2 Corinthians 5:18-21

Applebury's Comments

The Ministry of Reconciliation
Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:18-21. But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

20 We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God. 21 Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Comments

But all things are of God.For Paul, the old things had passed away. He had suffered the loss of all things that he might gain Christ. See Philippians 3:1-16. Once he had thought that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. See Acts 26:9. He had actually tried to destroy the church of God. See Galatians 1:13. But God reconciled him unto Himself and gave him the ministry of reconciliation. He had become a new creature in Christ.

God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.This sentence should, in all probability be punctuated as follows: God was, in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. It was through Christ that God created the world; it was through Him that God was reconciling the world unto Himself. Paul was the ambassador of Christ working together with God. This in no way contradicts the plain teaching of Scripture as to the deity of Jesus. His mission was to reveal the Father and save the lost. See Colossians 2:9; John 1:1-2; John 1:14; John 14:7-8. Paul said that Jesus existed in the form of God on an equality with God. See Philippians 2:5-11. The Gospel of John was written to show how Christ revealed the Father. See John 1:18. At the height of His ministry, Philip said to Jesus, Show us the Father, and it will suffice us. Jesus answered, Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father abiding in me doeth his works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for my very works sake (John 14:10-11). If they had only recognized Him, they would have known the Father. See John 14:7. The ministry of Christ shows the Father's effort to bring men into fellowship with Himself again. Sin which caused the separation is blotted out by the blood of Christ. Paul had accepted this profound truth and had gotten himself baptized by Ananias that his sins might be washed away.

not reckoning unto them their trespasses.See Paul's comment in Romans 4:6-8. The blood of Christ covers the sin of the one who believes in Christ; for that reason, the Lord will not reckon his sin against him. As an apostle of Christ, Paul told sinners how to be saved that they might be reconciled to God.

we are ambassadors.This term refers to the apostles of Christ whom He equipped by the baptism in the Holy Spirit to speak for Him. See John 16:8-14; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. The wisdom of God had been revealed to them through the Spirit of God. They were ambassadors on behalf of Christ, that is, they were acting on His authority when they revealed the terms on which sinners could be reconciled to God. Instead of reckoning their trespasses against them, God was urging sinners to accept His terms and be brought into fellowship with Him again.

Him who knew no sin.The sinlessness of Jesus is determined by the fact that He was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin. See Hebrews 4:15. God made Him represent sin when He died on the cross for our sakes. This made it possible for us to become representatives of the righteous standard of conduct which God approves. The words of Christ on the cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? show what it meant to represent sin. The cross shows what it means to be lost. The life of dedication to Christ shows what it means to become a representative of the kind of life God approves. Paul put it this way: I have been crucified with Christ; Christ lives in me. See Galatians 2:20. What was true of Paul is also true of those who belong to Christ, for they have crucified the flesh with the passions and lusts thereof. See Galatians 5:24.

The sin offering under the Old Covenant sheds light on the meaning of the cross. The sacrificial, animal had to be physically perfect. After the priest had confessed the sins of the people, the animal was slain to symbolize the fact that death is the penalty for sin. The perfection of the sacrifice symbolized the purity of the worshipper whose sins had been covered by the blood.

the righteousness of God in him.With his sins washed away in the blood of the Lamb, the believer becomes the representative of the kind of life God expects His people to live. Christ set the perfect example of this righteous conduct, for He did not sin. Peter, commenting on this, said, Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow in his steps: who did no sin (1 Peter 2:21-22).

Paul, speaking of the grace of God which reigns through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ, asks: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? (Romans 5:21; Romans 6:1-2). To those who have been buried with Christ through baptism into death and have been raised together with Him to walk in the new life, Paul adds, Even so reckon yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies that ye should obey the lusts thereof: neither present your members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God! (Romans 6:11-13).

Summary

Paul faced the future with undaunted courage because he knew that although his body was growing weak under the load he was carrying there was a home for him in heaven. His physical body was like a tent in which he was living temporarily, but the heavenly building would be a permanent dwelling place with the Lord.
Pain and hardship made Paul long for the time when he would be in that heavenly house not made with hands. He was not anticipating a condition without a body. Pagan philosophers thought such a state would be heavenly, because they would then be free from pain and suffering associated with the physical body. Paul looked to the time when the Lord would fashion anew this mortal body that it might conform to the body of His glory. We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him in His glorious body.
Paul was sure of this because of the guarantee God had given through the revelation from God by the Holy Spirit. We can read about it in the Bible. In this confidence, Paul longed for the time when he would be able to leave this earthly home and be at home with the Lord in that permanent, heavenly dwelling.
Therefore, Paul made it his aim to be well-pleasing to the Lord in this life and in the heavenly state. The verdict that will be rendered on the Judgment Day will depend on what we have done in the body in this life, whether it is good or evil.
Because of this solemn thought, Paul had committed himself to the ministry of reconciliation which he had received from God. He was endeavoring to persuade men to obey God and be prepared for the Judgment Day. He knew that this was evident to God and he hoped that the Corinthians were aware of it too. Their own response to this message of reconciliation would allow them to boast of the fact that they had received it from God's apostle. This differs from the situation of those who were boasting in false hopes instead of the real hope that comes from obedience to the gospel.
Christ's love for him was the compelling force that kept Paul on this true course. He knew that Christ had died for him, for He died for all sinners. Paul knew that he had died through his trespasses and sins; the greatest of these was his attempt to destroy the church of God. But Christ died for sinners so that they might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sakes died and rose again.
Since he had come to understand what the love of Christ had done for him, he no longer looked at any man as a mere human being but as one who could become a new creature through obedience to Christ. Once he had looked upon Messiahindeed, most Jews had done the same thingas a human Christ. But His death and resurrection changed all this for Paul. Old things had passed away, behold, they had become new!
Thus God had reconciled Paul to Himself through Christ and had given him the ministry of reconciliation. God was, in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. He was not entering their trespasses in the record against them, but through His ambassador He was pleading that they reconcile themselves to Him. This was possible because He made the sinless Christ to represent sin as He died on the cross that they might become the representatives of righteousness which God approves by their relation to Christ.

Questions