2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Butler's Commentary

SECTION 3

Fallibility of the Human Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:16-21)

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer. 17Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. 18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:16-17 Egocentric: The main problem with the human perspective is its egocentricity. It is selfish! It centers and focuses and devotes itself to self. In the Bible this is called the things of the flesh (see Matthew 6:25-34; Romans 8:5-11; Romans 13:14; 1 Corinthians 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:5; Galatians 5:16-17; Galatians 6:13; Ephesians 2:3; Philippians 3:3-11; Colossians 2:23; Colossians 3:5 ff; 1 Peter 4:1-5). Paul wrote to the Romans, ... the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:7). Now Paul did not mean there that simply living in a fleshly body makes a person inexorably hostile to God. Jesus lived in a fleshly body. Paul is talking about a worldly-mindedness, an attitude that makes the flesh and the world its priority. The human point of view in the Greek text is, oidamen kata sarka, literally, know according to flesh. Jesus called the fleshly viewpoint idolatryserving Mammonin Matthew 6:24-34.

There are essentially only two viewpoints for manhuman or divine. Man either sees everything from the limited, fallible, perspective of human wisdom, or from the infallible, revealed perspective of God in the Bible. The perspective of the unbeliever is limited to this world, by the limitations of this existence. He sees nothing beyond this existence. Everything is relative to this earthly experience. That is why human perspective alone leads to degradation, depravity and despair. Every human experience is evaluated and acted upon from an animal fleshly-materialistic perspective (see Romans 1:18-32). But as for the believer, Paul says, from the very moment he accepts by faith the atoning death of Christ, he gives up his right to think or evaluate or act by himself or for himself. He no longer views anything from the limitations of flesh or matter. He sets his mind on the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:5 ff). He surrenders his thinking and evaluating and acting to the mind and behavior of Christ revealed in the Bible. The Bible takes over his mind and his life. Every aspect of lifehome, job, education, entertainment, finances, hobbies, sexuality, emotionseverything, is brought into conformity to the precepts and principles of the Holy Spirit revealed in the Scriptures. The Christian surrenders all right to say, It's my life, and I-'ll think the way I please and live the way I want.

Non-Christians view Christ from a human point of view. They think of him as being no more than merely another human being, having no authority to exercise over anyone else. Non-believers reject the idea that Christ was God in the flesh. They refuse to accept his death as an atonement for their sin. They may grant that he was a wonderful, wise, compassionate religious teacher, but they will not accede Christ any right to do their thinking for them. They reserve the right to disagree with any viewpoint Christ might dictate in his teachings or those of his apostles. But, Paul says, once a person becomes a Christian he views Christ no longer from a human point of view. The Christian never claims the right to disagree with any New Testament viewpoint.

Thus, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature (or creation). Paul is not dealing with the possibility of the new creature here as much as he is dealing with the fact. He is saying, It is a matter of fact that those who are in Christ are new creatures with a totally new perspective! This is the way it must be for a Christian! The old, human perspective, has passed away; behold, the new, divine perspective, has come and is continuing to come (Greek gegonen, perfect tense verb, has come with a continuing action). The new creation with the new, divine perspective, is a continual, growing, ever-expanding experience. It is the experience of being changed into the likeness of Christ from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18) by beholding the glory of the Lord.

This transformation of the mind of man so that he might have the divine perspective was the purpose of the Law of God revealed through Moses. It was the very core of the writings of the O.T. prophets. All the great theophanies (throne visions) in Isaiah 6:1-13; Ezekiel 1:1-28; Daniel 7:1-28 and Zechariah's visions were specifically given to insist that their Jewish listeners see all their circumstances from the perspective of the throne of God (the divine view of history). And the highly symbolic book of Revelation in the N.T. urges from the very first (the vision of the victorious, reigning Christ ch. 1, coupled with the vision of the Throne of God and the Lamb ch. 4-5) that the churches of Asia Minor must view their great tribulation from the divine perspective. History, even the terrifying, destructive, depraved aspects of history, is all under the sovereign control of God and the Lamb. It is imperative that the saints of God have this perspective. Without it they cannot possibly remain faithful!

2 Corinthians 5:18-21 Estranged: The reason the human perspective is egocentric is that the human being is estranged from God. Man, the rebel-sinner, has chosen to exclude God from his life. He is at enmity (war) against God (see James 4:1-4). The desires of the flesh are against the Spiritthese are opposed to each other (Galatians 5:16-17). The mind of the flesh is hostile toward God (Romans 8:7). Man, not reconciled to God, is against God! There is no neutral-zone. There are not three categories: for God, against God, and neutral. We are either for Christ or against himgathering with him or scattering (Matthew 12:30).

So, Paul says, the only possible way any human being can acquire the divine perspective is through the redemptive work of God in Christ which reconciles man and God to one another. Reconciliation is purely and simply by the grace of God. God took the initiative; God accomplished the redemption by giving his perfect Son as the ransom. It is all from God.!

To attempt to discuss the concept of reconciliation in these notes would require such a lengthy digression contact with the exegetical flow of the text would be lost. The reader is therefore referred to the Special Studies at the end of this chapter for thorough treatment of the subjects of Propitiation, Justification, Redemption, Reconciliation, Faith, and Obedience. Treatment of all these subjects is necessary to understanding the concept of Reconciliation. Suffice it to say here that when man declared war on God, the Divine Father, in keeping with his very nature, had to declare war on man. God could not love man for his good without acting hostile toward that which would destroy man! So God withdraws himself from man. This is taught consistently throughout the Bible (Hosea 5:15; Isaiah 64:7-9; Psalms 51:11; Romans 5:10-11). The very word propitiation assumes there is Someone who has to be appeased. The wrath of God is revealed in the very forces of nature (Romans 1:18 ff). The absoluteness of God's justice must be satisfied. Until all this is accomplished, there could be no reconciliation between God and man. God's absolute justice must be satisfied and his wrath appeased, and man must be wooed back to humble surrender and faith toward God.

This is precisely what God did through Jesus Christ. God sent his Son to earth incarnated as a man (John 1:1-18; Hebrews 2:5-18; Hebrews 10:1-25; Philippians 2:1-11). Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life. He pleased God in everything he thought, said and did. He kept the commandments of God, the Law of God completely. And then, the Son willingly laid down his life (John 10:14-18) as a ransom for sinful mankind. He became the curse of God in our place (Galatians 3:10-14; 1 Peter 2:21-25). God punished Christ for all the sins of all the ages and thus God's wrath was appeased and man was justified all in the same redemptive work (see Romans 3:21-26). The Absolute God was reconciled to man through the absolute atonement of Christ, and man is wooed back to God through the divine demonstration of love at the cross and the empty tomb. God does not count men's trespasses against them if they accept God's work of redemption and reconcile themselves to him by faith and obedience to his Son.

Quickly Paul shifts from the subject of personal salvation and reconciliation to the ministry of reconciliation. Every Christian is obligated by the grace of God's reconciliation given to him, to proclaim the good news of God's offer of reconciliation to the whole world. Paul used the Greek word themenos, an aorist participle of tithemi, and it is translated, committed. The Greek word means, assigned. God has assigned to all Christians the work of ministering the rationale (Gr. logon, word, logic) of reconciliation. No Christian is exempt from this assignment! It is written in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Paul considered himself a debtor and thus obligated (by his own redemption) to preach the gospel to as much of the world as he could humanly reach (Romans 1:14-17).

All Christians are ambassadors (Gr. presbeuomen, presbyters, elders, legates, ambassadors) allowing God to make his appeal (Gr. parakalountos, paraclete, to call alongside) through them. The ministry of reconciliation is calling sinners to come to the side of God! Paul said the ambassador of reconciliation was to beseech (Gr. deometha, beg, plead, pray) people to come to the side of God for the sake of Christ. And the motivation in the message of that ministry is the vicarious atonement of Christ. Could it be that ambassadors of reconciliation are to have the same qualifications as elders (1 Timothy 3:1-7)?

How did God make Christ to become sin for our sake? Most certainly God did not force Christ to sin! Christ was personally without sin. But since Christ was free from sin he was under no obligation to suffer the consequences of sin. That left Christ free to choose to become, vicariously, sin for all who were obligated by their own sin to suffer its consequences. He was not only free to choose to do so, he had the right and authority, by his perfect life, to do so if he chose. No human being may dare to gainsay Christ's right to assume sin vicariously if he chooses unless that human being himself is perfectly sinless!

Through the centuries there have been unbelievers, posting in righteous indignation, rejecting the revelation of God that Christ suffered vicariously for man's sins.

Ethan Allen, Revolutionary War hero of Fort Ticonderoga, a Deist and Unitarian, wrote in his book, Reason the Only Oracle of Man, The doctrine of the Trinity is destitute of foundation, and tends manifestly to superstition and idolatry. There could be no justice or goodness in one being's suffering for another, nor is it at all compatible with reason to suppose that God was the contriver of such a propitiation.

Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam, former head of the World Council of Churches, wrote in his book, A Testament of the Faith, pg. 144:

We hear much of the substitutionary theory of the atonement. This theory to me is immoral. If Jesus paid it all, or if He is the substitute for me, or if He is the sacrifice for all sin of the world, then why discuss forgiveness? The books are closed. Another has paid the debt, borne the penalty. I owe nothing. I am absolved. I cannot see forgiveness as predicated upon the act of some one else. It is my sin. I must atone.

Canon Vernon F. Storrs is quoted in a book by T.H. Hughes, entitled, The Atonement: Modern theories of the Doctrine, pg. 61:

We are in no way bound to accept Paul's interpretation of Christ's death. I dismiss from my mind all ideas of substitution, or of the innocent paying the penalty of the guilty because these ideas offend my moral consciousness.

However, Jesus himself said that he came to die as a ransom for man's sins (see Matthew 20:28; Matthew 26:28). The New Testament is filled with statements about the vicarious, substitutionary death of Christ (1 Timothy 2:5-6; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 Peter 2:24; Revelation 1:5; Galatians 3:13). The substitutionary death of the Messiah was predicted graphically and unmistakably in Isaiah 53:1-12 and in Zechariah 12:10 to Zechariah 13:1. To reject the revelation of God is to fly in the face of a document that has been historically authenticated and validated by the resurrection of Christ from the dead. To reject the vicarious death of Christ as atonement for sin is infidelity and rebellion. It is the spirit of the antichrist. It cannot be made respectable by couching it in moral revulsion. To disavow what God has plainly stated should offend moral consciousness!

We suspect the rationale behind disavowing the vicarious death of Christ is the rebellion against surrendering one's mind and life to the divine perspective. That is exactly why Paul emphasized the substitutionary death of Christ here; because it is absolutely crucial to the divine perspective. It is the one critical pre-requisite to the new creation. The world-perspective arrogantly insists on atoning for its own sins. Those who glory in the flesh intend to earn their standing before God with self-righteousness. Throwing oneself upon the mercy and grace of God will not do for the autonomous man. He must rule himself. And God must be satisfied with that! There is no repentance in that frame of mind. That is apostasy. Reconciliation to God with that attitude is impossible (see Hebrews 6:1-8). No man's moral consciousness has a right to be offended at any divine fiat or directive. God told Abraham to slay Isaac as a sacrificeAbraham had no right to do anything but obey. God told Hosea to marry a woman of harlotryHosea had no right to resist on the grounds of moral consciousness. We must believe and obey God whether it seems right to us or to other men or not!

So Paul closes this text by contradicting all presumptions of earned righteousness. God made (Gr. epoiesen, aorist tense, at a point in time past), or imputed, all sin punished vicariously in Christ who willingly accepted it at the crucifixion in the days of Pontius Pilate. Then the apostle adds God did that in order that we might become (Gr. genometha, aorist subjunctive) the righteousness of God in him (Christ). When any person believes the gospel and obeys the truth (1 Peter 1:22) he is purified and becomes righteous. The aorist tense means our righteousness happens at a particular point in time, and the subjunctive mood means it is something done upon us, to us, or for usnot by us. God imputed our sins to Jesus, and imputed Jesus-' righteousness to us! The cross was a transaction, initiated by God, worked out by God, declared by God and accepted by God. So man has no righteousness or goodness by which he may boast before God (see Romans 3:27; 1 Corinthians 1:29-30; Ephesians 2:8-9). God made Christ our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). By Christ's perfect obedience many (believers) are made righteous (Romans 5:19). The Christian's righteousness is not his own but that which depends on faith in Christ (Philippians 3:8-11). Righteousness is not attained by pursuing it, but by believing in Christ (Romans 9:30). God only imputes righteousness, however, to those who are in Christ by believing and obeying Christ's commandments (1 John 1:8 to 1 John 2:6; Romans 6:1-23). We retain that imputed righteousness provided we continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which we have heard (Colossians 1:21-23).

Because we have that righteousness already, we do not have to earn it. It is our delight to begin with it, to start acting righteous because we are righteous. I hope you understand this, because this is the good news. It is no good news to come to a person and say, Christ forgave all your sins up to now, but from now on you-'d better watch it. You are going to have to pay for all those. No, no, that is not the gospel. The good news is all your sins are forgiven, all your life long, including those you have not even committed yet.

God knows your struggle. He has dealt with that. He is never going to retract his solution; he is never going to act any different way toward you. Because the sin problem is settled he can come in alongside of you and help you learn how to act righteously on that basis. And he will lifting you up, forgiving you, restoring you, strengthening you and staying right with you until this life is finally done.
So this is the glory of it. We learn how a God of justice can come to a loveless, hard-hearted, self-righteous, selfish, hurting and hurtful sinner like you and me and not count his trespasses against him. That is the way he does it because he who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.Ray. C. Steadman,

op. cit., pg. 116-117.

Non-Christians, in rebellion, unreconciled to God because their sins are unforgiven and they have no righteousness that will meet the absolute demand of God, have no perspective beyond this world and this life. They cannot see things as God sees them, because they are determined not to. But remember, Paul is writing to the Christians at Corinth in this epistle. He is begging them that they not let their perspective slip from the divine to the human. Their faithfulness in a world of temptation and trial, and their hope for the eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison depends on retaining the divine perspective. The same holds true for Christians in the twentieth centuryand especially for preachers!