longer regard others "from a worldly point of view." He confesses that "we once regarded Christ in this way" (2 Cor 5:16b). Pre-conversion he judged Christ using worldly criteria and came to the wrong conclusion, but after God revealed his Son to him, he says, "we do so no longer" (2 Cor 5:16c). Pre-conversion, like many fellow Jews, Paul dismissed claims that Jesus was the Messiah, because he, like them, regard it as unthinkable that God's Messiah could be crucified like a criminal.

Regarding Christ from "a worldly point of view" ('according to [the] flesh'), Paul is talking about a way of knowing ('according to the flesh'). Paul says that previously he had an inadequate knowledge of Christ - based on a worldly point of view - but no longer so. Paul regarded Christ before and after his conversion to appreciate the contrast of viewpoints. Pre-conversion he regarded him as a false Christ, whose followers ought to be stamped out. After knowing Jesus as God's Messiah, the one who makes all things new, all people must be called to respond in the obedience of faith (Rom 1:5) and live for him (2 Cor 5:15).

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come [lit. 'so that, if anyone [is] in Christ, [there is] a new creation'] (2 Cor 5:17a) is the great significance of Christ's work. In Christ is to belong to Christ; to live in the sphere of Christ's power; to be united to Christ; and to be a member of the church through baptism. Though it's difficult to explain precisely what Paul intended, each option is feasible. At a minimum, to be in Christ means to belong to him through faith, and to belong to him means living in the sphere of his power, being united with him through the Spirit, and to become a part of the church by baptism.

What Paul stresses is its significance: the person "in Christ [is a] new creation," thus, "the old has gone, the new is here" (2 Cor 5:17b)! This reflects in the changed outlook (2 Cor 5:16) in a new holiness of life (1 Cor. 6:9-11). 'By this he briefly showed that those who, by their faith in Christ, had put off like an old cloak the burden of their sins, those who had been set free from their error and been illumined by the light of justification, had put on this new and shining cloak, this royal robe' (Chrysostom).

God's plan of salvation, while primarily concerned with humanity, encompasses the whole created order (Rom 8:21). In Christ, people become part of the new creation. For the time being the old still persists and the new has not yet fully come (Rom 8:18-25; Gal 5:15-26). But Paul stresses the newness of life in Christ here (2 Cor 5:17), rather than the limitations and the tension involved in participating in the new creation while still living as part of the old. A new creation will culminate in transformation by resurrection to immortality in the new created order at the parousia (Isa 65:17-25; 66:22; Rom 8:19-23; Rev 21:1).

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ" (2 Cor 5:18a). The heart of Paul's gospel is Christ crucified as Lord. It is God's great plan of salvation by which all creation is to be reconciled through Christ reconciling us to Himself. Reconciliation in the NT is God initiating the reconciling activity with full cooperation from His Son (Rom 5:10-11; 11:15; 2 Cor 5:18-20; Col 1:19-20, 22).

Reconciliation involves the restoration of friendship after estrangement. Sin estranged humanity from God, who initiated overcoming this estrangement through the cross of Christ. It's NOT Christ is the gracious one who must overcome unwillingness on God's part to be reconciled with sinful humanity. Yes, there's an obstacle on God's part to be overcome before reconciliation could be effected with humanity. God's wrath, revealed from heaven against the wickedness of humanity, had to be dealt with (Rom 1:18; 5:9-11). The amazing grace of God is he himself took action in Christ to remove the obstacle to reconciliation existing on his part. It's only because of this action that humanity can now be reconciled to God and experience his friendship.

Reconciliation has been accomplished already--in a sense. God through Christ has already reconciled us to himself. He has broken down the barrier which separated us from him. What's that barrier and how it was broken (2 Cor 5:19, 21)? Why is the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:19c) still incomplete? The preaching of reconciliation has to be carried out and people must hear the call to "Be reconciled to God" (2 Cor 5:20b). Unless they respond to that call, they cannot experience reconciliation.

"God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ [lit. 'God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself'] (2 Cor 5:19a). It was through the agency of Christ that God reconciled the world to himself (NIV). Though this is intended, more than this may be involved. 'For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross' (Col 1:19-20). Paul juxtaposes the fullness of God that dwelt in Christ and God's action in him to reconcile the world to himself. 'It was only because God in all his fullness had chosen to dwell in Christ (Col 2:9), that reconciliation was accomplished ... Not only was Christ God's agent in effecting reconciliation (Rom 5:10-11; 2 Cor 5:18; Col 1:19- 22); he also mediated the divine presence, thus giving validity to his reconciliatory sacrifice' [Harris]. [God reconciling the world to himself, where the world refers to humanity, not the whole created order, for reconciliation is related to not counting people's sins against them (elsewhere he does include the whole creation in the reconciliation; cf. Col. 1:20).]

"Not counting people's sins against them" (2 Cor 5:19b). Not counting (logizomai ) people's sins against them is a mathematical or accounting term used in relation to keeping a score of wrongs or crediting and debiting things to people's accounts. What is involved in the non-counting of people's sins against them? 'Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them' (Rom 4:8; Ps 32:2) This blessing is not restricted to Jews ('the circumcised'), but is for all who believe, including Gentiles ('the uncircumcised') (Rom 4:9-12). This applies to all who believe, whether Jews or Gentiles, not to everyone, for unless people repent, their sins are and shall be counted against them (Rom 1:18-32; 2:5-11; Eph 5:3-6; Col 3:5-6). Yes, the death of Christ is sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world (1 Jn 2:2) and make reconciliation possible for everyone, but this is effective only in those who respond positively to the message of reconciliation.

"And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Cor 5:19c). God has not only reconciled the world to himself, he has also commissioned messengers to proclaim that good news. Paul's commission to preach the gospel came to him when he encountered Christ on the Damascus road. The reconciling activity of God is manifested in 2 movements:

1. his own reconciliation of the world in Christ, and 
2. his call to people to be reconciled on that basis through his messengers.

Because God entrusted him with "the message of reconciliation" (2 Cor 5:19), Paul says, "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us" (2 Cor 5:20a). The Greek verb ... Christ's ambassadors (presbeud) means 'to be older or the eldest,' for which the wisdom of age was a necessary prerequisite. In the politics it was used of ambassadors who were commissioned and given authority to represent their nations. In the religion it was used figuratively, for eg., by Philo when speaking of the angels or Moses as God's emissaries. Jesus said the Twelve were to act as his representatives, and that whoever received them received him and the one who sent him (Mt 10:40). Paul was commissioned as an ambassador/apostle of Christ at his conversion and spoke in his name and with his authority (2 Cor 10:8; 13:10; 1 Th 2:6; 4:2), so that when he preached the gospel, people experienced the word of God at work in their hearts through the ministry of the Spirit (1 Th 1:4-5; 2:13). God, who reconciled the world to himself through the death of his Son (2 Cor 5:19), appealed to people, through his ambassador, to be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:20).

"We implore you on Christ's behalf: be reconciled to God" (2 Cor 5:20b). This may be the language of Paul's evangelistic preaching, but here the appeal is directed to the Corinthian church. Paul is not implying that they had not responded to the gospel, for they have (1 Cor 15:1). But Paul's apostolic authority and gospel had been called into question, and later he entreats his converts not to accept the grace of God in vain (2 Cor 6:1-13), but to open their hearts to him (2 Cor 6:11-13; 7:2-4).

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us" (2 Cor 5:21a) is a highly compressed extremely profound statement about the work of Christ. It's the basis upon which God reconciled us to himself (2 Cor 5:18). It's why the cross, as the expression of the love of God in Christ, had such great motivating power in Paul's life. Christ is one who had no sin (ton me gnonta hamardan; lit. 'who did not know sin'). To 'know' sin is not to know about sin, but to know it by being personally involved in it. Per the NT Jesus did not sin (cf. Mt 27:4, 24; Lk 23:47; Jn 8:46; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 1:19; 2:22). There's an allusion here to the Suffering Servant ['he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth' (Isa 53:9)]. Only a sinless one could, through his death, be the agent of reconciliation (1 Pet 1:19).

God made the sinless one to be sin for our sake. Various interpretations:

1. Christ was made a sinner. Rejected outright.
2. Christ was made a sin-offering is supported by Paul's using sacrificial terminology for Christ's death (Rom 3:25; 1 Cor 5:7). In Lev 4:24; 5:12 (lxx) 'sin' (hamartia) is 'sin-offering.' It's used in Rom 8:3, and probably carries this meaning here as well.  
3. Christ was made to bear the consequences of our sins also has merit. The work of Christ as bearing the consequences of our sins: 'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole" ' (Gal 3:13). A 'both and' approach is best: Christ was made a sin-offering and as such bore the consequences of our sins.

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us" (2 Cor 5:21a) is balanced in antithetical parallelism by "so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:21b). What does it means to become the righteousness of God? Paul touches on it (Rom 3:21-26; Phil 3:7-9). The righteousness of God, understood as that which believers have or become, is the gift of a right relationship with God, based on the fact that God has adjudicated in their favour by refusing, because of the death of Christ in their place, to take account of their sins.

If becoming the righteousness of God means God has adjudicated in our favor and put us in right relationship with Himself, then to be made sin [the antithetical counterpart], means that God adjudicated against Christ [because he took upon himself the burden of our sins (Isa 53:4-6, 12)], severing the relationship of the human Jesus with God (momentarily, but terribly beyond all human comprehension). Then perhaps we begin to understand the agony of Gethsemane: 'Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done' (Lk 22:42), and the awful cry of dereliction from the cross: 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' (Mt 27:46). 

We stand at the brink of a great mystery, and our understanding of it can be only minimal. [Early Church Fathers wrestled with the implications of this mystery. 'It is not "as if, when Jesus was fixed upon the wood of the cross, the Omnipotence of the Father's Deity had gone away from Him; seeing that God's and Man's nature were so completely joined in him that the union could not be destroyed by punishment nor by death" (Leo I, Serm. 68.1).' "'It was not he who was forsaken either by the Father or by his own Godhead," wrote Gregory of Nazianzus. "But, as I said, he was in his own person representing us. For we were the forsaken and despised before" but now by his representative act saved ( Orat . 30.5).']

Theology. In defending the way he conducted his ministry, Paul was not indulging in self-commendation, but making it possible for his converts to be proud of him and supply an answer for those who criticized him. There is nothing to be gained by allowing false accusations to influence people and undermine our ministry when steps can be taken to set the record straight.

2 things motivated Paul in ministry:

1. The fear of the Lord, for he knew that he, along with all believers, must appear before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of his life and ministry (2 Cor 5:10-11).
2. The love of Christ who gave himself for him and for all people (2 Cor 5:14). Paul's ministry was carried out in gratitude to his Lord, and a love for those for whom Christ died.

If Christ died for all, then 'all died', i.e., Christ died in their place and God regards his death as their death for the punishment their sins deserved, and in this way Christ effected their salvation (2 Cor 5:14). Because Christ has died for all, Christians can no longer regard others from a worldly point of view (2 Cor 5:16). Christ's death for them demonstrated the high value placed upon them by God.

Those who respond positively to the gospel join those who are 'in Christ' and become part of 'the new creation' and begin experiencing its blessings (2 Cor 5:17). This was made possible because God effected reconciliation through Christ, not counting their sins against them (2 Cor 5:19). Instead, he made Christ, who knew no sin, 'to be sin' for them when he adjudicated against him as he bore their sins. As a result, God can now adjudicate in their favour, granting them a right standing in his sight (5:18-21). Paul was commissioned as an ambassador of Christ, and through his ministry God made his appeal for others to be reconciled to him (2 Cor 5:20).

Reference:

1. Charles Hodge. 1 & 2 Corinthians. A Geneva Series Commentary. The Banner of Truth Trust. 1857, 1859.
2. Colin Kruse. 2 Corinthians. Tyndale NT Commentaries. 1987, 2005.
3. Geoffrey Grogan. 2 Corinthians. The Glories & Responsibilities of Christian Service. 2007.
4. David Garland. 2 Corinthians. The New American Commentary. 1999.
5. Paul Barnett. The Message of 2 Corinthians. 1988.