Text -- 2 Corinthians 5:1-20 (NET)

Living by Faith, Not by Sight

5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens. 5:2 For in this earthly house we groan, because we desire to put on our heavenly dwelling, 5:3 if indeed, after we have put on our heavenly house, we will not be found naked. 5:4 For we groan while we are in this tent, since we are weighed down, because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5:5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment. 5:6 Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord– 5:7 for we live by faith, not by sight. 5:8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 5:9 So then whether we are alive or away, we make it our ambition to please him. 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.

The Message of Reconciliation

5:11 Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people, but we are well known to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too. 5:12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may be able to answer those who take pride in outward appearance and not in what is in the heart. 5:13 For if we are out of our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ died for all; therefore all have died. 5:15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised. 5:16 So then from now on we acknowledge no one from an outward human point of view. Even though we have known Christ from such a human point of view, now we do not know him in that way any longer. 5:17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away– look, what is new has come! 5:18 And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 5:19 In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation. 5:20 Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!”

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: 2Co 5:1

If - be dissolved ( eaṅ̇kataluthēi ).

Third class condition, ean and first aorist passive subjunctive. The very word used (kataluō ) for striking down a tent.

Robertson: 2Co 5:1

The earthly house of our tabernacle ( hē epigeios hēmōn oikia tou skēnous ).

Rather, "If our earthly (see note on 1Co 15:40 for epigeios ) house of the tent (skēnos , another form of skēnē , tent, from root ska , to cover)."Appositive genitive, the house (oikia ) is the tent.

Robertson: 2Co 5:1

We have ( echomen ).

Present indicative. We possess the title to it now by faith. "Faith is the title-deed (hupostasis ) to things hoped for"(Heb 11:7).

Robertson: 2Co 5:1

A building from God ( oikodomēn ek theou ).

This oikodomē (found in Aristotle, Plutarch, lxx, etc., and papyri, though condemned by Atticists) is more substantial than the skēnos .

Robertson: 2Co 5:1

Not made with hands ( acheiropoiēton ).

Found first in Mar 14:58 in charge against Jesus before the Sanhedrin (both the common verbal cheiropoiēton and the newly made vernacular acheiropoiēton , same verbal with a privative). Elsewhere only here and Col 2:11. Spiritual, eternal home.

Robertson: 2Co 5:2

To be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven ( to oikētērion hēmōn to ex ouranou ependusasthai ).

First aorist middle infinitive of late verb ependuō , double compound (ep , en ) to put upon oneself. Cf. ependutēs for a fisherman’ s linen blouse or upper garment (Joh 21:7). Oikētērion is old word used here of the spiritual body as the abode of the spirit. It is a mixed metaphor (putting on as garment the dwelling-place).

Robertson: 2Co 5:3

Being clothed ( endusamenoi ).

First aorist middle participle, having put on the garment.

Robertson: 2Co 5:3

Naked ( gumnoi ).

That is, disembodied spirits, "like the souls in Sheol, without form, and void of all power of activity"(Plummer).

Robertson: 2Co 5:4

Not for that we would be unclothed ( Ephesians' hōi ou thelomen ekdusasthai ).

Rather, "For that (Ephesians' hōi ) we do not wish to put off the clothing, but to put it on"(all' ependusasthai ). The transposition of the negative ou weakens the sense. Paul does not wish to be a mere disembodied spirit without his spiritual garment.

Robertson: 2Co 5:4

That what is mortal may be swallowed up of life ( hina katapothēi to thnēton hupo tēs zōēs ).

"Only what is mortal perishes; the personality, consisting of soul and body, survives,"(Plummer). See note on 2Co 1:22 for "the earnest of the spirit."

Robertson: 2Co 5:6

At home in the body ( endēmountes en tōi sōmati ).

Rare verb endēmeō from endēmos (one among his own people as opposed to ekdēmos , one away from home). Both ekdēmeō (more common in the old Greek) and endēmeō occur in the papyri with the contrast made by Paul here.

Robertson: 2Co 5:7

By sight ( dia eidous ).

Rather, by appearance.

Robertson: 2Co 5:8

We are of good courage ( tharroumen ).

Good word for cheer and same root as tharseō (Mat 9:2, Mat 9:22). Cheer up.

Robertson: 2Co 5:8

Are willing rather ( eudokoumen ).

Rather, "We are well-pleased, we prefer"if left to ourselves. Cf. Phi 1:21. Same eudokeō used in Luk 3:22.

Robertson: 2Co 5:8

To be at home with the Lord ( endēmēsai pros ton Kurion ).

First aorist (ingressive) active infinitive, to attain that goal is bliss for Paul.

Robertson: 2Co 5:9

We make it our aim ( philotimoumetha ).

Old and common verb, present middle, from philotimos (philos , timē , fond of honour), to act from love of honour, to be ambitious in the good sense (1Th 4:11; 2Co 5:9; Rom 15:20). The Latin ambitio has a bad sense from ambire , to go both ways to gain one’ s point.

Robertson: 2Co 5:9

To be well-pleasing to him ( euarestoi autōi einai ).

Late adjective that shows Paul’ s loyalty to Christ, his Captain. Found in several inscriptions in the Koiné[28928]š period (Deissmann, Bible Studies , p. 214; Moulton and Milligan’ s Vocabulary ).

Robertson: 2Co 5:10

Before the judgment-seat of Christ ( emprosthen tou bēmatos tou Christou ).

Old word bēma , a step (from bainō ), a platform, the seat of the judge (Mat 27:19). Christ is Saviour, Lord, and Judge of us all (tous pantas , the all).

Robertson: 2Co 5:10

That each may receive ( hina komisētai hekastos ).

Receive as his due, komizō means, old verb. See note on Mat 25:27.

Robertson: 2Co 5:10

Bad ( phaulon ).

Old word, akin to German faul , worthless, of no account, base, wicked.

Robertson: 2Co 5:11

The fear of the Lord ( ton phobon tou Kuriou ).

Many today regard this a played-out motive, but not so Paul. He has in mind 2Co 5:10 with the picture of the judgment seat of Christ.

Robertson: 2Co 5:11

We persuade ( peithomen ).

Conative present active, we try to persuade. It is always hard work.

Robertson: 2Co 5:11

Unto God ( theōi ).

Dative case. God understands whether men do or not.

Robertson: 2Co 5:11

That we are made manifest ( pephanerōsthai ).

Perfect passive infinitive of phaneroō in indirect discourse after elpizō . Stand manifested, state of completion.

Robertson: 2Co 5:12

As giving you occasion of glorying ( aphormēn didontes humin kauchēmatos ).

An old Greek word (apo , hormē , onset, rush), a base of operations, material with which to glory, as we say "a tip"only much more.

Robertson: 2Co 5:12

That ye may have wherewith to answer ( hina echēte pros ).

Literally, "That ye may have something against (for facing those, etc.)."Paul wishes his champions in Corinth to know the facts.

Robertson: 2Co 5:12

In appearance, and not in heart ( en prosōpōi kai mē en kardiāi ).

He means the Judaizers who were braggarts about their orthodox Judaism.

Robertson: 2Co 5:13

Whether we are beside ourselves ( eite exestēmen ).

Second aorist active indicative of existēmi , old verb, here to stand out of oneself (intransitive) from ekstasis , ecstasy, comes as in Mar 5:42. It is literary plural, for Paul is referring only to himself. See note on 2Co 1:6 for eite -eite . It is a condition of the first class and Paul assumes as true the charge that he was crazy (if I was crazy) for the sake of argument. Festus made it later (Act 26:24). He spoke with tongues (1Co 14:18) and had visions (2Co 12:1-6) which probably the Judaizers used against him. A like charge was made against Jesus (Mar 3:21). People often accuse those whom they dislike with being a bit off.

Robertson: 2Co 5:14

The love of Christ ( hē agapē tou Christou ).

Subjective genitive, Christ’ s love for Paul as shown by 2Co 5:15.

Robertson: 2Co 5:14

Constraineth us ( sunechei hēmas ).

Old and common verb, to hold together, to press the ears together (Act 7:57), to press on every side (Luk 8:45), to hold fast (Luk 22:63), to hold oneself to (Act 18:5), to be pressed (passive, Luk 12:50; Phi 1:23). So here Paul’ s conception of Christ’ s love for him holds him together to his task whatever men think or say.

Robertson: 2Co 5:14

Judging this ( krinantas touto ).

Having reached this conclusion, ever since his conversion (Gal 1:17.).

Robertson: 2Co 5:14

One died for all ( heis huper pantōn apethanen ).

This is the central tenet in Paul’ s theology and Christology. Huper (over) here is used in the sense of substitution as in Joh 11:50; Gal 3:13, death in behalf so that the rest will not have to die. This use of huper is common in the papyri (Robertson, Grammar , p. 631). In fact, huper in this sense is more usual in Greek than anti , pro or any other preposition.

Robertson: 2Co 5:14

Therefore all died ( ara hoi pantes apethanon ).

Logical conclusion (ara , corresponding), the one died for the all and so the all died when he did, all the spiritual death possible for those for whom Christ died. This is Paul’ s gospel, clear-cut, our hope today.

Robertson: 2Co 5:15

Should no longer live unto themselves ( hina mēketi heautois zōsin ).

The high doctrine of Christ’ s atoning death carries a correspondingly high obligation on the part of those who live because of him. Selfishness is ruled out by our duty to live "unto him who for their sakes died and rose again."

Robertson: 2Co 5:16

Henceforth ( apo tou nun ).

From the time that we gained this view of Christ’ s death for us.

Robertson: 2Co 5:16

After the flesh ( kata sarka ).

According to the flesh, the fleshy way of looking at men. He, of course, knows men "in the flesh (en tēi sarki ), but Paul is not speaking of that. Worldly standards and distinctions of race, class, cut no figure now with Paul (Gal 3:28) as he looks at men from the standpoint of the Cross of Christ.

Robertson: 2Co 5:16

Even though we have known Christ after the flesh ( ei kai egnōkamen kata sarka Christon ).

Concessive clause (ei kai , if even or also) with perfect active indicative. Paul admits that he had once looked at Christ kata sarka , but now no longer does it. Obviously he uses kata sarka in precisely the same sense that he did in 2Co 5:15 about men. He had before his conversion known Christ kata sarka , according to the standards of the men of his time, the Sanhedrin and other Jewish leaders. He had led the persecution against Jesus till Jesus challenged and stopped him (Act 9:4). That event turned Paul clean round and he no longer knows Christ in the old way kata sarka . Paul may or may not have seen Jesus in the flesh before his death, but he says absolutely nothing on that point here.

Robertson: 2Co 5:17

A new creature ( kainē ktisis ).

A fresh start is made (kainē ). Ktisis is the old word for the act of creating (Rom 1:20), but in N.T. by metonymy it usually bears the notion of ktisma , the thing created or creature as here.

Robertson: 2Co 5:17

The old things are passed away ( ta archaia parēlthen ).

Did pass by, he means. Second aorist active of parerchomai , to go by. The ancient (archaia ) way of looking at Christ among other things. And yet today there are scholars who are trying to revive the old prejudiced view of Jesus Christ as a mere man, a prophet, to give us "a reduced Christ."That was once Paul’ s view, but it passed by forever for him. It is a false view and leaves us no gospel and no Saviour.

Robertson: 2Co 5:17

Behold, they are become new ( idou ,gegone kaina ).

Perfect active indicative of ginomai , have become new (fresh, kaina ) to stay so.

Robertson: 2Co 5:18

Who reconciled us to himself through Christ ( tou katallaxantos hēmas heautōi dia Christou ).

Here Paul uses one of his great doctrinal words, katallassō , old word for exchanging coins. Diallassō , to change one’ s mind, to reconcile, occurs in N.T. only in Mat 5:24 though in papyri (Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East , p. 187), and common in Attic. Katallassō is old verb, but more frequent in later writers. We find sunallassō in Act 7:26 and apokatallassō in Col 1:20.; Eph 2:16 and the substantive katallagē in Rom 5:11; Rom 11:15 as well as here. It is hard to discuss this great theme without apparent contradiction. God’ s love (Joh 3:16) provided the means and basis for man’ s reconciliation to God against whom he had sinned. It is all God’ s plan because of his love, but God’ s own sense of justice had to be satisfied (Rom 3:26) and so God gave his Son as a propitiation for our sins (Rom 3:25; Col 1:20; 1Jo 2:2; 1Jo 4:10). The point made by Paul here is that God needs no reconciliation, but is engaged in the great business of reconciling us to himself. This has to be done on God’ s terms and is made possible through (dia ) Christ.

Robertson: 2Co 5:18

And gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation ( kai dontos hēmin tēn diakonian tēs katallagēs ).

It is a ministry marked by reconciliation, that consists in reconciliation. God has made possible through Christ our reconciliation to him, but in each case it has to be made effective by the attitude of each individual. The task of winning the unreconciled to God is committed to us. It is a high and holy one, but supremely difficult, because the offending party (the guilty) is the hardest to win over. We must be loyal to God and yet win sinful men to him.

Robertson: 2Co 5:19

To wit, that ( hōs hoti ).

Latin puts it quoniam quidem . It is an unclassical idiom, but occurs in the papyri and inscriptions (Moulton, Prol ., p. 212; Robertson, Grammar , p. 1033). It is in Est 4:14. See also 2Co 11:21; 2Th 2:2. It probably means "how that."

Robertson: 2Co 5:19

Not reckoning ( mē logizomenos ).

What Jesus did (his death for us) stands to our credit (Rom 8:32) if we make our peace with God. This is our task, "the word of reconciliation,"that we may receive "the righteousness of God"and be adopted into the family of God.

Robertson: 2Co 5:20

We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ ( huper Christou oun presbeuomen ).

Old word from presbus , an old man, first to be an old man, then to be an ambassador (here and Eph 6:20 with en halusēi in a chain added), common in both senses in the Greek. "The proper term in the Greek East for the Emperor’ s Legate"(Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East , p. 374), in inscriptions and papyri. So Paul has a natural pride in using this dignified term for himself and all ministers. The ambassador has to be persona grata with both countries (the one that he represents and the one to which he goes). Paul was Christ’ s Legate to act in his behalf and in his stead.

Robertson: 2Co 5:20

As though God were intreating by us ( hōs tou theou parakalountos di' hēmōn ).

Genitive absolute with hōs used with the participle as often to give the reason (apparent or real). Here God speaks through Christ’ s Legate.

Robertson: 2Co 5:20

Be ye reconciled to God ( katallagēte tōi theōi ).

Second aorist passive imperative of katallassō and used with the dative case. "Get reconciled to God,"and do it now. This is the ambassador’ s message as he bears it to men from God.

Vincent: 2Co 5:1

Our earthly house of this tabernacle ( ἡ ἐπίγειος ἡμῶν οἰκία τοῦ σκήνους )

Earthly , not, made of earth , which would be χοΐ́κός as 1Co 15:47; but upon the earth , terrestrial , as 1Co 15:40; Phi 2:10. Tabernacle (σκῆνος ) tent or hut . In later writers, especially the Platonists, Pythagoreans, and medical authors, used to denote the body . Thus Hippocrates: " A great vein by which the whole body (σκῆνος ) is nourished." Some expositors think that Paul uses the word here simply in this sense - the house which is the body . But while Paul does mean the body, he preserves the figurative sense of the word tabernacle ; for he never uses this term elsewhere as synonymous with the body . The figure of the tent suits the contrast with the building , and would naturally suggest itself to the tent-maker. The phrase earthly house of the tabernacle expresses a single conception - the dwelling which is , or consists in the tabernacle , the tent-house . The transient character of the body is thus indicated. Compare houses of clay , Job 4:19. See on the kindred words σκήνωμα tabernacle , 2Pe 1:13; and σκηνόω to dwell in or to fix a tabernacle , Joh 1:14. Tabernacle is so habitually associated with a house of worship , and is so often applied to durable structures, that the original sense of a tent is in danger of being lost. It would be better to translate here by tent . The word tabernacle is a diminutive of the Latin taberna a hut or shed , which appears in tavern. Its root is ta , tan , to stretch or spread out .

Vincent: 2Co 5:1

Dissolved ( καταλυθῇ )

Lit., loosened down . Appropriate to taking down a tent. See on Mar 13:2; see on Luk 9:12; see on Act 5:38; and compare 2Pe 3:11, 2Pe 3:12, and the figure of the parting of the silver cord on which the lamp is suspended, Ecc 12:6. Also Job 4:21, where the correct rendering is: Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them? So Rev. O.T.

Vincent: 2Co 5:1

We have

The building from God is an actual possession in virtue of the believer's union with Christ. It is just as we say of a minor, before he comes into possession of his property, that he has so much. Compare Mat 19:21.

Vincent: 2Co 5:1

Building of God ( οἰκοδομὴν ἐκ Θεοῦ )

In contrast with tent . The reference is to the resurrection body. Compare the city which hath the foundations , Heb 11:10. For of God, read, as Rev., from , God; proceeding from (ἐκ ) Heinrici, von Gott her : compare God giveth , 1Co 15:38, and ἔχετε ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ye have from God , where the reference is to the natural body, 1Co 6:19. Construe from God with building , not with we have .

Vincent: 2Co 5:1

In the heavens

Construe with we have .

Vincent: 2Co 5:2

In this

Tabernacle. As if pointing to his own body. See on 1Co 15:54.

Vincent: 2Co 5:2

Earnestly desiring ( ἐπιποθοῦντες )

The participle has an explanatory force, as Act 27:7, " because the wind did not suffer us." We groan because we long. Rev., longing . The compounded preposition ἐπί does not mark the intensity of the desire, but its direction.

Vincent: 2Co 5:2

To be clothed upon ( ἐπενδύσασθαι )

Only here and 2Co 5:4. Compare ἐπενδύτης fisher's coat , Joh 21:7 (see note). Lit., to put on over . The metaphor changes from building to clothing , a natural transformation in the mind of Paul, to whom the hail-cloth woven for tents would suggest a vesture.

Vincent: 2Co 5:2

House ( οἰκητήριον )

Not οἰκία house , as 2Co 5:1. This word regards the house with special reference to its inhabitant. The figure links itself with building , 2Co 5:1, as contrasted with the unstable tent .

Vincent: 2Co 5:2

From heaven ( ἐξ οὐρανοῦ )

As from God, 2Co 5:1.

Vincent: 2Co 5:3

If so be ( εἴ γε )

Assuming that.

Vincent: 2Co 5:3

Being clothed

Compare Job 10:11.

Vincent: 2Co 5:3

Naked ( γυμνοὶ )

Without a body. The word was used by Greek writers of disembodied spirits. See the quotation from Plato's " Gorgias" in note on Luk 12:20; also " Cratylus," 403, where, speaking of Pluto, Socrates says: " The foolish fears which people have of him, such as the fear of being always with him after death, and of the soul denuded (γυμνὴ ) of the body going to him." Stanley cites Herodotus' story of Melissa, the Corinthian queen, who appeared to her husband after death, entreating him to burn dresses for her as a covering for her disembodied spirit (v., 92). The whole expression, being clothed - naked is equivalent to we shall not be found naked because we shall be clothed .

Vincent: 2Co 5:4

Being burdened ( βαρούμενοι )

Compare weight (βάρος ) of glory , 2Co 4:17.

Vincent: 2Co 5:4

Not for that we would be unclothed ( ἐφ ' ᾧ οὐ θέλομεν ἐκδύσασθαι )

Lit., because we are not willing to divest ourselves (of the mortal body). Regarding the coming of the Lord as near, the apostle contemplates the possibility of living to behold it. The oppression of soul ( groan ) is not from pains and afflictions of the body, nor from the fear of death, but from the natural shrinking from death, especially if death is to deprive him of the body ( unclothe ) only to leave him without a new and higher organism. Therefore he desires, instead of dying, to have the new being come down upon him while still alive, investing him with the new spiritual organism ( clothed upon ), as a new garment is thrown over an old one, and absorbing ( swallowed up ) the old, sensuous life.

" For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,

This pleadng anxious being e'er resigned,

Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,

Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind?"

Gray, " Elegy ."

Vincent: 2Co 5:4

Swallowed up

A new metaphor. Compare 1Co 15:54.

Vincent: 2Co 5:5

Wrought ( κατεργασάμενος )

The compound is significant, indicating an accomplished fact. Through the various operations of His Spirit and the processes of His discipline, God has worked us out (Stanley, worked up ) for this change. The process includes the dissolution of what is mortal no less than the renewal. The one is a step to the other. See 1Co 15:36.

Vincent: 2Co 5:5

Earnest of the Spirit

See on 2Co 1:22, and compare Rom 8:11. Of the Spirit is appositional, the Spirit as the earnest .

Vincent: 2Co 5:6

At home ( ἐνδημοῦντες )

Ἑν in , δῆμος people . Only in this chapter. To be among one's own people, and not to travel abroad.

Vincent: 2Co 5:6

We are absent ( ἐκδημοῦμεν )

Lit., we live abroad . Only in this chapter. Compare Phi 1:23; Phi 3:20; Heb 11:13; Heb 13:14. There is a play upon the words which might be expressed by at home , from home .

Vincent: 2Co 5:7

By sight ( διὰ εἴδους )

The correct rendering is appearance . The word is not used actively in the sense of vision . Faith is contrasted with the actual appearance of heavenly things. Hence the marginal reading of the Rev. should go into the text.

Vincent: 2Co 5:8

Are willing ( εὐδοκοῦμεν )

The translation might well be made stronger as well as more literal: we are well-pleased .

Vincent: 2Co 5:8

To be absent - present ( ἐκδημῆσαι - ἐνδημῆσαι )

The same verbs as in 2Co 5:6 : to be from home, at home.

Vincent: 2Co 5:9

We labor ( φιλοτιμούμεθα )

Used by Paul only, here, Rom 15:20 (note), 1Th 4:11. Labor is a feeble translation, not bringing out the idea of the end contemplated, as the motive of the toil. Rev., we make it our aim .

Vincent: 2Co 5:10

Appear ( φανερωθῆναι )

Rev., better, be made manifest . Appear is not strong enough, since it implies only presence at the judgment-seat. The important fact is our being revealed as we are.

Vincent: 2Co 5:10

Judgment seat ( βήματος )

See on Act 7:5.

Vincent: 2Co 5:10

May receive ( κομίσηται )

See on 1Pe 1:8. Compare Eph 6:8; Col 3:25.

Vincent: 2Co 5:10

In the body ( διά )

Lit., through the body as a medium.

Vincent: 2Co 5:10

Bad ( φαῦλον )

See on Jam 3:16.

Vincent: 2Co 5:11

Terror of the Lord ( φόβον τοῦ Κυρίου )

Rev., better, the fear of the Lord . Not that which is terrible in the Lord , but being conscious of fearing the Lord .

Vincent: 2Co 5:11

We persuade ( πείθομεν )

Convince of our integrity.

Vincent: 2Co 5:13

We are beside ourselves ( ἐξέστημεν )

See on Luk 24:22; see on Act 2:7; and see on the kindred ἔκστασις astonishment , Mar 5:42. Some such charge appears to have been made, as at Act 26:24.

Vincent: 2Co 5:14

The love of Christ

Christ's love to men. See on 1Jo 2:5.

Vincent: 2Co 5:14

Constraineth ( συνέχει )

See on taken , Luk 4:38; see on Act 18:5. It is the word rendered I am in a strait , Phi 1:23. Compare Luk 12:50. The idea is not urging or driving , but shutting up to one line and purpose, as in a narrow, walled road.

Vincent: 2Co 5:16

After the flesh ( κατὰ σάρκα )

" He who knows no man after the flesh, has, for example, in the case of the Jew, entirely lost sight of his Jewish origin; in that of the rich man, of his riches; in that of the learned of his learning; in that of the slave, of his servitude" (Alford). Compare Gal 3:28.

Vincent: 2Co 5:16

Yea though ( εἰ καὶ )

Not with a climactic force, as A.V., and not with the emphasis on Christ , but on have known . The proper sense will be brought out in reading by emphasizing have . We know no man henceforth after the flesh: even if we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now, etc. Paul refers to his knowledge of Christ before his conversion, a hearsay knowledge, confined to reports of His personal appearance, His deeds, His relations to the Jews, His alleged crime and punishment. When the glorified Christ first spoke to him out of heaven, he asked, " Who art thou?" Compare to reveal His Son in me , Gal 1:16.

Vincent: 2Co 5:17

A new creature ( καινὴ κτίσις )

Or creation . Compare Gal 6:15. The word κτίσις is used in three senses in the New Testament. The act of creating , as Rom 1:20. The sum of created things , as Rev 3:14; Mar 13:19. A created thing or creature , as Rom 8:39. The Rabbins used the word of a man converted from idolatry. " He who brings a foreigner and makes him a proselyte is as if he created him."

Vincent: 2Co 5:17

Old things ( τὰ ἀρχαῖα )

Rev., correctly, the old things. See on 1Jo 2:7, and see on Rev 12:9.

Vincent: 2Co 5:17

Passed away ( παρῆλθεν )

Lit., passed by . So Luk 18:37; Mar 6:48. As here, Jam 1:10; Mat 5:8; Mat 24:34, etc.

Vincent: 2Co 5:17

Behold

As if contemplating a rapidly shifting scene. As in a flash, old things vanish, and all things become new.

Vincent: 2Co 5:18

And ( δὲ )

Better, Rev., but ; as if anticipating a possible failure to discern the primary agency of God in this moral transformation. All things - all that are involved in this mighty change - are from God.

Vincent: 2Co 5:18

Reconciled

God is the prime-mover in the work of reconciliation. See on Rom 5:10, through Christ , as the medium.

Vincent: 2Co 5:19

God

Emphatic. It was God , as in 2Co 5:18.

Vincent: 2Co 5:19

Was - reconciling ( ἦν καταλλάσσων )

These words are to be construed together; the participle with the finite verb marking the process of reconciliation. The emphasis is on the fact that God was reconciling , not on the fact that God was in Christ . God was all through and behind the process of reconciliation. The primary reference of the statement is, no doubt, to God's reconciling manifestation in the incarnation and death of Christ; yet, as a fact, it includes much more. God was engaged in reconciling the world from the very beginning, and that in Christ. See on Joh 1:4, Joh 1:5, Joh 1:9, Joh 1:10.

Vincent: 2Co 5:19

Hath given to us ( θέμενος ἐν ἡμῖν )

Lit., lodged in us.

Vincent: 2Co 5:20

We are ambassadors ( πρεσβεύομεν )

Only here and Eph 6:10.

Wesley: 2Co 5:1

Which is only a tabernacle, or tent, not designed for a lasting habitation.

Wesley: 2Co 5:2

This body, which is now covered with flesh and blood, with the glorious house which is from heaven. Instead of flesh and blood, which cannot enter heaven, the rising body will be clothed or covered with what is analogous thereto, but incorruptible and immortal. Macarius speaks largely of this.

Wesley: 2Co 5:3

That is, with the image of God, while we are in the body.

Wesley: 2Co 5:3

Of the wedding garment.

Wesley: 2Co 5:4

The apostle speaks with exact propriety. A burden naturally expresses groans. And we are here burdened with numberless afflictions, infirmities, temptations.

Wesley: 2Co 5:4

Not that we desire to remain without a body. Faith does not understand that philosophical contempt of what the wise Creator has given.

Wesley: 2Co 5:4

With the glorious, immortal, incorruptible, spiritual body.

Wesley: 2Co 5:4

This present mortal body.

Wesley: 2Co 5:4

Covered with that which lives for ever.

Wesley: 2Co 5:5

This longing for immortality.

Wesley: 2Co 5:5

For none but God, none less than the Almighty, could have wrought this in us.

Wesley: 2Co 5:6

But most of all when we have death in view; knowing that our greatest happiness lies beyond the grave.

Wesley: 2Co 5:7

For we cannot clearly see him in this life, wherein we walk by faith only: an evidence, indeed, that necessarily implies a kind of "seeing him who is invisible;" yet as far beneath what we shall have in eternity, as it is above that of bare, unassisted reason.

Wesley: 2Co 5:8

This demonstrates that the happiness of the saints is not deferred till the resurrection.

Wesley: 2Co 5:9

The only ambition which has place in a Christian.

Wesley: 2Co 5:9

In the body.

Wesley: 2Co 5:9

From it.

Wesley: 2Co 5:10

Apostles as well as other men, whether now present in the body, or absent from it.

Wesley: 2Co 5:10

Openly, without covering, where all hidden things will be revealed; probably the sins, even of the faithful, which were forgiven long before. For many of their good works, as their repentance, their revenge against sin, cannot other wise appear. But this will be done at their own desire, without grief, and without shame. According to what he hath done in the body, whether good or evil - In the body he did either good or evil; in the body he is recompensed accordingly.

Wesley: 2Co 5:11

Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we the more earnestly persuade men to seek his favour; and as God knoweth this, so, I trust, ye know it in your own consciences.

Wesley: 2Co 5:12

We do not say this, as if we thought there was any need of again recommending ourselves to you, but to give you an occasion of rejoicing and praising God, and to furnish you with an answer to those false apostles who glory in appearance, but not in heart, being condemned by their own conscience.

Wesley: 2Co 5:13

Or at least, appear so to others, treated of, 2Co 5:15-21, speaking or writing with uncommon vehemence.

Wesley: 2Co 5:13

He understands (if men do not) the emotion which himself inspires.

Wesley: 2Co 5:13

Treated of, 2Co 6:1-10. If I proceed in a more calm, sedate manner.

Wesley: 2Co 5:13

Even good men bear this, rather than the other method, in their teachers. But these must obey God, whoever is offended by it.

Wesley: 2Co 5:14

To us, and our love to him.

Wesley: 2Co 5:14

Both to the one and the other; beareth us on with such a strong, steady, prevailing influence, as winds and tides exert when they waft the vessel to its destined harbour. While we thus judge, that if Christ died for all, then are all, even the best of men, naturally dead - In a state of spiritual death, and liable to death eternal. For had any man been otherwise, Christ had not needed to have died for him.

Wesley: 2Co 5:15

That all might be saved.

Wesley: 2Co 5:15

That all who live upon the earth.

Wesley: 2Co 5:15

From the moment they know him.

Wesley: 2Co 5:15

Seek their own honour, profit, pleasure.

Wesley: 2Co 5:15

In all righteousness and true holiness.

Wesley: 2Co 5:16

That we knew the love of Christ.

Wesley: 2Co 5:16

Neither ourselves, nor you, neither the rest of the apostles, Gal 2:6, nor any other person.

Wesley: 2Co 5:16

According to his former state, country, descent, nobility, riches, power, wisdom. We fear not the great. We regard not the rich or wise. We account not the least less than ourselves. We consider all, only in order to save all. Who is he that thus knows no one after the flesh? ln what land do these Christians live? Yea, if we have known even Christ after the flesh - So as to love him barely with a natural love, so as to glory in having conversed with him on earth, so as to expect only temporal benefits from him.

Wesley: 2Co 5:17

A true believer in him.

Wesley: 2Co 5:17

Only the power that makes a world can make a Christian. And when he is so created, the old things are passed away - Of their own accord, even as snow in spring.

Wesley: 2Co 5:17

The present, visible, undeniable change! All things are become new - He has new life, new senses, new faculties, new affections, new appetites, new ideas and conceptions. His whole tenor of action and conversation is new, and he lives, as it were, in a new world. God, men, the whole creation, heaven, earth, and all therein, appear in a new light, and stand related to him in a new manner, since he was created anew in Christ Jesus.

Wesley: 2Co 5:18

The world, 2Co 5:19, to himself.

Wesley: 2Co 5:19

The sum of which is, God - The whole Godhead, but more eminently God the Father. Was in Christ, reconciling the world - Which was before at enmity with God.

Wesley: 2Co 5:19

So taking away that enmity, which could no otherwise be removed than by the blood of the Son of God.

Wesley: 2Co 5:20

we beseech you in Christ's stead - Herein the apostle might appear to some "transported beyond himself." In general he uses a more calm, sedate kind of exhortation, as in the beginning of the next chapter. What unparalleled condescension and divinely tender mercies are displayed in this verse! Did the judge ever beseech a condemned criminal to accept of pardon? Does the creditor ever beseech a ruined debtor to receive an acquittance in full? Yet our almighty Lord, and our eternal Judge, not only vouchsafes to offer these blessings, but invites us, entreats us, and, with the most tender importunity, solicits us, not to reject them.

JFB: 2Co 5:1

Assigning the reason for the statement (2Co 4:17), that affliction leads to exceeding glory.

JFB: 2Co 5:1

Assuredly (2Co 4:14; Job 19:25).

JFB: 2Co 5:1

For all shall not die; many shall be "changed" without "dissolution" (1Co 15:51-53). If this daily delivering unto death (2Co 3:11) should end in actual death.

JFB: 2Co 5:1

Not the same as earthy (1Co 15:47). It stands in contrast to "in the heavens."

JFB: 2Co 5:1

Rather, "house of the tabernacle." "House" expresses more permanency than belongs to the body; therefore the qualification, "of the tabernacle" (implying that it is shifting, not stationary), is added (compare Job 4:19; 2Pe 1:13-14). It thus answers to the tabernacle in the wilderness. Its wooden frame and curtains wore out in course of time when Israel dwelt in Canaan, and a fixed temple was substituted for it. The temple and the tabernacle in all essentials were one; there was the same ark, the same cloud of glory. Such is the relation between the "earthly" body and the resurrection body. The Holy Spirit is enshrined in the believer's body as in a sanctuary (1Co 3:16). As the ark went first in taking down the wilderness tabernacle, so the soul (which like the ark is sprinkled with blood of atonement, and is the sacred deposit in the inmost shrine, 2Ti 1:12) in the dissolution of the body; next the coverings were removed, answering to the flesh; lastly, the framework and boards, answering to the bones, which are last to give way (Num. 4:1-49). Paul, as a tent-maker, uses an image taken from his trade (Act 18:3).

JFB: 2Co 5:1

A mild word for death, in the case of believers.

JFB: 2Co 5:1

In assured prospect of possession, as certain as if it were in our hands, laid up "in the heavens" for us. The tense is present (compare Joh 3:36; Joh 6:47, "hath").

JFB: 2Co 5:1

Rather "from God." A solid building, not a temporary tabernacle or tent. "Our" body stands in contrast to "from God." For though our present body be also from God, yet it is not fresh and perfect from His hands, as our resurrection body shall be.

JFB: 2Co 5:1

Contrasted with houses erected by man's hands (1Co 15:44-49). So Christ's body is designated, as contrasted with the tabernacle reared by Moses (Mar 14:58; Heb 9:11). This "house" can only be the resurrection body, in contrast to the "earthly house of the tabernacle," our present body. The intermediate state is not directly taken into account. A comma should separate "eternal," and "in the heavens."

JFB: 2Co 5:2

Greek, "For also in this"; "herein" (2Co 8:10). ALFORD takes it, "in this" tabernacle. 2Co 5:4, which seems parallel, favors this. But the parallelism is sufficiently exact by making "in this we groan" refer generally to what was just said (2Co 5:1), namely, that we cannot obtain our "house in the heavens" except our "earthly tabernacle" be first dissolved by death.

JFB: 2Co 5:2

(Rom 8:23) under the body's weaknesses now and liability to death.

JFB: 2Co 5:2

Translate, "earnestly longing to have ourselves clothed upon," &c., namely, by being found alive at Christ's coming, and so to escape dissolution by death (2Co 5:1, 2Co 5:4), and to have our heavenly body put on over the earthly. The groans of the saints prove the existence of the longing desire for the heavenly glory, a desire which cannot be planted by God within us in vain, as doomed to disappointment.

JFB: 2Co 5:2

Different Greek from that in 2Co 5:1; translate, "our habitation," "our domicile"; it has a more distinct reference to the inhabitant than the general term "house" (2Co 5:1) [BENGEL].

JFB: 2Co 5:2

This domicile is "from heaven" in its origin, and is to be brought to us by the Lord at His coming again "from heaven" (1Th 4:16). Therefore this "habitation" or "domicile" is not heaven itself.

JFB: 2Co 5:3

Our "desire" holds good, should the Lord's coming find us alive. Translate, "If so be that having ourselves clothed (with our natural body, compare 2Co 5:4) we shall not be found naked (stripped of our present body)."

JFB: 2Co 5:4

Resuming 2Co 5:2.

JFB: 2Co 5:4

Rather, "in that we desire not to have ourselves unclothed (of our present body), but clothed upon (with our heavenly body).

JFB: 2Co 5:4

Rather, "that what is mortal (our mortal part) may be swallowed up of (absorbed and transformed into) life." Believers shrink from, not the consequences, but the mere act of dying; especially as believing in the possibility of their being found alive at the Lord's coming (1Th 4:15), and so of having their mortal body absorbed into the immortal without death. Faith does not divest us of all natural feeling, but subordinates it to higher feeling. Scripture gives no sanction to the contempt for the body expressed by philosophers.

JFB: 2Co 5:5

Framed us by redemption, justification, and sanctification.

JFB: 2Co 5:5

"unto" it; namely, unto what is mortal of us being swallowed up in life (2Co 5:4).

JFB: 2Co 5:5

The oldest manuscripts omit "also."

JFB: 2Co 5:5

(See on 2Co 1:22). It is the Spirit (as "the first-fruits") who creates in us the groaning desire for our coming deliverance and glory (Rom 8:23).

JFB: 2Co 5:6

Translate as Greek, "Being therefore always confident and knowing," &c. He had intended to have made the verb to this nominative, "we are willing" (rather, "well content"), but digressing on the word "confident" (2Co 5:6-7), he resumes the word in a different form, namely, as an assertion: "We are confident and well content." "Being confident . . . we are confident" may be the Hebraic idiom of emphasis; as Act 7:34, Greek, "Having seen, I have seen," that is, I have surely seen.

JFB: 2Co 5:6

Under all trials. BENGEL makes the contrast between "always confident" and "confident" especially at the prospect of being "absent from the body." We are confident as well at all times, as also most of all in the hope of a blessed departure.

JFB: 2Co 5:6

Translate as Greek, "While we sojourn in our home in the body, we are away from our home in the Lord." The image from a "house" is retained (compare Phi 3:20; Heb 11:13-16; Heb 13:14).

JFB: 2Co 5:7

In our Christian course here on earth.

JFB: 2Co 5:7

Greek, "not by appearance." Our life is governed by faith in our immortal hope; not by the outward specious appearance of present things [TITTMANN, Greek Synonyms of the New Testament]. Compare "apparently," the Septuagint, "by appearance," Num 12:8. WAHL supports English Version. 2Co 4:18 also confirms it (compare Rom 8:24; 1Co 13:12-13). God has appointed in this life faith for our great duty, and in the next, vision for our reward [SOUTH] (1Pe 1:8).

JFB: 2Co 5:8

Literally, "well content." Translate also, "To go (literally, migrate) from our home in the body, and to come to our home with the Lord." We should prefer to be found alive at the Lord's coming, and to be clothed upon with our heavenly body (2Co 5:2-4). But feeling, as we do, the sojourn in the body to be a separation from our true home "with the Lord," we prefer even dissolution by death, so that in the intermediate disembodied state we may go to be "with the Lord" (Phi 1:23). "To be with Christ" (the disembodied state) is distinguished from Christ's coming to take us to be with Him in soul and body (1Th 4:14-17, "with the Lord"). Perhaps the disembodied spirits of believers have fulness of communion with Christ unseen; but not the mutual recognition of one another, until clothed with their visible bodies at the resurrection (compare 1Th 4:13-17), when they shall with joy recognize Christ's image in each other perfect.

JFB: 2Co 5:9

With such a sure "confidence" of being blessed, whether we die before, or be found alive at Christ's coming.

JFB: 2Co 5:9

Literally, "make it our ambition"; the only lawful ambition.

JFB: 2Co 5:9

Whether we be found at His coming present in the body, or absent from it.

JFB: 2Co 5:9

Greek, "well-pleasing."

JFB: 2Co 5:10

Rather, "be made manifest," namely, in our true character. So "appear," Greek, "be manifested" (Col 3:4; compare 1Co 4:5). We are at all times, even now, manifest to God; then we shall be so to the assembled intelligent universe and to ourselves: for the judgment shall be not only in order to assign the everlasting portion to each, but to vindicate God's righteousness, so that it shall be manifest to all His creatures, and even to the conscience of the sinner himself.

JFB: 2Co 5:10

His reward of grace proportioned to "the things done," &c. (2Co 9:6-9; 2Jo 1:8). Though salvation be of grace purely, independent of works, the saved may have a greater or less reward, according as he lives to, and labors for, Christ more or less. Hence there is scope for the holy "ambition" (see on 2Co 5:9; Heb 6:10). This verse guards against the Corinthians supposing that all share in the house "from heaven" (2Co 5:1-2). There shall be a searching judgment which shall sever the bad from the good, according to their respective,deeds, the motive of the deeds being taken into account, not the mere external act; faith and love to God are the sole motives recognized by God as sound and good (Mat 12:36-37; Mat 25:35-45),

JFB: 2Co 5:10

The Greek may be, "by the instrumentality of the body"; but English Version is legitimate (compare Greek, Rom 2:27). Justice requires that substantially the same body which has been the instrument of the unbelievers' sin, should be the object of punishment. A proof of the essential identity of the natural and the resurrection body.

JFB: 2Co 5:11

The coming judgment, so full of terrors to unbelievers [ESTIUS]. ELLICOTT and ALFORD, after GROTIUS and BENGEL, translate, "The fear of the Lord" (2Co 7:1; Ecc 12:13; Act 9:31; Rom 3:18; Eph 5:21).

JFB: 2Co 5:11

Ministers should use the terrors of the Lord to persuade men, not to rouse their enmity (Jud 1:23). BENGEL, ESTIUS, and ALFORD explain: "Persuade men" (by our whole lives, 2Co 5:13), namely, of our integrity as ministers. But this would have been expressed after "persuade," had it been the sense. The connection seems as follows: He had been accused of seeking to please and win men, he therefore says (compare Gal 1:10), "It is as knowing the terror (or fear) of the Lord that we persuade men; but (whether men who hear our preaching recognize our sincerity or not) we are made manifest unto God as acting on such motives (2Co 4:2); and I trust also in your consciences." Those so "manifested" need have no "terror" as to their being "manifested (English Version, 'appear') before the judgment-seat" (2Co 5:10).

JFB: 2Co 5:12

The reason why he leaves the manifestation of his sincerity in preaching to their consciences (2Co 3:1), namely, his not wishing to "commend" himself again.

JFB: 2Co 5:12

(2Co 1:14), namely, as to our sincerity.

JFB: 2Co 5:12

Greek, "face" (compare 1Sa 16:7). The false teachers gloried in their outward appearance, and in external recommendations (2Co 11:18) their learning, eloquence, wisdom, riches, not in vital religion in their heart. Their conscience does not attest their inward sincerity, as mine does (2Co 1:12).

JFB: 2Co 5:13

Rather as Greek, "have been." The contrast is between the single act implied by the past tense, "If we have ever been beside ourselves," and the habitual state implied by the present, "Or whether we be sober," that is, of sound mind. beside ourselves--The accusation brought by Festus against him (Act 26:24). The holy enthusiasm with which he spake of what God effected by His apostolic ministry, seemed to many to be boasting madness.

JFB: 2Co 5:13

Humbling myself before you, and not using my apostolic power and privileges.

JFB: 2Co 5:13

The glorifying of his office was not for his own, but for God's glory. The abasing of himself was in adaptation to their infirmity, to gain them to Christ (1Co 9:22).

JFB: 2Co 5:14

Accounting for his being "beside himself" with enthusiasm: the love of Christ towards us (in His death for us, the highest proof of it, Rom 5:6-8), producing in turn love in us to Him, and not mere "terror" (2Co 5:11).

JFB: 2Co 5:14

With irresistible power limits us to the one great object to the exclusion of other considerations. The Greek implies to compress forcibly the energies into one channel. Love is jealous of any rival object engrossing the soul (2Co 11:1-3).

JFB: 2Co 5:14

Literally, "(as) having judged thus"; implying a judgment formed at conversion, and ever since regarded as a settled truth.

JFB: 2Co 5:14

That is, that since. But the oldest manuscripts omit "if." "That one died for all (Greek, 'in behalf of all')." Thus the following clause will be, "Therefore all (literally, 'the all,' namely, for whom He 'died') died." His dying is just the same as if they all died; and in their so dying, they died to sin and self, that they might live to God their Redeemer, whose henceforth they are (Rom 6:2-11; Gal 2:20; Col 3:3; 1Pe 4:1-3).

JFB: 2Co 5:15

In the present life (2Co 4:11, "we which live") [ALFORD]; or, they who are thus indebted to Him for life of soul as well as body [MENOCHIUS].

JFB: 2Co 5:15

He does not add, "rose again for them," a phrase not found in Paul's language [BENGEL]. He died in their stead, He arose again for their good, "for (the effecting of) their justification" (Rom 4:25), and that He might be their Lord (Rom 14:7-9). ELLICOTT and ALFORD join "for them" with both "died" and "rose again"; as Christ's death is our death, so His resurrection is our resurrection; Greek, "Who for them died and rose again."

JFB: 2Co 5:15

Greek, "no longer"; namely, now that His death for them has taken place, and that they know that His death saves them from death eternal, and His resurrection life brings spiritual and everlasting life to them.

JFB: 2Co 5:16

Because of our settled judgment (2Co 5:14),

JFB: 2Co 5:16

Since our knowing Christ's constraining love in His death for us.

JFB: 2Co 5:16

That is, according to his mere worldly and external relations (2Co 11:18; Joh 8:15; Phi 3:4), as distinguished from what he is according to the Spirit, as a "new creature" (2Co 5:17). For instance, the outward distinctions of Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, slave or free, learned or unlearned, are lost sight of in the higher life of those who are dead in Christ's death, and alive with Him in the new life of His resurrection (Gal 2:6; Gal 3:28).

JFB: 2Co 5:16

The oldest manuscripts read, "if even."

JFB: 2Co 5:16

Paul when a Jew had looked for a temporal reigning, not a spiritual, Messiah. (He says "Christ," not Jesus: for he had not known personally Jesus in the days of His flesh, but he had looked for Christ or the Messiah). When once he was converted he no longer "conferred with flesh and blood" (Gal 1:16). He had this advantage over the Twelve, that as one born out of due time he had never known Christ save in His heavenly life. To the Twelve it was "expedient that Christ should go away" that the Comforter should come, and so they might know Christ in the higher spiritual aspect and in His new life-giving power, and not merely "after the flesh," in the carnal aspect of Him (Rom 6:9-11; 1Co 15:45; 1Pe 3:18; 1Pe 4:1-2). Doubtless Judaizing Christians at Corinth prided themselves on the mere fleshly (2Co 11:18) advantage of their belonging to Israel, the nation of Christ, or on their having seen Him in the flesh, and thence claimed superiority over others as having a nearer connection with Him (2Co 5:12; 2Co 10:7). Paul here shows the true aim should be to know Him spiritually as new creatures (2Co 5:15, 2Co 5:17), and that outward relations towards Him profit nothing (Luk 18:19-21; Joh 16:7, Joh 16:22; Phi 3:3-10). This is at variance with both Romish Mariolatry and transubstantiation. Two distinct Greek verbs are used here for "know"; the first ("know we no man") means "to be personally acquainted with"; the latter ("known Christ . . . know . . . more") is to recognize, or estimate. Paul's estimate of Christ, or the expected Messiah, was carnal, but is so now no more.

JFB: 2Co 5:17

Connected with the words in 2Co 5:16, "We know Christ no more after the flesh." As Christ has entered on His new heavenly life by His resurrection and ascension, so all who are "in Christ" (that is, united to Him by faith as the branch is In the vine) are new creatures (Rom 6:9-11). "New" in the Greek implies a new nature quite different from anything previously existing, not merely recent, which is expressed by a different Greek word (Gal 6:15).

JFB: 2Co 5:17

Literally, "creation," and so the creature resulting from the creation (compare Joh 3:3, Joh 3:5; Eph 2:10; Eph 4:23; Col 3:10-11). As we are "in Christ," so "God was in Christ" (2Co 5:19): hence He is Mediator between God and us.

JFB: 2Co 5:17

Selfish, carnal views (compare 2Co 5:16) of ourselves, of other men, and of Christ.

JFB: 2Co 5:17

Spontaneously, like the snow of early spring [BENGEL] before the advancing sun.

JFB: 2Co 5:17

Implying an allusion to Isa 43:19; Isa 65:17.

JFB: 2Co 5:18

Greek, "THE."

JFB: 2Co 5:18

All our privileges in this new creation (2Co 5:14-15).

JFB: 2Co 5:18

That is, restored us ("the world," 2Co 5:19) to His favor by satisfying the claims of justice against us. Our position judicially considered in the eye of the law is altered, not as though the mediation of Christ had made a change in God's character, nor as if the love of God was produced by the mediation of Christ; nay, the mediation and sacrifice of Christ was the provision of God's love, not its moving cause (Rom 8:32). Christ's blood was the price paid at the expense of God Himself, and was required to reconcile the exercise of mercy with justice, not as separate, but as the eternally harmonious attributes in the one and the same God (Rom 3:25-26). The Greek "reconcile" is reciprocally used as in the Hebrew Hithpahel conjugation, appease, obtain the favor of. Mat 5:24, "Be reconciled to thy brother"; that is, take measures that he be reconciled to thee, as well as thou to him, as the context proves. Diallagethi, however (Mat 5:24), implying mutual reconciliation, is distinct from Katallagethi here, the latter referring to the change of status wrought in one of the two parties. The manner of God reconciling the world to Himself is implied (2Co 5:19), namely, by His "not imputing their trespasses to them." God not merely, as subsequently, reconciles the world by inducing them to lay aside their enmity, but in the first instance, does so by satisfying His own justice and righteous enmity against sin (Psa 7:11). Compare 1Sa 29:4, "Reconcile himself unto his master"; not remove his own anger against his master, but his master's against him [ARCHBISHOP MAGEE, Atonement]. The reconciling of men to God by their laying aside their enmity is the consequence of God laying aside His just enmity against their sin, and follows at 2Co 5:20.

JFB: 2Co 5:18

Ministers (2Co 5:19-20).

JFB: 2Co 5:19

That is, God was BY Christ (in virtue of Christ's intervention) reconciling," &c. Was reconciling" implies the time when the act of reconciliation was being carried into effect (2Co 5:21), namely, when "God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us." The compound of "was" and the participle "reconciling," instead of the imperfect (Greek), may also imply the continuous purpose of God, from before the foundation of the world, to reconcile man to Himself, whose fall was foreseen. The expression " IN Christ" for "by Christ" may be used to imply additionally that God was IN Christ (Joh 10:38; Joh 14:10), and so by Christ (the God-man) was reconciling . . . The Greek for "by" or "through" Christ (the best manuscripts omit "Jesus"), 2Co 5:18, is different. "In" must mean here in the person of Christ. The Greek Katallasson implies "changing" or altering the judicial status from one of condemnation to one of justification. The atonement (at-one-ment), or reconciliation, is the removal of the bar to peace and acceptance with a holy God, which His righteousness interposed against our sin. The first step towards restoring peace between us and God was on God's side (Joh 3:16). The change therefore now to be effected must be on the part of offending man, God the offended One being already reconciled. It is man, not God, who now needs to be reconciled, and to lay aside his enmity against God (Rom 5:10-11). ("We have received the atonement" [Greek, reconciliation], cannot mean "We have received the laying aside of our own enmity"). Compare Rom 3:24-25.

JFB: 2Co 5:19

All men (Col 1:20; 1Jo 2:2). The manner of the reconciling is by His "not imputing to men their trespasses," but imputing them to Christ the Sin-bearer. There is no incongruity that a father should be offended with that son whom he loveth, and at that time offended with him when he loveth him. So, though God loved men whom He created, yet He was offended with them when they sinned, and gave His Son to suffer for them, that through that Son's obedience He might be reconciled to them (reconcile them to Himself, that is, restore them WITH JUSTICE to His favor) [BISHOP PEARSON, Exposition of the Creed].

JFB: 2Co 5:19

Greek, "hath put into our hands." "Us," that is, ministers.

JFB: 2Co 5:20

The Greek of both is the same: translate in both cases "on Christ's behalf."

JFB: 2Co 5:20

Rather, "entreat [plead with you] . . . beseech." Such "beseeching" is uncommon in the case of "ambassadors," who generally stand on their dignity (compare 2Co 10:2; 1Th 2:6-7).

JFB: 2Co 5:20

English Version here inserts "ye," which is not in the original, and which gives the wrong impression, as if it were emphatic thus: God is reconciled to you, be ye reconciled to God. The Greek expresses rather, God was the RECONCILER in Christ . . . let this reconciliation then have its designed effect. Be reconciled to God, that is, let God reconcile you to Himself (2Co 5:18-19).

Clarke: 2Co 5:1

If our earthly house of this tabernacle - By earthly house, the apostle most evidently means the body in which the soul is represented as dwelling or sojourning for a time, and from which it is to be liberated at death; for as death dissolves the tabernacle, it can then be no habitation for the soul. The apostle also alludes here to the ancient Jewish tabernacle, which, on all removals of the congregation, was dissolved and taken in pieces; and the ark of the covenant, covered with its own curtains, was carried by itself; and when they came to the place of rest, then the dissolved parts of the tabernacle were put together as before. When we consider this simile in connection with the doctrine of the resurrection, which the apostle has treated so much at large in these epistles, and which he keeps constantly in view, then we shall see that he intends to convey the following meaning: that as the tabernacle was taken down in order to be again put together, so the body is to be dissolved, in order to be re-edified; that as the ark of the covenant subsisted by itself, while the tabernacle was down, so can the soul when separated from the body; that as the ark had then its own veil for its covering, Exo 40:21, so the soul is to have some vehicle in which it shall subsist till it receives its body at the resurrection

Clarke: 2Co 5:1

A building of God - Some think this refers to a certain celestial vehicle with which God invests holy souls on their dismissal from the body; others suppose it relates to the resurrection body; and some imagine that it relates merely to the state of blessedness which the saints shall possess in the kingdom of glory. See the following note.

Clarke: 2Co 5:2

For in this we groan - While in this state, and in this body, we are encompassed with many infirmities, and exposed to many trials, so that life is a state of discipline and affliction, and every thing within and around us says, "Arise and depart, for this is not your rest!"Those who apply these words to what they call the apostle’ s sense of indwelling sin, abuse the passage. There is nothing of the kind either mentioned or intended

Clarke: 2Co 5:2

Desiring to be clothed upon with our house - This and the following verses are, in themselves, exceedingly obscure, and can be only interpreted by considering that the expressions used by the apostle are all Jewish, and should be interpreted according to their use of them. Schoettgen has entered largely into the argument here employed by the apostle, and brought forth much useful information

He observes

1.    That the Hebrew word לבש labash , which answers to the apostle’ s ενδυσασθαι, to be clothed, signifies to be surrounded, covered, or invested with any thing. So, to be clothed with the uncircumcision, signifies to be uncircumcised. Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 163

On the words, Exo 24:18, Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount, Sohar Exod., fol. 77, has these words, He went into the midst of the cloud, as if one put on a garment; so he was Clothed with the Cloud. Sohar Levit., fol. 29: "The righteous are in the terrestrial paradise, where their souls are clothed with the lucid crown;"i.e. they are surrounded, encompassed with light, etc

2.    The word בית beith , House, in Hebrew often denotes a cover, case, or clothing. So, in the Targum of Onkelos, בית אפי beith appei , the House or the Face, is a veil; and so בית אצבעים beith etsbaim , the House of the Fingers, and בית יד beith yad , the House of the Hand, signify gloves; בית רגלים beith regalim , the House of the Feet, shoes. Therefore, οικητηριον - επενδυσασθαι, to be clothed on with a house, may signify any particular qualities of the soul; what we, following the very same form of speech, call a habit, i.e. a coat or vestment. So we say the man has got a habit of vice, a habit of virtue, a habit of swearing, of humility, etc., etc

3.    The Jews attribute garments to the soul, both in this and the other world; and as they hold that all human souls pre-exist, they say that, previously to their being appointed to bodies, they have a covering which answers the same end to them before they come into life as their bodies do afterwards. And they state that the design of God in sending souls into the world is, that they may get themselves a garment by the study of the law and good works. See several proofs in Schoettgen

4.    It is plain, also, that by this garment or covering of the soul they mean simply what we understand by acquiring the image of God - being made holy. This image they assert "Adam lost by his fall, and they represent man in a sinful state as being naked."So they represent the Israelites before their making the molten calf, as having received holy garments from Mount Sinai; but afterwards, having worshipped the calf, they were stripped of these, and left naked

5.    But notwithstanding they speak of this clothing as implying righteous and holy dispositions, and heavenly qualities, yet they all agree in assigning certain vehicles to separate spirits, in which they act; but of these vehicles they have strange notions; yet they acknowledge that without them, whether they be of light, fire, etc., or whatever else, they cannot see and contemplate the Supreme Wisdom. In Synopsis Sohar, page 137, we have these words: "When the time draws near in which a man is to depart from this world, the angel of death takes off his mortal garment and clothes him with one from paradise, in which he may see and contemplate the Supreme Wisdom; and therefore the angel of death is said to be very kind to man, because he takes off from him the garment of this world, and clothes him with a much more precious one prepared in paradise.

When the apostle says that they earnestly desired to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, he certainly means that the great concern of all the genuine followers of God was to be fully prepared to enjoy the beatific vision of their Maker and Redeemer.

Clarke: 2Co 5:3

If so be that being clothed - That is, fully prepared in this life for the glory of God

Clarke: 2Co 5:3

We shall not be found naked - Destitute in that future state of that Divine image which shall render us capable of enjoying an endless glory.

Clarke: 2Co 5:4

For we that are in this tabernacle - We who are in this state of trial and difficulty do groan, being burdened; as if he had said: The whole of human life is a state of suffering, and especially our lot; who are troubled on every side, perplexed, persecuted, cast down, bearing about in the body the dying of our Lord Jesus, and being always delivered unto death on the account of Jesus, 2Co 4:8-11. These were sufficient burdens, and sufficient causes of groaning

Clarke: 2Co 5:4

Not for that we would be unclothed - We do not desire death, nor to die, even with the full prospect of eternal glory before our eyes, an hour before that time which God in his wisdom has assigned

Clarke: 2Co 5:4

But clothed upon - To have the fullest preparation for eternal glory. We wish not to die, whatever tribulation we may be called to pass through, till the whole will of God is accomplished in us and by us

Clarke: 2Co 5:4

That mortality might be swallowed up of life - Being fully prepared for the eternal state we shall scarcely be said to die, all that is mortal being absorbed and annihilated by immortality and glory. See the notes on 1Co 15:51-56 (note). From the use of these expressions among the Jews, this seems to be the general meaning of the apostle.

Clarke: 2Co 5:5

Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing - God has given us our being and our body for this very purpose, that both might be made immortal, and both be glorified together. Or, God himself has given us this insatiable hungering and thirsting after righteousness and immortality. Mr. Addison has made a beautiful paraphrase of the sense of the apostle, whether he had his words in view or not: -

"- Whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire

This longing after immortality

Or whence this secret dread and inward horro

Of falling into nought? Why shrinks the sou

Back on herself, and startles at destruction

‘ Tis the Divinity that stirs within us

‘ Tis Heaven itself that points out an hereafter

And intimates eternity to man. -

The soul, secured in her existence, smile

At the drawn dagger, and defies its point

The stars shall fade away, the sun himsel

Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years

But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth

Unhurt amidst the war of elements

The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds.

Clarke: 2Co 5:5

The earnest of the Spirit - See the note on 2Co 1:22.

Clarke: 2Co 5:6

We are always confident - Θαρῥουντες ουν παντοτε· We are always full of courage; we never despond; we know where our help lies; and, having the earnest of the Spirit, we have the full assurance of hope

Clarke: 2Co 5:6

Whilst we are at home in the body, etc. - The original words in this sentence are very emphatic: ενδημειν signifies to dwell among one’ s own people; εκδημειν, to be a sojourner among a strange people. Heaven is the home of every genuine Christian, and is claimed by them as such; see Phi 1:23. Yet, while here below, the body is the proper home of the soul; but as the soul is made for eternal glory, that glory is its country; and therefore it is considered as being from its proper home while below in the body. As all human souls are made for this glory, therefore all are considered, while here, to be absent from their own country. And it is not merely heaven that they have in view, but the Lord; without whom, to an immortal spirit possessed of infinite desires, heaven would neither be a home nor a place of rest. We see plainly that the apostle gives no intimation of an intermediate state between being at home in the body and being present with the Lord. There is not the slightest intimation here that the soul sleeps, or rather, that there is no soul; and, when the body is decomposed, that there is no more of the man till the resurrection: I mean, according to the sentiments of those who do condescend to allow us a resurrection, though they deny us a soul. But this is a philosophy in which St. Paul got no lessons, either from Gamaliel, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, or in the third heaven, where he heard even unutterable things.

Clarke: 2Co 5:7

For we walk by faith - While we are in the present state faith supplies the place of direct vision. In the future world we shall have sight - the utmost evidence of spiritual and eternal things; as we shall be present with them, and live in them. Here we have the testimony of God, and believe in their reality, because we cannot doubt his word. And to make this more convincing he gives us the earnest of his Spirit, which is a foretaste of glory.

Clarke: 2Co 5:8

We are confident - We are of good courage, notwithstanding our many difficulties; because we have this earnest of the Spirit, and the unfailing testimony of God. And notwithstanding this, we are willing rather to be absent from the body - we certainly prefer a state of glory to a state of suffering, and the enjoyment of the beatific vision to even the anticipation of it by faith and hope; but, as Christians, we cannot desire to die before our time.

Clarke: 2Co 5:9

Wherefore we labor - Φιλοτιμουμεθα· from φιλος, loving, and τιμη, honor; we act at all times on the principles of honor; we are, in the proper sense of the word, ambitious to do and say every thing consistently with our high vocation: and, as we claim kindred to the inhabitants of heaven, to act as they do

Clarke: 2Co 5:9

We may be accepted of him - Ευαρεστοι αυτῳ ειναι To be pleasing to him. Through the love we have to God, we study and labor to please him. This is and will be our heaven, to study to love, please, and serve him from whom we have received both our being and its blessings.

Clarke: 2Co 5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat - We labor to walk so as to please him, because we know that we shall have to give a solemn account of ourselves before the judgment seat of Christ; where he, whose religion we profess, will judge us according to its precepts, and according to the light and grace which it affords

Clarke: 2Co 5:10

That every one may receive the things - Κομισηται ἑκαστος· That each may receive to himself, into his own hand, his own reward and his own wages

Clarke: 2Co 5:10

The things done in his body - That is, while he was in this lower state; for in this sense the term body is taken often in this epistle. We may observe also that the soul is the grand agent, the body is but its instrument. And it shall receive according to what it has done in the body.

Clarke: 2Co 5:11

Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord - This, I think, is too harsh a translation of ειδοτες ουν τον φοβον του Κυριου, which should be rendered, knowing therefore the fear of the Lord; which, strange as it may at first appear, often signifies the worship of the Lord, or that religious reverence which we owe to him; Act 9:31; Rom 3:18; Rom 13:7; 1Pe 1:17; 1Pe 2:18; 1Pe 3:2. As we know therefore what God requires of man, because we are favored with his own revelation, we persuade men to become Christians, and to labor to be acceptable to him, because they must all stand before the judgment seat; and if they receive not the grace of the Gospel here, they must there give up their accounts with sorrow and not with joy. In short, a man who is not saved from his sin in this life, will be separated from God and the glory of his power in the world to come. This is a powerful motive to persuade men to accept the salvation provided for them by Christ Jesus. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom; the terror of God confounds and overpowers the soul. We lead men to God through his fear and love, and with the fear of God the love of God is ever consistent; but where the terror of the Lord reigns there can neither be fear, faith, nor love; nay, nor hope either. Men who vindicate their constant declamations on hell and perdition by quoting this text, know little of its meaning; and, what is worse, seem to know but little of the nature of man, and perhaps less of the spirit of the Gospel of Christ. Let them go and learn a lesson from Christ, sweeping over Jerusalem: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered you together, as a hen would her brood under her wings!"And another from his last words on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!

Clarke: 2Co 5:11

But we are made manifest unto God - God, who searches the heart, knows that we are upright in our endeavors to please him; and because we are fully persuaded of the reality of eternal things, therefore we are fully in earnest to get sinners converted to him

Clarke: 2Co 5:11

Manifest in your consciences - We have reason to believe that you have had such proof of our integrity and disinterestedness, that your consciences must acquit us of every unworthy motive, and of every sinister view.

Clarke: 2Co 5:12

For we commend not ourselves? - I do not say these things to bespeak your good opinion, to procure your praise; but to give you an occasion to glory - to exult on our behalf; and to furnish you with an answer to all those who either malign us or our ministry, and who only glory in appearance - have no solid ground of exultation, and whose heart is dishonest and impure. St. Paul probably speaks here concerning the false apostle, who had been dividing the Church and endeavoring to raise a party to himself, by vilifying both the apostle and his doctrine.

Clarke: 2Co 5:13

Beside ourselves - Probably he was reputed by some to be deranged. Festus thought so: Paul, thou art beside thyself; too much learning hath made thee mad. And his enemies at Corinth might insinuate not only that he was deranged, but attribute his derangement to a less worthy cause than intense study and deep learning

Clarke: 2Co 5:13

It is to God - If we do appear, in speaking of the glories of the eternal world, to be transported beyond ourselves, it is through the good hand of our God upon us, and we do it to promote his honor

Clarke: 2Co 5:13

Whether we be sober - Speak of Divine things in a more cool and dispassionate manner, it is that we may the better instruct and encourage you.

Clarke: 2Co 5:14

For the love of Christ constraineth us - We have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, and this causes us to love God intensely, and to love and labor for the salvation of men. And it is the effect produced by this love which συνεχει ἡμας, bears us away with itself, which causes us to love after the similitude of that love by which we are influenced; and as God so loved the world as to give his Son for it, and as Christ so loved the world as to pour out his life for it, so we, influenced by the very same love, desire to spend and be spent for the glory of God, and the salvation of immortal souls. By the fear of God the apostles endeavored to persuade and convince men, and the love of Christ constrained them so to act

Clarke: 2Co 5:14

If one died for all, then were all dead - The first position the apostle takes for granted; viz. that Jesus Christ died for All mankind. This no apostolic man nor primitive Christian ever did doubt or could doubt

The second position he infers from the first, and justly too; for if all had not been guilty, and consigned to eternal death because of their sins there could have been no need of his death. Therefore, as he most certainly died for All, then all were dead, and needed his sacrifice, and the quickening power of his Spirit.

Clarke: 2Co 5:15

And that he died for all, that they which live, etc. - This third position he draws from the preceding: If all were dead, and in danger of endless perdition; and if he died for all, to save them from that perdition; then it justly follows that they are not their own, that they are bought by his blood; and should not live unto themselves, for this is the way to final ruin; but unto him who died for them, and thus made an atonement for their sins, and rose again for their justification.

Clarke: 2Co 5:16

Know we no man after the flesh - As we know that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; and as we know that all are alienated from God, and are dead in trespasses and sins; therefore we esteem no man on account of his family relations, or the stock whence he proceeded, because we see all are shut up in unbelief, and all are children of wrath

Clarke: 2Co 5:16

Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh - We cannot esteem a man who is a sinner, were he even allied to the blood royal of David, and were he of the same family with the man Christ himself; nor can we prize a man because he has seen Christ in the flesh; for many have seen him in the flesh to whom he will say; Depart from me, for I never knew you. So we: nothing weighs with us, nor in the sight of God, but redemption from this death, and living to him who died for them

We know that the Jews valued themselves much in having Abraham for their father; and some of the Judaizing teachers at Corinth might value themselves in having seen Christ in the flesh, which certainly St. Paul did not; hence he takes occasion to say here that this kind of privilege availed nothing; for the old creature, however noble, or well descended in the sight of men, is under the curse; and the new creature only is such as God can approve.

Clarke: 2Co 5:17

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature - It is vain for a man to profess affinity to Christ according to the flesh, while he is unchanged in his heart and life, and dead in trespasses and sins; for he that is in Christ, that is, a genuine Christian, having Christ dwelling in his heart by faith, is a new creature; his old state is changed: he was a child of Satan, he is now a child of God; he was a slave of sin, and his works were death; he is now made free from sin, and has his fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. He was before full of pride and wrath; he is now meek and humble. He formerly had his portion in this life, and lived for this world alone; he now hath God for his portion, and he looks not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are eternal. Therefore, old things are passed away

Clarke: 2Co 5:17

Behold, all things are become new - The man is not only mended, but he is new made; he is a new creature, καινη κτισις, a new creation, a little world in himself; formerly, all was in chaotic disorder; now, there is a new creation, which God himself owns as his workmanship, and which he can look on and pronounce very good. The conversion of a man from idolatry and wickedness was among the Jews denominated a new creation. He who converts a man to the true religion is the same, says R. Eliezer, as if he had created him.

Clarke: 2Co 5:18

And all things are of God - As the thorough conversion of the soul is compared to a new creation, and creation is the proper work of an all-wise, almighty Being; then this total change of heart, soul, and life, which takes place under the preaching of the Gospel, is effected by the power and grace of God: this is salvation, and salvation must ever be of the Lord; and therefore men should apply to him, who alone can work this wondrous change

Clarke: 2Co 5:18

Who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ - Having given Jesus Christ to die for sinners, they have through him access unto God; for his sake and on his account God can receive them; and it is only by the grace and Spirit of Christ that the proud, fierce, and diabolic nature of men can be changed and reconciled to God, and by and through this sacrifice God can be propitious to them. There is an enmity in the heart of man against sacred things; the grace of Christ alone can remove this enmity

Clarke: 2Co 5:18

The ministry of reconciliation - Διακονιαν της καταλλαγης· The Office or function of this reconciliation called, 2Co 5:19, the word; τον λογον της καταλλαγης· the Doctrine of this reconciliation. Καταλλαγη, reconciliation, comes from καταλλασσω, to change thoroughly; and the grand object of the Gospel is to make a complete change in men’ s minds and manners; but the first object is the removal of enmity from the heart of man, that he may be disposed to accept of the salvation God has provided for him, on the terms which God has promised. The enmity in the heart of man is the grand hinderance to his salvation.

Clarke: 2Co 5:19

That God was in Christ - This is the doctrine which this ministry of reconciliation holds out, and the doctrine which it uses to bring about the reconciliation itself

God was in Christ

1.    Christ is the same as Messiah, the Anointed One, who was to be prophet, priest, and king, to the human race; not to the Jews only, but also to the Gentiles. There had been prophets, priests, and kings, among the Jews and their ancestors; and some who had been priest and prophet, king and priest, and king and prophet; but none have ever sustained in his own person the threefold office except Christ; for none have ever ministered in reference to the whole world but he. The functions of all the others were restrained to the ancient people of God alone

2.    Now all the others were appointed of God in reference to this Christ; and as his types, or representatives, till the fullness of the time should come

3.    And that this Christ might be adequate to the great work of reconciling the whole human race to God, by making atonement for their sins, God was in him. The man Jesus was the temple and shrine of the eternal Divinity; for in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, Col 2:9; and he made peace by the blood of his cross

4.    Christ, by his offering upon the cross, made atonement for the sins of the world; and therefore one important branch of the doctrine of this reconciliation was to show that God would not impute or account their trespasses to them, so as to exact the penalty, because this Jesus had died in their stead

The whole of this important doctrine was short, simple, and plain. Let us consider it in all its connections

1.    You believe there is a God

2.    You know he has made you

3.    He requires you to love and serve him

4.    To show you how to do this he has given a revelation of himself, which is contained in his law, etc

5.    You have broken this law, and incurred the penalty, which is death

6.    Far from being able to undo your offenses, or make reparation to the offended majesty of God, your hearts, through the deceitfulness and influence of sin, are blinded, hardened, and filled with enmity, against your Father and your Judge

7.    To redeem you out of this most wretched and accursed state, God; in his endless love, has given his Son for you; who has assumed your nature, and died in your stead

8.    In consequence of this he has commanded repentance towards God, and remission of sins, to be published in his name in all the earth

9.    All who repent, and believe in Christ as having died for them as a sin-offering, (2Co 5:21), shall receive remission of sins

10.    And if they abide in him they shall have an eternal inheritance among them that are sanctified.

Clarke: 2Co 5:20

We are ambassadors for Christ - Ὑπερ Χριστου - πρεσβευομεν . We execute the function of ambassadors in Christ’ s stead. He came from the Father to mankind on this important embassy. He has left the world, and appointed us in his place

Ambassador is a person sent from one sovereign power to another; and is supposed to represent the person of the sovereign by whom he is deputed. Christ while on earth represented the person of the Sovereign of the world; his apostles and their successors represent the person of Christ. Christ declared the will of the Father to mankind; apostles, etc., declare the will of Christ to the world. We are ambassadors for Christ

Clarke: 2Co 5:20

As though God did beseech you by us - What we say to you we say on the authority of God; our entreaties are his entreaties; our warm love to you, a faint reflection of his infinite love; we pray you to return to God, it is his will that you should do so; we promise you remission of sins, we are authorized to do so by God himself. In Christ’ s stead we pray you to lay aside your enmity and be reconciled to God; i.e. accept pardon, peace, holiness, and heaven; which are all procured for you by his blood, and offered to you on his own authority

"What unparalleled condescension and divinely tender mercies are displayed in this verse! Did the judge ever beseech a condemned criminal to accept of pardon? Does the creditor ever beseech a ruined debtor to receive an acquittance in full? Yet our almighty Lord, and our eternal Judge, not only vouchsafes to offer these blessings, but invites us, entreats us, and with the most tender importunity solicits us not to reject them."The Rev. J. Wesley’ s notes in loc

This sentiment is farther expressed in the following beautiful poetic version of this place, by the Rev. Charles Wesley: -

"God, the offended God most high

Ambassadors to rebels sends

His messengers his place supply

And Jesus begs us to be friends

Us, in the stead of Christ, they pray

Us, in the stead of Christ, entreat

To cast our arms, our sins, away

And find forgiveness at his feet

Our God, in Christ, thine embass

And proffer’ d mercy we embrace

And, gladly reconciled to thee

Thy condescending mercy praise

Poor debtors, by our Lord’ s reques

A full acquittance we receive

And criminals, with pardon blest

We, at our Judge’ s instance, live."

Calvin: 2Co 5:1

1.For we know Here follows an amplification (επεξεργασια) or embellishment of the foregoing statement. ⁵⁰⁷ For Paul has it in view, to correct in us impatience, dread, and dislike of the cross, contempt for what is mean, and in fine, pride, and effeminacy; and this can only be accomplished by raising up our minds as high as heaven, through contempt of the world. Now he has recourse to two arguments. On the one hand, he shows the miserable condition of mankind in this life, and on the other hand, the supreme and perfect blessedness, which awaits believers in heaven after death. For what is it that keeps men so firmly bound in a misplaced attachment to this life, but their deceiving themselves with a false imagination — thinking themselves happy in living here? On the other hand, it is not enough to be aware of the miseries of this life, if we have not at the same time in view the felicity and glory of the future life. This is common to good and bad alike — that both are desirous to live. This, also, is common to both — that, when they consider, how many and how great miseries they are here exposed to, (with this difference, however, that unbelievers know of no adversities but those of the body merely, while the pious are more deeply affected ⁵⁰⁸ by spiritual distresses,) they often groan, often deplore their condition, and desire a remedy for their evils. As, however, all naturally view death with horror, unbelievers never willingly quit this life, except when they throw it off in disgust or despair. Believers, on the other hand, depart willingly, because they have a better hope set before them beyond this world. This is the sum of the argument. Let us now examine the words one by one.

We know, says he. This knowledge does not spring from the human intellect, but takes its rise from the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Hence it is peculiar to believers. Even the heathens had some idea of the immortality of the soul, but there was not one of them, that had assurance of it — not one of them could boast that he spoke of a thing that was known to him. ⁵⁰⁹ Believers alone can affirm this, ⁵¹⁰ to whom it has been testified of by the word and Spirit of God.

Besides, it is to be observed, that this knowledge is not merely of a general kind, as though believers were merely in a general way persuaded, that the children of God will be in a better condition after death, and had no assurance as to themselves individually, ⁵¹¹ for of how very little service this would be for affording a consolation, so difficult of attainment! On the contrary, every one must have a knowledge peculiar to himself, for this, and this only, can animate me to meet death with cheerfulness — if I am fully persuaded, that I am departing to a better life.

The body, such as we now have it, he calls a house of tabernacle For as tabernacles ⁵¹² are constructed, for a temporary purpose, of slight materials, and without any firm foundation, and then shortly afterwards are thrown down, or fall of their own accord, so the mortal body is given to men as a frail hut, ⁵¹³ to be inhabited by them for a few days. The same metaphor is made use of, also, by Peter in his Second Epistle, (2Pe 1:13,) and by Job, (Job 4:19,) when he calls it a house of clay. He places in contrast with this a building of perpetual duration. It is not certain, whether he means by this term a state of blessed immortality, which awaits believers after death, or the incorruptible and glorious body, such as it will be after the resurrection. In whichever of these senses it is taken, it will not be unsuitable; though I prefer to understand it as meaning, that the blessed condition of the soul after death is the commencement of this building, and the glory of the final resurrection is the consummation of it. ⁵¹⁴ This exposition will correspond better with the Apostle’s context. The epithets, which he applies to this building, tend to confirm more fully its perpetuity.

Calvin: 2Co 5:3

3.Since clothed He restricts to believers, what he had stated respecting the certainty of a future life, as it is a thing peculiar to them. For the wicked, too, are stripped of the body, but as they bring nothing within the view of God, but a disgraceful nakedness, they are, consequently, not clothed with a glorious body. Believers, on the other hand, who appear in the view of God, clothed with Christ, and adorned with His image, receive the glorious robe of immortality. For I am inclined to take this view, rather than that of Chrysostom and others, who think that nothing new is here stated, but that Paul simply repeats here, what he had previously said as to putting on an eternal habitation. The Apostle, therefore, makes mention here of a twofold clothing, with which God invests us — the righteousness of Christ, and sanctification of the Spirit in this life; and, after death, immortality and glory. The first is the cause of the second, because

those whom God has determined to glorify, he first justifies. (Rom 8:30.)

This meaning, too, is elicited from the particle also, which is without doubt introduced for the purpose of amplifying — as if Paul had said, that a new robe will be prepared for believers after death, since they have been clothed in this life also.

Calvin: 2Co 5:4

4.We groan, being burdened, because we desire not to be unclothed The wicked, too, groan, because they are not contented with their present condition; but afterwards an opposite disposition prevails, that is, a clinging to life, so that they view death with horror, and do not feel the long continuance of this mortal life to be a burden. The groaning of believers, on the other hand, arises from this — that they know, that they are here in a state of exile from their native land, and that they know, that they are here shut up in the body as in a prison. Hence they feel this life to be a burden, because in it they cannot enjoy true and perfect blessedness, because they cannot escape from the bondage of sin otherwise than by death, and hence they aspire to be elsewhere.

As, however, it is natural for all animals to desire existence, how can it be, that believers are willing to cease to exist? The Apostle solves this question, when he says, that believers do not desire death for the sake of losing any thing, but as having regard to a better life. At the same time, the words express more than this. For he admits, that we have naturally an aversion to the quitting of this life, considered in itself, as no one willingly allows himself to be striped of his garments. Afterwards, however, he adds, that the natural horror of death is overcome by confidence; ⁵¹⁵ as an individual will, without any reluctance, throw away a coarse, dirty, threadbare, and, in one word, tattered garment, with the view of his being arrayed in an elegant, handsome, new, and durable one.

Farther, he explains the metaphor by saying —

that what is mortal may be destroyed ⁵¹⁶ by life. For as flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,
(1Co 15:50,)

it is necessary, that what is corruptible in our nature should perish, in order that we may be thoroughly renewed, and restored to a state of perfection. On this account, our body is called a prison, in which we are confined.

Calvin: 2Co 5:5

5.Now he that hath fitted us This is added in order that we may know, that this disposition is supernatural. For mere natural feeling will not lead us forward to this, for it does not comprehend that hundredfold recompense which springs from the dying of a single grain. (Joh 12:24.) We must, therefore, be fitted for it by God. The manner of it is at the same time subjoined — that he confirms us by his Spirit, who is as it were an earnest At the same time the particle also seems to be added for the sake of amplification. “It is God who forms in us this desire, and, lest our courage should give way or waver, the Holy Spirit is given us as an earnest, because by his testimony he confirms, and ratifies the truth of the promise.” For these are two offices of the Holy Spirit — first, to show to believers what they ought to desire, and secondly, to influence their hearts efficaciously, and remove all their doubt, that they may steadfastly persevere in choosing what is good. There would, however, be nothing unsuitable in extending the word fitted, so as to denote that renovation of life, with which God adorns his people even in this life, for in this way he already separates them from others, and shows that they are, by means of his grace, marked out for a peculiar condition.

Calvin: 2Co 5:6

6.Therefore we are always confident That is, as exercising dependence on the earnest of the Spirit; for, otherwise, we always tremble, or, at least, are courageous or alarmed by turns, and do not retain a uniform and even tenor of mind. Hence, that good courage of which Paul speaks has no place in us, unless it is maintained by the Spirit of God. The connecting particle and, which immediately follows, ought to be understood as meaning because, in this way: We are of good courage, Because we know that we are absent, etc. For this knowledge is the cause of our calmness and confidence; for the reason, why unbelievers are constantly in a ferment of anxiety, or obstinately murmur against God, is, that they think they will ere long cease to exist, and they place in this life the highest and uppermost summit of their felicity. ⁵¹⁷ We, on the other hand, live in the exercise of contentment, ⁵¹⁸ and go forward to death with alacrity, ⁵¹⁹ because a better hope is laid up for us.

We are absent from the Lord Scripture everywhere proclaims, that God is present with us: Paul here teaches, that we are absent from him. This is seemingly a contradiction; but this difficulty is easily solved, when we take into view the different respects, in which he is said to be present or absent. He is, then, present with all men, inasmuch as he upholds them by his power. He dwells in them, because

in him they live and move and have their being.
(Act 17:28.)

He is present with his believing people by the energy of his Spirit; he lives in them, resides in the midst of them, nay more, within them. But in the mean time he is absent from us, inasmuch as he does not present himself to be seen face to face, because we are as yet in a state of exile from his kingdom, and have not as yet attained that blessed immortality, which the angels that are with him enjoy. At the same time, to be absent, in this passage, refers merely to knowledge, as is manifest from the reason that is afterwards added.

Calvin: 2Co 5:7

7.For we walk by faith (Εἰδος) I have here rendered aspectum , ( sight,) because few understood the meaning of the word species , ( appearance.) ⁵²⁰ He states the reason, why it is that we are now absent from the Lord — because we do not as yet see him face to face. (1Co 13:12.) The manner of that absence is this — that God is not openly beheld by us. The reason why he is not seen by us is, that we walk by faith Now it is on good grounds that faith is opposed to sight, because it, perceives those things that are hid from the view of men — because it reaches forth to future things, which do not as yet appear. For such is the condition of believers, that they resemble the dead rather than the living — that they often seem as if they were forsaken by God — that they always have the elements of death shut up within them. Hence they must necessarily hope against hope. (Rom 4:18.) Now the things that are hoped for are hid, as we read in Rom 8:24, and faith is the

manifestation of things which do not appear.
(Heb 11:1.) ⁵²¹

It is not to be wondered, then, if the apostle says, that we have not as yet the privilege of sight, so long as we walk by faith For we see, indeed, but it is through a glass, darkly; (1Co 13:12,) that is, in place of the reality we rest upon the word.

Calvin: 2Co 5:8

8.We are confident, I say He again repeats, what he had said respecting the confidence of the pious — that they are so far from breaking down under the severity of the cross, and from being disheartened by afflictions, that they are made thereby more courageous. For the worst of evils is death, yet believers long to attain it, as being the commencement of perfect blessedness. Hence and may be regarded as equivalent to because, in this way: “Nothing can befall us, that can shake our confidence and courage, since death (which others so much dread) is to us great gain. (Phi 1:21.) For nothing is better than to quit the body, that we may attain near intercourse with God, and may truly and openly enjoy his presence. Hence by the decay of the body we lose nothing that belongs to us.”

Observe here — what has been once stated already — that true faith begets not merely a contempt of death, but even a desire for it, ⁵²² and that it is, accordingly, on the other hand, a token of unbelief, when dread of death predominates in us above the joy and consolation of hope. Believers, however, desire death — not as if they would, by an importunate desire, anticipate their Lord’s day, for they willingly retain their footing in their earthly station, so long as their Lord may see good, for they would rather live to the glory of Christ than die to themselves, (Rom 14:7,) and for their own advantage; ⁵²³ for the desire, of which Paul speaks, springs from faith. Hence it is not at all at variance with the will of God. We may, also, gather from these words of Paul, that souls, when released from the body, live in the presence of God, for if, on being absent from the body, they have God present, ⁵²⁴ they assuredly live with him.

Here it is asked by some — “How then did it happen that the holy fathers dreaded death so much, as for example David, Hezekiah, and the whole of the Israelitish Church, as appears from Psa 4:0, from Isa 38:3, and from Psa 115:17 ?” I am aware of the answer, that is usually returned — that the reason, why death was so much dreaded by them was, that the revelation of the future life was as yet obscure, and the consolation, consequently, was but small. Now I acknowledge, that this, in part, accounts for it, but not entirely, for the holy fathers of the ancient Church did not in every case tremble, on being forewarned of their death. Nay more, they embraced death with alacrity, and with joyful hearts. For Abraham departed without regret, full of days. ⁵²⁵ (Gen 25:8.) We do not read that Isaac was reluctant to die. (Gen 35:29.) Jacob, with his last breath, declares that he is

waiting for the salvation of the Lord. (Gen 49:18.)

David himself, too, dies peacefully, without any regrets, (1Kg 2:10,) and in like manner Hezekiah. As to the circumstance, that David and Hezekiah did, each of them, on one occasion deprecate death with tears, the reason was, that they were punished by the Lord for certain sins, and, in consequence of this, they felt the anger of the Lord in death. Such was the cause of their alarm, and this believers might feel even at this day, under the reign of Christ. The desire, however, of which Paul speaks, is the disposition of a well-regulated mind. ⁵²⁶

Calvin: 2Co 5:9

9.Wherefore we strive Having shown how magnanimous Christians ought to be in the endurance of afflictions, ⁵³¹ so that even in dying they may be conquerors over death, and that too, because by afflictions and death they attain to a blessed life, he now from the same source draws also another conclusion — that they must, by all means, make it their main desire to please God. And indeed it cannot but be, that the hope of a resurrection, and thoughtfulness as to the judgment, will awaken in us this desire; as, on the other hand, the true reason why we are so indolent and remiss in duty is, that we seldom, if ever, think of what ought to be constantly kept in remembrance, ⁵³² that we are here but lodgers ⁵³³ for a short time, that we may, after finishing our course, return to Christ. Observe, however, what he says — that this is the desire both of the living and of the dead, by which statement the immortality of the soul is again confirmed.

Calvin: 2Co 5:10

10.We must be manifested Though this is common to all, yet all without distinction do not raise their views in such a way as to consider every moment, that they must appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. But while Paul, from a holy desire of acting aright, constantly sisted himself before the bar of Christ, he had it in view to reprove indirectly those ambitious teachers, who reckoned it enough to have the plaudits of their fellow-men. ⁵³⁴ For when he says, that no one can escape, he seems in a manner to summon them to that heavenly tribunal. Farther, though the word translated to be manifested might be rendered to appear, yet Paul had, in my opinion, something farther in view — that we shall then come forth to the light, while for the present many are concealed, as it were, in the darkness. For then the books, which are now shut, will be opened. (Dan 7:10.)

That every one may give account As the passage relates to the recompensing of deeds, we must notice briefly, that, as evil deeds are punished by God, so also good deeds are rewarded, but for a different reason; for evil deeds are requited with the punishment that they deserve, but God in rewarding good deeds does not look to merit or worthiness. For no work is so full and complete in all its parts as to be deservedly well-pleasing to him, and farther, there is no one whose works are in themselves well-pleasing to God, unless he render satisfaction to the whole law. Now no one is found to be thus perfect. Hence the only resource is in his accepting us through unmerited goodness, and justifying us, by not imputing to us our sins. After he has received us into favor, he receives our works also by a gracious acceptance. It is on this that the reward hinges. There is, therefore, no inconsistency in saying, that he rewards good works, provided we understand that mankind, nevertheless, obtain eternal life gratuitously. On this point I have expressed myself more fully in the preceding Epistle, and my Institutes will furnish a full discussion of it. ⁵³⁵ When he says in the body, I understand him to mean, not merely outward actions, but all the deeds that are done in this corporeal life.

Calvin: 2Co 5:11

11.Knowing therefore He now returns to speak of himself, or he again applies the general doctrine to himself personally. “I am not ignorant,” says he, “nor devoid of the fear of God, which ought to reign in the hearts of all the pious.” To know the terror of the Lord, then, is to be influenced by this consideration — that an account must one day be rendered before the judgment-seat of Christ; for the man who seriously considers this must of necessity be touched with fear, and shake off all negligence. ⁵³⁶ He declares, therefore, that he discharges his apostleship faithfully and with a pure conscience, (2Ti 1:3,) as one that walks in the fear of the Lord, (Act 9:31,) thinking of the account to be rendered by him. As, however, his enemies might object: “You extol yourself, it is true, in magnificent terms, but who is there that sees what you affirm?” He says, in reply to this, that he discharges indeed the work of a teacher in the sight of men, but that it is known to God with what sincerity of mind he acts. “As my mouth speaks to men, so does my heart to God.”

And I trust This is a kind of correction of what he had said, for he now boasts that he has not merely God as the witness of his integrity, but also the Corinthians themselves, to whom he had given proof of himself. Two things, therefore, are to be observed here: in the first place, that it is not enough that an individual conducts himself honorably and assiduously ⁵³⁷ among men, if his heart is not right in the sight of God, (Act 8:21;) and secondly, that boasting is vain, where evidence of the reality itself is wanting. For none are more bold in arrogating everything to themselves, than those that have nothing. Let, therefore, the man who would have credit given him, bring forward such works as may afford confirmation to his statements. To be made manifest in their consciences is more than to be known by proofs; for conscience reaches farther than carnal judgment.

Calvin: 2Co 5:12

12.For we commend not ourselves He confirms what he had said immediately before, and at the same time anticipates a calumny that might be brought against him. For it might seem as if he were too careful as to his own praise, inasmuch as he spoke so frequently respecting himself. Nay, it is probable that this reproach had been cast upon him by the wicked. For when he says — We commend not ourselves again, he says this as if speaking in his own person. To commend is taken in a bad sense, as meaning to boast, or to brag.

When he adds — that he gives them occasion of glorying, he intimates in the first place, that he pleads their cause rather than his own, inasmuch as he gives up all with a view to their glory, and he again indirectly reproves their ingratitude, because they had not perceived it to be their duty to magnify, of their own accord, his Apostleship, so as not to impose upon him this necessity; and farther, because they had not perceived, that it was their interest rather than that of Paul himself, that his Apostleship should be accounted honorable. We are here taught, that Christ’s servants ought to be concerned as to their own reputation, only in so far as is for the advantage of the Church. Paul affirms with truth, that he is actuated by this disposition. ⁵³⁸ Let others see that they do not on false grounds pretend to follow his example. ⁵³⁹ We are taught farther, that that alone is a minister’s true praise, that is common to him with the whole Church, rather than peculiar to himself exclusively — in other words, that redounds to the advantage of all.

That ye may have something in opposition to those He intimates, in passing, that it is necessary to repress the vanity of those that make empty boasts, and that it is the duty of the Church to do so. For as ambition of this nature is a peculiarly destructive pestilence, it is dangerous to encourage it by dissimulation. As the Corinthians had not taken care to do this, Paul instructs them how they should act for the future.

To glory in appearance, not in heart, is to disguise one’s self by outward show, and to regard sincerity of heart as of no value; for those that will be truly wise will never glory but in God. (1Co 1:31.) But wherever there is empty show, there is no sincerity, and no integrity of heart.

Calvin: 2Co 5:13

13.Whether we are beside ourselves This is said by way of concession; for Paul’s glorying was sane, or it was, if we may so term it, a sober and most judicious madness; ⁵⁴² but as he appeared foolish in the eyes of many, he speaks according to their views. Now he declares two things: in the first place, that he makes no account of himself, but has this one object in view — that he may serve God and the Church; and, secondly, that he fears not the opinion of men, so that he is prepared for being reckoned either sane or insane, provided only he transacts faithfully the affairs of God and the Church. The meaning, therefore, is this: “As to my making mention so frequently of my integrity, persons will take this as they choose. It is not, however, for my own sake that I do it, but, on the contrary, I have God and the Church exclusively in view. Hence I am prepared to be silent and to speak, according as the glory of God and the advantage of the Church will require, and I shall be quite contented that the world reckon me beside myself, provided only it is not to myself, but to God, that I am beside myself. ” ⁵⁴³ This is a passage that is deserving not merely of notice, but also of constant meditation; for unless we shall have our minds thus regulated, the smallest occasions of offense will from time to time draw us off from our duty.

Calvin: 2Co 5:14

14.For the love of Christ The term love may be taken either in a passive signification, or in an active. I prefer the latter. For if we be not harder than iron, we cannot refrain from devoting ourselves entirely to Christ, when we consider what great love he exercised towards us, when he endured death in our stead. Paul, too, explains himself when he adds, that it is reasonable that we should live to him, being dead to ourselves. Hence, as he had previously stated: (2Co 5:11,) that he was stirred up to duty by fear, inasmuch as an account was one day to be rendered by him, so he now brings forward another motive — that measureless love of Christ towards us, of which he had furnished us with an evidence in his death. “The knowledge,” I say, “of this love, ought to constrain our affections, that they may go in no other direction than that of loving him in return.

There is a metaphor ⁵⁴⁴ implied in the word constrain, denoting that it is impossible but that every one that truly considers and ponders that wonderful love, which Christ has manifested towards us by his death, becomes, as it were, bound to him, and constrained by the closest tie, and devotes himself wholly to his service.

If one died for all This design is to be carefully kept in view — that Christ died for us, that we might die to ourselves. The exposition is also to be carefully noticed — that to die to ourselves is to live to Christ; or if you would have it at greater length, it is to renounce ourselves, that we may live to Christ; for Christ. redeemed us with this view — that he might have us under his authority, as his peculiar possession. Hence it follows that we are no longer our own masters. There is a similar passage in Rom 14:7. At the same time, there are two things that are here brought forward separately — that we are dead in Christ, in order that all ambition and eagerness for distinction may be laid aside, and that it may be felt by us no hardship to be made as nothing; and farther, that we owe to Christ our life and death, because he has wholly bound us to himself. ⁵⁴⁵

Calvin: 2Co 5:16

16.Therefore we henceforth know no man To know, here, is taken as meaning to reckon. “We do not judge according to external appearance, so as to reckon that man to be the most illustrious who seems so in appearance.” Under the term flesh, he includes all external endowments which mankind are accustomed to hold in estimation; and, in short, every thing which, apart from regeneration, is reckoned worthy of praise. At the same time, he speaks more particularly of outward disguise, or appearance, as it is termed. He alludes, also, without doubt, to the death of which he had made mention. “Since we ought, all of us, to be dead to the present life, nay more, to be nothing in ourselves, no one must be reckoned a servant of Christ on the ground of carnal excellence.”

Nay, though we have known Christ The meaning is — “Though Christ lived for a time in this world, and was known by mankind in those things that have to do with the condition of the present life, he must now be known in another way — spiritually, so that we may have no worldly thoughts respecting him.” This passage is perverted by some fanatics, such as Servetus, ⁵⁴⁶ for the purpose of proving, that Christ’s human nature is now absorbed by the Divinity. But how very far removed such a frenzy is from the Apostle’s intention, it is not difficult to perceive; for he speaks here, not of the substance of his body, but of external appearance, nor does he affirm that the flesh is no longer perceived by us in Christ, but says, that Christ is not judged of from that. ⁵⁴⁷

Scripture proclaims throughout, that Christ does now as certainly lead a glorious life in our flesh, as he once suffered in it. ⁵⁴⁸ Nay more, take away this foundation, and our whole faith falls to the ground; for whence comes the hope of immortality, except from this, that we have already a pattern ⁵⁴⁹ of it in the person of Christ? For as righteousness is restored to us on this ground, that Christ, by fulfilling the law in our nature, has abolished Adam’s disobedience, so also life has been restored to us by this means, that he has opened up for our nature the kingdom of God, from which it had been banished, and has given it a place in the heavenly dwelling. Hence, if we do not now recognize Christ’s flesh, ⁵⁵⁰ we lose the whole of that confidence and consolation that we ought to have in him. But we acknowledge Christ as man, and as our brother in his flesh — not in a fleshly manner; because we rest solely in the consideration of his spiritual gifts. Hence he is spiritual to us, not as if he laid aside the body, and became a spirit, but because he regenerates and governs his own people by the influence of his Spirit.

Calvin: 2Co 5:17

17.Therefore if any man is in Christ As there is something wanting in this expression, it must be supplied in this way — “ If any one is desirous to hold some place in Christ, that is, in the kingdom of Christ, or in the Church ⁵⁵¹ let him be a new creature ” By this expression he condemns every kind of excellence that is wont to be in much esteem among men, if renovation of heart is wanting. “Learning, it is true, and eloquence, and other endowments, are valuable, and worthy to be honored; but, where the fear of the Lord and an upright conscience are wanting, all the honor of them goes for nothing. Let no one, therefore, glory in any distinction, inasmuch as the chief praise of Christians is self-renunciation.”

Nor is this said merely for the purpose of repressing the vanity of the false apostles, but also with the view of correcting the ambitious judgments of the Corinthians, in which outward disguises were of more value than real sincerity — though this is a fault that is common to almost all ages. For where shall we find the man that does not attach much more importance to show, than to true holiness? Let us, therefore, keep in view this admonition — that all that are not renewed by the Spirit of God, should be looked upon as nothing in the Church, by whatever ornaments they may in other respects be distinguished.

Old things are passed away When the Prophets speak of the kingdom of Christ, they foretell that there will be new heavens and a new earth, (Isa 65:17,) meaning thereby, that all things will be changed for the better, until the happiness of the pious is completed. As, however, Christ’s kingdom is spiritual, this change must take place chiefly in the Spirit, and hence it is with propriety that he begins with this. There is, therefore, an elegant and appropriate allusion, when Paul makes use of a commendation of this kind, for the purpose of setting forth the value of regeneration. Now by old things he means, the things that are not formed anew by the Spirit of God. Hence this term is placed in contrast with renewing grace. The expression passed away, he uses in the sense of fading away, as things that are of short duration are wont to fall off, when they have passed their proper season. Hence it is only the new man, that flourishes and is vigorous ⁵⁵² in the kingdom of Christ.

Calvin: 2Co 5:18

18.All things are of God He means, all things that belong to Christ’s kingdom. “If we would be Christ’s, we must be regenerated by God. Now that is no ordinary gift.” He does not, therefore, speak here of creation generally; but of the grace of regeneration, which God confers peculiarly upon his elect, and he affirms that it is of God — not on the ground of his being the Creator and Artificer of heaven and earth, but inasmuch as he is the new Creator of the Church, by fashioning his people anew, according to his own image. Thus all flesh is abased, and believers are admonished that they must now live to God, inasmuch as they are a new creature. (2Co 5:17.) This they cannot do, unless they forget the world, as they are also no longer of the world, (Joh 17:16,) because they are of God

Who hath reconciled us Here there are two leading points — the one relating to the reconciliation of men with God; and the other, to the way in which we may enjoy the benefit of this reconciliation. Now these things correspond admirably with what goes before, for as the Apostle had given the preference to a good conscience above every kind of distinction, (2Co 5:11,) he now shows that the whole of the gospel tends to this. He shows, however, at the same time, the dignity of the Apostolical office, that the Corinthians may be instructed as to what they ought to seek in him, whereas they could not distinguish between true and false ministers, for this reason, that nothing but show delighted them. Accordingly, by making mention of this, he stirs them up to make greater proficiency in the doctrine of the gospel. For an absurd admiration of profane persons, who serve their own ambition rather than Christ, originates in our not knowing, what the office of the preaching of the gospel includes, or imports.

I now return to those two leading points that are here touched upon. The first is — that God hath reconciled us to himself by Christ This is immediately followed by the declaration — Because God was in Christ, and has in his person accomplished reconciliation. The manner is subjoined — By not imputing unto men their trespasses Again, there is annexed a second declaration — Because Christ having been made a sin-offering for our sins, has procured righteousness for us. The second part of the statement is — that the grace of reconciliation is applied to us by the gospel, that we may become partakers of it. Here we have a remarkable passage, if there be any such in any part of Paul’s writings. Hence it is proper, that we should carefully examine the words one by one.

The ministry of reconciliation Here we have an illustrious designation of the gospel, as being an embassy for reconciling men to God. It is also a singular dignity of ministers — that they are sent to us by God with this commission, so as to be messengers, and in a manner sureties. ⁵⁵³ This, however, is not said so much for the purpose of commending ministers, as with a view to the consolation of the pious, that as often as they hear the gospel, they may know that God treats with them, and, as it were, stipulates with them as to a return to his grace. Than this blessing what could be more desirable? Let us therefore bear in mind, that this is the main design of the gospel — that whereas we are by nature children of wrath, (Eph 2:3,) we may, by the breaking up of the quarrel between God and us, be received by him into favor. Ministers are furnished with this commission, that they may bring us intelligence of so great a benefit, nay more, may assure us of God’s fatherly love towards us. Any other person, it is true, might also be a witness to us of the grace of God, but Paul teaches, that this office is specially intrusted to ministers. When, therefore, a duly ordained minister proclaims in the gospel, that God has been made propitious to us, he is to be listened to just as an ambassador of God, and sustaining, as they speak, a public character, and furnished with rightful authority for assuring us of this.

Calvin: 2Co 5:19

19.God was in Christ Some take this as meaning simply — God reconciled the world to himself in Christ; but the meaning is fuller and more comprehensive — first, that God was in Christ; and, secondly, that he reconciled the world to himself by his intercession. It is also of the Father that this is affirmed; for it were an improper expression, were you to understand it as meaning, that the divine nature of Christ was in him. ⁵⁵⁴ The Father, therefore, was in the Son, in accordance with that statement —

I am in the Father, and the Father in me. (Joh 10:38.)

Therefore he that hath the Son, hath the Father also. For Paul has made use of this expression with this view — that we may learn to be satisfied with Christ alone, because in him we find also God the Father, as he truly communicates himself to us by him. Hence the expression is equivalent to this — “Whereas God had withdrawn to a distance from us, he has drawn near to us in Christ, and thus Christ has become to us the true Emmanuel, and his coming is God’s drawing near to men.”

The second part of the statement points out the office of Christ — his being our propitiation, (1Jo 2:2,) because out of Him, God is displeased with us all, inasmuch as we have revolted from righteousness. ⁵⁵⁵ For what purpose, then, has God appeared to men in Christ? For the purpose of reconciliation — that, hostilities being removed, those who were aliens, might be adopted as sons. Now, although Christ’s coming as our Redeemer originated in the fountain of Divine love towards us, yet until men perceive that God has been propitiated by the Mediator, there must of necessity be a variance remaining, with respect to them, which shuts them out from access to God. On this point we shall speak more fully ere long.

Not imputing to them Mark, in what way men return into favor with God — when they are regarded as righteous, by obtaining the remission of their sins. For so long as God imputes to us our sins, He must of necessity regard us with abhorrence; for he cannot be friendly or propitious to sinners. But this statement may seem to be at variance with what is said elsewhere — that, we were loved by Him before the creation of the world, (Eph 1:4,) and still more with what he says, (Joh 3:16,) that the love, which he exercised towards us was the reason, why He expiated our sins by Christ, for the cause always goes before its effect. I answer, that we were loved before the creation of the world, but it was only in Christ In the mean time, however, I confess, that the love of God was first in point of time, and of order, too, as to God, but with respect to us, the commencement of his love has its foundation in the sacrifice of Christ. For when we contemplate God without a Mediator, we cannot conceive of Him otherwise than as angry with us: a Mediator interposed between us, makes us feel, that He is pacified towards us. As, however, this also is necessary to be known by us — that Christ came forth to us from the fountain of God’s free mercy, the Scripture explicitly teaches both — that the anger of the Father has been appeased by the sacrifice of the Son, and that the Son has been offered up for the expiation of the sins of men on this ground — because God, exercising compassion towards them, receives them, on the ground of such a pledge, into favor. ⁵⁵⁶

The whole may be summed up thus: “Where sin is, there the anger of God is, and therefore God is not propitious to us without, or before, his blotting out our sins, by not imputing them. As our consciences cannot apprehend this benefit, ⁵⁵⁷ otherwise than through the intervention of Christ’s sacrifice, it is not without good reason, that Paul makes that the commencement and cause of reconciliation, with regard to us.

And hath committed to us Again he repeats, that a commission has been given to the ministers of the gospel to communicate to us this grace. For it might be objected, “Where is Christ now, the peacemaker between God and us? At what a distance he resides from us!” He says, therefore, that as he has once suffered, ⁵⁵⁸ (1Pe 3:18,) so he daily presents to us the fruit of his suffering through means of the Gospel, which he designed, should be in the world, ⁵⁵⁹ as a sure and authentic register of the reconciliation, that has once been effected. It is the part of ministers, therefore, to apply to us, so to speak, the fruit of Christ’s death.

Lest, however, any one should dream of a magical application, such as Papists contrive, ⁵⁶⁰ we must carefully observe what he immediately subjoins — that it consists wholly in the preaching of the Gospel. For the Pope, along with his priests, makes use of this pretext for giving a color of warrant for the whole of that wicked and execrable system of merchandise, which they carry on, in connection with the salvation of souls. “The Lord,” say they, “has furnished us with a commission and authority to forgive sins.” This I acknowledge, provided they discharge that embassy, of which Paul here makes mention. The absolution, however, which they make use of in the Papacy, is entirely magical; and besides, they inclose pardon of sins in lead and parchment, or they connect it with fictitious and frivolous superstitions. What resemblance do all these things bear to the appointment of Christ? Hence the ministers of the Gospel restore us to the favor of God in a right and orderly manner, when they bear testimony to us by means of the Gospel as to the favor of God having been procured for us. Let this testimony be removed, and nothing remains but mere imposture. Beware, then, of placing even the smallest drop of your confidence on any thing apart from the Gospel.

I do not, indeed, deny, that the grace of Christ is applied to us in the sacraments, and that our reconciliation with God is then confirmed in our consciences; but, as the testimony of the Gospel is engraven upon the sacraments, they are not to be judged of separately by themselves, but must be taken in connection with the Gospel, of which they are appendages. In fine, the ministers of the Church are ambassadors, for testifying and proclaiming the benefit of reconciliation, only on this condition — that they speak from the Gospel, as from an authentic register.

Calvin: 2Co 5:20

20.As if God did beseech you This is of no small importance for giving authority to the embassy: nay more, it is absolutely necessary, for who would rest upon the testimony of men, in reference to his eternal salvation? It is a matter of too much importance, to allow of our resting contented with the promise of men, without feeling assured that they are ordained by God, and that God speaks to us by them. This is the design of those commendations, with which Christ himself signalizes his Apostles:

He that heareth you, heareth me, etc. (Luk 10:16.)

Whatsoever you shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven, (Mat 18:18,)

and the like.

We entreat you, in Christ’s stead Hence we infer, with what propriety Isaiah exclaims,

How blessed are the feet of them that preach the Gospel!
(Isa 52:7.)

For that one thing, that is of itself sufficient for completing our felicity, and without which we are most miserable, is conferred upon us, only through means of the Gospel. If, however, this duty is enjoined upon all the ministers of the Church, in such a way, that he who does not discharge this embassy is not to be regarded either as an Apostle, or as a Pastor, we may very readily judge from this, as to the nature of the Pope’s entire hierarchy. They are desirous, indeed, to be looked upon as Apostles and Pastors; but as they are dumb idols, how will their boasting ⁵⁶¹ correspond with this passage of Paul’s writings. The word entreat is expressive of an unparalleled ⁵⁶² commendation of the grace of Christ, inasmuch as He stoops so low, that he does not disdain to entreat us. So much the less excusable is our depravity, if we do not, on meeting with such kindness, show ourselves teachable and compliant.

Be reconciled It is to be observed, that Paul is here addressing himself to believers. He declares, that he brings to them every day this embassy. Christ therefore, did not suffer, merely that he might once expiate our sins, nor was the gospel appointed merely with a view to the pardon of those sins which we committed previously to baptism, but that, as we daily sin, so we might, also, by a daily remission, be received by God into his favor. For this is a continued embassy, ⁵⁶³ which must be assiduously sounded forth in the Church, till the end of the world; and the gospel cannot be preached, unless remission of sins is promised.

We have here an express and suitable declaration for refuting the impious tenet of Papists, which calls upon us to seek the remission of sins after Baptism from some other source, than from the expiation that was effected through the death of Christ. Now this doctrine is commonly held in all the schools of Popery — that, after baptism, we merit the remission of sins by penitence, through means of the aid of the keys, ⁵⁶⁴ (Mat 16:19,) — as if baptism itself could confer this ⁵⁶⁵ upon us without penitence. By the term penitence, however, they mean satisfactions. But what does Paul say here? He calls us to go, not less after baptism, than before it, to the one expiation made by Christ, that we may know that we always obtain it gratuitously. Farther, all their prating as to the administration of the keys is to no purpose, inasmuch as they conceive of keys apart from the Gospel, while they are nothing else than that testimony of a gratuitous reconciliation, which is made to us in the Gospel.

Defender: 2Co 5:1

Our present bodies are called "tabernacles" (or "tents") because they are only temporary dwelling places, like the tents of the children of Israel in the wilderness. Peter used the same term (2Pe 1:14), as did John concerning the human body of Jesus ("the Word was made flesh, and tabernacled among us" - Joh 1:14). However, God will provide the resurrection body for the eternal dwelling-place of our spirits.

Defender: 2Co 5:1

This resurrection body, like that of the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus, is "not made with hands" (Mar 14:58), but by the creative word of Christ (1Th 4:16; Joh 5:28, Joh 5:29). When Christ returns, those bodies now corrupting in their graves will "put on incorruption," while those still living but subject to death will "put on immortality" (1Co 15:54) and both shall "ever be with the Lord" (1Th 4:17)."

Defender: 2Co 5:2

If our earthly house "is dissolved" (2Co 5:1) before Christ returns, there will be an intermediate period "with the Lord" (2Co 5:8) in which we shall neither wear our present body nor our future resurrection body. It was thus Paul's earnest desire, and surely ours as well, to still be living when Christ returns, and, thus, to be immediately "clothed upon" with our resurrection bodies. The latter would be put on over our old bodies which would still be recognizable (as was that of Christ after His resurrection), but with all aspects of their old "mortality" (pain, sin, etc.) immediately "swallowed up of life" (2Co 5:4)."

Defender: 2Co 5:3

The period between one's death and resurrection, even though a time of blessed fellowship with the Lord (2Co 5:8), is compared to a state of nakedness, since the spirit/soul system, without its body or "spiritual clothing," is awaiting Christ's return to earth."

Defender: 2Co 5:8

Even though being "absent from the body" is not as good as being in the future resurrection body, it is still something to be anticipated by the Christian with joy, for "to depart, and to be with Christ ... is far better" (Phi 1:23). "To die" for the Christian "is gain" (Phi 1:21). In heaven with Christ, our spirits - though without physical bodies - will be distinct and recognizable, in some way still bearing our likenesses. For example, this was true of the spirits of Samuel and Moses (1Sa 28:11-14; Mat 17:3), and also, in Christ's parable, of the spirits of Abraham and Lazarus (Luk 16:22-25)."

Defender: 2Co 5:9

This verse is not suggesting that we must "labor" to be "accepted" by Christ. The connotation of "labor" is "ambitious," and that of "accepted of" is "be well-pleasing to." It is our earnest desire to please Christ (2Ti 2:4)."

Defender: 2Co 5:10

The "judgment seat" (Greek bema) is not the "great white throne" (Rev 20:11) where unbelievers are to be judged by their works and then sent into hell, but a judgment for rewards, or loss of rewards, to believers (Rom 14:10-12; 1Co 3:11-15; Rev 22:12)."

Defender: 2Co 5:14

It is not our love for Christ that constrains us, for our love is variable at best. But His great love for us, the love that took Him to the cross in our place, is the greatest motivating factor for our love and service for Him.

Defender: 2Co 5:14

Literally, this means "then all died.""

Defender: 2Co 5:16

Before our conversion and further enlightenment by the Holy Spirit through His Word, we judged men according to worldly standards, even including Christ in our worldly method of evaluation. Now, however, our concern and judgment is spiritually motivated and guided. Paul says this was true of himself, and it should be true of us as well."

Defender: 2Co 5:17

The miracle of regeneration - being born again and baptized by the Holy Spirit into the spiritual body of Christ - is a true miracle of special creation, not psychological redirection, or anything of that sort. It is comparable in quality, though not quantity, to the creation of the universe. No natural process can accomplish or explain such a miracle."

Defender: 2Co 5:20

The marvelous truth is that God has already reconciled sinners to Himself by virtue of the sacrifice of His Son. The problem now is that sinners are not yet reconciled to Him. Therefore, He has committed to us "the ministry of reconciliation" and "the word of reconciliation" (2Co 5:18, 2Co 5:19), as His ambassadors, to beseech men to accept His Son and His great work of salvation. This is "the Great Commission.""

TSK: 2Co 5:1

we know : Job 19:25, Job 19:26; Psa 56:9; 2Ti 1:12; 1Jo 3:2, 1Jo 3:14, 1Jo 3:19, 1Jo 5:19, 1Jo 5:20

our : 2Co 5:4, 2Co 4:7; Gen 3:19; Job 4:19; 1Co 15:46-48; 2Pe 1:13, 2Pe 1:14

dissolved : Job 30:22; 2Pe 3:11

a building : Joh 14:2, Joh 14:3; 1Co 3:9; Heb 11:10

an : Col 2:11; Heb 9:11, Heb 9:24; 1Pe 1:4

TSK: 2Co 5:2

we : 2Co 5:4; Rom 7:24, Rom 8:23; 1Pe 1:6, 1Pe 1:7

earnestly : Phi 1:23

clothed : 2Co 5:3, 2Co 5:4; 1Co 15:53, 1Co 15:54

TSK: 2Co 5:3

being : Gen 3:7-11; Exo 32:25; Rev 3:18, Rev 16:15

TSK: 2Co 5:4

we that : 2Pe 1:13

do : 2Co 5:2

but : 2Co 5:3

that mortality : Isa 25:8; 1Co 15:53, 1Co 15:54

TSK: 2Co 5:5

wrought : 2Co 4:17; Isa 29:23, Isa 60:21, Isa 61:3; Eph 2:10

the earnest : 2Co 1:22; Num 13:23-27; Rom 8:23; Eph 1:13, Eph 1:14, Eph 4:30; 1Jo 3:24

TSK: 2Co 5:6

we are always : 2Co 5:8; Psa 27:3, Psa 27:4; Pro 14:26; Isa 30:15, Isa 36:4; Heb 10:35; 1Pe 5:1; Rev 1:9

whilst : 2Co 5:1; 1Ch 29:15; Psa 39:12, Psa 119:19; Phi 3:20,Phi 3:21; Heb 11:13, Heb 13:14

TSK: 2Co 5:7

2Co 1:24, 2Co 4:18; Deu 12:9; Rom 8:24, Rom 8:25; 1Co 13:12; Gal 2:20; Heb 10:38; Heb. 11:1-26, Heb 11:27; 1Pe 1:8, 1Pe 5:9

TSK: 2Co 5:8

and willing : 2Co 5:6, 2Co 12:2, 2Co 12:3; Luk 2:29; Act 21:13; Phi 1:20-24; 2Ti 4:7, 2Ti 4:8; 2Pe 1:14, 2Pe 1:15; 2Pe 3:11, 2Pe 3:12

present : 2Co 5:9; Psa 16:11, Psa 17:15, Psa 73:23-26; Mat 25:21, Mat 25:23; Joh 14:3, Joh 17:24; 1Th 4:17, 1Th 4:18; 1Jo 3:2; Rev 7:14-17, Rev 22:3

TSK: 2Co 5:9

we labour : or, we endeavour, Joh 6:27; Rom 15:20; 1Co 9:26, 1Co 9:27, 1Co 15:58; Col 1:29; 1Th 4:11 *Gr: 1Ti 4:10; Heb 4:11; 2Pe 1:10,2Pe 1:11, 2Pe 3:14

whether : 2Co 5:6, 2Co 5:8; Rom 14:8

accepted : Gen 4:7; Isa 56:7; Act 10:35; Eph 1:6; Heb 12:28

TSK: 2Co 5:10

we : Gen 18:25; 1Sa 2:3, 1Sa 2:10; Psa 7:6-8, Psa 9:7, Psa 9:8, Psa 50:3-6, Psa 96:10-13, Psa 98:9; Ecc 11:9, Ecc 12:14; Eze 18:30; Matt. 25:31-46; Act 10:42, Act 17:31; Rom 14:10-12; 1Pe 4:5; Jud 1:14, Jud 1:15; Rev 20:11-15

receive : 2Co 7:3; 1Ki 8:32, 1Ki 8:39; Job 34:11; Psa 62:12; Isa 3:10,Isa 3:11; Mat 16:27; Rom 2:5-10; 1Co 4:5; Gal 6:7, Gal 6:8; Eph 6:8; Col 3:24, Col 3:25; Rev 2:23, Rev 20:12; Rev 20:13, Rev 22:12

in : Rom 6:12, Rom 6:13, Rom 6:19, Rom 12:1, Rom 12:2; 1Co 6:12-20

TSK: 2Co 5:11

the terror : Gen 35:5; Job 6:4, Job 18:11, Job 31:23; Psa 73:19, Psa 76:7, Psa 88:15, Psa 88:16, Psa 90:11; Isa 33:14; Nah 1:6; Mat 10:28, Mat 25:46; Mar 8:35-38, Mar 9:43-50; Luk 12:5; Heb 10:31; Jud 1:23; Rev 20:15

we persuade : 2Co 5:20, 2Co 6:1; Luk 16:31; Act 13:43, Act 18:4, Act 18:13, Act 19:26, Act 20:18-27, Act 26:26, Act 28:23; Gal 1:10; Col 1:28, Col 1:29; 2Ti 2:24-26

but : 2Co 1:12-14, 2Co 2:17, 2Co 4:1, 2Co 4:2; 1Co 4:4, 1Co 4:5; 1Th 2:3-12

TSK: 2Co 5:12

we : 2Co 3:1, 2Co 6:4, 2Co 10:8, 2Co 10:12, 2Co 10:18, 2Co 12:11; Pro 27:2

give : 2Co 1:14, 2Co 11:12-16, 2Co 12:1-9

appearance : Gr. the face, Gal 6:12-14

TSK: 2Co 5:13

we be beside : 2Co 11:1, 2Co 11:16, 2Co 11:17, 2Co 12:6, 2Co 12:11; Act 26:24, Act 26:25; 1Co 4:10-13; 1Th 2:3-11

it is to : 2Sa 6:21, 2Sa 6:22

sober : Act 26:25; Rom 12:3

for : 2Co 7:12; Col 1:24; 1Th 1:5; 2Ti 2:10

TSK: 2Co 5:14

the love : 2Co 8:8, 2Co 8:9; Son 1:4, Son 8:6, Son 8:7; Mat 10:37, Mat 10:38; Luk 7:42-47; Joh 14:21-23; Joh 21:15-17; 1Co 16:22; Eph 3:18, Eph 3:19, Eph 6:24; Heb 6:10; 1Pe 1:8

constraineth : Job 32:18; Luk 24:29; Act 4:19, Act 4:20

because : Rom 2:2; 1Co 2:14

one : Isa 53:6; Mat 20:28; Joh 1:29, Joh 11:50-52; 1Ti 2:6; Heb 2:9; 1Jo 2:1, 1Jo 2:2

then : 2Co 3:7, 2Co 3:9; Luk 15:24, Luk 15:32; Joh 5:25, Joh 11:25; Rom 5:15, Rom 14:7-9; Eph 2:1-5; Col 2:13; 1Ti 5:6; Tit 3:3; 1Jo 5:19

TSK: 2Co 5:15

that they : 2Co 3:6; Eze 16:6, Eze 37:9, Eze 37:14; Hab 2:4; Zec 10:9; Joh 3:15, Joh 3:16, Joh 5:24, Joh 6:57; Rom 6:2, Rom 6:11, Rom 6:12, Rom 8:2, Rom 8:6, Rom 8:10, Rom 14:7, Rom 14:8; 1Co 6:19, 1Co 6:20; Gal 2:20, Gal 5:25; Eph 5:14; Col 2:12, Col 3:1; 1Pe 4:6; 1Jo 4:9

henceforth : 2Co 5:16; 2Ki 5:17; Rom 6:6; Eph 4:17; 1Pe 1:14, 1Pe 1:15, 1Pe 4:2-4

live unto : Luk 1:74; Rom 6:13, Rom 12:1, Rom 14:7-9; 1Co 6:20, 1Co 10:33; Gal 2:19; Phi 1:20,Phi 1:21; Col 3:17, Col 3:23; 1Th 5:10; Tit 2:14; Heb 13:20,Heb 13:21; Rev 1:18

TSK: 2Co 5:16

know we no : Deu 33:9; 1Sa 2:29; Mat 10:37, Mat 12:48-50; Mar 3:31-35; Joh 2:4, Joh 15:14; Gal 2:5, Gal 2:6, Gal 5:6; Phi 3:7, Phi 3:8; Col 3:11; 1Ti 5:21, 1Ti 5:22; Jam 2:1-4, Jam 3:17

yet : Joh 6:63

TSK: 2Co 5:17

be : 2Co 5:19, 2Co 5:21, 2Co 12:2; Isa 45:17, Isa 45:24, Isa 45:25; Joh 14:20, Joh 15:2, Joh 15:5, Joh 17:23; Rom 8:1, Rom 8:9; Rom 16:7, Rom 16:11; 1Co 1:30; Gal 3:28, Gal 5:6; Eph 1:3, Eph 1:4; Phi 4:21

he is : or, let him be

a new : Psa 51:10; Eze 11:19, Eze 18:31, Eze 36:26; Mat 12:33; Joh 3:3, Joh 3:5; Gal 6:15; Eph 2:10

old : 2Co 5:16; Isa 43:18, Isa 43:19, Isa 65:17, Isa 65:18; Mat 9:16, Mat 9:17, Mat 24:35; Rom 6:4-6, Rom 7:6, Rom 8:9; Rom 8:10; 1Co 13:11; Eph 2:15, Eph 4:22-24; Phi 3:7-9; Col 3:1-10; Heb 8:9-13; 2Pe 3:10-13; Rev 21:1-5

TSK: 2Co 5:18

all : Joh 3:16, Joh 3:27; Rom 11:36; 1Co 1:30, 1Co 8:6, 1Co 12:6; Col 1:16, Col 1:17; Jam 1:17

who : Lev 6:30; Eze 45:15; Dan 9:24; Rom 5:1, Rom 5:10,Rom 5:11 *Gr: Eph 2:16; Col 1:20,Col 1:21; Heb 2:17; 1Jo 2:2, 1Jo 4:10

hath given : 2Co 5:19, 2Co 5:20; Isa 52:7, Isa 57:19; Mar 16:15, Mar 16:16; Luk 10:5, Luk 24:47; Act 10:36, Act 13:38; Act 13:39; Eph 2:17; Col 1:20

TSK: 2Co 5:19

God : Mat 1:23; Joh 14:10,Joh 14:11, Joh 14:20, Joh 17:23; 1Ti 3:16

reconciling : Rom 3:24-26, Rom 11:15; 1Jo 2:1, 1Jo 2:2, 1Jo 4:10

not : Psa 32:1, Psa 32:2; Isa 43:25, Isa 44:22; Rom 4:6-8

committed : or, put in us

the word : 2Co 5:18

TSK: 2Co 5:20

ambassadors : 2Co 3:6; Job 33:23; Pro 13:17; Mal 2:7; Joh 20:21; Act 26:17, Act 26:18; Eph 6:20

as : 2Co 5:11, 2Co 6:1; 2Ki 17:13; 2Ch 36:15; Neh 9:29; Isa 55:6, Isa 55:7; Jer 44:4; Eze 18:31, Eze 18:32

in : Job 33:6; Luk 10:16; 1Co 4:4, 1Co 4:5; 1Th 4:8

be : Job 22:21; Pro 1:22-33; Isa 27:5; Jer 13:16, Jer 13:17, Jer 38:20; Luk 14:23

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 2Co 5:1

For we know - We who are engaged in the work of the gospel ministry. Paul is giving a reason why he and his fellow-laborers did not become weary and faint in their work. The reason was, that they knew that even if their body should die, they had an inheritance reserved for them in heaven. The expression "we know"is the language of strong and unwavering assurance. They had no doubt on the subject. And it proves that there may be the assurance of eternal life; or such evidence of acceptance with God as to leave no doubt of a final admission into heaven. This language was often used by the Saviour in reference to the truths which he taught Joh 3:11; Joh 4:22; and it is used by the sacred writers in regard to the truths which they recorded, and in regard to their own personal piety; Joh 21:24; 1Jo 2:3, 1Jo 2:5,1Jo 2:18; 1Jo 3:2, 1Jo 3:14, 1Jo 3:19, 1Jo 3:24; 1Jo 4:6, 1Jo 4:13; 1Jo 5:2, 1Jo 5:15, 1Jo 5:19-20.

That if our earthly house - The word "earthly"here ( ἐπιγειος epigeios ) stands opposed to "heavenly,"or to the house eternal ( ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς en tois ouranois ) in the heavens."The word properly means "upon earth, terrestrial, belonging to the earth, or on the earth,"and is applied to bodies 1Co 15:40; to earthly things Joh 3:12; to earthly, or worldly wisdom, Jam 3:15. The word "house"here refers doubtless to the body, as the habitation, or the dwelling-place of the mind or soul. The soul dwells in it as we dwell in a house, or tent.

Of this tabernacle - This word means a booth, or tent - a movable dwelling. The use of the word here is not a mere redundancy, but the idea which Paul designs to convey is, doubtless, that the body - the house of the soul - was not a permanent dwelling-place, but was of the same nature as a booth or tent, that was set up for a temporary purpose, or that was easily taken down in migrating from one place to another. It refers here to the body as the frail and temporary abode of the soul. It is not a permanent dwelling; a fixed habitation, but is liable to be taken down at any moment, and was suited up with that view. Tyndale renders it, "if our earthly mansion wherein we now dwell."The Syriac renders it, "for we know that if our house on earth, which is our body, were dissolved."The idea is a beautiful one, that the body is a mere unfixed, movable dwelling. place; liable to be taken down at any moment, and not designed, anymore than a tent is, to be a permanent habitation.

Were dissolved - ( καταλυθῇ kataluthē ). This word means properly to disunite the parts of anything; and is applied to the act of throwing down, or destroying a building. It is applied here to the body, regarded as a temporary dwelling that might be taken down, and it refers, doubtless, to the dissolution of the body in the grave. The idea is, that if this body should moulder back to dust, and be resolved into its original elements; or if by great zeal and, labor it should be exhausted and worn out. Language like this is used by Eliphaz, the Temanite, in describing the body of man. "How much less in those that dwell in houses of clay,"etc.; Job 4:19; compare 2Pe 1:13-14.

We have a building of God - Robinson (Lexicon) supposes that it refers to "the future spiritual body as the abode of the soul."Some have supposed that it refers to some "celestial vehicle"with which God invests the soul during the intermediate state. But the Scripture is silent about any such celestial vehicle. It is not easy to tell what was the precise idea which Paul here designed to convey. Perhaps a few remarks may enable us to arrive at the meaning:

(1) It was not to be temporary; not a tent or tabernacle that could be taken down.

\caps1 (2) i\caps0 t was to be eternal in the heavens.

\caps1 (3) i\caps0 t was to be such as to constitute a dwelling; a clothing, or such a protection as should keep the soul from being "naked."

\caps1 (4) i\caps0 t was to be such as should constitute "life"in contradistinction from "mortality."These things will better agree with the supposition of its referring to the future body of the saints than any thing else; and probably the idea of Paul is, that the body there will be incorruptible and immortal. When he says it is a "building of God"( ἐκ Θεοῦ ek Theou ), he evidently means that it is made by God; that he is the architect of that future and eternal dwelling. Macknight and some others, however, understood this of the mansions which God has prepared for His people in heaven, and which the Lord Jesus has gone to prepare for them; compare Joh 14:2. But see the note on 2Co 5:3.

An house - A dwelling; an abode; that is, according to the interpretation above, a celestial, pure, immortal body; a body that shall have God for its immediate author, and that shall be suited to dwell in heaven forever.

Not made with hands - Not constructed by man; a habitation not like those which are made by human skill, and which are therefore easily taken down or removed, but one that is made by God himself. This does not imply that the "earthly house"which is to be superseded by that in heaven is made with hands, but the idea is, that the earthly dwelling has things about it which resemble that which is made by man, or as if it were made with hands; that is it is temporary, frail, easily taken down or removed. But that which is in heaven is permanent, fixed, eternal, as if made by God.

Eternal in the heavens - Immortal; to live forever. The future body shall never be taken down or dissolved by death. It is eternal, of course, only in respect to the future, and not in respect to the past. And it is not only eternal, but it is to abide forever in the heavens - in the world of glory. It is never to be subjected to a dwelling on the earth; never to be in a world of sin, suffering, and death.

Barnes: 2Co 5:2

For in this - In this tent, tabernacle, or dwelling. In our body here.

We groan - compare note, Rom 8:22. The sense is, that we are subjected to so many trials and afflictions in the present body; that the body is subjected to so many pains and to so much suffering, as to make us earnestly desire to be invested with that body which shall be free from all susceptibility to suffering.

Earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house ... - There is evidently here a change of the metaphor which gives an apparent harshness to the construction. One idea of the apostle is, that the body here, and the spiritual body hereafter, is a house or a dwelling. Here he speaks of it as a garment which may be put on or laid off and of himself as earnestly desiring to put on the immortal clothing or vestment which was in heaven. Both these figures are common in ancient writings, and a change in this manner in the popular style is not unusual. The Pythagoreans compared the body to a tent, or hut, for the soul; the Platonists liken it to a vestment - Bloomfield. The Jews speak of a vestment to the soul in this world and the next. They affirm that the soul had a covering when it was under the throne of God, and before it was clothed with the body. This vestment they say was "the image of God"which was lost by Adam. After the fall, they say Adam and all his posterity were regarded as naked.

In the future world they say the good will be clothed with a vestment for the soul which they speak of as lucid and radiant, and such as no one on earth can attain - Schoettgen. But there is no reason to think that Paul referred to any such trifles as the Jews have believed on this subject. He evidently regarded man as composed of body and soul. The soul was the more important part, and the body constituted its mere habitation or dwelling. Yet a body was essential to the idea of the complete man; and since this was frail and dying, he looked forward to a union with the body that should be eternal in the heavens, as a more desirable and perfect habitation of the soul. Mr. Locke has given an interpretation of this in which he is probably alone, but which has so much appearance of plausibility that it is not improper to refer to it. He supposes that this whole passage has reference to the fact that at the coming of the Redeemer the body will be changed without experiencing death; (compare 1Co 15:51-52); that Paul expected that this might soon occur; and that he earnestly desired to undergo this transformation without experiencing the pains of dying. He therefore paraphrases it, "For in this tabernacle I groan, earnestly desiring, without putting off this mortal, earthly body by death, to have that celestial body superinduced, if so be the coming of Christ shall overtake me in this life, before I put off this body."

With our house - The phrase "to be clothed upon with our house"seems to be harsh and unusual. The sense is plain, however, that Paul desired to be invested with that pure, spiritual, and undecaying body which was to be the eternal abode of his soul in heaven. That he speaks of as a house ( οἰκητήριον oikētērion ), a more permanent and substantial dwelling than a tent, or tabernacle.

Barnes: 2Co 5:3

If so be that being clothed - This passage has been interpreted in a great many different ways. The view of Locke is given above. Rosenmuller renders it, "For in the other life we shall not be wholly destitute of a body, but we shall have a body."Tyndale renders it, "If it happen that we be found clothed, and not naked."Doddridge supposes it to mean, "since being so clothed upon, we shall not be found naked, and exposed to any evil and inconvenience, how entirely soever we may be stripped of everything we can call our own here below."Hammond explains it to mean, "If, indeed, we shall, happily, be among the number of those faithful Christians, who will be found clothed upon, not naked."Various other expositions may be seen in the larger commentaries. The meaning is probably this:

(1) The word "clothed"refers to the future spiritual body of believers; the eternal habitation in which they shall reside.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 he expression implies an earnest desire of Paul to be thus invested with that body.

\caps1 (3) i\caps0 t is the language of humility and of deep solicitude, as if it were possible that they might fail, and as if it demanded their utmost care and anxiety that they might thus be clothed with the spiritual body in heaven.

\caps1 (4) i\caps0 t means that in that future state, the soul will not be naked; that is, destitute of any body, or covering. The present body will be laid aside. It will return to corruption, and the disembodied Spirit will ascend to God and to heaven. It will be disencumbered of the body with which it has been so long clothed. But we are not thence to infer that it will be destitute of a body; that it will remain a naked soul. It will be clothed there in its appropriate glorified body; and will have an appropriate habitation there. This does not imply, as Bloomfield supposes, that the souls of the wicked will be destitute of any such habitation as the glorified body of the saints; which may be true - but it means simply that the soul shall not be destitute of an appropriate body in heaven, but that the union of body and soul there shall be known as well as on earth.

Barnes: 2Co 5:4

For we - We who are Christians. All Christians.

That are in this tabernacle - This frail and dying body; note, 2Co 5:1.

Do groan - see 2Co 5:2. This is a further explanation of what is said in 2Co 5:2. It implies an ardent and earnest desire to leave a world of toil and pain, and to enter into a world of rest and glory.

Being burdened - Being borne down by the toils, and trials, and calamities of this life; see the note, 2Co 3:7-10.

Not for that we would be unclothed - Not that we are impatient, and unwilling to bear these burdens as long as God shall appoint. Not that we merely wish to lay aside this mortal body. We do not desire to die and depart merely because we suffer much, and because the body here is subjected to great trials. This is not the ground of our wish to depart. We are willing to bear trials. We are not impatient under afflictions. The sentiment here is, that the mere fact that we may be afflicted much and long, should not be the principal reason why we should desire to depart. We should be willing to bear all this as long as God shall choose to appoint. The anxiety of Paul to enter the eternal world was from a higher motive than a mere desire to get away from trouble.

But clothed upon - To be invested with our spiritual body. We desire to be clothed with that body. We desire to be in heaven, and to be clothed with immortality. We wish to have a body that shall be pure, undecaying, ever glorious. It was not, therefore, a mere desire to be released from sufferings; it was an earnest wish to be admitted to the glories of the future world, and partake of the happiness which we would enjoy there. This is one of the reasons why Paul wished to be in heaven. Other reasons he has stated elsewhere. Thus, in Phi 1:23, he says he had "a desire to depart and to be with Christ."So in 2Co 5:8 of this chapter, he says he was "willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord."In 2Ti 4:6-8, he speaks of the "crown of righteousness"laid up for him as a reason why he was willing to die.

That mortality might be swallowed up of life - On the meaning of the word rendered "swallowed up"( καταποθῇ katapothē ); see the note on 1Co 15:54. The meaning here is, that it might be completely absorbed; that it might cease to be; that there might be no more mortality, but that he might pass to the immortal state - to the condition of eternal life in the heavens. The body here is mortal; the body there will be immortal; and Paul desired to pass away from the mortal state to one that shall be immortal, a world where there shall be no more death; compare 1Co 15:53.

Barnes: 2Co 5:5

Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing - The phrase "self-same thing"here means this very thing, that is, the thing to which he had referred - the preparation for heaven, or the heavenly dwelling. The word "wrought"here ( κατεργασάμενος katergasamenos ) means that God had formed or made them for this; that is, he had by the influences of the Spirit, and by his agency on the heart, created them, as it were, for this, and adapted them to it. God has destined us to this change from corruption to incorruption; he has adapted us to it; he has formed us for it. It does not refer to the original creation of the body and the soul for this end, but it means that God, by his own renewing, and sanctifying, and sustaining agency, had formed them for this, and adapted them to it. The object of Paul in stating that it was done by God, is to keep this truth prominently before the mind. It was not by any native inclination, or strength, or power which they had, but it was all to be traced to God; compare Eph 2:10.

Who also hath given - In addition to the fitting for eternal glory he has given us the earnest of the Spirit to sustain us here. We are not only prepared to enter into heaven, but we have here also the support produced by the earnest of the Spirit.

The earnest of the Spirit - On the meaning of this, see the note on 2Co 1:22. He has given to us the Holy Spirit as the pledge or assurance of the eternal inheritance.

Barnes: 2Co 5:6

Therefore we are always confident - The word used here ( θαῤῥοῦντες tharrountes ) means to be of good cheer. To have good courage, to be full of hope. The idea is, that Paul was not dejected, cast down, disheartened, discouraged. He was cheerful and happy. He was patient in his trials, and diligent in his calling. He was full of hope, and of the confident expectation of heaven; and this filled him with cheerfulness and with joy. Tyndale renders it: "we are always of goud cheere."And this was not occasional and transitory, it was constant, it was uniform, it always ( πάντοτε pantote ) existed. This is an instance of the uniform cheerfulness which will be produced by the assured prospect of heaven. It is an instance too when the hope of heaven will enable a man to face danger with courage; to endure toil with patience; and to submit to trials in any form with cheerfulness.

Knowing - see 2Co 5:1. This is another instance in which the apostle expresses undoubted assurance.

While we are at home in the body - The word used here ( ἐνδημοῦντες endēmountes ) means literally to be among one’ s own people, to be at home; to be present at any place. It is here equivalent to saying, "while we dwell in the body;"see 2Co 5:1. Doddridge renders it, "sojourning in the body;"and remarks that it is improper to render it "at home in the body,"since it is the apostle’ s design to intimate that this is not our home. But Bloomfield says that the word is never used in the sense of sojourning. The idea is not that of being "at home"- for this is an idea which is the very opposite of that which the apostle wishes to convey. His purpose is not at all to represent the body here as our home, and the original word does not imply that. It means here simply to be in the body; to be present in the body; that is, while we are in the body.

We are absent from the Lord - The Lord Jesus; see the notes, Act 1:24; compare Phi 1:23. Here he was in a strange world, and among strangers. His great desire and purpose was to be with the Lord; and hence, he cared little how soon the frail tabernacle of the body was taken down, and was cheerful amidst all the labors and sufferings that tended to bring it to the grave, and to release him to go to his eternal home where he would be present forever with the Lord.

Barnes: 2Co 5:7

For we walk - To walk, in the Scriptures often denotes to live, to act, to conduct in a certain way; see the notes on Rom 4:12; Rom 6:4. It has reference to the fact that life is a journey, or a pilgrimage, and that the Christian is traveling to another country. The sense here is, that we conduct ourselves in our course of life with reference to the things which are unseen, and not with reference to the things which are seen.

By faith - In the belief of those things which we do not see. We believe in the existence of objects which are invisible, and we are influenced by them. To walk by faith, is to live in the confident expectation of things that are to come; in the belief of the existence of unseen realities; and suffering them to influence us as if they were seen. The people of this world are influenced by the things that are seen. They live for wealth, honor, splendor, praise, for the objects which this world can furnish, and as if there were nothing which is unseen, or as if they ought not to be influenced by the things which are unseen. The Christian, on the contrary, has a firm conviction of the reality of the glories of heaven; of the fact that the Redeemer is there; of the fact that there is a crown of glory; and he lives, and acts as if that were all real, and as if he saw it all. The simple account of faith, and of living by faith is, that we live and act as if these things were true, and suffer them to make an impression on our mind according to their real nature; see the note on Mar 16:16.

It is contradistinguished from living simply under the influence of things that are seen. God is unseen - but the Christian lives, and thinks, and acts as if there were a God, and as if he saw him. Christ is unseen now by the bodily eye; but the Christian lives and acts as if he were seen, that is, as if his eye were known to be upon us, and as if he was now exalted to heaven and was the only Saviour. The Holy Spirit is unseen; but he lives, and acts as if there were such a Spirit, and as if his influences were needful to renew, and purify the soul. Heaven is unseen; but the Christian lives, and thinks, and acts as if there were a heaven, and as if he now saw its glories. He has confidence in these, and in kindred truths, and he acts as if they were real. Could man see all these; were they visible to the naked eye as they are to the eye of faith, no one would doubt the propriety of living and acting with reference to them.

But if they exist, there is no more impropriety in acting with reference to them than if they were seen. Our seeing or not seeing them does not alter their nature or importance, and the fact that they are not seen does not make it improper to act with reference to them. There are many ways of being convinced of the existence and reality of objects besides seeing them; and it may be as rational to be influenced by the reason, the judgment, or by strong confidence, as it is to be influenced by sight. Besides, all people are influenced by things which they have not seen. They hope for objects that are future. They aspire to happiness which they have not yet beheld. They strive for honor and wealth which are unseen, and which is in the distant future. They live, and act - influenced by strong faith and hope - as if these things were attainable; and they deny themselves, and labor, and cross oceans and deserts, and breathe in pestilential air to obtain those things which they have not seen, and which to them are in the distant future.

And why should not the Christian endure like labor, and be willing to suffer in like manner, to gain the unseen crown which is incorruptible, and to acquire the unseen wealth which the moth does not corrupt? And further still, the people of this world strive for those objects which they have not beheld, without any promise or any assurance that they shall obtain them. No being able to grant them has promised them; no one has assured them that their lives shall be lengthened out to obtain them. In a moment they may be cut off and all their plans frustrated; or they may be utterly disappointed and all their plans fail; or if they gain the object, it may be unsatisfactory, and may furnish no pleasure such as they had anticipated. But not so the Christian. He has:

(1) The promise of life.

\caps1 (2) h\caps0 e has the assurance that sudden death cannot deprive him of it. It at once removes him to the object of pursuit, not from it.

\caps1 (3) h\caps0 e has the assurance that when obtained, it shall not disgust, or satiate, or decay, but that it shall meet all the expectations of the soul, and shall be eternal.

Not by sight - This may mean either that we are not influenced by a sight of these future glories, or that we are not influenced by the things which we see. The main idea is, that we are not influenced and governed by the sight. We are not governed and controlled by the things which we see, and we do not see those things which actually influence and control us. In both it is faith that controls us, and not sight.

Barnes: 2Co 5:8

We are confident - 2Co 5:6. We are cheerful, and courageous, and ready to bear our trial. Tyndale renders it: "we are of good comfort."

And willing rather to be absent from the body - We would prefer to die. The same idea occurs in Phi 1:23. "Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ; which is far better."The sense is, that Paul would have preferred to die, and to go to heaven; rather than to remain in a world of sin and trial.

To be present with the Lord - The Lord Jesus; see the note on Act 1:24; compare Phi 1:23. The idea of Paul is, that the Lord Jesus would constitute the main glory of heaven, and that to be with him was equivalent to being in a place of perfect bliss. He had no idea of any heaven where the Lord Jesus was not; and to be with him was to be in heaven. That world where the Redeemer is, is heaven. This also proves that the spirits of the saints, when they depart, are with the Redeemer; that is, are at once taken to heaven. It demonstrates:

(1)    That they are not annihilated.

(2)\caps1     t\caps0 hat they do not sleep, and remain in an unconscious state, as Dr. Priestley supposes.

(3)\caps1     t\caps0 hat they are not in some intermediate state, either in a state of purgatory, as the Papists suppose, or a state where all the souls of the just and the unjust are assembled in a common abode, as many Protestants have supposed; but,

(4)    That they dwell with Christ; they are with the Lord ( πρὸς τὸν Κυρίον pros ton Kurion ). They abide in his presence; they partake of his joy and his glory; they are permitted to sit with him in his throne; Rev 3:21.

The same idea the Saviour expressed to the dying thief, when he said, "today shalt thou be with me in paradise;"Luk 23:43.

Barnes: 2Co 5:9

Wherefore - ( Διὸ Dio ). In view of the facts stated above. Since we have the prospect of a resurrection and of future glory; since we have the assurance that there is a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; and since God has given to us this hope, and has granted to us the earnest of the Spirit, we make it our great object so to live as to be accepted by him.

We labor - The word used here ( φιλοτιμούμεθα philotimoumetha , from φίλος philos and τιμὴ timē , loving honor) means properly to love honor; to be ambitious. This is its usual Classical signification. In the New Testament, it means to be ambitious to do anything; to exert oneself; to strive, as if from a love or sense of honor. As in English, to make it a point of honor to do so and so - Robinson (Lexicon); see Rom 15:20; 1Th 4:1 l. It means here, that Paul made it a point of constant effort; it was his leading and constant aim to live so as to be acceptable to God, and to meet his approbation wherever he was.

Whether present or absent - Whether present with the Lord 2Co 5:8, or absent from him 2Co 5:6; that is, whether in this world or the next; whether we are here, or removed to heaven. Wherever we are, or may be, it is, and will be our main purpose and object so to live as to secure his favor. Paul did not wish to live on earth regardless of his favor or without evidence that he would be accepted by him. He did not make the fact that he was absent from him, and that he did not see him with the physical eye, an excuse for walking in the ways of ambition, or seeking his own purposes and ends. The idea is, that so far as this point was concerned, it made no difference with him whether he lived or died; whether he was on earth or in heaven; whether in the body or out of the body; it was the great fixed principle of his nature so to live as to secure the approbation of the Lord. And this is the true principle on which the Christian should act, and will act. The fact that he is now absent from the Lord will be to him no reason why he should lead a life of sin and self-indulgence, anymore than he would if he were in heaven; and the fact that he is soon to be with him is not the main reason why he seeks to live so as to please him. It is because this has become the fixed principle of the soul; the very purpose of the life; and this principle and this purpose will adhere to him, and control him wherever he may be placed, or in whatever world he may dwell.

We may be accepted of him - The phrase used here εὐάρεστοι εἶναι euarestoi einai means to be well-pleasing; and then to be acceptable, or approved; Rom 12:1; Rom 14:18; Eph 5:10; Phi 4:18; Tit 2:9. The sense here is, that Paul was earnestly desirous of so living as to please God, and to receive from him the tokens and marks of his favor. And the truth taught in this verse is, that this will be the great purpose of the Christian’ s life, and that it makes no difference as to the existence and operation of this principle whether a man is on earth or in heaven. He will equally desire it, and strive for it; and this is one of the ways in which religion makes a man conscientious and holy, and is a better guard and security for virtue than all human laws, and all the restraints which can be imposed by man.

Barnes: 2Co 5:10

For we must - ( δεῖ dei ). It is proper, fit, necessary that we should all appear there. This fact, to which Paul now refers, is another reason why it was necessary to lead a holy life, and why Paul gave himself with so much diligence and self-denial to the arduous duties of his office. There is a necessity, or a fitness that we should appear there to give up our account, for we are here on trial: we are responsible moral agents; we are placed here to form characters for eternity. Before we receive our eternal allotment it is proper that we should render our account of the manner in which we have lived, and of the manner in which we have improved our talents and privileges. In the nature of things, it is proper that we should undergo a trial before we receive our reward, or before we are punished; and God has made it necessary and certain, by his direct and positive appointment, that we should stand at the bar of the final judge; see Rom 14:10.

All - Both Jews and Gentiles; old and young; bond and free; rich and poor; all of every class, and every age, and every nation. None shall escape by being unknown; none by virtue of their rank, or wealth; none because they have a character too pure to be judged. All shall be arranged in one vast assemblage, and with reference to their eternal doom; see Rev 20:12. Rosenmuller supposes that the apostle here alludes to an opinion that was common among the Jews that the Gentiles only would be exposed to severe judgments in the future world, and that the Jews would be saved as a matter of course. But the idea seems rather to be, that as the trial of the great day was the most important that man could undergo, and as all must give account there, Paul and his fellow-laborers devoted themselves to untiring diligence and fidelity that they might be accepted in that great day.

Appear - ( φανερωθῆναι phanerōthēnai ). This word properly means, to make apparent, manifest, known; to show openly, etc. Here it means that we must be manifest, or openly shown; that is, we must be seen there, and be publicly tried. We must not only stand there, but our character will be seen, our desert will be known, our trial will be public. All will be brought, from their graves, and from their places of concealment, and will be seen at the judgment-seat. The secret things of the heart and the life will all be made manifest and known.

The judgment-seat of Christ - The tribunal of Christ, who is appointed to be the judge of quick and dead; see the Joh 5:25 note; Act 10:42; Act 17:31 notes. Christ is appointed to judge the world; and for this purpose he will assemble it before him, and assign to all their eternal allotments; see Matt. 25.

That every one may receive - The word rendered "may receive" κομίσηται komisētai means properly to take care of, to provide for; and in the New Testament, to bear, to bring Luk 7:37; to acquire, to obtain, to receive. This is the sense here. Every individual shall take, receive, or bear away the appropriate reward for the transactions of this life of probation; see Eph 6:8; Col 3:25.

The things - The appropriate reward of the actions of this life. "done in his body."Literally, "the things by or through ( διὰ dia ) the body."Tyndale renders it: "the works of his body."The idea is, that every man shall receive an appropriate reward for the actions of this life. Observe here:

(1) That it is the works done in or through the body; not which the body itself has done. It is the mind, the man that has lived in the body, and acted by it, that is to be judged.

\caps1 (2) i\caps0 t is to be for the deeds of this life; not for what is done after death. People are not to be brought into judgment for what they do after they die. All beyond the grave is either reward or punishment; it is not probation. The destiny is to be settled forever by what is done in this world of probation.

\caps1 (3) i\caps0 t is to be for all the deeds done in the body; for all the thoughts, plans, purposes, words, as well as for all the outward actions of the man. All that has been thought or done must come into review, and man must give an account for all.

According to that he hath done - As an exact retribution for all that has been done. It is to be a suitable and proper recompence. The retribution is to be measured by what has been done in this life. Rewards shall be granted to the friends, and punishments to the foes of God, just in proportion to, or suitably to their deeds in this life. Every man shall receive just what, under all the circumstances, he ought to receive, and what will be impartial justice in the case. The judgment will be such that it will be capable of being seen to be right; and such as the universe at large, and as the individuals themselves will see ought to be rendered.

Whether it be good or bad - Whether the life has been good or evil. The good will have no wish to escape the trial; the evil will not be able. No power of wickedness, however great, will be able to escape from the trial of that day; no crime that has been concealed in this life will be concealed there; no transgressor of law who may have long escaped the punishment due to his sins, and who may have evaded all human tribunals, will be able to escape there.

Barnes: 2Co 5:11

Knowing therefore - We who are apostles, and who are appointed to preach the gospel, having the fullest assurance of the terrors of the day of judgment, and of the wrath of God, endeavor to persuade people to be prepared to meet Him, and to give up their account.

The terror of the Lord - This is, of the Lord Jesus, who will be seated on the throne of judgment, and who will decide the destiny of all people, 2Co 5:10; compare Matt. 25. The sense is, knowing how much the Lord is to be feared; what an object of terror and alarm it will be to stand at the judgment-seat; how fearful and awful will be the consequences of the trial of that day. The Lord Jesus will be an object of terror and alarm, or it will be a subject inspiring terror and alarm to stand there on that day, because:

(1)    He has all power, and is appointed to execute judgment;

(2)    Because all must there give a strict and impartial account of all that they have done;

(3)    Because the wrath of God will be shown in the condemnation of the guilty.

It will be a day of awful wailing and alarm when all the living and the dead shall be arraigned on trial with reference to their eternal destiny; and when countless hosts of the guilty and impenitent shall be thrust down to an eternal hell. Who can describe the amazing terror of the scene? Who can fancy the horrors of the hosts of the guilty and the wretched who shall then hear that their doom is to be fixed forever in a world of unspeakable woe? The influence of the knowledge of the terror of the Lord on the mind of the apostle seems to have been two-fold; first, an apprehension of it as a personal concern, and a desire to escape it, which led him to constant self-denial and toil; and secondly, a desire to save others from being overwhelmed in the wrath of that dreadful day.

We persuade men - We endeavor to persuade them to flee from the wrath to come; to be prepared to stand before the judgment-seat, and to be suited to enter into heaven. Observe here the uniqueness of the statement. It is not, we drive people; or we endeavor to alarm people; or we frighten people; or we appeal merely to their fears, but it is, we persuade people, we endeavor to induce them by all the arts of persuasion and argument to flee from the wrath to come. The future judgment, and the scenes of future woe, are not proper topics for mere declamation. To declaim constantly on hell-fire and perdition; to appeal merely to the fears of people, is not the way in which Paul and the Saviour preached the gospel. The knowledge that there would be a judgment, and that the wicked would be sent to hell, was a powerful motive for Paul to endeavor to "persuade"people to escape from wrath, and was a motive for the Saviour to weep over Jerusalem, and to lament its folly, and its doom; Luk 19:41. But they who fill their sermons with the denunciations of wrath; who dwell on the words "hell"and "damnation,"for the purpose of rhetoric or declamation, to round a period, or merely to excite alarm; and who "deal damnation around the land"as if they rejoiced that people were to be condemned, and in a tone and manner as if they would be pleased to execute it, have yet to learn the true nature of the way to win people to God, and the proper effect of those awful truths on the mind. The true effect is, to produce tenderness, deep feeling, and love; to prompt to the language of persuasion and of tender entreaty; to lead people to weep over dying sinners rather than to denounce them; to pray to God to have mercy on them rather than to use the language of severity, or to assume tones as if they would be pleased to execute the awful wrath of God.

But we are made manifest unto God - The meaning of this is, probably, that God sees that we are sincere and upright in our aims and purposes. He is acquainted with our hearts. All our motives are known to him, and he sees that it is our aim to promote his glory, and to save the souls of people. This is probably said to counteract the charge which might have been brought against him by some of the disaffected in Corinth, that he was influenced by improper motives and aims. To meet this, Paul says, that God knew that he was endeavoring to save souls, and that he was actuated by a sincere desire to rescue them from the impending terrors of the day of judgment.

And I trust also ... - And I trust also you are convinced of our integrity and uprightness of aim. The same sentiment is expressed in other words in 2Co 4:2. It is an appeal which he makes to them, and the expression of an earnest and confident assurance that they knew and felt that his aim was upright, and his purpose sincere.

Barnes: 2Co 5:12

For we commend not ourselves again unto you - This refers to what he had said in the previous verse. He had there said that he had such a consciousness of integrity that he could appeal to God, and that he was persuaded that the Corinthians also approved his course, or admitted that he was influenced by right motives. He here states the reason why he had said this. It was not to commend himself to them. It was not to boast of his own character, nor was it in order to secure their praise or favor. Some might be disposed to misrepresent all that Paul said of himself, and to suppose that it was said for mere vain-glory, or the love of praise. He tells them, therefore, that his sole aim was necessary self-defense, and in order that they might have the fullest evidence that he, by whom they had been converted, was a true apostle; and that he whom they regarded as their friend and father in the gospel was a man of whom they need not be ashamed.

But give you occasion - This is a very happy turn of expression. The sense is, "You have been converted under my labors. You profess to regard me as your spiritual father and friend. I have no reason to doubt of your attachment to me. Yet you often hear my name slandered, and hear me accused of wanting the evidence of being an apostle, and of being vain-glorious, and self-seeking. I know your desire to vindicate my character, and to show that you are my friends. I, therefore, say these things in regard to myself in order that you may be thus able to show your respect for me, and to vindicate me from the false and slanderous accusations of my enemies. Thus doing, you will be able to answer them; to show that the man whom you thus respect is worthy of your confidence and esteem."

On your behalf - For your own benefit, or as it were in self-vindication for adhering to me, and evincing attachment to me.

That ye may have somewhat to answer them - That you may be furnished with a ready reply when you are charged with adhering to a man who has no claims to the apostleship, or who is slandered in any other way.

Which glory in appearance - The false teachers in Corinth. Probably they boasted of their rank, their eloquence, their talents, their external advantages; but not in the qualities of the heart - in sincerity, honesty, real love for souls. Their consciences would not allow them to do this; and they knew themselves that their boasting was mere vain pretence, and that there was no real and solid ground for it. The margin is, "in the face."The meaning is, probably, that their ground of boasting was external, and was such as can be seen of people, and was not rather the secret consciousness of right, which could exist only in the conscience and the heart. Paul, on the other hand, gloried mainly in his sincerity, his honesty, his desire for their salvation; in his conscious integrity before God; and not in any mere external advantages or professions, in his rank, eloquence, or talent. Accordingly, all his argument here turns on his sincerity, his conscious uprightness, and his real regard for their welfare. And the truth taught here is, that sincerity and conscious integrity are more valuable than any or all external advantages and endowments.

Barnes: 2Co 5:13

For whether we be beside ourselves - This is probably designed to meet some of the charges which the false teachers in Corinth brought against him, and to furnish his friends there with a ready answer, as well as to show them the true principles on which he acted, and his real love for them. It is altogether probable that he was charged with being deranged; that many who boasted themselves of prudence, and soberness, and wisdom, regarded him as acting like a madman. It has not been uncommon, by any means, for the cold and the prudent; for formal professors and for hypocrites to regard the warm-hearted and zealous friends of religion as maniacs. Festus thought Paul was deranged, when he said, "Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad,"Act 26:24; and the Saviour himself was regarded by his immediate relatives and friends as beside himself, Mar 3:21. And at all times there have been many, both in the church and out of it, who have regarded the friends of revivals, and of missions, and all those who have evinced any extraordinary zeal in religion, as deranged. The object of Paul here is to show, whatever might be the appearance or the estimate which they affixed to his conduct, what were the real principles which actuated him. These were zeal for God, love to the church, and the constraining influences of the love of Christ, 2Co 5:14-15. The word rendered here as "be beside ourselves"( ἐξέστημεν exestēmen , from ἐξίστημι existēmi ) means properly, to put out of place; to be put out of place; and then to be put out of oneself, to astonish, to fill with wonder; Luk 24:22; Act 8:9, Act 8:11; and then to be out of one’ s mind, to be deranged. Here it means that they were charged with being deranged, or that others esteemed, or professed to esteem Paul and his fellow-laborers deranged.

It is to God - It is in the Cause of God, and from love to him. It is such a zeal for him; such an absorbing interest in his cause; such love prompting to so great self-denial, and teaching us to act so much unlike other people as to lead them to think that we are deranged. The doctrine here is, that there may be such a zeal for the glory of God, such an active and ardent desire to promote his honor, as to lead others to charge us with derangement. It does not prove however that a man is deranged on the subject of religion because he is unlike others, or because he pursues a course of life that differs materially from that of other professors of religion, and from the man of the world. He may be the truly sane man after all; and all the madness that may exist may be where there is a profession of religion without zeal; a professed belief in the existence of God and in the realities of eternity, that produces no difference in the conduct between the professor and other people; or an utter unconcern about eternal realities when a man is walking on the brink of death and of hell. There are a few people that become deranged by religion; there are millions who have no religion who act as madmen. And the highest instances of madness in the world are those who walk over an eternal hell without apprehension or alarm.

Or whether we be sober - Whether we are sane, or of sound mind; compare Mar 5:15. Tyndale renders this whole passage: "For if we be too fervent, to God we are too fervent; if we keep measure, for our cause keep we measure."The sense seems to be, "if we are esteemed to be sane, and sober-minded, as we trust you will admit us to be, it is for your sake. Whatever may be the estimate in which we are held, we are influenced by love to God, and love to man. In such a cause, we cannot but evince zeal and self-denial which may expose us to the charge of mental derangement; but still we trust that by you we shall be regarded as influenced by a sound mind. We seek your welfare. We labor for you. And we trust that you will appreciate our motives, and regard us as truly sober-minded."

Barnes: 2Co 5:14

For the love of Christ - In this verse, Paul brings into view the principle which actuated him; the reason of his extraordinary and disinterested zeal. That was, that he was influenced by the love which Christ had shown in dying for all people, and by the argument which was furnished by that death respecting the actual character and condition of man (in this verse); and of the obligation of those who professed to be his true friends 2Co 5:15. The phrase "the love of Christ"( ἀγάπη τοῦ Χριστοῦ agapē tou Christou ) may denote either the love which Christ bears toward us, and which he has manifested, or our love toward him. In the former sense the phrase "the love of God"is used in Rom 5:8; 2Co 13:13, and the phrase "love of Christ"in Eph 3:14. The phrase is used in the latter sense in Joh 15:9-10, and Rom 8:35. It is impossible to determine the sense with certainty, and it is only by the view which shall be taken of the connection and of the argument which will in any way determine the meaning. Expositors differ in regard to it. It seems to me that the phrase here means the love which Christ had toward us. Paul speaks of his dying for all as the reason why he was urged on to the course of self-denial which he evinced. Christ died for all. All were dead. Christ evinced his great love for us, and for all, by giving himself to die; and it was this love which Christ had shown that impelled Paul to his own acts of love and self-denial. He gave himself to his great work impelled by that love which Christ had shown; by the view of the ruined condition of man which that work furnished; and by a desire to emulate the Redeemer, and to possess the same spirit which he evinced.

Constraineth us - ( συνέχει sunechei ). This word ( συνέχω sunechō ) properly means, to hold together, to press together, to shut up; then to press on, urge, impel, or excite. Here it means, that the impelling, or exciting motive in the labors and self-denials of Paul, was the love of Christ - the love which he had showed to the children of men. Christ so loved the world as to give himself for it. His love for the world was a demonstration that people were dead in sins. And we, being urged by the same love, are prompted to like acts of zeal and self-denial to save the world from ruin.

Because we thus judge - Greek "We judging this;"that is, we thus determine in our own minds, or we thus decide; or this is our firm conviction and belief - we come to this conclusion.

That if one died for all - On the supposition that one died for all; or taking it for granted that one died for all, then it follows that all were dead. The "one"who died for all here is undoubtedly the Lord Jesus. The word "for"( ὑπὲρ huper ) means in the place of, instead of; see Phi 2:13 and 2Co 5:20. It means that Christ took the place of sinners, and died in their stead; that he endured what was an ample equivalent for all the punishment which would be inflicted if they were to suffer the just penalty of the Law; that he endured so much suffering, and that God by his great substituted sorrows made such an expression of his hatred of sin, as to answer the same end in expressing his sense of the evil of sin, and in restraining others from transgression, as if the guilty were personally to suffer the full penalty of the Law. If this was done, of course, the guilty might be par doned and saved, since all the ends which could be accomplished by their destruction have been accomplished by the substituted sufferings of the Lord Jesus; see the notes on Rom 3:25-26, where this subject is considered at length.

The phrase "for all,"( ὑπὲρ πάντων huper pantōn ) obviously means for all mankind; for every man. This is an exceedingly important expression in regard to the extent of the atonement which the Lord Jesus made, and while it proves that his death was vicarious, that is, in the place of others, and for their sakes, it demonstrates also that the atonement was general, and had, in itself considered, no limitation, and no particular reference to any class or condition of people; and no particular applicability to one class more than to another. There was nothing in the nature of the atonement that limited it to anyone class or condition; there was nothing in the design that made it, in itself, anymore applicable to one portion of mankind than to another. And whatever may be true in regard to the fact as to its actual applicability, or in regard to the purpose of God to apply it, it is demonstrated by this passage that his death had an original applicability to all, and that the merits of that death were sufficient to save all. The argument in favor of the general atonement, from this passage, consists in the following points:

(1) That Paul assumes this as a matter that was well known, indisputable, and universally admitted, that Christ died for all. He did not deem it necessary to enter into the argument to prove it, nor even to state it formally. It was so well known, and so universally admitted, that he made it a first principle - an elementary position - a maxim on which to base another important doctrine - to wit, that all were dead. It was a point which he assumed that no one would call in question; a doctrine which might be laid down as the basis of an argument, like one of the first principles or maxims in science.

\caps1 (2) i\caps0 t is the plain and obvious meaning of the expression - the sense which strikes all people, unless they have some theory to support to the contrary; and it requires all the ingenuity which people can ever command to make it appear even plausible, that this is consistent with the doctrine of a limited atonement; much more to make it out that it does not mean all. If a man is told that all the human family must die, the obvious interpretation is, that it applies to every individual. If told that all the passengers on board a steamboat were drowned, the obvious interpretation is, that every individual was meant. If told that a ship was wrecked, and that all the crew perished, the obvious interpretation would be that none escaped. If told that all the inmates of an hospital were sick, it would be understood that there was not an individual that was not sick. Such is the view which would be taken by 999 persons out of 1,000, if told that Christ died for all; nor could they conceive how this could be consistent with the statement that he died only for the elect, and that the elect was only a small part of the human family.

\caps1 (3) t\caps0 his interpretation is in accordance with all the explicit declarations on the design of the death of the Redeemer. Heb 2:9, "that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man;"compare Joh 3:16, "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life."1Ti 2:6, "who gave himself a ransom for all."See Mat 20:28,"The Son of man came to give his life a ransom for many."1Jo 2:2,"and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."

\caps1 (4) t\caps0 he fact also that on the ground of the atonement made by the Redeemer, salvation is offered to all people by God, is a proof that he died for all. The apostles were directed to go "into all the world and to preach the gospel to every creature,"with the assurance that "he that believeth and is baptized shall he saved;"Mar 16:15-16; and everywhere in the Bible the most full and free offers of salvation are made to all mankind; compare Isa 55:1; Joh 7:37; Rev 22:17. These offers are made on the ground that the Lord Jesus died for people; Joh 3:16. They are offers of salvation through the gospel, of the pardon of sin, and of eternal life to be made "to every creature."But if Christ died only for a part, if there is a large portion of the human family for whom he died in no sense whatever; if there is no provision of any kind made for them, then God must know this, and then the offers cannot be made with sincerity, and God is tantalizing them with the offers of that which does not exist, and which he knows does not exist. It is of no use here to say that the preacher does not know who the elect are, and that he is obliged to make the offer to all in order that the elect may be reached. For it is not the preacher only who offers the gospel. It is God who does it, and he knows who the elect are, and yet he offers salvation to all. And if there is no salvation provided for all, and no possibility that all to whom the offer comes should be saved, then God is insincere; and there is no way possible of vindicating his character.

\caps1 (5) i\caps0 f this interpretation is not correct, and if Christ did not die for all, then the argument of Paul here is a non sequitur, and is worthless. The demonstration that all are dead, according to him is, that Christ died for all. But suppose that he meant, or that he knew, that Christ died only for a part, for the elect, then how would the argument stand, and what would be its force? "Christ died only for a portion of the human race, therefore all are sinners. Medicine is provided only for a part of mankind, therefore all are sick. Pardon is offered to part only, therefore all are guilty."But Paul never reasoned in this way. He believed that Christ died for all mankind, and on the ground of that he inferred at once that all needed such an atonement; that all were sinners, and that all were exposed to the wrath of God. And the argument is in this way, and in this way only, sound. But still it may be asked, What is the force of this argument? How does the fact that Christ died for all, prove that all were sinners, or dead in sin? I answer:

(a) In the same way that to provide medicine for all, proves that all are sick, or liable to be sick; and to offer pardon to all who are in a prison, proves that all there are guilty. What insult is it to offer medicine to a man in health; or pardon to a man who has violated no law! And there would be the same insult in offering salvation to a man who was not a sinner, and who did not need forgiveness.

(b) The dignity of the sufferer, and the extent of his sufferings, prove that all were under a deep and dreadful load of guilt. Such a being would not have come to die unless the race had been apostate; nor would he have endured so great sorrows unless a deep and dreadful malady had spread over the world. The deep anxiety; the tears; the toils; the sufferings, and the groans of the Redeemer, show what was his sense of the condition of man, and prove that he regarded them as degraded, fallen, and lost. And if the Son of God, who knows all hearts, regarded them as lost, they are lost. He was not mistaken in regard to the character of man, and he did not lay down his life under the influence of delusion and error. If to the view which has been taken of this important passage it be objected that the work of the atonement must have been to a large extent in vain; that it has actually been applied to but comparatively a small portion of the human family, and that it is unreasonable to suppose that God would suffer so great sorrows to be endured for nothing, we may reply:

(1) That it may not have been in vain, though it may have been rejected by a large portion of mankind. There may have been other purposes accomplished by it besides the direct salvation of people. It was doing much when it rendered it consistent for God to offer salvation to all; it is much that God could be seen to be just and yet pardoning the sinner; it was much when his determined hatred of sin, and His purpose to honor His Law, was evinced; and in regard to the benevolence and justice of God to other beings and to other worlds, much, very much was gained, though all the human race had rejected the plan and been lost, and in regard to all these objects, the plan was not in vain, and the sufferings of the Redeemer were not for nothing. But,

(2) It is in accordance with what we see everywhere, when much that God does seems to our eyes, though not to his, to be in vain. How much rain falls on ever sterile sands or on barren rocks, to our eyes in vain! What floods of light are poured each day on barren wastes, or untraversed oceans, to our eyes in vain! How many flowers shed forth their fragrance in the wilderness, and ‘ waste their sweetness on the desert air,"to us apparently for nothing! How many pearls lie useless in the ocean; how much gold and silver in the earth; how many diamonds amidst rocks to us unknown, and apparently in vain! How many lofty trees rear their heads in the untraversed wilderness, and after standing for centuries fall on the earth and decay, to our eyes in vain! And how much medicinal virtue is created by God each year in the vegetable world that is unknown to man, and that decays and is lost without removing any disease, and that seems to be created in vain! And how long has it been before the most valuable medicines have been found out, and applied to alleviating pain, or removing disease! Year after year, and age after age, they existed in a suffering world, and people died perhaps within a few yards of the medicine which would have relieved or saved them, but it was unknown, or if known disregarded. But times were coming when their value would he appreciated, and when they would be applied to benefit the sufferer. So with the plan of salvation. It may be rejected, and the sufferings of the Redeemer may seem to have been for nothing. But they will yet be of value to mankind; and when the time shall come for the whole world to embrace the Saviour, there will be found no lack of sufficiency in the plan of redemption, and in the merits of the Redeemer to save all the race.

(A measure of truth is, doubtless, involved in this controversy concerning the universality of atonement; and the discussion of the subject in America, and more recently in this country, cannot fail ultimately to produce the most beneficial results. Yet we must express our conviction, that the seeming difference of opinion among evangelical people, has arisen from mutual misunderstanding, and that misunderstanding from the use of ambiguous phraseology. One says, Christ died for all people. No, says another, for the elect only. The dispute goes on and on, until at last the discovery is made, that while the same words were used by the disputants, each attached his own meaning to them. This ambiguity is painfully felt in the treatise of a distinguished writer, who has recently appeared on the limited side of the question. He does not explain, until he has advanced very far in the discussion, what sense be attaches to the common phraseology of "Christ dying for all men."

He tells us afterward, however, that he understands it in the highest sense of securing salvation for them; when we are convinced, that much of the argument might have been spared, or at all events better directed, than against a position which few or none maintain. The author is himself sensible of this. "The question,"says he, "might, perhaps, have been settled at the outset by a careful definition of terms; but I have purposely deferred doing so, judging, that it might be done with better effect as the discussion proceeded. In speaking of the Saviour’ s dying for people, or dying for sinners, I have used the expression in what I conceive to be the strict and proper meaning, namely, as signifying his dying with an intention to save them. This, however, is not the only meaning the expression will bear, For all people, for sinners in general, the Saviour died. He died in their nature, he died in their stead, he died doing honor to the Law which they had violated; in other words, he died removing every legal obstruction that lay in the way of their obtaining life."

The Death of Christ the Redemption of his People, p. 70. Now, it is only in this last sense, that any rational advocate of general aspect in the atonement will maintain that Christ died for all people. Nor could he desire better language in which to express his views, than that which is furnished in the above quotation. That the atonement has certain general aspects is now nearly admitted on all hands. "General it must be in some sense,"says the author already quoted, "if in some sense it be applicable to all, and that this is the case the foregoing statement undeniably proves,"p. 68. The general aspect of the atonement is argued, from those well-known passages in which it is declared to have a reference to people, all people, the world, and the whole world. The reader will find some of these passages quoted above in the commentary. Of this universal phraseology various explanations have been given.

Some have supplied the qualifying adjective "elect"in these places, where the design of atonement is said to embrace the "world."Modern writers of the highest name, however, and on both sides of the question, have vied with each other in their indignant repudiation of any such expletive. "I have felt myself,"says Dr. Wardlaw, "far from satisfied with a common way of interpreting some of those texts which express the extent of the atonement in universal terms by means of a convenient supplement. According to this method of explanation, the world is, in such occurrences of it, made to signify the ‘ elect world,’ the word ‘ elect’ being inserted as a supplement, conceived to be necessary for the consistency of scripture. An ‘ elect world’ indeed, has become a phrase in common use with a particular class of commentators and divines; being employed with as much matter of course freedom, as if it had actually had the sanction of ordinary usage in the sacred volume; but it is not to be found there."

And subjoins Dr. Marshall, writing on the limited side of the question, "It certainly is not to be found there, and with every word of this well-deserved censure I cordially agree."Here then is one principle of interpretation fairly exploded, and few nowadays will have the hardihood to espouse it. Again, the phraseology has been explained of the world of Jews and Gentiles indiscriminately, Gentiles as well as Jews; and those who adopt this view tell us, that the Jewish system was narrow and exclusive, embracing only one people, the progeny of Abraham; that it was the design of God, in the fullness of time, to enlarge his church and to receive within her ample arms people of all nations, Jew and Gentile, Barbarian and Scythian, bond and free; that the death of Christ was at once the fulfillment and abrogation of the typical system with all its special and exclusive rites; that by it the middle wall of partition between the Jew and the rest of the world was thrown down; that, therefore, it was natural to represent it as having a reference to all people and to the world, even when absolute universality was not and could not be intended. Such a vast enlargement of the scale on which spiritual blessings were now to be conferred, in consequence of the death of Christ, could not well have been expressed, it is alleged, in any other or in less universal terms. See this view of the subject well exhibited in Hill’ s System, vol. ii., 2 Cor. 5.

To this principle of interpretation we have no great objection. There is doubtless much truth in it. It lends valuable assistance in the investigation of many passages. But is there not some sense in which that atonement has an aspect absolutely to all, and every man? As much we have seen admitted above. Now, if the Saviour "died in the nature and stead of all, removing every legal obstruction that lay in the way of their obtaining life,"how comes it to pass, that this universal aspect cannot be found in any of those confessedly the most universal passages in the Bible? If it be true, it must be found somewhere in the scriptures, and nowhere so likely, as in this class of texts; and the language, moreover, is just such as is naturally suited to express this sense. While then we allow, that the phraseology in question may be in part explained by the admission of Gentiles as well as Jews into the kingdom of God; we maintain at the same time, that there is nothing in it which prevents us from including all in each of those divisions of mankind. Nay, if the apostles had wished to express this idea, how otherwise could they have done it? "Say if you will,"says Dr. Wardlaw, commenting on Joh 3:16-17, "that the ‘ world’ means Jews and Gentiles, still if it is not any definite number of Jews and Gentiles, it is Jews and Gentiles as together composing the world of mankind."

That the atonement, indeed, has a certain benign aspect toward all people, appears from its very nature. The exact equivalent view, as it has been not inappropriately termed, is now nearly abandoned. Rarely do we find any one affirming, that Christ endured exactly what the elect would have suffered and deserved, and that, therefore, there can be sufficiency in his death for that favored number and for none besides. What then is the light in which the atonement of Christ ought to be viewed? We think the only rational and scriptural account of it, is that which regards it as a great remedial scheme, which rendered it consistent with the divine honor and all the interests of the divine administration, to extend mercy to guilty people at large, and which would have been equally requisite, had there been an intention to save one only, or a million; numbers indeed not forming any part of the question. Here then is something done, which removes legal obstructions and thereby opens the way to heaven for all. And if any do not enter in, their inability is moral, and lies not in any insufficiency of the divine provision. This view, however, seems to furnish a just foundation for the universality of gospel invitations, while it fastens the guilt of rejecting gospel provision on the sinner himself.

Thus far we feel disposed to agree with our author in his commentary, or rather dissertation on the verse and the subject it involves. We maintain, however, that the atonement has a special as well as a general aspect; that while it is gloriously true that it looks to all people, it has at the same time a special regard to some. We object, therefore, to the statement, "that the atonement in itself considered had no limitation and no particular reference to any class or condition of people, and no particular applicability to one class more than to another."This is similar to certain rash assertions that have recently been current in our own country; as that "while the atonement opens the door of mercy to all, it secures salvation to none;"that "Christ died as much for those who perish, as for those who are saved."We cannot envy that reputation for acuteness which may be gained by the free use of such language.

Is it not God’ s design to save his people? Is not the atonement the means by which he does so, the means by which the purpose of electing love is fulfilled? And yet has that atonement no special reference to the elect? Further, if it be the means of saving them, does it not secure their salvation? Certainly, among people, if any effectual means were devised to accomplish a particular end, that end would be said to be secured by such means. The writer is aware of the ingenious evasion, that it is God’ s gracious purpose to apply the atonement, and not the atonement itself, that connects it with the elect, and secures their salvation. We are told, moreover, that we should look on the atonement by itself, and consider it in a philosophical way. The purpose to apply is an after arrangement. But first, a purpose to apply the atonement to a special class, differs in nothing from an original design to save such class by it, for that purpose must have been present to the mind of God in determining on atonement. To say that God saves a certain number by the atonement, and that yet in making it he had no special design in their favor, however it may recommend itself to philosophical refinement, will always be rejected by the common sense of mankind. Second. If we must consider the atonement apart from any special purpose connected with it, why not divest it also of any general purpose, that we may look on it steadily per se, and in this way reduce it to a mere abstraction, about which nothing could be either affirmed or denied?

The advocates of universal atonement, or some of the more forward among them, have recently carried out their views so far, as to deny that God in providing the atonement, or Christ in making it, had any special love to the elect. An eminent writer on that side, however, to whom reference has already been made, while he goes the length of denying special design, maintains the existence of special love, and administers a reproof to those of his own party, who go to this extreme. This is indeed an important concession, for special love is not very different from special design, nor is it easy to see how, in the mind of God, the one could subsist with out the other. "The love of the Father is the same thing as election. Election is nothing but the love of the Father formed into a purpose"- Marshall. Or the point may be put in this way. Had God in providing the atonement special love to the elect? Where is the proof of it? Doubtless in that very provision. But if God in making it had no design to save them by it, the proof is not only weakened but destroyed. Special love, therefore, necessarily involves special design.

To do away with anything like speciality of design, much has been said on the order of the divine decrees, especially as to whether the decree of atonement, or that of election, be first in order of nature. If that of atonement be first, it is asserted speciality is out of the question, as that is secured only by election, which is a posterior arrangement. On this subject it is more easy to darken counsel by words without knowledge, than to speak intelligibly. It may be fairly questioned, if those who have written most on it, fully understand themselves. Nor can we help lamenting, that so great a part of the controversy should have been made to turn on this point, which has hitherto eluded the grasp of the most profound, and drawn the controvertists into regions of thought, too high for the boldest flights of human intellect. After all that can be said on the subject, it must be allowed that the whole arrangement connected with the salvation of man, existed simultaneously in the mind of God, nor will anyone rise much wiser from inquiries into which was first and which last.

The truth on the whole subject, then, seems to be, that while the atonement has a general reference toward all, it has at the same time a special reference to the elect of God, or as it is well expressed in a recent synodical decision, "The Saviour in making the atonement bore special covenant relation to the elect; had a special love to them, and infallibly secured their everlasting salvation, while his obedience unto death, afforded such a satisfaction to the justice of God, as that on the ground of it, in consistency with his character and law, the door of mercy is open to all people, and a full and free salvation is presented for their acceptance."The special aspect, indeed, ought no more to be denied than the general. It rests on a large number of what may be called special texts; as, "Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it,"etc. "For the transgression of my people was he stricken.""I lay down my life for the sheep,"Eph 5:25; Isa 53:8; Joh 10:15.

Nor will it do to say of this numerous class of passages, that they find a sufficient explanation in the purpose of application, which is connected with the remedy for sin, since most of them are of a kind that connect the salvation of the elect directly with the atonement itself, and not with any after design of applying it. This idea seems but an ingenious shift to sustain a favorite theory. How direct, for example, is this connection in the following passage: "who loved me and gave himself for me."No one who had not a theory to support, would ever think of introducing an after design of application to explain this. Indeed, as an able reviewer in one of our periodicals observes of the scheme that excludes a special design, "it separates too much the atonement from the salvation of man. It does not connect those that are saved, those that are regenerated by divine grace, at all specially with the sacrifice of Christ."Another important branch of evidence on this point, lies in the special relation which Christ in dying sustained toward his people, as that of shepherd, husband, surety, etc., and which cannot be explained on any other principle than that of special design.

If the question were put, how we preserve our consistency, in thus maintaining both the general and special view, we reply, first, that if both views are found in scripture, it matters not whether we can explain the consistency between them or no. But second, it is not so difficult as some would imagine, to conceive of God appointing a remedy with a general aspect toward the race, but specially intended to secure the salvation of his chosen people.)

Then were all dead - All dead in sin; that is, all were sinners. The fact that he died for all proves that all were transgressors. The word "dead"is not unfrequently used in the scriptures to denote the condition of sinners; see Eph 2:1. It means not that sinners are in all senses, and in all respects like a lifeless corpse, for they are not. They are still moral agents, and have a conscience. and are capable of thinking, and speaking, and acting. It does not mean that they have no more power than one in the grave, for they have more power. But it means that there is a striking similarity, in some respects, between one who is dead and a sinner. That similarity does not extend to everything, but in many respects it is very striking.

\caps1 (1) t\caps0 he sinner is as insensible to the glories of the heavenly world, and the appeals of the gospel, as a corpse is to what is going on around or above it. The body that lies in the grave is insensible to the voice of friendship, and the charms of music, and the hum of business, and the plans of gain and ambition; and so the sinner is insensible to all the glories of the heavenly world, and to all the appeals that are made to him, and to all the warnings of God. He lives as though there were no heaven and no hell; no God and no Saviour.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 here is need of the same divine power to convert a sinner which is needful to raise up the dead. The same cause does not exist, making the existence of that power necessary, but it is a fact that a sinner will no more be converted by his own power than a dead man will rise from the grave by his own power. No man ever yet was converted without direct divine agency, anymore than Lazarus was raised without divine agency. And there is no more just or melancholy description which can be given of man, than to say that he is dead in sins. He is insensible to all the appeals that God makes to him; he is insensible to all the sufferings of the Saviour, and to all the glories of heaven; he lives as though these did not exist, or as though he had no concern in them; his eyes see no more beauty in them than the sightless eyeballs of the dead do in the material world; his ear is as inattentive to the calls of God and the gospel as the ear of the dead is to the voice of friendship or the charms of melody; and in a world that is full of God, and that might be full of hope, he is living without God and without hope.

Barnes: 2Co 5:15

And that he died for all ... - This verse is designed still further to explain the reasons of the conduct of the apostle. He had not lived for himself. He had not lived to amass wealth, or to enjoy pleasure, or to obtain a reputation. He had lived a life of self-denial, and of toil; and he here states the reason why he had done it. It was because he felt that the great purpose of the death of the Redeemer was to secure this result. To that Saviour, therefore, who died for all, he consecrated his talents and his time, and sought in every way possible to promote his glory.

That they which live - They who are true Christians, who are made alive unto God as the result of the dying love of the Redeemer. Sinners are dead in sins. Christians are alive to the worth of the soul, the presence of God, the importance of religion, the solemnities of eternity; that is, they act and feel as if these things had a real existence and as if they should exert a constant influence upon the heart and life.

("They which live."This spiritual life, doubtless, implies that a man is alive to the worth of the soul, the presence of God, etc.; but it intimates something deeper too, which is the foundation of those things, and without which they could not exist. Scott paraphrases thus, "were quickened and pardoned, and so passed from death to life;"and Guyse still more explicitly, "were made supernaturally alive by his quickening spirit and by faith in him."This is the root; the things mentioned in the comment, the fruit; this the cause, these only the effects.)

It is observable that Paul makes a distinction here between those for whom Christ died and those who actually "live,"thus demonstrating that there may be many for whom he died who do not live to God, or who are not savingly benefitted by his death. The atonement was for all, but only a part are actually made alive to God. Multitudes reject it; but the fact that he died for all; that he tasted death for every man, that he not only died for the elect but for all others, that his benevolence was so great as to embrace the whole human family in the design of his death, is a reason why they who are actually made alive to God should consecrate themselves entirely to his service. The fact that he died for all evinced such unbounded and infinite benevolence that it should induce us who are actually benefitted by his death, and who have any just views of it, to devote all that we have to his service.

Should not henceforth live unto themselves - Should not seek our own ease and pleasure; should not make it our great object to promote our own interest, but should make it the grand purpose of our lives to promote his honor, and to advance his cause. This is a vital principle in religion, and it is exceedingly important to know what is meant by living to ourselves, and whether we do it. It is done in the following, and perhaps in some other ways:

(1) When people seek pleasure, gain, or reputation as the controlling principle of their lives.

\caps1 (2) w\caps0 hen they are regardless of the rights of others, and sacrifice all the claims which others have on them in order to secure the advancement of their own purposes and ends.

\caps1 (3) w\caps0 hen they are regardless of the needs of others, and turn a deaf ear to all the appeals which charity makes to them, and have no time to give to serve them, and no money to spare to alleviate their needs; and especially when they turn a deaf ear to the appeals which are made for the diffusion of the gospel to the benighted and perishing.

\caps1 (4) w\caps0 hen their main purpose is the aggrandizement of their own families, for their families are but a diffusion of self. And,

(5) When they seek their own salvation only from selfish motives, and not from a desire to honor God. Multitudes are selfish even in their religion; and the main purpose which they have in view, is to promote their own objects, and not the honor of the Master whom they profess to serve. They seek and profess religion only because they desire to escape from wrath, and to obtain the happiness of heaven, and not from any love to the Redeemer or any desire to honor him, Or they seek to build up the interests of their own church and party, and all their zeal is expended on that and that alone, without any real desire to honor the Saviour. Or though in the church, they are still selfish, and live wholly to themselves. They live for fashion, for gain, for reputation. They practice no self-denial; they make no effort; to advance the cause of God the Saviour.

But unto him ... - Unto the Lord Jesus Christ. To live to him is the opposite to living unto ourselves. It is to seek his honor; to feel that we belong to him; that all our time and talents; all our strength of intellect and body; all the avails of our skill and toil, all belong to him, and should be employed in his service. If we have talents by which we can influence other minds, they should be employed to honor the Saviour. If we have skill, or strength to labor by which we can make money, we should feel that it all belongs to him, and should be employed in his service. If we have property, we should feel that it is his, and that he has a claim upon it all, and that it should be honestly consecrated to his cause. And if we are endowed with a spirit of enterprise, and are suited by nature to encounter perils in distant and barbarious climes, as Paul was, we should feel like him that we are bound to devote all entirely to his service, and to the promotion of his cause.

A servant, a slave, does not live to himself but to his master. His person, his time, his limbs, his talents, and the avails of his industry are not regarded as his own. He is judged incapable of holding any property which is not at the disposal of his master. If he has strength, it is his master’ s. If he has skill, the avails of it are his master’ s. If he is an ingenious mechanic, or labors in any department; if he is amiable, kind, gentle, and faithful, and adapted to be useful in an eminent degree, it is regarded as all the property of his master. He is bound to go where his master chooses; to execute the task which he assigns; to deny himself at his master’ s will; and to come and lay the avails of all his toil and skill at his master’ s feet. He is regarded as having been purchased with money; and the purchase money is supposed to give a right to his time, his talents, his services, and his soul. Such as the slave is supposed to become by purchase, and by the operation of human laws, the Christian becomes by the purchase of the Son of God, and by the voluntary recognition of him as the master, and as having a right to all that we have and are. To him all belongs; and all should be employed in endeavoring to promote his glory, and in advancing his cause.

Which died for them, and rose again - Paul here states the grounds of the obligation under which he felt himself placed, to live not unto himself but unto Christ.

\caps1 (1) t\caps0 he first is, the fact that Christ had died for him, and for all his people. The effect of that death was the same as a purchase. It was a purchase; see the note, 1Co 6:20; 1Co 7:23; compare 1Pe 1:18-19.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 he second is, that he had risen again from the dead. To this fact Paul traced all his hopes of eternal life, and of the resurrection from the dead; see Rom 4:25. As we have the hope of the resurrection from the dead only from the fact that he rose; as he has "brought life and immortality to light,"and hath in this way "abolished death"2Ti 1:10; as all the prospect of entering a world where there is no death and no grave is to be traced to the resurrection of the Saviour, so we are bound by every obligation of gratitude to devote ourselves without any reserve to him. To him, and him alone should we live; and in his cause our lives should be, as Paul’ s was, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable in his sight.

Barnes: 2Co 5:16

Wherefore henceforth - In view of the fact that the Lord Jesus died for all people, and rose again. The effect of that has been to change all our feelings, and to give us entirely new views of people, of ourselves, and of the Messiah, so that we have become new creatures. The word "henceforth"( ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν apo tou nun ) means properly from the present time; but there is no impropriety in supposing that Paul refers to the time when he first obtained correct views of the Messiah, and that he means from that time. His mind seems to have been thrown back to the period when these new views burst upon his soul; and the sentiment is, that from the time when he obtained those new views, he had resolved to know no one after the flesh.

Know we no man - The word "know"here ( οἴδαμεν oidamen ) is used in the sense of, we form our estimate of; we judge; we are influenced by. Our estimate of man is formed by other views than according to the flesh.

After the flesh - A great many different interpretations have been proposed of this expression, which it is not needful here to repeat. The meaning is, probably, that in his estimate of people he was not influenced by the views which are taken by those who are unrenewed, and who are unacquainted with the truths of redemption. It may include a great many things, and perhaps the following:

(1) He was not influenced in his estimate of people by a regard to their birth, or country. He did not form an attachment to a Jew because he was a Jew, or to a Gentile because he was a Gentile. He had learned that Christ died for all, and he felt disposed to regard all alike.

\caps1 (2) h\caps0 e was not influenced in his estimate of people by their rank, and wealth, and office. Before his conversion he had been, but now he learned to look on their moral character, and to regard that as making the only permanent, and really important distinction among people. He did not esteem one man highly because he was of elevated rank, or of great wealth, and another less because he was of a different rank in life.

\caps1 (3) i\caps0 t may also include the idea, that he had left his own kindred and friends on account of superior attachment to Christ. He had parted from them to preach the gospel. He was not restrained by their opinions; he was not kept from going from land to land by love to them. It is probable that they remained Jews. It may be, that they were opposed to him, and to his efforts in the cause of the Redeemer. It may be that they would have dismissed him from a work so self-denying, and so arduous, and where he would be exposed to so much persecution and contempt. It may be that they would have set before him the advantages of his birth and education; would have reminded him of his early brilliant prospects; and would have used all the means possible to dissuade him from embarking in a cause like that in which he was engaged. The passage here means that Paul was influenced by none of these considerations.

In early life he had been. He had prided himself on rank, and on talent. He was proud of his own advantages as a Jew; and he estimated worth by rank, and by national distinction, Phi 3:4-6. He had despised Christians on account of their being the followers of the man of Nazareth: and there can be no reason to doubt that he partook of the common feelings of his countrymen and held in contempt the whole Gentile world. But his views were changed - so much changed as to make it proper to say that he was a new creature, 2Co 5:17. When converted, he did not confer with flesh and blood Gal 1:16; and in the school of Christ, he had learned that if a man was his disciple, he must be willing to forsake father and mother. and sister and brother, and to hate his own life that he might honor him, Luk 14:26. He had formed his principle of action now from a higher standard than any regard to rank, or wealth, or national distinction; and had risen above them all, and now estimated people not by these external and factitious advantages, but by a reference to their personal character and moral worth.

Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh - Though in common with the Jewish nation we expected a Messiah who would be a temporal prince, and who would be distinguished for the distinctions which are valued among people, yet we have changed our estimate of him, and judge of him in this way no longer. There can be no doubt that Paul, in common with his countrymen, had expected a Messiah who would be a magnificent temporal prince and conqueror, one who they supposed would be a worthy successor of David and Solomon. The coming of such a prince, Paul had confidently expected. He expected no other Messiah. He had fixed his hopes on that. This is what is meant by the expression ‘ to know Christ after the flesh.’ It does not mean that he had seen him in the flesh, but that he had formed, so to speak, carnal views of him, and such as people of this world regard as grand and magnificent in a monarch and conqueror. He had had no correct views of his spiritual character, and of the pure and holy purposes for which he would come into the world.

Yet now henceforth know we him no more - We know him no more in this manner. Our conceptions and views of him are changed. We no more regard him according to the flesh; we no longer esteem the Messiah who was to come as a temporal prince and warrior; but we look on him as a spiritual Saviour, a Redeemer from sin. The idea is, that his views of him had been entirely changed. It does not mean, as our translation would seem to imply, that Paul would have no further acquaintance with Christ, but it means that from the moment of his conversion he had laid aside all his views of his being a temporal sovereign, and all his feelings that he was to be honored only because he supposed that he would have an elevated rank among the monarchs of the earth. Locke and Macknight, it seems to me, have strangely mistaken this passage. The former renders it, "For if I myself have gloried in this, that Christ was himself circumcised as I am, and was of my blood and nation, I do so now no more any longer,"The same substantially is the view of Macknight. Clarke as strangely mistakes it, when he says that it means that Paul could not prize now a man who was a sinner because he was allied to the royal family of David, nor prize a man because he had seen Christ in the flesh.

The correct view, as it seems to me, is given above. And the doctrine which is taught here is, that at conversion, the views are essentially changed, and that the converted man has a view of the Saviour entirely different from what he had before. He may not, like Paul, have regarded him as a temporal prince; he may not have looked to him as a mighty monarch, but his views in regard to his person, character, work, and loveliness will be entirely changed. He will see a beauty in his character which he never saw before. Before, he regarded him as a root out of dry ground; as the despised man of Nazareth; as having nothing in his character to be desired, or to render him lovely Isa 53:1-12; but at conversion the views are changed. He is seen to be the chief among ten thousand and altogether lovely; as pure, and holy, and benevolent; as mighty, and great, and glorious; as infinitely benevolent; as lovely in his precepts, lovely in his life, lovely in his death, lovely in his resurrection, and as most glorious as he is seated on the right hand of God. He is seen to be a Saviour exactly adapted to the condition and needs of the soul; and the soul yields itself to him to be redeemed by him alone.

There is no change of view so marked and decided as that of the sinner in regard to the Lord Jesus Christ at his conversion; and it is a clear proof that we have never been born again if our views in reference to him have never undergone any change. "What think ye of Christ?"is a question the answer to which will determine any man’ s character, and demonstrate whether he is or is not a child of God. Tyndale has more correctly expressed the sense of this than our translation."Though we have known Christ after the flesh, now henceforth know we him so no more."

Barnes: 2Co 5:17

Therefore if any man be in Christ - The phrase to "be in Christ,"evidently means to be united to Christ by faith; or to be in him as the branch is in the vine - that is, so united to the vine, or so in it, as to derive all its nourishment and support from it, and to be sustained entirely by it. Joh 15:2, "every branch in me."Joh 15:4, "abide in me, and I in you.""The branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine; no more can ye except ye abide in me."See also Joh 15:5-7, see the note on Joh 15:2. To be "in Christ"denotes a more tender and close union; and implies that all our support is from him. All our strength is derived from him; and denotes further that we shall partake of his fullness, and share in his felicity and glory, as the branch partakes of the strength and vigor of the parent vine. The word "therefore"( Ὥστε Hōste ) here implies that the reason why Paul infers that anyone is a new creature who is in Christ is that which is stated in the previous verse; to wit, the change of views in regard to the Redeemer to which he there refers, and which was so great as to constitute a change like a new creation. The affirmation here is universal, "if any man be in Christ;"that is, all who become true Christians - undergo such a change in their views and feelings as to make it proper to say of them that they are new creatures. No matter what they have been before, whether moral or immoral; whether infidels or speculative believers; whether amiable, or debased, sensual and polluted yet if they become Christians they all experience such a change as to make it proper to say they are a new creation.

A new creature - Margin, "Let him be."This is one of the instances in which the margin has given a less correct translation than is in the text. The idea evidently is, not that he ought to be a new creature, but that he is in fact; not that he ought to live as becomes a new creature - which is true enough - but that he will in fact live in that way, and manifest the characteristics of the new creation. The phrase "a new creature" καινὴ κτίσις kainē ktisis ) occurs also in Gal 6:15. The word rendered "creature"( κτίσις ktisis ) means properly in the New Testament, creation. It denotes:

(1)    The act of creating Rom 1:20;

(2)    A created thing, a creature Rom 1:25; and refers:

\tx720 \tx1080 (a)    To the universe, or creation in general; Mar 10:6; Mar 13:9-11; 1Pe 3:4.

(b)    To man, mankind; Mar 16:15; Col 1:23.

Here it means a new creation in a moral sense, and the phrase new creature is equivalent to the expression in Eph 4:24, "The new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."It means, evidently, that there is a change produced in the renewed heart of man that is equivalent to the act of creation, and that bears a strong resemblance to it - a change, so to speak, as if the man was made over again, and had become new. The mode or manner in which it is done is not described, nor should the words be pressed to the quick, as if the process were the same in both cases - for the words are here evidently figurative. But the phrase implies evidently the following things:

(1)    That there is an exertion of divine power in the conversion of the sinner as really as in the act of creating the world out of nothing, and that this is as indispensable in the one case as in the other.

(2)\caps1     t\caps0 hat a change is produced so great as to make it proper to say that he is a new man. He has new views, new motives, new principles, new objects and plans of life. He seeks new purposes, and he lives for new ends.

If a drunkard becomes reformed, there is no impropriety in saying that he is a new man. If a man who was licentious becomes pure, there is no impropriety in saying that he is not the same man that he was before. Such expressions are common in all languages, and they are as proper as they are common. There is such a change as to make the language proper. And so in the conversion of a sinner. There is a change so deep, so clear, so entire, and so abiding, that it is proper to say, here is a new creation of God - a work of the divine power as decided and as glorious as when God created all things out of nothing. There is no other moral change that takes place on earth so deep, and radical, and thorough as the change at conversion. And there is no other where there is so much propriety in ascribing it to the mighty power of God.

Old things are passed away - The old views in regard to the Messiah, and in regard to people in general, 2Co 5:16. But Paul also gives this a general form of expression, and says that old things in general have passed away - referring to everything. It was true of all who were converted that old things had passed away. And it may include the following things:

(1) In regard to the Jews - that their former prejudices against Christianity, their natural pride, and spirit of seducing others; their attachment to their rites and ceremonies, and dependence on them for salvation had all passed away. They now renounced that independence, relied on the merits of the Saviour, and embraced all as brethren who were of the family of Christ.

\caps1 (2) i\caps0 n regard to the Gentiles - their attachment to idols, their love of sin and degradation, their dependence on their own works, had passed away, and they had renounced all these things, and had come to mingle their hopes with those of the converted Jews, and with all who were the friends of the Redeemer.

\caps1 (3) i\caps0 n regard to all, it is also true that old things pass away. Their former prejudices, opinions, habits, attachments pass away. Their supreme love of self passes away. Their love of sins passes away. Their love of the world passes away. Their supreme attachment to their earthly friends rather than God passes away. Their love of sin, their sensuality, pride, vanity, levity, ambition, passes away. There is a deep and radical change on all these subjects - a change which commences at the new birth; which is carried on by progressive sanctification; and which is consummated at death and in heaven.

Behold, all things are become new - That is, all things in view of the mind. The purposes of life, the feelings of the heart, the principles of action, all become new. The understanding is consecrated to new objects, the body is employed in new service, the heart forms new attachments. Nothing can be more strikingly. descriptive of the facts in conversion than this; nothing more entirely accords with the feelings of the newborn soul. All is new. There are new views of God, and of Jesus Christ; new views of this world and of the world to come; new views of truth and of duty; and everything is seen in a new aspect and with new feelings. Nothing is more common in young converts than such feelings, and nothing is more common than for them to say that all things are new. The Bible seems to be a new book, and though they may have often read it before, yet there is a beauty about it which they never saw before, and which they wonder they have not before perceived. The whole face of nature seems to them to be changed, and they seem to be in a new world. The hills, and vales, and streams; the sun, the stars, the groves, the forests, seem to be new. A new beauty is spread over them all; and they now see them to be the work of God, and his glory is spread over them all, and they can now say:

"My Father made them all."

The heavens and the earth are filled with new wonders, and all things seem now to speak forth the praise of God. Even the very countenances of friends seem to be new; and there are new feelings toward all people; a new kind of love to kindred and friends; and a love before unfelt for enemies; and a new love for all mankind.

Barnes: 2Co 5:18

And all things are of God - This refers particularly to the things in question, the renewing of the heart, and the influences by which Paul had been brought to a state of willingness to forsake all, and to devote his life to the self-denying labors involved in the purpose of making the Saviour known. He makes the statement general, however, showing his belief that not only these things were produced by God, but that all things were under his direction, and subject to his control. Nothing that he had done was to be traced to his own agency or power, but God was to be acknowledged everywhere. This great truth Paul never forgot; and he never suffered himself to lose sight of it. It was in his view a cardinal and glorious truth; and he kept its influence always before his mind and his heart. In the important statement which follows, therefore, about the ministry of reconciliation, he deeply feels that the whole plan, and all the success which has attended the plan, was to be traced not to his zeal, or fidelity, or skill, but to the agency of God; see the note on 1Co 3:6-7.

Who hath reconciled us to himself - The word "us"here includes, doubtless, all who were Christians - whether Jews or Gentiles, or whatever was their rank. They had all been brought into a state of reconciliation, or agreement with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Before they were opposed to God. They had violated His laws. They were his enemies. But by the means of the plan of salvation they had been brought into a state of agreement, or harmony, and were united in feeling and in aim with him. Two people who have been alienated by prejudice, by passion, or by interest, are reconciled when the cause of the alienation is removed, on whichever side it may have existed, or if on both sides, and when they lay aside their enmity and become friends. Thenceforward they are agreed, and live together without alienation, heart-burnings, jealousies, and strife. So between God and man. There was a variance; there was an alienation.

Man was alienated from God. He had no love for Him. He disliked His government and laws. He was unwilling to be restrained. He sought his own pleasure. He was proud, vain, self-confident. He was not pleased with the character of God, or with his claims, or his plans. And in like manner, God was displeased with the pride, the sensuality, the rebellion, the haughtiness of man. He was displeased that His Law had been violated, and that man had cast off his government. Now reconciliation could take place only when these causes of alienation should be laid aside, and when God and man should be brought to harmony; when man should lay aside his love of sin, and should be pardoned, and when, therefore, God could consistently treat him as a friend. The Greek word which is used here ( καταλλάσσω katallassō ) means properly to change against anything; to exchange for anything, for money, or for any article - Robinson. In the New Testament it means to change one person toward another; that is, to reconcile to anyone; see the note on Rom 5:10.

It conveys the idea of producing a change so that one who is alienated should be brought to friendship. Of course, all the change which takes place must be on the part of man, for God will not change, and the purpose of the plan of reconciliation is to effect such a change in man as to make him in fact reconciled to God, and at agreement with him. There were indeed obstacles to reconciliation on the part of God, but they did not arise from any unwillingness to be reconciled; from any reluctance to treat his creature as his friend; but they arose from the fact that man had sinned, and that God was just; that such is the perfection of God that He cannot treat the good and evil alike; and that, therefore, if He should treat man as His friend, it was necessary that in some proper way He should maintain the honor of His Law, and show His hatred of sin, and should secure the conversion and future obedience of the offender.

All this God proposed to secure by the atonement made by the Redeemer, rendering it consistent for him to exercise the benevolence of his nature, and to pardon the offender. But God is not changed. The plan of reconciliation has made no change in his character. It has not made him a different being from what he was before. There is often a mistake on this subject; and people seem to suppose that God was originally stern, and unmerciful, and inexorable, and that he has been made mild and forgiving by the atonement. But it is not so. No change has been made in God; none needed to be made; none could be made. He was always mild, and merciful, and good; and the gift of a Saviour and the plan of reconciliation is just an expression of his original willingness to pardon. When a father sees a child struggling in the stream, and in danger of drowning, the peril and the cries of the child make no change in the character of the father, but such was his former love for the child that he would plunge into the stream at the hazard of his own life to save him. So it is with God. Such was his original love for man, and his disposition to show mercy, that he would submit to any sacrifice, except that of truth and justice, in order that he might save him. Hence, he sent his only Son to die - not to change his own character; not to make himself a different being from what he was, but in order to show his love and his readiness to forgive when it could be consistently done. "God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son,"Joh 3:16.

By Jesus Christ - By the agency, or medium of Jesus Christ. He was the mediator to interpose in the work of reconciliation. And he was abundantly qualified for this work, and was the only being that has lived in this world who was qualified for it. Because:

(1) He was endowed with a divine and human nature - the nature of both the parties at issue - God and man, and thus, in the language of Job, could "lay his hand upon both,"Job 9:33.

\caps1 (2) h\caps0 e was intimately acquainted with both the parties, and knew what was needful to be done. He knew God the Father so well that he could say, "No man knoweth the Father but the Son,"Mat 11:27. And he knew man so well that it could be said of him, he "needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man,"Joh 2:25. No one can be a mediator who is not acquainted with the feelings, views, desires, claims, or prejudices of both the parties at issue.

\caps1 (3) h\caps0 e was the friend of both the parties. He loved God. No man ever doubted this, or had any reason to call it in question, and he was always desirous of securing all that God claimed, and of vindicating him, and he never abandoned anything that God had a right to claim. And he loved man. He showed this in all his life. He sought his welfare in every way possible, and gave himself for him. Yet no one is qualified to act the mediator’ s part who is not the common friend of both the parties at issue, and who will not seek the welfare, the right, or the honor of both.

\caps1 (4) h\caps0 e was willing to suffer anything from either party in order to produce reconciliation. From the hand of God he was willing to endure all that he deemed to be necessary, in order to show his hatred of sin by his vicarious sufferings, and to make an atonement; and from the hand of man he was willing to endure all the reproach, and contumely, and scorn which could be possibly involved in the work of inducing man to be reconciled to God. And,

(5) He has removed all the obstacles which existed to a reconciliation. On the part of God, he has made it consistent for him to pardon. He has made an atonement, so that God can be just while he justifies the sinner. He has maintained His truth, and justice, and secured the stability of His moral government while He admits offenders to His favor. And on the part of man, He, by the agency of His Spirit, overcomes the unwillingness of the sinner to be reconciled, humbles his pride, shows him his sin, changes his heart, subdues his enmity against God, and secures in fact a harmony of feeling and purpose between God and man, so that they shall be reconciled forever.

And hath given to us - To us the apostles and our fellow-laborers.

The ministry of reconciliation - That is, of announcing to people the nature and the conditions of this plan of being reconciled. We have been appointed to make this known, and to press its acceptation on people; see 2Co 5:20.

Barnes: 2Co 5:19

To wit - (Greek, Ὡς ὄτι Hōs oti ), namely This verse is designed further to state the nature of the plan of reconciliation, and of the message with which they were entrusted. It contains an abstract, or an epitome of the whole plan; and is one of those emphatic passages in which Paul compresses into a single sentence the substance of the whole plan of redemption.

That God was in Christ - That God was by Christ ( ἐν Χριστῷ en Christō ), by means of Christ; by the agency, or mediatorship of Christ. Or it may mean that God was united to Christ, and manifested himself by him. So Doddridge interprets it. Christ was the mediator by means of whom God designed to accomplish the great work of reconciliation.

Reconciling the world unto himself - The world here evidently means the human race generally, without distinction of nation, age, or rank. The whole world was alienated from him, and he sought to have it reconciled. This is one incidental proof that God designed that the plan of salvation should be adapted to all people; see the note on 2Co 5:14. It may be observed further, that God sought that the world should be reconciled. Man did not seek it. He had no plan for it, he did not desire it. He had no way to effect it. It was the offended party, not the offending, that sought to be reconciled; and this shows the strength of his love. It was love for enemies and alienated beings, and love evinced to them by a most earnest desire to become their friend, and to be at agreement with them; compare note on Rom 5:8. Tyndale renders this very accurately: "For God was in Christ, and made agreement between the world and himself, and imputed not their sins unto them."

Not imputing their trespasses - Not reckoning their transgressions to them; that is, forgiving them, pardoning them. On the meaning of the word impute, see the note, Rom 4:3. The idea here is, that God did not charge on them with inexorable severity and stern justice their offences, but graciously provided a plan of pardon, and offered to remit their sins on the conditions of the gospel. The plan of reconciliation demonstrated that he was not disposed to impute their sins to them, as he might have done, and to punish them with unmitigated severity for their crimes, but was more disposed to pardon and forgive. And it may be here asked, if God was not disposed to charge with unrelenting severity their own sins to their account, but was rather disposed to pardon them, can we believe that he is disposed to charge on them the sin of another? If he does not charge on them with inexorable and unmitigated severity their own transgressions, will he charge on them with unrelenting severity - or at all - the sin of Adam? see the note on Rom 5:19. The sentiment here is, that God is not disposed or inclined to charge the transgressions of people upon them; he has no pleasure in doing it; and therefore he has provided a plan by which they may be pardoned. At the same time it is true that unless their sins are pardoned, justice will charge or impute their sins to them, and will exact punishment to the uttermost.

And hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation - Margin,"put in us."Tyndale renders this: "and hath committed unto us the preaching of the atonement."The meaning is, that the office of making known the nature of this plan, and the conditions on which God was willing to be reconciled to man, had been committed to the ministers of the gospel.

Barnes: 2Co 5:20

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ - We are the ambassadors whom Christ has sent forth to negotiate with people in regard to their reconciliation to God, Tyndale renders this: "Now then are we messengers in the room of Christ."The word used here πρεσβεύομεν presbeuomen , from πρέσβυς presbus an aged man, an elder, and then an ambassador) means to act as an ambassador, or sometimes merely to deliver a message for another, without being empowered to do any thing more than to explain or enforce it - Bloomfield. See Thucydides 7, 9. An ambassador is a minister of the highest rank, employed by one prince or state at the court of another, to manage the concerns of his own prince or state, and representing the dignity and power of his sovereign - Webster. He is sent to do what the sovereign would himself do were he present. They are sent to make known the will of the sovereign, and to negotiate matters of commerce, of war, or of peace, and in general everything affecting the interests of the sovereign among the people to whom they are sent.

At all times, and in all countries, an ambassador is a sacred character, and his person is regarded as inviolable. He is bound implicitly to obey the instructions of his sovereign, and as far as possible to do only what the sovereign would do were he himself present. Ministers are ambassadors for Christ, as they are sent to do what he would do were he personally present. They are to make known, and to explain, and enforce the terms on which God is willing to be reconciled to people. They are not to negotiate on any new terms, nor to change those which God has proposed, nor to follow their own plans or devices, but they are simply to urge, explain, state, and enforce the terms on which God is willing to be reconciled. Of course they are to seek the honor of the sovereign who has sent them forth, and to seek to do only his will. They go not to promote their own welfare; not to seek honor, dignity, or emolument; but they go to transact the business which the Son of God would engage in were he again personally on the earth. It follows that their office is one of great dignity, and great responsibility, and that respect should be showed them as the ambassadors of the King of kings.

As though God did beseech you by us - Our message is to be regarded as the message of God. It is God who speaks. What we say to you is said in his name and on his authority, and should be received with the respect which is due to a message directly from God. The gospel message is God speaking to people through the ministry, and entreating them to be reconciled. This invests the message which the ministers of religion bear with infinite dignity and solemnity; and it makes it a fearful and awful thing to reject it.

We pray you in Christ’ s stead - ( ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ huper Christou ). In the place of Christ; or doing what he did when on earth, and what he would do were he where we are.

Be ye reconciled to God - This is the sum and burden of the message which the ministers of the gospel bear to their fellow-men; see the note on 2Co 5:19. It implies that man has something to do in this work. He is to be reconciled to God. He is to give up his opposition. He is to submit to the terms of mercy. All the change in the case is to be in him, for God cannot change. God has removed all the obstacles to reconciliation which existed on his part. He has done all that he will do, all that needed to be done, in order to render reconciliation easy as possible. And now it remains that man should lay aside his hostility, abandon his sins, embrace the terms of mercy, and become in fact reconciled to God. And the great object of the ministers of reconciliation is to urge this duty on their fellow-men. They are to do it in the name of Christ. They are to do it as if Christ were himself present, and were himself urging the message. They are to use the arguments which he would use; evince the zeal which he would show; and present the motives which he would present to induce a dying world to become in fact reconciled to God.

Poole: 2Co 5:1

2Co 5:1-9 Paul declareth that, in assured hope of a blessed immortality hereafter, he was indifferent to life, and laboured only to approve himself to Christ,

2Co 5:10,11 that knowing the general judgment that would follow, and the terrors of it, he was solicitous to persuade men,

2Co 5:12,13 that this was said not by way of boasting, but purely to furnish the Corinthtians with a reply in his justification against false pretenders,

2Co 5:14-16 that, moved by the love of Christ, he was become dead to all former regards,

2Co 5:17-19 and all things being now made new by God in Christ reconciling the world to himself.

2Co 5:20,21 He, as ambassador for Christ, besought men to embrace the offered reconciliation.

The apostle had before said, that he looked at the things not seen; in this verse he openeth himself, and showeth what those unseen things are:

We (saith he) know we have a certain persuasion, we doubt not of it, but that if our body were dissolved. This body he calleth an earthly house either because it is made of the dust of the earth, into which it must again be resolved; or because it is only the habitation of the soul, so long as the soul is on this side of heaven; and therefore he calleth it also, the

earthly house of this tabernacle A tabernacle is a moving house or booth built up for a time. This tabernacle (saith the apostle) must be pulled down, and taken in pieces; and we are certain, that if it be dissolved,

we have a building of God either a blessed, eternal mansion, (according to that of our Saviour, Joh 14:2 : In my Father’ s house are many mansions ), or else, God will give us a spiritual, glorious, incorruptible body; not

a house made with hands nor a house that shall be dissolved and any more pulled down, but which shall be

eternal in the heavens in such a state, as that it shall be incorruptible, and no more subject to any corruption or decay.

Poole: 2Co 5:2

We are so confident of such a blessed state, that we passionately desire to be invested into it; and this groaning is also an evidence of it, for the desire of grace shall not be made frustrate; desirous that our mortality may put on immortality, and our corruption may put on incorruption. It is against the nature of man to desire death, which is the stripping or unclothing the soul of flesh; but not to desire that the garment of immortality may be put upon mortality, which is that our house from heaven, which is mentioned in 2Co 5:1 .

Poole: 2Co 5:3

Some make the clothing here spoken of different from the clothing before mentioned; and make this verse restrictive of what the apostle had before said, of the certainty which some have of being clothed upon with a glorious body.

If so be (saith the apostle) we shall not be found naked but clothed i.e. with the wedding garment of Christ’ s righteousness; for concerning those that do not die in the Lord, that do not watch, and keep their garments, it is said, Rev 16:15 , they shall walk naked, and men shall see their shame. But considering the clothing before mentioned was not this clothing, but the superinducing of an immortal, incorruptible, glorious state of body, upon our mortal, corruptible state, some judicious interpreters think, that the clothing here mentioned is the clothing of the soul with the body. It is manifest that the apostles apprehended Christ’ s second coming much nearer than it hath proved. Therefore he saith, 1Th 4:15 : We that are alive (supposing that generation might live) to Christ’ s second coming; and 1Co 15:51 : We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. This some think (and that not improbably) is the cause of this passage; the sense of which they judge to be this: If so be that we be, at the resurrection, found in the flesh, clothed still with our bodies, and shall not be found naked, that is, stripped of our flesh, and dead before that time.

Poole: 2Co 5:4

By tarbenacle he meaneth (as he had before expounded it) the earthly house of our body.

Do groan both a groaning of grief, and also of desire.

Being burdened either with the body of flesh; or with sin, the body of death, Rom 7:24 ; or with the load of trials and afflictions.

Not that we would be unclothed that is, die, be unclothed of our flesh, (nature abhorreth death, and flieth from it),

but clothed upon which is expounded, 1Co 15:54 , our corruptible having put on incorruption, and our mortal having put on immortality. And this confirmeth what was observed before, that the apostles had some persuasion, (though not from any Divine revelation of that hour), that the resurrection, and day of judgment, would be before the determination of that age and generation; that so we might come into the possession of eternal life (for that the apostle meaneth by

mortality being swallowed up of life ). Death is not desirable for its own sake, but upon the account of that immortal life into which it leadeth the souls of believers; nor (as was said before) doth the apostle here directly desire death, (which is that which in this verse he calleth unclothing), but rather the change mentioned 1Co 15:52 , which he here calleth a clothing upon.

Poole: 2Co 5:5

The selfsame thing is the life, the eternal life, mentioned in the former verse; the house in the heavens, not made with hands, 2Co 5:1 . God

hath wrought us for it (as some interpret the text) in creation, and by his providence, forming our bodies in the womb: but it is much better interpreted by others concerning regeneration; for in the first birth (without respect to the decree of election) God hath no more wrought us for it, than the worst of men. The apostle therefore is, doubtless, to be understood, as speaking concerning the work of grace, which is here attributed to God; we have not wrought ourselves into or up to any fitness or any grounded expectation of the future blessed and glorious estate; but it is God who hath prepared us for it, and wrought such a lively hope of it in us.

Who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit and hath also given us his Holy Spirit as the pledge and earnest of it; (concerning this, see 2Co 1:22 ) he hath given us his Spirit to dwell and to work in us, and to assure us of what we speak of, viz. the house in the heavens, the building of God, that is not made with hands. The Spirit of grace given to the people of God, working and dwelling in them, is a certain pledge of that glory and life eternal, which he hath prepared for them.

Poole: 2Co 5:6

We are always full of courage and comfort, being confident of this glory, and the swallowing up of mortality in life: for we know, that while we are in our earthly home (which is our body) we are farthest off from that which is our true home, (which is heaven), from the vision and fruition of God; for believers are but strangers and pilgrims on the earth, desiring a better country, that is, an heavenly, Heb 11:13,16 .

Poole: 2Co 5:7

That is, we live, and order our conversations, not by sight or any evidence of sense, but by faith, which is described by the apostle, Heb 11:1 , to be the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. We see nothing here by the eye of sense but mortality, corruption, and misery; but by faith we see another more excellent and glorious state, and we order our life according to our faith, and sight of things that are invisible: or sight here may be taken more strictly for the beatific vision prepared in heaven for the saints.

Poole: 2Co 5:8

We are confident of such a blessed state, and this makes us willing to be out of this body, that we might have the glorious presence and enjoyment of God to all eternity.

Poole: 2Co 5:9

Having such a hope, yea, not such a hope only, but such an assurance and confidence,

we labour both actively, doing the will of God, and passively, submitting to the will of God in all afflictive providences; that while we are in the body, and absent from the Lord,

we may be accepted of him as we know we shall be, when we shall be present with him, in another sense than we now are.

Poole: 2Co 5:10

The apostle declareth, either the ground of his confidence, or, rather, the reason of his and other believers’ labour, so to behave themselves, as that, both in life and death, they might be accepted of God; that was, his knowledge and firm belief of the last judgment. It is called

the judgmentseat of Christ because he it is whom God hath appointed to be the judge both of the quick and the dead, Act 10:42 . The word translated appear, is pefanerwsyai , which signifieth to be made manifest, and so signifieth not only to appear, but to be inquired into, searched, and examined, and narrowly sifted: and this lets us know, that those texts which speak of believers not being judged, or not coming into judgment, must not be understood of the judgment of inquiry, (for all shall come into that judgment), but of the judgment of condemnation. And it lets us also know the vanity of their opinion, who think that pagans shall not rise again in the last day.

That every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad: the end of this judgement is declared, that every man may receive according to what he hath done in his body; that is, according to the thoughts he hath thought, the words that he hath spoken, the actions which he hath done, during the time that his soul dwelt upon the earth in his body; whether the things which he did in that state were good, and such things as God required; or sinful, and contrary to the revealed will of God. What this receiving means, we are told, Mat 25:46 : These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Hence we read, Joh 5:29 , of a resurrection of life, and a resurrection of damnation.

Poole: 2Co 5:11

We believing and being fully persuaded, that there shall be such a great and terrible day of the Lord, when there shall be such a narrow inquiry and search into whatsoever men have thought, spoke, or done in the flesh;

we persuade men to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ , to walk according to the rule of the gospel, to be charitable towards us, and not to censure or judge us, or use against us hard speeches. If any will not be persuaded to think well of us, yet the sincerity of our hearts and ways is

made manifest unto God he knoweth what we are, and how we have behaved ourselves: and

I trust we have so behaved ourselves, that we are not only made manifest unto God, but we

are made manifest in your consciences so as your consciences will bear us a testimony, how we have behaved ourselves amongst you.

Poole: 2Co 5:12

I do not speak this to commend myself unto you; he had before declared, that he trusted that he was made manifest to their consciences, and so needed not further to commend himself. But (saith he) I speak it only

to give you occasion to glory to glory in me as the apostle of Christ unto you, or to defend me against the scandals and reproaches of those that reproach me, when themselves have no true inward cause of glorying, though they have in outward appearance, in respect of their riches, wit, wisdom, or the like.

Poole: 2Co 5:13

It should seem, that some amongst the Corinthians, amongst other reproaches, had reproached Paul for a madman; either taking advantage of the warmth and fervour of his spirit, or of those ecstasies in which he sometimes was; or of his speaking things which they could not apprehend and understand: as the Roman governor, in the Acts, told him:

Much learning hath made thee mad The apostle tells them, that if indeed he was beside himself in any of their opinion, it was

to God that is, for the honour and glory of God: or if he was sober, it was for their sake; in what temper soever he was, it was either for service to God, or them.

Poole: 2Co 5:14

The love of Christ signifieth either that love towards the sons of men which was in Christ before the foundation of the world; for even then (as Solomon telleth us, Pro 8:31 ) he was rejoicing in the habitable part of the earth, and his delight was with the sons of men: which love showed itself in time, in his coming and assuming our natures, and dying upon the cross for us; Joh 15:13 : Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Or else it signifieth that habit of love to Christ, which is in every believer; for it is true of either of these, that they constrain a believer’ s soul.

Because (saith the apostle) we thus account, or reason, that if one died for all . All here is interpreted according to the various notions of men, about the extent of the death of Christ. Some by the term understanding all individuals; some, all the elect, or all those that should believe in Christ; others, some of all nations, Jews or Gentiles. Be it as it will, that point is not to be determined by this universal particle, which is as often in Scripture used in a restrained sense, as in a more general sense. The apostle here concludeth,

that if one died for all, then were all dead which is to be understood of a spiritual death, as Eph 2:1 . And the apostle’ s argument dependeth upon this, that if all, for whom Christ died, had not been dead in sin, there then had been no need of his dying for to expiate their sin, and to redeem them from the guilt and power of it; but be they what they would, for whom Christ died, whether all individuals, or all the elect only, his dying for them was a manifest evidence that they were dead.

Poole: 2Co 5:15

And he died for all those for whom he died, not only to redeem them from the guilt of sin, but also from their vain conversation; that they which live by his grace, might not make themselves the end of their life, and live to serve themselves, and gratify their own corrupt inclinations; but might make the service of Christ, the honour and glory of him who died for them, and also rose again from the dead, the end of their lives; arguing the reasonableness of a holy and Christian life, from the love and end of Christ in dying for them; according to that, Rom 14:7,8 : For none of us, liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord’ s. This is one way by which a believer fetcheth strength from the death of Christ to die unto sin, and from his resurrection to live unto newness of life; he concluding: If Christ died, and rose again for him, that then he was once dead in trespasses and sins; and therefore he judgeth himself obliged, now that he is made spiritually alive, not to live to himself, or serve his own profit, honour, reputation, lusts, or passions, but to live in obedience to him, and to the honour and glory of him, who died to redeem him from the guilt and power of sin, and rose again to quicken him to newness of life and conversation, to the honour and glory of his Redeemer.

Poole: 2Co 5:16

Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: words of sense in Scripture ordinarily signify more than the act of that sense which they express; particularly this term know ordinarily signifieth to approve and acknowledge; and so it signifies here. We know, that is, we regard, we acknowledge no man in the discharge of our office; we regard no man with respect to any external fleshly consideration. Under which notion he comprehends all things not spiritual, whether carnal relations, riches, &c.

Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh not from any sight of him, for we read not that Paul at any time saw Christ, but, Act 9:1-43 , when he saw him, not according to the flesh, but as exalted at the right hand of God: but by the hearing of the ear Paul had known Christ, as one that had lived in the flesh, and who had conversed with men for above thirty years;

yet (saith he) we know him no more we shall neither see nor hear him any more in the flesh; we now only know him as he hath a glorious body, with which he sitteth at the right hand of God.

Poole: 2Co 5:17

If any man be in Christ is as much as, if any man be implanted or ingrafted into Christ, by faith united to him,

he is a new creature ( the Greek is, a new creation); a phrase which argueth the greatest change imaginable, and such a one as can be wrought in the soul by no other power than the power of God. We have the same expression, Gal 6:15 . The ellipsis of the verb makes some translate it: Let him be a new creature, supplying estw for esti . But the next words show us, that the apostle is speaking of what is past:

Old things are passed away old affections, passions, notions, &c. He hath the same soul, but new qualities, new apprehensions in his understanding, new inclinations in his will and affections, new thoughts, counsels, and designs. The predicate showeth, that the term, be in Christ, cannot be understood of those that are only in the church, and turned from paganism to the Christian faith; for there are many such in the world, in whom there is no new creation, and who have in them nothing of this new creature.

Poole: 2Co 5:18

And all things are of God this change, which is wrought in our hearts, is not of ourselves, but wrought in us by the great and mighty power of God: so Joh 1:13 : Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God; of God, as the principal efficient Cause.

Who hath reconciled its to himself by Jesus Christ who, by the blood of his Son Jesus Christ, meritoriously, and by the Spirit of Christ, actually, hath reconciled us unto himself; of enemies hath made us friends.

And hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation hath intrusted us with the preaching of the gospel. It is God that hath reconciled us; it is Christ by whom we are reconciled, his blood is the price of our reconciliation; but he committed to his apostles, and so to the successive ministers of the gospel,

the ministry of reconciliation that is, the ministry of the gospel, by which this reconciliation is published to such as are yet enemies to God. They have but a ministration in it; God hath appointed them to publish and to declare it, and to entreat men to be reconciled unto him.

Poole: 2Co 5:19

God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself by world here, some would understand all mankind, and by reconciling, no more than making God reconcilable; but this proceedeth from an over fondness of their principle of Christ’ s dying for all, and every man. For as it is manifest from a multitude of scriptures, that world is many times taken in a much more limited and restrained sense; so there is nothing here that guides us to interpret it in such a latitude; nay, that which followeth, doth manifestly so restrain it; for God was not in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, that is, every man and woman in the world, so as not to impute their sins to them. This the apostle here affirmeth; which makes it manifest, that by world here is meant many, some of all sorts, as well Gentiles as Jews; even so many as he pleaseth not to impute their sins unto.

And hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation: now, (saith the apostle), the dispensing and publishing that word, by which this reconciliation is made known to the children of men, God hath committed to us; to us, that are apostles, and so to the ministers of the gospel that shall succeed us in the work of the ministry. This mightily commendeth the gospel, and the preaching of it, that it is the word by which, as a means, souls are reconciled unto God.

Poole: 2Co 5:20

The apostle here giveth us a true notion, not only of apostles, which were the first and principal ministers of the gospel, but of all other ministers; teaching us what all ministers should be, and what all true ministers of the gospel are. They

are ambassadors for Christ There is by nature an enmity between the creature and God; he naturally hateth God, and God is angry with him. Those that were sometime alienated, and enemies in their minds by wicked works, Christ hath reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, Col 1:21,22 ; he hath purchased a reconciliation for them. But yet, till they have received Christ as their Lord and Saviour, they are not actually recovered to God by him. God does by men, as great princes do by such as they are at enmity with; he sends his ministers to them, who are his ambassadors; and as all ambassadors represent the person of him whose ambassadors they are, and speak in his name, and as in his stead, persuading to peace; so these speak as in Christ’ s name, and in God’ s stead; their business is to beseech men to be reconciled unto God, to lay down their arms, and to accept of the terms of the gospel for peace and reconciliation.

PBC: 2Co 5:17

See PB: Joh 6:63

PBC: 2Co 5:20

People see Jesus through us. We are ambassadors for Christ.

An ambassador is a representative of a nation in a foreign country. This land is not my own. This is not my home. Heaven in immortal glory is my home.

I am simply an ambassador in a foreign land. This is a place where I will journey for a while. I’m here to represent my home -heaven. I’m a representative of that nation, living under the flag of Jesus Christ and the banner of my Lord as a representative of Him.

When an ambassador goes to another country, they see the nation the ambassador represents. When people look at you they see Jesus and heaven, our country through you.

308

Haydock: 2Co 5:1

Of this habitation. [1] In the Greek, of this tabernacle; i.e. of the body. St. John Chrysostom take notice that a tabernacle, or tent, is not to dwell in for a long time, but only to lodge in for a while, as this life is short; but the building God has prepared for his elect in heaven, is for eternity. (Witham) ---

But, although the hopes of possessing the eternal mansion consoles us interiorly, and supports us under the pressure of evil, the obligation we have of purchasing it, even at the expense of our lives, does not fail to afflict us. (Bible de Vence)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Habitationis, Greek: tou skenous.

Haydock: 2Co 5:2

To be clothed over, signifying the natural desire of men have not to die, but to be changed without dying to a happy state in heaven. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 5:3

that we any be found clothed, not naked, [2] not divested of the body, as before; i.e. we desire immortal happiness without dying: though some expound it, not naked; i.e. not deprived of the glory we hope for. (Witham)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Si tamen vestiti, non nudi inveniamur, Greek: eige kai endusamenoi: some read, Greek: ekdusamenoi. See St. John Chrysostom.

Haydock: 2Co 5:5

He that maketh us for this very thing, (literally, to this same thing ) is God, who created us to be eternally happy, who hath given us the earnest of the Spirit. See Chap. i. ver. 22. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 5:6

We are absent from the Lord, and as it were pilgrims. He compares the condition of men in this mortal life with that of pilgrims far from their own beloved country, yet with hopes to arrive there, which makes them willing to undergo dangers, and makes Christians even resigned to death, to a separation of body from the soul, that they may be present with the Lord, and enjoy him. But let every one reflect that he must be judged, and receive a reward or punishment according to his works. (ver. 10.) (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 5:7

It is only by faith we now walk in this foreign land towards God; we do not as yet feast on Him by any clear view. (Bible de Vence)

Haydock: 2Co 5:11

Knowing, therefore, the fear of the Lord, and how dreadful a thing it is to appear at his tribunal, we endeavour to exhort men to fear and to worship him: and this intention is made known to God, who sees our heart: and I hope our sincere manner of asking and preaching is also known to your consciences. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 5:12

We commend not, nor desire to commend ourselves, but they who may do harm to others, and to the progress of the gospel, make it necessary to speak what may give you an occasion to answer their objections, and even to glory in my behalf against those who glory in face, in outward appearances of learning and talents, but not in heart, being sensible themselves that they have no solid grounds of boasting in this manner. (Witham)

For whether we be transported in mind, and out of zeal for the good of others seem to exceed in speaking of ourselves, it is to God, for God's honour and that of his ministers: or whether we be more moderate, [3] (literally, sober ) that is, if I speak not, even what with truth I might, of my own actions, it is to you, to give you an example of modesty and humility.

Haydock: 2Co 5:13

[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Sive enim mente excedimus, Deo, sive sobrii sumus, vobis, Greek: eite gar exestemen, theo eite sophronoumen, umin. See Annotation on Mark iii. 21. p. 147. [There is an applicable annotation in this commentary on Mark iii. 21. but the page reference is unknown.]

Haydock: 2Co 5:14

For the charity of Christ, the love of God, the love that Christ has shewn to me and all mankind, and a return of love due to him, presseth me on, is the motive of all that I do; because I consider that if one, our Redeemer Christ Jesus, died for all, then all were dead, and had been lost in their sins, had not Christ come to redeem us. Thus St. Augustine in many places, proving original sin against the Pelagians. Divers interpreters add this exposition, therefore all are dead; that is, ought to die, and by a new life look upon themselves as dead to sin, which is connected with what follows in the next verse. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 5:15

And Christ died for all, (not only for the predestinate or the elect) that they also, who live, may not now live to themselves; that they may not follow their own inclinations of their nature, corrupted by sin, but may seek in all things the will of Christ, their Redeemer, their Lord, to whom they belong, who died and rose again for them. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 5:16

Wherefore, henceforth we know no man according to the flesh; i.e. having our thoughts and hearts fixed upon Christ, as he is risen, and has prepared for us an immortal life, we know not, i.e. we do not esteem any thing in this mortal life, nor any man according to any human considerations of this life; we regard not whether they are Jews, and the sons of Abraham, or Gentiles; nay, if we have known and esteemed Christ, as descending from Abraham and David, now we know him so no longer, nor considering him as born a mortal man, but as he is risen immortal, and will bless us with an immortal and eternal glory. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 5:17

If then any be in Christ, &c. The sense seems to be, if by believing in Christ we are become as it were new creatures, rescued by his grace and his Spirit, the old things are passed away, we must renounce all former carnal affections, all sin and all errors in which either Jews or Gentiles lived. ---

Behold all things are made new: the New Testament succeeds to the Old, the law and doctrine of Christ to the law of Moses, the Christian Church to the Jewish Synagogue, truth and grace to types and figures, &c. (Witham) ---

With the renovated Christian all his thoughts, sentiments, inclinations, and actions, are new.

Haydock: 2Co 5:18

But all things (all these blessings of grace and glory) are of God, who hath sent his only divine Son, by whom he hath reconciled us to himself, by his incarnation and death for our redemption. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 5:19

Not imputing, i.e. truly taking away our sins, blotting out the handwriting of the decree which was against us,...fastening it to the cross, as it is said, Colossians ii. 14. And to us, who are his apostles and the ministers of his gospel, he hath imparted and committed this word of reconciliation, by the preaching of his doctrine, and the administration of his sacraments, &c. In these functions we act and we speak to you as the ambassadors of Christ; we speak to you in his name, we represent his person, when we exhort you to be reconciled to God. "He that heareth you, heareth me." (Luke x. 16.) (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 5:20

Be not deaf to this voice, harden not your hearts, suffer yourselves to be moved to the charity of God: it is immense, it is infinite. (Bible de Vence)

Gill: 2Co 5:1

For we know, that if our earthly house,.... By this house is meant the body, so called from its being like a well built house, a curious piece of architecture; as an house consists of a variety of parts fitly framed and put together in just symmetry and proportion, and with an entire usefulness in all, so is the body of man; which shows the power and wisdom of God the architect: likewise, because it is the dwelling place of the soul, which makes it appear, that the soul is more excellent than the body, is independent of it, and capable of a separate existence from it: it is said to be an "earthly" house, because it is from the earth; is supported by earthly things; has its present abode on the earth, and will quickly return to it: and the earthly house of this tabernacle, in allusion to the tabernacles the patriarchs and Israelites of old dwelt in; or to the tents and tabernacles of soldiers, shepherds, travellers, and such like persons, which are soon put up and taken down, and removed from place to place; and denotes the frailty and short continuance of our mortal bodies. So Plato ^z calls the body γηινον σκηνος, "an earthly tabernacle"; so the Jews were wont to call the body an house, and a "tabernacle":

"every man (they say ^a) has two houses, בית הגוף, "the house of the body", and the house of the soul; the one is the outward, the other the inward house.''

So Abarbinel ^b paraphrases those words, Isa 18:4.

""I will consider in my dwelling place; I will return", or again consider in my dwelling place, which is the body, for that is משכן הנפש, "the tabernacle of the soul".''

Now this tabernacle may, and will be, "dissolved", unpinned, and taken down; which does not design an annihilation of it, but a dissolution of its union with the soul, and its separation from it: and when the apostle puts an "if" upon it, it is not to be understood as though it is uncertain whether it would be dissolved or not, unless it be said with a view to the change that will be on living saints at Christ's second coming; but it is rather a concession of the matter, and may be rendered, "though the earthly house", &c. or it points out the time when the saints' future happiness shall begin, "when the earthly house", &c. and signifies that being in the body, in some sense, retards the enjoyment of it. Now it is the saints' comfort whilst they are in it, and in a view of the dissolution of it, that they

have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens? which some understand of the glorified body upon its resurrection, as opposed to its frail, mortal, earthly frame in its present situation; though rather all this designs the happiness of the saints, which will be begun, and they shall immediately enter into, at the dissolution of their bodies, and will be consummated at the resurrection; which is all of God's building and preparing; not made by the hands of the creature; or obtained by works of righteousness done by men; and it lies in the heavens, and will continue for ever. So the ^c Jews speak of בית קדישא, "the holy house", in the world to come, and which they suppose is intended in Isa 56:5. In this the saints have a present interest; they have it already built and prepared for them; they have an indubitate right and title to it through the righteousness of Christ; they have it secured to them in Christ, their feoffee in trust, their head and representative; and they have the earnest of it, the Spirit of God in their hearts; of all which they have sure and certain knowledge: "for we know"; they are well assured of the truth of this from the promise of God, who cannot lie, from the declaration of the Gospel, the testimony of the Spirit, and the close and inseparable connection there is between the grace they have already received, and the glory that shall be hereafter.

Gill: 2Co 5:2

For in this we groan earnestly,.... Meaning either for this happiness we groan, or rather in this tabernacle we groan. These words are a reason of the former, proving that the saints have a building of God; and they know they have it, because they groan after it here; for the groanings of the saints are under the influence and direction of the Spirit of God, who makes intercession for them, as for grace, so for glory, according to the will of God: and this groaning is further explained by

desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven; by which is meant not the glorified body in the resurrection morn; for though the bodies of the saints will be glorious, incorruptible, powerful, and spiritual, they are not said to be celestial, nor will they be from heaven, but be raised out of the earth: besides, the apostle is speaking of an habitation the soul will go into, and is desirous of going into as soon as it removes out of the earthly house of the body, and of a clothing it desires to be clothed with as soon as it is stripped of the garment of the flesh: wherefore, by the house from heaven must be meant the heavenly glory, which departed souls immediately enter into, and are arrayed with, even the white and shining robes of purity, perfection, and glory they shall be clothed with, as soon as ever their tabernacles are unpinned and dissolved. The Jews indeed speak of a celestial body which the soul shall be clothed with immediately upon its separation from the earthly body, and much in such figurative terms as the apostle does in this, and the following verse;

"when a man's time is come, say they ^d, to go out of this world, he does not depart until the angel of death has stripped him of the clothing of body, (see 2Co 5:4) and when the soul is stripped of the body, by the angel of death, it goes ומתלבשא בההוא גופא אחרא, "and is clothed with that other body", which is in paradise, of which it was stripped when it came into this world; for the soul has no pleasure but in the body, which is from thence, and it rejoices because it is stripped of the body of this world, ואתלבש בלבושא אחרא שלים "and is clothed with another perfect clothing".''

And a little after,

"the holy blessed God deals well with men, for he does not strip men of their clothes until he has provided for them other clothes, more precious and better than these, except the wicked of the world, who return not to their Lord by perfect repentance; for naked they came into this world, and naked (see 2Co 5:3) they shall return hence.''

And in another place ^e,

"the soul does not go up to appear before the Holy King, until it is worthy to be clothed בלבושא דלעילא, "with the clothing which is above".''

Gill: 2Co 5:3

If so be that being clothed,.... This supposition is made with respect to the saints who shall be alive at Christ's second coming, who will not be stripped of their bodies, and so will "not be found naked", or disembodied, and shall have a glory at once put upon them, both soul and body; or these words are an inference from the saints' present clothing, to their future clothing, thus; "seeing we are clothed", have not only put on the new man, and are clothed and adorned with the graces of the Spirit, but are arrayed with the best robe, the wedding garment, the robe of Christ's righteousness,

we shall not be found naked; but shall be clothed upon with the heavenly glory, as soon as we are dismissed from hence. Some read these words as a wish, "O that we were clothed, that we might not be found naked!" and so is expressive of one of the sighs, and groans, and earnest desires of the saints in their present situation after the glories of another world.

Gill: 2Co 5:4

For we that are in this tabernacle do groan,.... There are some of the saints who are not in the tabernacle, the body. They were in it, but now are not; their bodies are in the grave, the house appointed for all living; and their souls are in the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, in everlasting habitations, in the mansions prepared in Christ's Father's house; and they have done groaning, being delivered from every oppressor, sin, Satan, and the world; are at rest from all their labours, and ate free from every burden; only the saints who are in the tabernacle of the body, in an unsettled state, groan, being in the midst of tribulation, and not yet in the enjoyment of that happiness they are wishing for. The reason of their groaning is, because they are

burdened with the body itself, which is a clog and incumbrance to the soul in its spiritual exercises; and oftentimes by reason of its disorders and diseases a man becomes a burden to himself; but what the saints are mostly burdened with in this life, and which makes them groan the most, is the body of sin and death they carry about with them; the filth of it is nauseous, grievous, and intolerable; the guilt of it oftentimes lies very heavy on the conscience; the weight of it presses hard, and is a great hinderance to them in running their Christian race; nor have they any relief under this burden, but by looking to a sin bearing and sin atoning Saviour, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. They are also frequently burdened with Satan's temptations, with blasphemous thoughts, solicitations to sin, the fears of death, the pangs of it, and what will follow upon it; though God is faithful, who will not suffer them to be tempted above that they are able to bear; however, these temptations are great burdens, and occasion many a groan: to which may be added the various afflictions of life, which though comparatively "light", are in themselves heavy, grievous burdens, and hard to be bore; the nature, number, and continuance of them often make them so; and especially they are such, when God is pleased to hide his face, and withhold the discoveries of his love and mercy. The apostle goes on to explain what he means by desiring to be clothed,

not for that we would be unclothed; that is, of our bodies; and this he says, not through any love and liking he had to this animal life, or to the sensual methods of living here, which make natural men in love with life, and desirous of always living here; but from a principle of nature, which recoils at death, does not like a dissolution, chooses any other way of removing out of this world than by death; a translation of soul and body together to heaven, like that of Enoch and Elijah's, is more eligible even to a good man; or such a change as will be upon the living saints at the coming of Christ, which the apostle seems to have in view, who will be not unclothed of their bodies, as men are at death,

but clothed upon; as is here desired, with incorruption and immortality:

that mortality might be swallowed up of life; not that the mortal body, or the substance of the body, which is mortal, might be consumed and destroyed, but that mortality, that quality to which it is subject by sin, might be no more: and he does not say, that "death may be swallowed up of life", which will be done in the resurrection morn; but mortality, which being swallowed up by a translation, or such a change as will be at the last day, will prevent death: and the phrase, swallowed up, denotes the suddenness of the change, in an instant, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and that without any pain, or such agonies as usually attend death; and also the utter, final, and total abolition of mortality; so that there will never be more any appearance of it; his desire is, that it may be swallowed up "of the life", which is properly and emphatically life, as this life is not; and means the glorious, immortal, and everlasting life, which saints enter into as soon as they are rid of their mortal bodies, and the mortality of them.

Gill: 2Co 5:5

Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing,.... By "the selfsame thing" is meant, either the cross, the burden of sorrows and afflictions, under which the saints groan whilst here, which God has appointed them unto, and therefore to be bore patiently by them; or that glory and immortality, which they, as vessels of mercy, were prepared by him for from everlasting; for which their bodies and souls are formed by him in creation, and for which they are made meet in regeneration, by the curious workmanship of his Spirit and grace upon them: and seeing he "is God", and not man, who hath wrought them for this, either by his secret purposes and preparations of grace in eternity, or by his open works of creation and regeneration in time; there is no doubt but they shall certainly enjoy it, since his counsels are immutable, and he is a rock, and his work is perfect; whatever he begins he finishes, nor is he ever frustrated of his end: one of Stephens's copies adds, "and hath anointed us", which seems to have been transcribed from 2Co 1:21.

Who also hath given us the earnest of the Spirit; and therefore may be assured of possessing the inheritance, of which he is the earnest; see 2Co 1:22.

Gill: 2Co 5:6

Therefore we are always confident,.... Because God has formed us for immortality and glory, and given us his Spirit as the earnest of it, we take heart, are of good courage, do not sink under our burdens, or despair of happiness, but are fully assured of enjoying what we are desirous of:

knowing that whilst we are at home in the body; or whilst we are inmates or sojourners in the body; for the body is not properly the saints' home; whilst they are in it, they are but pilgrims and strangers; the time of their abode in it is the time of their sojourning: during which time they

are absent from the Lord; not with respect to his general presence, which is everywhere, and attends all creatures, an absence from which is impossible; nor with respect to his spiritual presence, which though not always sensibly enjoyed, yet frequently; nor are the children of God ever deprived of it totally and finally; but with respect to his glorious presence, and the full enjoyment of that. Now the knowledge and consideration of this, that the present state and situation of the saints, whilst in the body, is a state of pilgrimage, and so of absence from the Lord Christ, and from their Father's house, serves to increase their confidence and assurance, that they shall not long continue so, but in a little time shall be at home, and for ever with the Lord.

Gill: 2Co 5:7

For we walk by faith, and not by sight. Faith is a grace which answers many useful purposes; it is the eye of the soul, by which it looks to Christ for righteousness, peace, pardon, life, and salvation; the hand by which it receives him, and the foot by which it goes to him, and walks in him as it has received him; which denotes not a single act of faith, but a continued course of believing; and is expressive, not of a weak, but of a strong steady faith of glory and happiness, and of interest in it: and it is opposed to "sight": by which is meant, not sensible communion, but the celestial vision: there is something of sight in faith; that is a seeing of the Son; and it is an evidence of things not seen, of the invisible glories of the other world; faith looks at, and has a glimpse of things not seen, which are eternal; but it is but seeing as through a glass darkly; it is not that full sight, face to face, which will be had hereafter, when faith is turned into vision.

Gill: 2Co 5:8

We are confident, I say, and willing rather,.... We are cheerful in our present state, being assured of future happiness; though we choose rather

to be absent from the body; that is, to die, to depart out of this world. The interval between death, and the resurrection, is a state of absence from the body, during which time the soul is disembodied, and exists in a separate state; not in a state of inactivity and sleep, for that would not be desirable, but of happiness and glory, enjoying the presence of God, and praising of him, believing and waiting for the resurrection of the body, when both will be united together again; and after that there will be no more absence, neither from the body, nor from the Lord:

and to be present with the Lord. This was promised to Christ in the everlasting covenant, that all his spiritual seed and offspring should be with him. This he expected; it was the joy of this which was set before him, that carried him through his sufferings and death with so much cheerfulness; this is the sum of his prayers and intercession, and what all his preparations in heaven are on the account of. It is this which supports and comforts the saints under all their sorrows here, and which makes them meet death with pleasure, which otherwise is formidable and disagreeable to nature; and even desirous of parting with life, to be with Christ, which is far better.

Gill: 2Co 5:9

Wherefore we labour, that whether present or absent,.... This may be understood either of the ministers of the Gospel in particular, who labour in the word and doctrine, are ambitious, as the word here used signifies, and strive to preach the Gospel, not to please men, but their Lord and master; or of saints in general, who are intent upon this, and whose highest ambition is, that whether living or dying they

may be accepted of him; both persons and services: such who are born again, who are believers in Christ, and truly love him, are earnestly desirous of doing those things which are pleasing to him; and do in the strength of Christ endeavour to perform them. Faith is a diligent, industrious, and operative grace, and makes persons like itself. As none ought to be, so none are more careful to perform good works, or more ambitious to excel others in them, and thereby please their Lord, than believers. And these are the only persons that can please him, for without faith it is impossible to please him; for these act from a principle of love to him, and with a view to his glory; and may they be but accepted of him, living and dying, both in this and the other world, they have the highest favour they can wish for and desire.

Gill: 2Co 5:10

For we must all appear,.... This is a reason why the saints are so diligent and laborious, so earnest and intent upon it, to be accepted of the Lord, because they must stand

before the judgment seat of Christ; who is appointed Judge of the whole earth, who is every way qualified for it, being God omnipotent and omniscient; and when he comes a second time will sit upon his great white throne, a symbol of purity and integrity, and will enter on this work, and finish it with the strictest justice and equity: and before him "we must all appear"; all the saints as well as others, ministers and people, persons of all ranks and conditions, of every nation, age, and sex; there will be no avoiding this judgment, all "must appear", or "be made manifest"; they will be set in open view, before angels and men; their persons, characters, and actions, even the most secret will be:

that everyone may receive the things done in his body; which he has performed by the members of the body as instruments thereof, or whatsoever he has done whilst in the body; and so this not only reaches to words and actions, but includes all the secret thoughts of the mind, and counsels of the heart, which will be made manifest: and when it is said, that "everyone shall receive" these; the meaning is, that he shall receive the reward of them,

according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad; the reward of good works will be of grace, and not of merit: good works will be considered at the last judgment, not as causes of eternal life and happiness, to which the saints will be adjudged; but will be produced in open court as fruits of grace, and as evidences of the truth of faith, which will justify the Judge in proceeding according to what he himself, as a Saviour, has said,

he that believeth shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned. The reward of bad works will be in strict and just proportion, according to the nature and demerit of them. The Jews say ^f, that

"all the works which a man does in this world, בגופא, "in the body", and spirit, he must give an account of in body and spirit before he goes out of the world.''

And again ^g, all the works of men are written in a book, הן ביש הן טוב, "whether good or evil", and for them all they must give account.

Gill: 2Co 5:11

Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord,.... Or the fear of the Lord; by which is meant either the grace of the fear of the Lord, implanted in the hearts of the apostles, and in which they acted in their ministry, faithfully dispensing to men the mysteries of grace; from which they could by no means be moved, because the fear of God was before their eyes, and upon their hearts; or rather the terror of the Lord in the last judgment, which will be very great, considering the awfulness of the summons, arise ye dead, and come to judgment; the appearance of the Judge, which will be sudden, surprising, and glorious; the placing of the thrones, the opening of the books, the position of the wicked, the dreadful sentence pronounced on them, and the immediate execution of it; all which the ministers of the word know from the Scriptures of truth; they know the Judge, that there will be a general judgment, and that the day is fixed for it, though they know not the exact time: and therefore

persuade men; not that their state is good because of a little outside morality, nor to make their peace with God, or get an interest in Christ, or to convert themselves, neither of which are in the power of men to do; but they endeavour to persuade them by the best arguments they are masters of, taken from the word of God, and their own experience, that they are in a dangerous state and condition, walking in a way that leads to destruction; that they are liable to the curses of the law, the wrath of God, and everlasting ruin; that present duties of religion will not make amends for past sins, nor can their tears atone for their crimes, or any works of righteousness done by them justify them before God; and that salvation is only by Christ, who is both able and willing to save the chief of sinners: and they endeavour to persuade and encourage poor sensible sinners to venture on Christ, and believe in him to the saving of their souls. So the Arabic version reads it, "we persuade men to believe"; though when they have done all they can, these persuasions of theirs are ineffectual, without the powerful and efficacious grace of the Spirit of God; however, in so doing they discharge a good conscience, and act the faithful part to God and men:

but we are made manifest unto God; who searches the heart, and tries the reins, who knows all actions, and the secret springs of them; to him the sincerity of our hearts, and the integrity of our conduct, are fully manifest; we can appeal to him that it is his glory, and the good of souls, we have in view in all our ministrations:

and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences; that you also can bear witness to our faithfulness and honesty, to the unwearied pains we have taken, and the hearty concern we have shown for the welfare of the souls of men. One of Stephens's copies reads, "and we trust"; which agrees with the apostle's speaking in the first person plural in this, and the preceding verses.

Gill: 2Co 5:12

For we commend not ourselves again to you,.... We have no need to do so, being well known to you; nor do we intend it when we thus speak of ourselves, and of our ministrations:

but give you occasion to glory on our behalf; suggest some things to you which you may make use of in our favour, for the vindicating of our characters and conduct:

that you may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart; by whom are meant the false apostles who gloried in an outward show, in their learning, eloquence, and popular applause they had acquired, and not in the sincerity of their hearts, and the testimony of a good conscience, things which the true apostles of Christ were most ambitious of.

Gill: 2Co 5:13

For whether we be besides ourselves,.... As some took them to be, and as Festus thought the Apostle Paul was, because of the doctrines they preached, and the self-commendation they were obliged to enter into through the calumnies of their adversaries; in which they did not so much seek their own reputation, as the honour and glory of God, which was struck at through them:

it is to God; it is for his glory, and not our own, that we act this part, for which we are condemned as madmen.

Or whether we be sober; think and speak meanly of ourselves, and behave with all modesty and lowliness of mind: it is for your cause; for your instruction and imitation. The glory of God, and the good of his churches, were what concerned them in every part of life. Some refer this to the apostle's being, or not being, in an ecstasy or rapture. Others to his speaking, either of the more sublime doctrines of the Gospel, on account of which he was reckoned mad, though in the delivering of them he had nothing else but the glory of God in view; or of the lower and easier truths of it, which were more accommodated to meaner capacities; in doing which he sought their edification and advantage.

Gill: 2Co 5:14

For the love of Christ constraineth us,.... Or "containeth us"; holds and keeps us in our station and duty, as soldiers are held and kept together under a banner, or ensign displayed; to which the church refers, when she says, "his banner over me was love", Son 2:4. Nothing more effectually keeps ministers, or other believers, in the work and service of their Lord, or more strongly obliges and constrains them to a cheerful discharge of their duty to him, and one another, than his love displayed in his covenant engagements, in his assumption of human nature, and particularly in his dying for them, which is the instance given in the text:

because we thus judge; having well weighed, and maturely considered the affair,

that if one died for all, then were all dead; or "seeing one died for all"; for it is rather an assertion than a supposition, upon which the apostle reasons. The person designed, who died for all, is Jesus Christ, though not mentioned, and is to be supplied from the former clause. The doctrine of Christ's dying for men was well known, so that there was no need to mention his name; he is called "one", in distinction to the "all" he died for, and as exclusive of all others, he being sufficient of himself to answer the ends of his death; and therefore is to be looked unto, and believed on, alone for salvation, and to have all the glory of it. The manner of his dying is for, or in the room and stead of all; so that he died not merely as a martyr, or by way of example, or only for their good, but as their substitute, in their room and stead, having all the sins of his people upon him, for which he made satisfaction; and this the nature of his death shows, which was a sacrifice, a ransom, a propitiation and atonement. The persons for whom Christ died are all; not every individual of mankind, but all his people, all his sheep, all the members of his church, or all the sons he, as the great Captain of salvation, brings to glory. Wherefore this text does not make for the doctrine of general redemption; for it should be observed, that it does not say that Christ died for "all men", but for "all"; and so, agreeably to the Scriptures, may be understood of all the persons mentioned. Moreover, in the latter part of the text it is said, that those for whom Christ died, for them he rose again; he died for no more, nor for others, than those for whom he rose again: now those for whom he rose again, he rose for their justification; wherefore, if Christ rose for the justification of all men, all would be justified, or the end of Christ's resurrection would not be answered; but all men are not, nor will they be justified, some will be condemned; hence it follows, that Christ did not rise from the dead for all men, and consequently did not die for all men: besides, the "all" for whom Christ died, died with him, and through his death are dead both to the law and sin; and he died for them, that they might live, not to themselves, but to him; neither of which are true of all the individuals of mankind: to which may be added, that the context explains the all of such who are in Christ, are new creatures, are reconciled to God, whose trespasses are not imputed to them, for whom Christ was made sin, and who are made the righteousness of God in him; which cannot be said of all men. The conclusion from hence is,

then were all dead; meaning, either that those for whom Christ died, were dead in Adam, dead in law, dead in trespasses and sins, which made it necessary for him to die for them; otherwise, there would have been no occasion for his death; yet it does not follow from hence, that Christ died for all that are in such a condition; only that those for whom Christ died were dead in this sense, admitting this to be the sense of the passage; though death in sin seems not to be intended, since that all men are dead in sin, would have been a truth, if Christ had died for none; and much less is this an effect, or what follows upon the death of Christ; nor does it capacitate, but renders men incapable of living to Christ: wherefore a mystical death in, and with Christ, seems rather to he meant; and so the Ethiopic version reads it, "in whom everyone is dead". Christ died as the head and representative of his people, and they all died in him, were crucified with him, and through his death became dead to the law, as to its curse and condemnation; and to sin, as to its damning power, being acquitted, discharged, and justified from it; the consequence of which is a deliverance from the dominion of it, whereby they become capable of living to the glory of Christ. The sense of the passage is not, that Christ died for all that were dead, but that all were dead for whom he died; which is true of them, whether in the former, or in the latter sense: the article οι, is anaphorical or relative, as Beza and Piscator observe; and the meaning is, that if Christ died for all, then all "those" were dead for whom he died.

Gill: 2Co 5:15

And that he died for all, that they which live,.... The end of Christ's dying for men was that they might live; live, in a legal sense, live a life of justification; and that they which live in such a sense,

should not henceforth live unto themselves: to their own lusts, and after their own wills, to either sinful self, or righteous self:

but unto him which died for them, and rose again; that is, for them, for their justification; for all those for whom Christ died, for them he rose again; and who were justified, acquitted, and discharged when he was; which cannot be said of all mankind; and which is an obligation on such persons to live to Christ, to ascribe the whole of their salvation to him, and to make his glory the end of all their actions. Some copies read, "which died for them all".

Gill: 2Co 5:16

Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh..... Since the death and resurrection of Christ, which has broken down the middle wall of partition, and has took away all distinction of men, we know, we esteem, we value no man on account of his carnal descent, and fleshy privileges, as being of the Jewish nation, a descendant of Abraham, and circumcised as he was; or on account of their outward state and condition, as being rich and honourable among men, or on account of their natural parts and acquirements, their learning, wisdom, and eloquence; nor do we own any man to be a Christian, that lives after the flesh, to himself, and not to Christ; nor do we make account of the saints themselves as in this mortal state, but as they will be in the resurrection, in consequence of Christ's having died for them, and rose again.

Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh: some of them had seen him in the flesh; others valued him on account of his being of the Jewish nation, and of his relation to them according to the flesh; and all of them had formerly entertained carnal apprehensions of him, and his kingdom, as though it would be a temporal one:

yet now henceforth know we him more; no more in this mortal state, being risen from the dead; nor do we value ourselves upon having seen him in the flesh; for though such a sight and knowledge of him was desirable, yet a spiritual knowledge is much more preferable; and many there were who knew him in the flesh, who neither enjoy his spiritual presence here, nor will they be favoured with his glorious presence hereafter. Moreover, we do not judge of him as we did before we had a spiritual knowledge of him, and as our countrymen did, by his outward circumstances, by his parentage and education, his poverty and afflictions, his company and conversation, that he could not be the Messiah, the Son of God, and therefore was worthy of death; we have quite other thoughts and apprehensions of him now, believing him to be the Christ of God, a spiritual Saviour and Redeemer, whose kingdom is not of this world; we have relinquished all our national prejudices, and former notions, concerning the Messiah, his kingdom, and people. Some copies add, "after the flesh"; and the Arabic version, "yet now know we him no more in that".

Gill: 2Co 5:17

Therefore if any man be in Christ,.... There's a secret being in Christ from everlasting; so all that are loved by him, espoused unto him, chosen and preserved in him, to whom he was a covenant head, surety, and representative, are in him, united to him, and one with him; not in such sense as the Father is in him, and the human nature is in him, but as husband and wife, and head and members are one: and there is an open being in Christ at conversion, when a man believes in Christ, and gives up himself to him; faith does not put a man into Christ, but makes him appear to be in him: and such an one "is a new creature"; or, as some read it, "let him be a new creature": who understand being in Christ to be by profession, and the sense this, whoever is in the kingdom or church of Christ, who professes himself to be a Christian, ought to be a new creature: the Arabic version reads it, "he that is in the faith of Christ is a new creature". All such who are secretly in Christ from everlasting, though as yet some of them may not be new creatures, yet they shall be sooner or later; and those who are openly in him, or are converted persons, are actually so; they are a new "creation", as the words may be rendered: ברייה חדשה, "a new creation", is a phrase often used by the Jewish ^h doctors, and is applied by the apostle to converted persons; and designs not an outward reformation of life and manners, but an inward principle of grace, which is a creature, a creation work, and so not man's, but God's; and in which man is purely passive, as he was in his first creation; and this is a new creature, or a new man, in opposition to, and distinction from the old man, the corruption of nature; and because it is something anew implanted in the soul, which never was there before; it is not a working upon, and an improvement of the old principles of nature, but an implantation of new principles of grace and holiness; here is a new heart, and a new spirit, and in them new light and life, new affections and desires, new delights and joys; here are new eyes to see with, new ears to hear with, new feet to walk, and new hands to work and act with:

old things are passed away: the old course of living, the old way of serving God, whether among Jews or Gentiles; the old legal righteousness, old companions and acquaintance are dropped; and all external things, as riches, honours, learning, knowledge, former sentiments of religion, are relinquished:

behold, all things are become new; there is a new course of life, both of faith and holiness; a new way of serving God through Christ by the Spirit, and from principles of grace; a new, another, and better righteousness is received and embraced; new companions are sought after, and delighted in; new riches, honours, glory, a new Jerusalem, yea, new heavens, and a new earth, are expected by new creatures: or the sense of the whole may be this, if any man is entered into the kingdom of God, into the Gospel dispensation, into a Gospel church state, which seems to be the sense of the phrase "in Christ", in Gal 3:28 he is become a new creature, or is got into a new creation, as it were into a new world, whether he be a Jew or a Gentile; for with respect to the former state of either, "old things are passed away"; if a Jew, the whole Mosaic economy is abolished; the former covenant is waxen old, and vanished away; the old ordinances of circumcision and the passover are no more; the daily sacrifice is ceased, and all the other sacrifices are at an end, Christ, the great sacrifice, being offered up; the priesthood of Aaron is antiquated, there is a change of it, and of the whole law; the observance of holy, days, new moons and sabbaths, is over; the whole ceremonial law is at end; all the shadows of it are fled and gone, the things they were shadows of being come by Christ, the sum and substance of them; and there is no more a serving God in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the Spirit: and if a Gentile, all the former idols he worshipped he turns from, and his language is, "what have I to do any more with idols? or what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" all former sacrifices, superstitious rites and ceremonies, with which he worshipped them, are relinquished by him; with all other Heathenish customs, rules, and methods of conduct he had been used to: "behold, all things are become new"; to the one, and to the other; the Gospel dispensation is a new state of things; a new form of church state is erected, not national, as among the Jews, but congregational, consisting of persons gathered out of the world, and anew embodied together; new ordinances are appointed, which were never in use before, as baptism and the Lord's supper; a new and living way is opened by the blood of Christ into the holiest of all, not by the means of slain beasts, as among the Jews, nor by petty deities as with the Gentiles; a new commandment of love is enjoined all the followers of the Lamb; and another name is given them, a new name, which the mouth of the Lord their God has named, not of Jews nor Gentiles, but of Christians; and new songs are put into their mouths, even praise to God: in short, the Gospel church state seems to be, as it were, a new creation, and perhaps is meant by the new heavens and new earth, Isa 65:15 as well as those who are the proper members of it, are new creatures in the sense before given.

Gill: 2Co 5:18

And all things are of God,.... A man's being brought into a Gospel church state is of God; the causing all old things to pass away, whether in the Jewish or Gentile world, is of God; the shaking of the heavens and the earth, and the removing of those things that are shaken, the abrogation of the ceremonial law, the putting an end to all the Mosaic rites and sacrifices, the ejection of Satan out of the Heathen temples, and the abolition of Gentilism, with every thing else that comes under the names of old, and new, are of God: it is he that causes old things to pass away, and makes all things new, see Rev 21:1. Moreover, as all things in the old creation are from him, all creatures owe their beings to him, are supported in them by him, and all are made for his pleasure, and his glory so all things in the new creation are of him; the work of renovation itself is his; all the grace that is implanted in regeneration comes front him: nothing is of the creature, or to be ascribed to it. All things in redemption are of him; he drew the plan of it, called his Son to be the Redeemer, appointed and sent him as such; and particularly that branch of it, reconciliation, is of him:

who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. The work of reconciliation, or making atonement for sin, is ascribed to the Father; not that he is the author of it, for it is properly Christ's work; but because he took the first step towards it: he formed the scheme of it; he set forth his Son in his purposes and decrees to be the propitiary sacrifice; he assigned him this work in council and covenant, in promise and in prophecy, and sent him to effect it; therefore he is said to do it "by" him; that is, by his blood and sacrifice, by his sufferings and death, to which, and to which alone, the Scriptures ascribe our peace and reconciliation: and this is made to "himself": as being the party offended, whose law was broken, against whom sin was committed, and whose justice required and demanded satisfaction:

and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; which is the Gospel of peace, the word which preaches, publishes and declares, peace made by the blood of Christ; which is a gift to ministers, and a blessing to the people. The free grace of God greatly appears in this matter; God the Father sets this work of reconciliation on foot, Christ has brought it about, and the ministers of the Gospel publish it.

Gill: 2Co 5:19

To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself,.... This expresses and explains the subject matter of the ministration of the Gospel, especially that part of it which concerns our reconciliation with God; and declares the scheme, the author, the subjects, the way, and means, and consequence of it. The phrase, "in Christ", may be either joined with the word "God", as in our version, "God was in Christ reconciling"; that is, he was in Christ drawing the scheme, fixing the method of reconciliation; his thoughts were employed about it, which were thoughts of peace; he called a council of peace, and entered into a covenant of peace with Christ, who was appointed and agreed to, to be the peacemaker. Or with the word "reconciling", thus, God "was reconciling in Christ"; that is, by Christ; and so it denotes, as before, actual reconciliation by Christ. God, in pursuance of his purposes, council, and covenant, sent his Son to make peace; and laid our sins, and the chastisement of our peace upon him; this is the punishment of sin, whereby satisfaction was made for it, and so peace with God: or with the word "world", thus, "God was reconciling the world in Christ"; by whom are meant, not all the individuals of mankind, for these are not all in Christ, nor all reconciled to God, multitudes dying in enmity to him, nor all interested in the blessing of non-imputation of sin; whereas each of these is said of the world: but the elect of God, who are chosen in Christ, whose peace Christ is, whose sins are not imputed to them, and against whom no charge of any avail can be laid; and particularly the people of God among the Gentiles are here designed, who are frequently called "the world" in Scripture; being the world which God loved, for whose sins Christ is the propitiation, and of the reconciling of which mention is particularly made, Joh 3:16. And this sense well agrees with the context, which signifies, that no man is regarded for his natural descent; it is no matter whether he is a Jew or a Gentile, provided he is but a new creature: for Gospel reconciliation, and the ministry of it, concern one as well as another. Moreover, this reconciliation must be considered, either as intentional, or actual, or as a publication of it in the ministry of the word; and taken either way it cannot be thought to extend to every individual person in the world: if it is to be understood intentionally, that God intended the reconciliation of the world to himself by Christ, and drew the scheme of it in him, his intentions cannot be frustrated; his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure; a scheme so wisely laid by him in his Son, cannot come to nothing, or only in part be executed; and yet this must be the case, if it was his design to reconcile every individual of mankind to himself, since a large number of them are not reconciled to him: and if the words are to be understood of an actual reconciliation of the world unto God by Christ, which sense agrees with the preceding verse, then it is out of all question, that the word "world" cannot be taken in so large a sense as to take in every man and woman in the world; since it is certain that there are many who are not reconciled to God, who die in their sins, whose peace is not made with him, nor are they reconciled to the way of salvation by Christ: and should it be admitted that the ministry of reconciliation is here designed, which is not an offer of reconciliation to the world, but a proclamation or declaration of peace and reconciliation made by the death of Christ; this is not sent to all men; multitudes were dead before the word of reconciliation was committed to the apostles; and since, there have been great numbers who have never so much as heard of it; and even in the times of the apostles it did not reach to everyone then living: besides, the text does not speak of what God did by the ministry of his apostles, but of what he himself had been doing in his Son, and which was antecedent, and gave rise unto and was the foundation of their ministry. There was a scheme of reconciliation drawn in the counsels of God before the world began, and an actual reconciliation by the death of Christ, which is published in the Gospel, which these words contain the sum and substance of: and this reconciliation, as before, is said to be "unto himself"; to his offended justice, and for the glory of his perfections, and the reconciling of them together in the affair of salvation:

not imputing their trespasses. This was what he resolved upon from all eternity, that inasmuch as Christ was become the surety and substitute of his people, he would not impute their sins to them, or look for satisfaction for them from them; but would reckon and place them to the account of their surety, and expect satisfaction from him; and accordingly he did, and accordingly he had it. And this will, not to impute sin to his people, or not to punish for it, which existed in God from everlasting, is no other than a justification of them; for to whom the Lord does not impute sin, he imputes righteousness, and such are properly justified.

And hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation; or put it in us, as a rich and valuable treasure; for such the doctrine of peace and reconciliation, by the blood of Christ, is; a sacred deposition, committed to the trust of faithful men, to be dispensed and disposed of for the use and purpose for which it is given them.

Gill: 2Co 5:20

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ,.... Since God has made reconciliation by Christ, and the ministry of it is committed to us, we are ambassadors for him; we come with full powers from him, not to propose terms of peace, to treat with men about it, to offer it to them, but to publish and proclaim it as made by him: we represent him, and God who made it by him,

as though God did beseech you by us; to regard this embassy and message of peace, which we bring from him; to consider from whence it takes its rise, what methods have been used to effect it, and how it is accomplished; which should oblige to say and sing with the angels, "glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, and good will towards men"; and to behave in peaceable manner to all men, and one another:

we pray you in Christ's stead; representing him as if he was present before you:

be ye reconciled to God; you, who are new creatures, for whom Christ has died, and peace is made; you, the members of the church at Corinth, who upon a profession of faith have been taken into such a relation; be ye reconciled to all the dispensations of divine Providence towards you; let your wills bow, and be resigned to his, since he is the God of peace to you; and as you are reconciled by Christ as a priest, be reconciled to him as your King, and your God; to all his ordinances and appointments; to all the orders and laws of his house; conform in all things to his will and pleasure, which we, as his ambassadors, in his name and stead, have made known unto you. You ought to be all obedience to him, and never dispute anything he says or orders.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Co 5:1

¹ sn The expression the tent we live in refers to “our earthly house, our body.” Paul uses the metaphor of the physical body as a house or tent, the residence of the immaterial part of a person.

² tn Or “destroyed.”

NET Notes: 2Co 5:2

¹ tn Or “dwelling place.”

² tn Or “to be clothed with.”

NET Notes: 2Co 5:3

¹ tc ‡ Some mss read “taken off” (ἐκδυσάμενοι, ekdusamenoi) instead of “put on” (ἐνδυσάμενοι, endusamenoi). This alternative reading would change the emphasis of the verse from putting on “our heavenly house” to taking off “our earthly house” (see the following note regarding the specification of the referent). The difference between the two readings is one letter (ν or κ), either of which may be mistaken for the other especially when written in uncial script. ἐνδυσάμενοι enjoys strong support from the Alexandrian text (Ì⁴⁶ א B C 33 1739 1881), Byzantine witnesses, versions (lat sy co), and Clement of Alexandria. The Western text is the only texttype to differ: D*^,c reads ἐκδυσάμενοι, as does ar f^c Mcion Tert Spec; F and G read εκλ for εκδ which indirectly aligns them with D (and was surely due to confusion of letters in uncial script). Thus “put on” has the oldest and best external attestation by far. Internal evidence also favors this reading. At first glance, it may seem that “after we have put on our heavenly house we will not be found naked” is an obvious statement; the scribe of D may have thought so and changed the participle. But v. 3 seems parenthetical (so A. Plummer, Second Corinthians [ICC], 147), and the idea that “we do not want to be unclothed but clothed” is repeated in v. 4 with an explanatory “for.” This concept also shows up in v. 2 with the phrase “we desire to put on.” So the context can be construed to argue for “put on” as the original reading. B. M. Metzger argues against the reading of NA²⁷, stating that ἐκδυσάμενοι is “an early alteration to avoid apparent tautology” (TCGNT 511; so also Plummer, 148). In addition, the reading ἐνδυσάμενοι fits the Pauline pattern of equivalence between apodosis and protasis that is found often enough in his conditional clauses. Thus, “put on” has the mark of authenticity and should be considered original.

² tn Grk “it”; the referent (the “heavenly dwelling” of the previous verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 2Co 5:4

¹ sn See the note in 5:1 on the phrase the tent we live in.

² tn Or “we are burdened.”

NET Notes: 2Co 5:5

¹ tn Grk “for this very thing.”

² tn Or “first installment,” “pledge,” “deposit” (see the note on the phrase “down payment” in 1:22).

NET Notes: 2Co 5:6

¹ tn Grk “we know that being at home in the body”; an idiom for being alive (L&N 23.91).

NET Notes: 2Co 5:7

¹ tn Grk “we walk.”

NET Notes: 2Co 5:8

¹ tn Or “be absent.”

NET Notes: 2Co 5:9

¹ tn Grk “whether we are at home” [in the body]; an idiom for being alive (L&N 23.91).

² tn Grk “to be pleasing to him.”

NET Notes: 2Co 5:10

¹ sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bhma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a common item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city. Use of the term in reference to Christ’s judgment would be familiar to Paul’s 1st century readers.

² tn Or “whether good or bad.”

NET Notes: 2Co 5:11

¹ tn Or “because we know what it means to fear the Lord.”

² tn The present tense of πείθομεν (peiqomen) has been translated as a conative present.

³ tn Grk “men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is generic here since clearly both men and women are in view (Paul did not attempt to win only men to the gospel he preached).

⁴ tn Or “clearly evident.” BDAG 1048 s.v. φανερόω 2.b.β has “θεῷ πεφανερώμεθα we are well known to God 2 Cor 5:11a, cp. 11b; 11:6 v.l.”

NET Notes: 2Co 5:12

¹ tn The present tense of συνιστάνομεν (sunistanomen) has been translated as a conative present.

² tn Or “to boast about us.”

³ tn Or “who boast.”

⁴ tn Or “in what is seen.”

NET Notes: 2Co 5:14

¹ tn The phrase ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Χριστοῦ (Jh agaph tou Cristou, “the love of Christ”) could be translated as either objective genitive (“our love for Christ”) or subjective genitive (“Christ’s love for us”). Either is grammatically possible, but with the reference to Christ’s death for all in the following clauses, a subjective genitive (“Christ’s love for us”) is more likely.

² tn Grk “one”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 2Co 5:15

¹ tn Or “but for him who died and was raised for them.”

NET Notes: 2Co 5:16

¹ tn Grk “we know.”

² tn Grk “no one according to the flesh.”

³ tn Grk “we have known Christ according to the flesh.”

NET Notes: 2Co 5:17

¹ tn Grk “old things have passed away.”

² tc Most mss have the words τὰ πάντα (ta panta, “all things”; cf. KJV “behold, all things are become new”), some after καίνα (kaina, “new”; D² K L P Ψ 104 326 945 2464 pm) and others before it (6 33 81 614 630 1241 1505 1881 pm). The reading without τὰ πάντα, however, has excellent support from both the Western and Alexandrian texttypes (Ì⁴⁶ א B C D* F G 048 0243 365 629 1175 1739 pc co), and the different word order of the phrase which includes it (“all things new” or “new all things”) in the ms tradition indicates its secondary character. This secondary addition may have taken place because of assimilation to τὰ δὲ πάντα (ta de panta, “and all [these] things”) that begins the following verse.

³ tn Grk “new things have come [about].”

NET Notes: 2Co 5:19

¹ tn Or “he has entrusted to us.”

NET Notes: 2Co 5:20

¹ tn Or “as though God were begging.”

² tn Or “we beg you.”

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:1

For ^{( 1 )} we know that if our earthly house of [this] tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

^{( 1 )} Taking occasion by the former comparison, he compares this miserable body as it is in this life, to a frail and brittle tabernacle. And contrasts this with the heavenly tabernacle, which he calls that sure and everlasting condition of this same body glorified in heaven. And this is so, he says, in that we are addicted to this tabernacle, but also with sobs and sighs desire rather that tabernacle. And so this place concerning the glory to come is put within the treatise of the dignity of the ministry, just as it also was in the beginning of the second chapter.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:2

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be ^{( a )} clothed upon with our house which is from ^{( b )} heaven:

^{( a )} He calls the glory of immortality, which we will be as it were clothed with, a garment.

^{( b )} Heavenly, not that the substance of it is heavenly, but rather the glory of it.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:3

^{( 2 )} If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

^{( 2 )} An exposition of the former saying: we do not without reason desire to be clad with the heavenly house, that is, with that everlasting and immortal glory, as with a garment. For when we depart from here we will not remain naked, having cast off the covering of this body, but we will take our bodies again, which will put on as it were another garment besides. And therefore we do not sigh because of the weariness of this life, but because of the desire of a better life. Neither is this desire in vain, for we are made to that life, the pledge of which we have, even the Spirit of adoption.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:5

Now he that hath ^{( c )} wrought us for the selfsame thing [is] God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

^{( c )} He means that first creation, to show us that our bodies were made to this end, that they should be clothed with heavenly immortality.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:6

^{( 3 )} Therefore [we are] always ^{( d )} confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

^{( 3 )} He concludes something here from verse four, and states it in the following way: "Therefore, seeing that we know by the Spirit that we are strangers so long as we are here, we patiently suffer this delay (for we are now so with God, that we behold him only by faith, and are therefore now absent from him) but so that we aspire and have a longing always to him. Therefore also we behave ourselves in such a way that we may be acceptable to him, both while we live here, and when we go from here to him." (2Co 5:4)

^{( d )} He calls them "confident" who are always resolved with a quiet and settled mind to suffer any danger at all, not doubting at all that their end will be happy.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:7

(For we walk by ^{( e )} faith, not by sight:)

^{( e )} Faith, of those things which we hope for, not having God presently in our physical view.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:8

We are ^{( f )} confident, [I say], and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

^{( f )} And yet we are in such a manner confident and do so pass on our pilgrimage with a valiant and peaceful mind, that yet nonetheless we had rather depart from here to the Lord.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:9

Wherefore we ^{( g )} labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

^{( g )} And seeing that it is so, we strive to live so, that both in this our pilgrimage here we may please him, and that at length we may be received home to him.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:10

^{( 4 )} For we must all ^{( h )} appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad.

^{( 4 )} That no man might think that what he spoke of that heavenly glory pertains to all, he adds that every one will first render an account of his pilgrimage, after he has departed from here.

^{( h )} We must all appear personally, and enquiry will be made of us, that all may see how we have lived.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:11

^{( 5 )} Knowing therefore the ^{( i )} terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

^{( 5 )} Now he moves on, and taking occasion of the former sentence returns to (2Co 4:16), confirming his own and his associates sincerity.

^{( i )} That terrible judgment.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:12

^{( 6 )} For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to [answer] them which glory in ^{( k )} appearance, and not in heart.

^{( 6 )} He removes all suspicion of pride by a new reason, because it is a responsibility, not for his part but for theirs, that his apostleship be considered sincere compared to the vain display of a few others.

^{( k )} In outward disguising, and that pretentious show of man's wisdom and eloquence, and not in true godliness, which is sealed in the heart.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:13

^{( 7 )} For whether we be beside ourselves, [it is] to God: or whether we be sober, [it is] for your cause.

^{( 7 )} The meaning is: even when I am mad (as some men think of me), while I seem as a fool to boast about myself, I do it for your profit, to the same extent that I do when I preach only the Gospel to you.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:14

^{( 8 )} For the love of Christ ^{( l )} constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if ^{( m )} one died for all, then were all dead:

^{( 8 )} He continues dismissing all suspicion of desire of estimation and boasting. For the love of Christ, he says, compels us to this, that seeing he died for us all, who were dead when as we lived to ourselves (that is, while we were yet given to these earthly affections) we in like sort should consecrate our whole life which we have received from him, to him. That is, being endued with the Holy Spirit to this end and purpose, that we should meditate upon nothing but that which is heavenly.

^{( l )} Wholly possesses us.

^{( m )} He speaks here of sanctification, by which it comes to pass that Christ lives in us.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:15

And [that] he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth ^{( n )} live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

^{( n )} See See Romans 6:1-7:25

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:16

^{( 9 )} Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: ^{( 10 )} yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we [him] no more.

^{( 9 )} He shows what it is not to live to ourselves but to Christ, that is, to know no man according to the flesh. That is to say, to be conversant among men and yet not to care for those worldly and carnal things, as those do who have regard for a man's family, his country, form, glory, riches, and such like, in which men commonly dote and weary themselves.

^{( 10 )} An amplification: "This is", he says, "so true, that we do not now think carnally of Christ himself, who has now left the world, and therefore he must be thought of spiritually by us."

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:17

^{( 11 )} Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a ^{( o )} new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

^{( 11 )} An exhortation for every man who is renewed with the Spirit of Christ to meditate on heavenly things, and not earthly.

^{( o )} As a thing made new by God, for though a man is not newly created when God gives him the spirit of regeneration, but only his qualities are changed, yet nonetheless it pleased the Holy Spirit to speak so, to teach us that we must attribute all things to the glory of God. Not that we are as rocks or stones, but because God creates in us both the will to will well, and the power to do well.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:18

^{( 12 )} And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

^{( 12 )} He commends the excellency of the ministry of the Gospel, both by the authority of God himself, who is the author of that ministry, and also by the excellency of the doctrine of it. For it announces atonement with God by free forgiveness of our sins, and justification offered to us in Christ, and that so lovingly and freely, that God himself does in a way beseech men by the mouth of his ministers to have consideration of themselves, and not to despise so great a benefit. And when he says so, he plainly reprehends those who falsely attribute to themselves the name of "pastor", as this calling can only come from God.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 5:19

To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath ^{( p )} committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

^{( p )} Used our labour and travail.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 2Co 5:1-21

1 That in his assured hope of immortal glory,

9 and in expectation of it, and of the general judgment, he labours to keep a good conscience;

12 not that he may herein boast of himself,

14 but as one that, having received life from Christ, endeavours to live as a new creature to Christ only,

18 and by his ministry of reconciliation, to reconcile others also in Christ to God.

Maclaren: 2Co 5:1

Tent And Building

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'--2 Cor. 5:1.

KNOWLEDGE and ignorance, doubt and certitude, are remarkably blended in these words. The Apostle knows what many men are not certain of; the Apostle doubts as to what all men now are certain of. If our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved '--there is surely no if about that. But we must remember that the first Christians, and the Apostles with them, did not know whether they might not survive till the coming of Christ; and so not die, but be changed.' And this possibility, as appears from the context, is clearly before the Apostle's mind. Such a limitation of his knowledge is in entire accordance with our Lord's own words,' It is not for you to know the times and the seasons,' and does not in the smallest degree derogate from his authority as an inspired teacher. But his certitude is as remarkable as his hesitation. He knows--and he modestly and calmly affirms the confidence, as possessed by all believers--that, in the event of death coming to him or them, he and they have a mansion waiting for their entrance; a body of glory like to that which Jesus already wears.

I. So My Text Mainly Sets Before Us Very Strikingly The Christian Certitude As To The Final Future.

I need not dwell, I suppose, upon that familiar metaphor by which the relation of man to his bodily environment is described as that of a man to his dwelling-place. Only I would desire, in a word, to emphasise this as being the first of the elements of the blessed certitude in which Christian people may expatiate--the clear, broad distinction between me and my physical frame. There is no more connection, says Paul, between us and the organisation in which we at present dwell than there is between a man and the house that he inhabits. The foolish senses crown' Death and call him lord; but the Christian's certitude firmly draws the line, and declares that the man, the whole personality, is undisturbed by anything that befalls his residence; and that he may pass unimpaired from one house to another, being in both the self-same person. And that is something to keep firm hold of in these days when we are being told that life and consciousness are but a function of organisation, and that if the one be annihilated the other cannot persist. No; though all illustrations and metaphors must necessarily fail, the two which lie side by side here in my text and its context are far truer than that pseudo-science--which is not science at all, but only inference from science--which denies that the man is one thing and his house altogether another.

Then again, note, as part of the elements of this Christian certitude, the blessed thought that a body is part of the perfection of manhood. No mere dim, ghostly future, where consciousness somehow persists, without environment or tools to act upon an outer world, completes the idea of God in reference to man. But the old trinity is the eternal trinity for humanity, body, soul, and spirit. Corporeity, with all that it means of definiteness, with all that it means of relation to an external universe, is the perfection of manhood. To dwell naked, as the Apostle says in the context, is a thing from which man shudderingly recoils; and it is not to be his final fate. Let us take this as no small gain in reference to our conceptions of a future--the emphatic drawing into light of that thought that for his perfection man requires body, soul, and spirit.

And now, if we turn for a moment to the characteristics of the two conditions with which my text deals, we get some familiar enough but yet great and strengthening thoughts. The earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved,' or, more correctly, retaining the metaphor of the house, is to be pulled down--and in its place there comes a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'

Now the contrast that is drawn here, whilst it would run out into a great many other particulars, about which we know nothing, and therefore had better say nothing, revolves in the Apostle's mind mainly round these two earthly' as contrasted with in the heavens'; and tabernacle,' or tent, as contrasted, first of all with a building,' and then with the predicate eternal.'

That is to say, the first outstanding difference which arises before the Apostle as blessed and glorious, is the contrast between the fragile dwelling-place, with its thin canvas, its bending poles, its certain removal some day, and the permanence of that which is not a tent,' but a building' which is eternal.' Involved in that is the thought that all the limitations and weaknesses which are necessarily associated with the perishableness of the present abode are at an end for ever. No more fatigue, no more working beyond the measure of power, no more need for recuperation and repose; no more dread of sickness and weakness; no more possibility of decay. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption'--neither can they die any more.' Whether that be by reason of any inherent immortality, or by reason of the uninterrupted flow into the creature of the immortal life of Christ, to whom he is joined, is a question that need not trouble us now. Enough for us that the contrast between the Bedouin tent--which is folded up and carried away, and nothing left but the black circle where the cheerful hearth once glinted amidst the sands of the desert--and the stately mansion reared for eternity, is the contrast between the organ of the spirit in which we now dwell and that which shall be ours.

And the other contrast is no less glorious and wonderful. The earthly house of this tent' does not merely define the composition, but also the whole relations and capacities of that to which it refers. The tent' is earthly,' not merely because, to use a kindred metaphor, it is a building of clay,' but because, by all its capacities, it belongs to, corresponds with, and is fitted only for, this lower order of things, the seen and the perishable. And, on the other hand, the' mansion' is in the heavens,' even whilst the future tenant is a nomad in his tent. That is so, because the power which can create that future abode is in the heavens.' It is so called in order to express the security in which it is kept for those who shall one day enter upon it. And it is so, further, to express the order of things with which it brings its dwellers into contact. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.' That future home of the spirit will be congruous with the region in which it dwells; fitted for the heavens in which it is now preserved. And thus the two contrasts--adapted to the perishable, and itself perishable, belonging to the eternal and itself incorruptible--are the two which loom largest before the Apostle's mind.

Let no man say that such ideas of a possible future bodily frame are altogether inconsistent with all that we know of the limitations and characteristics of what we call matter. There is one flesh of beasts and another of birds,' says Paul; there is one glory of the sun and another of the moon.' And his old-fashioned argument is perfectly sound to-day.

Do you know so fully all the possibilities of creation as that you are warranted in asserting that such a thing as a body which is the fit organ of the spirit, and is incorruptible like the heavens in which it dwells, is an impossibility? Surely the forms of matter are sufficiently varied to make us chary in asserting that other forms are impossible, to which there may belong, as characteristics, even these glorious ones of my text. The old story of the king in the tropics, who laughed to scorn some one who told him that water could be turned into a solid, may well be quoted in this connection. Let us be less confident that we know all that is to be known in regard to the sweep of God's creative power; and let us thankfully accept the teaching by which we, too, in all our ignorance, may be able to say, We know that . .. we have a building of God . .. eternal in the heavens.'

Now there is only one more remark that I wish to make about this part of my subject; and it is this, that the teaching of my text and its context casts great light--and I think by many people much-needed light --on what the resurrection of the dead means. That doctrine has been weighted with a great many incredibilities and I venture to say absurdities, by well-meaning misconceptions and exaggerations. We have heard grand platitudes about' the scattered dust being gathered from the four winds of heaven,' and so on, but the teaching of my text is that the contrast between the present physical frame and the future bodily environment is utter and complete; and that resurrection does not mean the assuming again of the body that is left behind and done with, but the reinvestiture of the man with another body. And so the Scriptural phrase is, not' the resurrection of the body,' but the resurrection of the dead.' It is a house in the heavens.' It comes from heaven.'

We leave the tent.Life and thought have gone away, side by side,Leaving doors and windows wide;Careless tenants they!

And they may well be careless, because in the heavens they have another mansion, incorruptible and glorious.

We leave the tent'; we enter the building.' There is nothing here of some germ of immortality being somehow extricated from the ruins, and fostered into glorious growth. Or, to take another metaphor of the context, we strip off the garment and are naked; and then we are clothed with another garment and are not found naked. The resurrection of the dead is the clothing of the spirit with the house which is from heaven. And there is as much difference between the two habitations as there is between the grim, solid architecture of northern peoples, amidst snow and ice, needed to resist the blasts, and to keep the life within in an ungenial climate, and the light, graceful dwellings of those who walk in an atmosphere of perpetual sunshine in the tropics, as there is between the close-knit and narrow-windowed and narrow doored abode in which we now have to pass our days, and that large house, with broad windows that take in a mightier sweep and new senses that have relation with new qualities in the world then around us. Therefore let us, whilst we grope in the dark here, and live in a narrow hovel in a back street, look forward to the" time when we shall dwell on the sunny heights in the great pavilion which God prepares for them that love Him.

II. And Now Note, Again, How We Come To This Certitude.

My text is very significantly followed by a for,' which gives the reason of the knowledge in a very remarkable manner. We know … for in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven.' Now that singular collocation of ideas may be set forth thus--whatever longing there is in a Christian, God-inspired soul, that longing is a prophecy of its own fulfilment. We know that there is a house, because of the yearning, which is deepest and strongest when we are nearest God, and likest what He would have us to be--the yearning to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.' That is a truth that goes a long way ,though to enlarge on it is irrelevant to our present purpose. It has its limitations, as is obvious from the context, in which are human elements which are not destined to be gratified, mingled with the yearning, which is of God, and which is destined to be satisfied. But this at least we may firmly hold by, that just because God will not put men to confusion intellectually, and does not let them entertain uncherished, still less Himself foster and excite--longings which He does not mean to gratify, a Christian yearning for immortality is, to the man who feels it, a declaration that immortality is sure for him. Delight thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.' Whatsoever, in touching Him, we do deeply long for may have blended with it human elements, which will be dispersed unsatisfied, but the substance of it is a prophecy of its own fulfilment. And as surely as the stork in the heavens, flying southward, will reach the sunny lands which draw it from the grim northern winter, so surely may a man say, I know that I have a house in heaven, because I long for it, and shrink from being found naked.'

Of course such longing, such aspiration and revulsion are no proofs of a fact except there be some fact which changes them from mere vague desires, and makes these solid certainties. And such a fact we have in that which is the only proof that the world has received, of the persistence of life through death and the continuance of personal identity unchanged by the grave, and that is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Our faith in immortality does not depend merely on our own subjective desires and longings, but these desires and longings are quickened, confirmed, and certified by this great fact that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead; and therefore we know that the yearnings in us are not in vain. So we come to this certitude, first, by reason of his experience; and, second, by reason of the longings which that experience fosters, if it does not kindle, within our hearts.

And let no man take exception to the Apostle's word here, we know,' or tell us that Knowledge is of the things we see.' That is true, and not true. It is true in regard to what arrogates to itself the name of science. And we are willing to admit the limitation if the men who insist upon it will, on their sides, admit that there are other sources of certitude than so-called facts,' by which they mean merely material facts. If it is meant to assert that we are less sure of the love of God, of immortality, than we are of the existence of this piece of wood, or that flame of gas; then I humbly venture to say that there is another region of facts than those which are appreciable by sense; that the evidence upon which we rest our certitude of immortal blessedness is quite as valid, quite as true, quite as able to bear the weight of a leaning heart as anything that can be produced, in the nature of evidence, for the things round us. It is not, We fancy, we believe, we hope, we are pretty nearly sure,' but it is We know… that we have a building of God.'

III. Lastly, Note What This Certitude Does.

The Apostle tells us by the for' which lies at the beginning of my text, and makes it a reason for something that has preceded, and what has preceded is this, We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.'

That is to say, such a joyous, calm certitude draws men's thoughts away from this shabby and transitory present, and fixes them on the solemn majesties of that eternal future. Yes! and nothing else will. Take away the idea of resurrection, and the remaining idea of immortality is a poor, shadowy, impotent thing. There is no force in it; there is no blessedness in it; there is nothing in it for a man to lay hold of, And, as a matter of fact, there is no vivid faith in a future life without belief in the resurrection and bodily existence of the perfected dead.

And we shall not let our thoughts willingly go out thither unless our own personal well being there is very sure to us. When we know that for us individually there is that house waiting for us to enter into it, when the Lord comes, then we shall not be unwilling to turn our hearts and our desires thither. We look at the things which are not seen, for we know that we have a house eternal.

And such a certitude will also make a man willing to accept the else unwelcome necessity of leaving the tent, and for a while doing without the mansion. It is that which the Apostle is speaking of in subsequent verses, on which I cannot enter now. He says--and therein speaks a universal experience--that men recoil from the idea of having to lay aside this earthly body and be naked.' But we know that we have that glorious mansion waiting for us, and that till the day comes when we enter upon it we may be lapt in Christ instead, and, in that so-called intermediate state, may have Him to surround us, Him to be to us the medium by which we come into connection with anything external, and so can contentedly go away from our home in the body; and go to our home in Christ. Wherefore, we are always confident, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.'

Oh, brethren! do we think of our future thus? If we do, then let us lay to heart the final words of our teacher in this part of his letter: Wherefore we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto Him.'

Maclaren: 2Co 5:5

The Patient Workman

Now He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God.'--2 Cor. 5:5.

THESE words penetrate deep into the secrets of God. They assume to have read the riddle of life. To Paul everything which we experience, outwardly or inwardly, is from the divine working. Life is to him no mere blind whirl, or unintelligent play of accidental forces, nor is it the unguided result of our own or of others' wills, but is the slow operation of the great Workman. Paul assumes to know the meaning of this protracted process, that it all has one design which we may know and grasp and further. And he believes that the clear perception of the divine purpose, and the habit of looking at everything as contributing thereto, will be a magic charm against all sorrow, doubt, despondency, or fear, for he adds, Therefore we are always confident.' So let us try to follow the course of thought which issues in such a blessed gift as that of a continual, courageous outlook, and buoyant though grave lightheartedness, because we discern what He means Who worketh all things according to the counsel of His own will.'

I. The First Thought Here Is, God's Purpose In All His Working.

He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God.'

What is that self-same thing'? To understand it we must look back for a moment to the previous context The Apostle has been speaking about the instinctive reluctance which even good men feel at the prospect of dying and putting off the earthly house of this tabernacle.' He distinguishes between three different conditions in which the human spirit may be --dwelling in the earthly body, stripped of that, and clothed with the house which is from Heaven,' and to this last and highest state he sees that for him and for his brethren there were two possible roads. They might reach it either through losing the present body, in the act of death, and passing through a period of what he calls nakedness; or they might attain it by being superinvested,' as it were, with the glorious body which was to come to saints with Christ when He came; and so slip on, as it were, the wedding garment over their old clothes, without having to denude themselves of these. And he says that deep in the Christian heart there lay reluctance to take the former road and the preference for the latter. His longing was that that which is mortal might be swallowed up of life,' as some sand-bank in the tide-way may be gradually covered and absorbed by the rejoicing waters. And then he says, Now He that hath wrought us for this very thing, is God.'

Of course it is impossible that he can mean by this very thing' the second of the roads by which it was possible to reach the ultimate issue, because he did not know whether his brethren and he were to die or to be changed. He speaks in the context about death as a possible contingency for himself and for them,--If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,' and so on. Therefore we must suppose that the self-same thing' of which he is thinking as the divine purpose in all His dealings with us, is not the manner in which we may attain that ultimate condition, but the condition itself which, by one road or another, God's children shall attain. Or, in other words, the highest aim of the divine love in all its dealings with us Christian men, is not merely a blessed spiritual life, but the completion of our humanity in a perfect spirit dwelling in a glorified body. Corporeity--the dwelling in a body by which the pure spirit moves amidst pure universes--is the highest end of God's will concerning us.

That glorified body is described in our context in wonderful words, which it would take me far too long to do more than just touch upon. Here we dwell in a tent, there we shall dwell in a building. Here in a house made with hands, a corporeal frame derived from parents by material transmission and intervention; there we shall dwell in a building of which God is the maker. Here we dwell in a crumbling clay tenement, which rains dissolve, which lightning strikes, and winds overthrow, and which finally lies on the ground a heap of tumbled ruin. There we dwell in a building, God's direct work, eternal, and knowing no corruption nor change. Here we dwell in a body congruous with, and part of, the perishable earthly world in which it abides, and with which it stands in relation; there we dwell in a house partaking of the nature of the heavens in which it moves, a body that is the fit organ of a perfect spirit.

And so, says Paul, the end of what God means with us is not stated in all its wonderfulness, when we speak of spirits imbued with His wisdom and surcharged with His light and perfectness, but when we add to that the thought of a fitting organ in which these spirits dwell, whereby they can come into contact with an external universe, incorruptible, and so reach the summit of their destined completeness. The house not made with hands,' eternal, the building of God in the Heavens, is the end that God has in view for all His children.

II. So, Then, Secondly, Note The Slow Process Of The Divine Workman.

The Apostle employs here a very emphatic compound term for hath wrought.' It conveys not only the idea of operation, but the idea of continuous and somewhat toilsome and effortful work, as if against the resistance of something that did not yield itself naturally to the impulse that He would bestow. Like some sculptor with a hard bit of marble, or some metallurgist who has to work the rough ore till it becomes tractable, so the loving, patient, Divine Artificer is here represented as labouring long and earnestly with a somewhat obstinate material which can and does resist His loving touch, and yet going on with imperturbable and patient hope, by manifold touches, here a little and there a little, all through life preparing a man for His purpose. The great Artificer toils at His task, rising early' and working long, and not discouraged when He comes upon a black vein in the white marble, nor when the hard stone turns the edge of His chisels.

Now I would have you notice that there lies in this conception a very important thought, viz. God cannot make you fit for heaven all at a jump, or by a simple act of will. That is not His way of working. He can make a world so, He cannot make a saint so. He can speak and it is done when it is only a universe that has to be brought into being; or He can say, Let there be light,' and light springs at His word. But He cannot say, and He does not say, Let there be holiness, and it comes. Not so can God make man meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.' And it takes Him all His energies, for all a lifetime, to prepare His child for what He wants to make of him.

There is another thought here, which I can only touch, and that is that God cannot give a man that glorified body of which I have been speaking, unless the man's spirit is Christlike. He cannot raise a bad man at the resurrection with the body of His glory. By the necessities of the case it is confined to the purified, because it corresponds to their inward spiritual being. It is only a perfect spirit that can dwell in a perfect body. You could not put a bad man, Godless and Christless, into the body which will be fit for them whom Christ has changed first of all in heart and spirit into His own likeness. He would be like those hermit crabs that you see on the beach who run into any kind of a shell, whether it fits them or not, in order to get a house.

There are two principles at work in the resurrection of the dead. The glorified body is not the physical outcome of the material body here, but is the issue and manifestation, in visible form, of the perfect and Christlike spirit. Some shall rise to glory and immortality, some to shame and everlasting contempt. If we are to stand at the last with the body of our humiliation changed into a body of glory, we must begin by being changed in the spirit of our mind. As the mind is, so will the body be one day. But, passing from such thoughts as these, and remembering that the Apostle here is speaking only about Christian people, and the divine operations upon them, we may still extend the meaning of this significant word wrought' somewhat further, and ask you just to consider, and that very briefly, the three-fold processes which, in the divine working, terminate in, and contemplate, this great issue.

God has wrought us for it in the very act of making us what we are. Human nature is an insoluble enigma, if this world is its only field. Amidst all the waste, the mysterious waste, of creation, there is no more profligate expenditure of powers than that which is involved in giving a man such faculties and capacities, if this be the only field on which they are to be exercised. If you think of what most of us do in this world, and of what it is in us to be, and to do, it is almost ludicrous to consider the disproportion. All other creatures fit their circumstances; nothing in them is bigger than their environment. They find in life a field for every power. You and I do not. The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have roosting-places.' They all correspond to their circumstances, but we have an infinitude of faculty lying half dormant in each of us, which finds no work at all in this present world. And so, looking at men as they are with eternity in their hearts, with natures that go reaching out towards infinity, the question comes up: Wherefore hast Thou made all men in vain? What is the use of us, and why should we be what we are, if there is nothing for us except this poor present?' God, or whoever made us, has made a mistake; and strangely enough, if we were not made, but evolved, evolution has worked out faculties which have no correspondence with the things around them.

Life and man are an insoluble enigma except on one hypothesis, and that is that this is a nursery-ground, and that the plants will be pricked out some day, and planted where they are meant to grow. The hearts that feel after absolute and perfect love, the spirits that can conceive the idea of an infinite goodness, the dumb desires, the blank misgivings that wander homeless amidst the narrowness of this poor earth, all these things proclaim that there is a region where they will find their nutriment and expatiate, and when we look at a man we can only say, He that hath wrought him for an infinite world, and an endless communion with a perfect good, is God.

Still further, another field of the divine operation to this end is in what we roughly call providences.' What is the meaning of all this discipline through which we are passed, if there is nothing to be disciplined for? What is the good of an apprenticeship if there is no journeyman's life to come after it, where the powers that have been slowly acquired shall be nobly exercised upon broader fields? Why should men be taken, as it were, and, like the rough iron from the ground,

Be heated hot with hopes and fears, And plunged in baths of hissing tears, And battered with the shocks of doom,' if, after all the process, the polished shaft is to be broken in two, and tossed away as rubbish? If death ends faculty, it is a pity that the faculty was so patiently developed. If God is educating us all in His school, and then means that, like some wastrel boys, we should lose all our education as soon as we leave its benches, there is little use in the rod, and little meaning in the training. Brethren! life is an insoluble riddle unless the purpose of it lie yonder, and unless all this patient training of our sorrows and our gladnesses, the warmth that expands and the cold that contracts the heart, the light that gladdens and the darkness that saddens the eye and the spirit, are equally meant for training us for the perfect life of a perfect soul moving a perfect body in a perfect universe. Here is a pillar in some ancient hall that has fallen into poor hands, and has had a low roof thrown across the centre of the chamber at half its height. In the lower half there is part of a pillar that means nothing; ugly, bare, evidently climbing, and passing through the aperture, and away above yonder is the carved capital and the great entablature that it carries. Who could understand the shaft unless he could look up through the aperture, and see the summit? And who can think of life as anything but a wretched fragment unless he knows that all which begins here runs upwards into the room above, and there finds its explanation and its completion?

But there is the third sphere of the divine operation. As in creation and in providence, so in all the work and mystery of our redemption, this is the goal that God has in view. It was not worth Christ's while to come and die, if nothing more was to come of it than the imperfect reception of His blessings and gifts which the noblest Christian life in this world presents. The meaning and purpose of the Cross, the meaning and purpose of all the patient dealings of His whispering Spirit, are that we shall be like our Divine Lord in spirit first, and in body afterwards.

And everything about the experiences of a true Christian spirit is charged with a prophecy of immortality. I have not time to dwell upon one point gathered from the context, that I intended to have insisted upon, viz. that the very desires which God's good Spirit works in a believing soul are themselves confirmations of their own fulfilment. But if you notice at your leisure the verses that precede my text, you will find that the Apostle adduces the groanings of earnest desire to be clothed with our house which is from Heaven,' as a proof that we have a building of God, a house not made with hands.' That is to say, every longing in a Christian heart when it is most filled with that Spirit, and most in contact with God, and which is the answer of that heart to a promise of Christ--every such longing carries with it the assurance of its own fulfilment. He that hath wrought it has wrought it in order that the desire may fit us for its answer, and that the open mouth may be ready for the abundant filling which His grace designs. He works upon us, therefore, by making us desire a gift, and then He gives that which He desires. So let us cherish these longings, not for the accident of escaping death, nor as choosing the path by which we shall reach the blessed issue, but longing for that great issue itself; and try to keep more distinct and clear before all our minds this thought,' God means for me the participation in Christ's glorified Manhood, and my attaining of that Manhood is the end that He has in view in all that He does with me.'

III. So I Must Say One Word About The Last Thought That Is Here, And That Is The Certainty And The Confidence.

Therefore we are always confident,' says the Apostle.

He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God.' Then we may be sure that as far as He is concerned, the work will not be suspended nor vain. This man does not begin to build and is unable to finish. This workman has infinite resources, an unchanging purpose, and infinite long-suffering. He will complete His task.

In the quarries of Egypt you will find gigantic stones, half-dressed, and intended to have been transported to some great temple. But there they lie, the work incomplete, and they never carried to their place. There are no half-polished stones in God's quarries. They are all finished where they lie, and then borne across the sea, like Hiram's from Lebanon, to the Temple on the hill. It is a certainty that God will finish His work; and since He that hath wrought us is God,' we may be sure that He will not stop till He has done.

But it is a certainty that you can thwart. It is an operation that you can counter work. The potter in Jeremiah's parable was making a vessel upon his wheel, and the vessel was marred in his hand, and did not turn out what he wanted it. The meaning of the metaphor, which has often been twisted to express the very opposite, is that the potter's work may fail, that the artificer may be balked, that you can counter work the divine dealing, and that all His purpose in your creation, in His providence and in His gift of His Son for your redemption, may come to nought as far as you are concerned. I beseech you that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.' In vain have I smitten your children,' wailed the Divine Love; they have received no correction.' In vain God lavishes upon some of us His mercies, in vain for some of us has Christ toiled and suffered and died. Oh, brother? do not let all God's work on you come to nought, but yield yourselves to it. Rejoice in the confidence that He is moulding your character, cheerfully welcome and accept the providences, painful as they may be, by which He prepares you for heaven. The chisel is sharp that strikes off the superfluous pieces of marble, and when the chisel cuts, not into marble, but into a heart, there is a pang. Bear it, bear it! and understand the meaning of the blow of the sculptor's mallet, and see in all life the divine hand working towards the accomplishment of His own loving purpose. Then if we turn to Him, amid the pains of His discipline and the joys of His gifts of grace, with recognition and acceptance of His meaning in them all, and cry to Him, Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever, forsake not the work of Thine own hands,' we may be always confident, as knowing that the Lord will perfect that which concerneth us:

Maclaren: 2Co 5:8

The Old House And The New

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.'--2 Cor. 5:8.

THERE lie in the words of my text simply these two things; the Christian view of what death is, and the Christian temper in which to anticipate it.

I. First, The Christian View Of What Death Is.

Now it is to be observed that, properly speaking, the Apostle is not here referring to the state of the dead, but to the act of dying. The language would more literally and accurately be rendered willing to go from home, from the body, and to go home, to the Lord.' The moment of transition of course leads to a permanent state, but it is the moment of transition which is in view in the words. I need not remind you, I suppose, that the metaphor of the home is one which has already been dwelt upon in the early part of the chapter, where the contrast is drawn between the transitory house of this tent,' and the building of God,' the body of incorruption and glory which the saints at the Resurrection day shall receive. So, then, the Christian view of the act of death is that it is simply a change of abode.

Very dearly and firmly does Paul draw the line between the man and his dwelling-place. Life is more than a result of organisation. Consciousness, thought, feeling, are more than functions of matter. No materialist philosopher has ever been, or ever will be, able to explain within the limits of his system the strange difference between the cause and the effect; how it comes to pass that at the one end of the chain there is an impression upon a nerve, and at the other there is pain; how at the one end there is the throb of an inch of matter in a man's skull, and at the other end there are thoughts that breathe and words that burn, and that live for ever. That brings us up to the edge of a gulf over which no materialist philosopher has ever been able to cast a bridge. The scalpel cannot cut deep enough to solve this mystery. Conscience as well as instinct cry out against the theory that the worker and the tools are inseparable. For such a theory reduces human actions to mechanical results, and shatters all responsibility. Man is more than his dwelling-place. You crush a shell on the beach with your heel, and you slay its tiny inhabitant. But you can pull down the tent, and pluck up its pegs, and roll up its canvas, and put it away in a dark corner, and the tenant is untouched. The foolish senses crown Death as last, and lord of all. But wisdom says,' Life and thought have gone away side by side, leaving doors and windows wide,' and that is all that has happened.

Still further, my text suggests that to the Christian soul the departure from the one house is the entrance into the other. The home has been the body; the home is now to be Jesus Christ. And very beautiful and significant with meanings, which only experience will fully unfold, is the representation that the Lord Christ Himself assumes the place which the bodily environment has hitherto held.

That teaches us, at all events, that there is a new depth and closeness of union with Jesus waiting the Christian soul, when it lays aside the separating film of flesh. Here the bodily organisation, with its limitations, necessarily shuts us off from the closeness of intercourse which is possible for a naked soul. We know not how much separation may depend upon the immersing of the spirit in the fleshly tabernacle, but this we know, that, though here and now, by faith which dominates sense, souls can live in Christ even whilst they live in the body; yet there shall come a form of union so much more close, intimate, all-pervading, and all-encircling, as that the present union with Him by faith, precious as it is, shall be, as the Apostle calls it in our context, absence from the Lord.' We have to be discharged,' says an old thinker, of a great deal of what we call body, and then we shall be more truly ourselves,' and more truly united to Him who, if we are Christian people at all, is the self of ourselves and the life of our lives. No man knows how close he can nestle to the bosom of Christ when the film of flesh is rent away. Just as when in some crowded street of a great city some grimy building is pulled down, a sudden daylight fills the vacant space, and all the site that had been shut out from the sky for many years is drenched in sunshine, so when the earthly house of this tabernacle' is ruinated and fails, the light will flood the place where it stood, and to be absent from the body' shall be to be present with the Lord.'

May we go a step further and suggest that, perhaps, in the bold metaphor of my text, there is an answer to the questions which so often rack loving and parted hearts? Do the dead know aught of what affects us here? and can they do aught but gaze on Him, and love, and rest?' If it be that there is any such analogy as seems to be dimly shadowed in my text, between the relation of the body on earth to the spirit that inhabits it, and that of Jesus Christ to him who dwells in Him, and is clothed by Him, then it may be that, as the flesh, so the Christ transmits to the spirit that has Him for its home impressions from the outside world, and affords a means of action upon that world. Christ may be, if I might so say, the Sensorium of the disembodied spirit; and Christ may be the hand of the man who hath no other instrument by which to express himself. But all that is fancy perhaps, speculation certainly; and yet there seems to be a shadow of a foundation for at least entertaining the possibility of such a thought as that Jesus is the means of knowing and the means of acting to those who rest from their labours in Him, and dwell in peace in His arms. But be that as it may, the reality of a close communion and encircling by the felt presence of Jesus Christ, which, in its blessed closeness, will make the closest communion here seem to be obscure, is certainly declared in the words before us.

Then this transition is regarded in my text as being the work of a moment. It is not a long journey of which the beginning is to go from home, from the body,' and the end is to go home, to the Lord.' But it is one and the same motion which, looked at from the one side, is departure, and looked at from the other is arrival. The old saying has it, there is but a step between me and death.' The truth is, there is but a step between me and life. The mighty angel in the Apocalypse, that stood with one foot on the firm land and the other on the boundless ocean, is but the type of the spirit in the brief moment of transition, when the consciousness of two worlds blends, and it is clothed upon with the house which is from heaven, in the very act of stripping off the earthly house of this tabernacle.

Nor need I remind you, I suppose, in more than a sentence, that this transition obviously leads into a state of conscious communion with Jesus Christ. The dreary figment of an unconscious interval for the disembodied spirit has no foundation, either in what we know of spirit, or in what is revealed to us in Scripture. For the one thing that seems to make it probable--the use of that metaphor of sleeping in Jesus'--is quite sufficiently accounted for by the notions of repose, and cessation of outward activity, and withdrawal of capacity of being influenced by the so-called realities of this lower world, without dragging in the unfounded notion of unconsciousness. My text is incompatible with it, for it is absurd to say of an unconscious spirit, clear of a bodily environment, that it is anywhere; and there is no intelligible sense in which the condition of such a spirit can be called being with the Lord.'

So, then, I think a momentary transition, with uninterrupted consciousness, which leads to a far deeper and more wonderful and blessed sense of unity with Jesus Christ than is possible here on earth, is the true shape in which the act of death presents itself to the Christian thinker.

And remember, dear brethren, that is all we know. Nothing else is certain--nothing but this, with the Lord,' and the resulting certainty that therefore it is well with them. It is enough for our faith, for our comfort, for our patient waiting. They live in Christ, and there we find them worthier to be loved,' and certainly lapped in a deeper rest. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.'

II. In The Next Place, Note The Christian Temper In Which To Anticipate The Transition.

We are always courageous, and willing rather to leave our home in the body, and to go home to the Lord.' Now I must briefly remind you of how the Apostle comes to this state of feeling. He has been speaking about the natural shrinking, which belongs to all humanity, from the act of dissolution, considered as being the stripping off of the garment of the flesh. And he has declared, on behalf of himself and the early Christian Church, his own and their personal desire that they might escape from that trial by the path which seemed possible to the early Christians--viz. that of surviving until the return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, when they would be clothed upon with the house which is from Heaven,' without the necessity of stripping off that with which at present they are invested. Then he says--and this is a very remarkable thought--that just because this instinctive shrinking from death and yearning for the glorified body is so strong in the Christian heart, that is a sign that there is such a glorified body waiting for us. He says, we know that if our house … were dissolved, we have a building of God.' And his reason for knowing it is this, for in this we groan.' That is a bold position to say that a yearning in the Christian consciousness prophesies its own fulfilment. Our desires are the prophecies of His gifts. Then, on this certainty--which he deduces from the fact of the longing for it--on this certainty of the glorious, ultimate body of the Resurrection he bases his willingness expressed in the text, to go through the unwelcome process of leaving the old house, although he shrinks from it.

So, then, Christian faith does not destroy the natural reluctance to put aside the old companion of our lives. The old house, though it be smoky, dimly lighted, and, by our own careless keeping, sluttish and grimy in many a corner, yet is the only house we have ever known, and to be absent from it is untried and strange. There is nothing wrong in saying we would not be unclothed but clothed upon.' Nature speaks there. We may reverently entertain the same feelings which our Pattern acknowledged, when He said, I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened until it be accomplished.' And there would be nothing sinful in repeating His prayer with His conditions,' If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.'

But then the text suggests to us the large Christian possessions and hope which counter work this reluctance, in the measure in which we live lives of faith. There is the assurance of that ultimate home in which all the transiency of the present material organisation is exchanged for the enduring permanence which knows no corruption. The tent' is swept away to make room for the building.' The earthly house is dissolved in order that there may be reared round the homeless tenant the house eternal, not made with hands,' God's own work, which is waiting in the heavens; because the power that shall frame it is there. Not only that great hope of the body of His glory,' with which at the last all true souls shall be invested, but furthermore,' the earnest of the spirit,' and the blessed experiences therefrom, resulting even here, ought to make the unwelcome necessity less unwelcome. If the first fruits be righteousness and peace and joy of the Holy Ghost, what shall the harvest be? If the' earnest,' the shilling given in advance, be so precious, what will the whole wealth of the inheritance which it heralds be when it is received?

For such reasons the transitory passage becomes less painful and unwelcome. Who is there that would hesitate to dip his foot into the ice-cold brook if he knew that it would not reach above his ankles, and that a step would land him in blessedness unimagined till experienced?

Therefore the Christian temper is that of quiet willingness and constant courage. There is nothing hysterical here, nothing morbid, nothing overstrained, nothing artificial. The Apostle says: I would rather not. I should like if I could escape it. It is an unwelcome necessity; but when I see what I do see beyond, I am ready. Since so it must be, I will go, not reluctantly, nor dragged away from life, nor clinging desperately to it as it slips from my hands, nor dreading anything that may happen beyond; but always courageous, and prepared to go whithersoever the path may take me, since I am sure that it ends in His bosom.' He is willing to go from the home of the body, because to do that is to go home to Christ.

There are other references of our Apostle's, substantially of the same tone as that of my text, but with very beautiful and encouraging differences. When he was nearer his end, when it seemed to him as if the headsman's block was not very far off, his willingness had intensified into having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better.' And when the end was all but reached, and he knew that death was waiting just round the next turn in the road, he said, with the confidence that in the midst of the struggle would have been vainglory, but at the end of it was a foretaste of the calm of Heaven, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.' That is our model, dear brethren, always courageous,' afraid of nothing in life, in death, or beyond, and therefore willing to go from home from the body and to go home to the Lord.

Think of this man thus fronting the inevitable, with no excitement and with no delusions. Remember what Paul believed about death, about sin, about his own sin, about judgment, about hell. And then think of how to him death had made its darkness beautiful with the light of Christ's face, and all the terror was gone out of it. Do you think so about death? Do you shrink from it? Why? Why do you not take Paul's cure for the shrinking? If you can say, To me to live is Christ,' you will have no difficulty in saying,' and Lo die is gain.' That is the only way by which you can come to such a temper, and then you will be willing to move from the cottage to the palace, and to wait in peace till you are shifted again into the building of God, the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'

Maclaren: 2Co 5:9

Pleasing Christ

We labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of Him.' 2 Cor. 5:9.

WE do not usually care very much for, or very much trust, a man's own statement of the motives of his life, especially if in the statement he takes credit for lofty and noble ones, And it would be rather a dangerous experiment for the ordinary run of so-called Christian people to stand up and say what Paul says here, that the supreme design and aim towards which all their lives are directed is to please Jesus Christ. In his case the tree was known by its fruits. Certainly there never was a life of more noble self-abnegation, of more continuous heroism, of loftier aspiration and lowlier service than the life of which we see the very pulse in these words.

But Paul is not only professing his own faith, he is speaking in the name of all his brethren. We,' ought to include every man and woman who calls himself or herself a Christian. It is this setting of the will of Jesus Christ high up above all other commandments, and proposing to one's self as the aim that swallows up all other aims, that I may please Him--it is this, and not creeds, forms, opinions, professions, or even a faith that simply trusts in Him for salvation, that makes a true Christian. You are a Christian in the precise measure in which Christ's will is uppermost and exclusive in your life, and for all your professions and your orthodoxy and your worship and your faith, not one hair's-breadth further. Here is the signature and the common characteristic of all real Christians, We labour that whether present or absent we may be well-pleasing to Him.'

So then in looking together at these words now, I take three points, the supreme aim of the Christian life; the concentration of effort which that aim demands; and the insignificance to which it reduces all external things.

I. First, Then, Let Me Deal With That Supreme Aim Of The Christian Life.

The word which is, correctly enough, rendered accepted,' may more literally, and perhaps with a closer correspondence to the Apostle's meaning, be translated well-pleasing,' and the aim is this, not merely that we may be accepted, but that we may bring a smile into His face, and some joy and complacent delight in us into His heart, when He looks upon our doings. That pleasure of Jesus Christ in them that fear Him, and in them that hope in His mercy' and do His will is a present emotion that fills His heart in looking upon His followers, and it will be especially declared in the solemn, final judgment. We must keep in view both of these periods, if we would rightly understand the sweep of the aim which ought to be uppermost in all Christian people. Here and now in our present acts, we should so live as to occasion a present sentiment of complacent delight in us, in the heart of the Christ who sees us here and now and always. We should so live as that at that far-off future day when we shall all be manifested before the Judgment-seat of Christ,' the Judge may bend from His tribunal, and welcome us into His presence with a word of congratulation and an outstretched hand of loving reception. Set that two-fold aim before you, Christian men and women, else you will fail to experience the full stimulus of this thought.

Now such an aim as this implies a very wonderful conception of Jesus Christ's present relations to us. It is a truth that we may minister to His joy. It is a truth that just as really as you mothers are glad when you hear from a far-off land that your boy is doing well, and getting on, so Jesus Christ's heart fills with gladness when He sees you and me walking in the paths in which He would have us go. We often think about our dear dead that they cannot know of us and our doings here, because the sorrow that would sometimes, come from the contemplation of our evil, or of our misfortunes, would trouble them in their serene rest. We know not how that may be, but this at least we do know, that the Man Jesus Christ, who, like those dear ones,' was dead, and is alive for evermore,' in His human nature has knowledge of all His children's failures, as well as successes, and is affected with some shadow of regret, or with some reality of delight, according as they follow or stray from the paths in which He would have them walk. If it be so with Him it may be so with them; and though it be not so with them it must be so with Him. So this strange, sweet, tender, and powerful thought is a piece of plain prose, that Christ is glad when you and I are good.

Does it need any word to emphasise the force of that motive to a Christ, Jan heart that loves the Master? Surely this is the great and blessed peculiarity of all the morality of Christianity that it has all a personal bearing and aspect, and that just as the sum of all our duty is gathered up in the one command, Imitate Christ,' so the motive for all our duty lies in' If you love Me, keep My commandments,' and the reward which ought to stimulate more than anything besides is the one thought, not, of what I shall get because I am good, but of what I shall give Him by my obedience, a joy in the heart that was stabbed through and through by sorrow for my sake. That we may please Him who pleased not Himself,' is surely the grandest motive on which the pursuit of holiness, and the imitation of Jesus Christ can ever be made to rest. Oh! how different, and how much more blessed such a motive and aim is than all the lower reasons for which men are sometimes exhorted and encouraged to be good! What a difference it is when we say, Do that thing because it is right,' and when we say,' Do that thing because you will be happier if you do,' or when we say, Do it because He would like you to do it.' The one is all cold and abstract. To stand before a man and simply say: Now go and do your duty,' is a poor way of setting his feet upon a rock and establishing his goings. Duty is not a word that stirs men's hearts, however it may awe their consciences. It rises up before us like some goddess statuesque and serene, with purity, indeed, in her deep and solemn eyes, but with nothing appealing to our affections in her stern lineaments. But when the thought of You ought' melts into For my sake,' and through the dissolving face of the cold marble goddess there shine the beloved lineaments of Him who wears the Godhead's most benignant grace,' the smile upon His face becomes a motive that touches all hearts. Transmute obligation into gratitude, and in front of duty and appeals to self put Christ, and all the harshness and difficulty and burden and self-sacrifice of obedience becomes easy and a joy.

Then let me remind you that this one supreme aim of pleasing Jesus Christ can be carried on through all life in every varying form, great or small. A blessed unity is given to our whole being when the little things and the big things, the easy things and the hard things, deeds which are conspicuous and deeds which no eye sees, are all brought under the influence of the one motive and made co-operant to the one end. Drive that one steadfast aim through your lives like a bar of iron, and it will give the lives strength and consistency --not rigidity, because they may still be flexible. Nothing will be too small to be consecrated by that motive; nothing too great to own its power. You can please Him everywhere and always. The only thing that is inconsistent with pleasing Him is the thing which, alas! we do at all times and should do at no time, and that is to sin against Him. If we bear with us this as a conscious motive in every part of our day's work it will give us a quick discernment as to what is evil, which I believe nothing else will so surely give. If you desire life to be noble, uniform, dignified, great in its minutest acts and solemn in its very trifles, and if you would have some continual test and standard by which you can detect all spurious, apparent virtues, and discover lurking and masked temptations, carry this one aim clear and high above all else, and make it the purpose of the whole life, to be well-pleasing unto Him.

II. Now, In The Next Place, Notice The Concentrated Effort Which This Aim Requires.

The word rendered in my text' labour' is a peculiar one, very seldom employed in Scripture. It means, in its most literal signification, to be fond of honour, or to be actuated by a love of honour; and hence it comes, by a very natural transition, to mean to strive to gain something for the sake of the honour connected with it. That is to say, it not only expresses the notion of diligent, strenuous effort, but it reveals the reason for that diligence and strenuousness in what I may call (for the word might almost be so rendered) the ambition of being honoured by pleasing Christ. So that the labour' of my text covers the whole ground, not only of the act but of its motive. The concentration of effort which such an aim requires may be enforced by one or two simple exhortations.

First, let me say that we ought, as Christian people, to cultivate this noble ambition of pleasing Jesus Christ. Men have all got the love of approbation deep in them. God put it there for a good purpose, not that we might shape our lives so as to get others to pat us on the back, and say,' Well done!' but that, in addition to the other solemn and sovereign motives for following the paths of righteousness, we might have this highest ambition to impel us on the road. And it is the duty of all Christians to see to it that they discipline themselves so as, in their own feelings, to put high above all the approbation or censure of their fellows the approbation or censure of Jesus Christ. That will take some cultivation. It is a great deal easier to shape our courses so as to get one another's praise. I remember a quaint saying in a German book. An old schoolmaster tried to please this one and that one, and it failed. "Well, then," said he, "I will try to please Christ." And that succeeded.'

And let me remind you that a second part of the concentration of effort which this aim requires is to strive with the utmost energy in the accomplishment of it. Paul did not believe that anybody could please Jesus Christ without a fight for it. His notion of acceptable service was service which a man suppressed much to render, and overcame much to bring. And I urge upon you this, dear brethren, that with all the mob of faces round about us which shut out Christ's face, and with all the temptations to follow other aims, and with the weaknesses of our own characters, it never was, is not, nor ever will be, an easy thing, or a thing to be done without a struggle and a dead lift, to live so as to be well-pleasing to Him.

Look at Paul's metaphors with which he sets forth the Christian life--a warfare, a race, a struggle, a building up of some great temple structure, and the like--all suggesting at the least the idea of patient, persistent, continuous toil, and most of them suggesting also the idea of struggle with antagonistic forces and difficulties, either within or without. So we must set our shoulders to the wheel, put our backs into our work. Do not think that you are going to be carried into the condition of conformity with Jesus Christ in a dream, or that the road to heaven is a primrose path, to be trodden in silver slippers. I will not offer unto the Lord that which doth cost me nothing,' and if you do, it will be worth exactly what it costs. There must be concentration of effort if we are to be well-pleasing to Him.

But then do not forget, on the other hand, that deeper than all effort, and the very spring and life of it, there must be the opening of our hearts for the entrance of His life and spirit, by the presence of which only are we well-pleasing to Christ. That which pleases Him in you and me is our likeness to Him. According to the old Puritan illustration, the refiner sat by the furnace until he could see in the molten metal his own face mirrored, and then he knew it was pure. So what pleases Christ in us is the reflection of Himself. And how can we get that likeness to Himself except by receiving into our hearts the Spirit that was in Christ Jesus, and will dwell in us, and will produce in us in our measure the same image that it formed in Him? Work out your own salvation,' because it is God that worketh in you.' Labour, concentrate effort, and above all open the heart to the entrance of that transforming power.

III. Lastly, Let Me Suggest The Utter Insignificance To Which This Aim Reduces All Externals.

We labour,' says Paul, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted.' What differences of condition are covered by that parenthetical phrase--present or absent!' He talks about it as if it was a very small matter, does he not? And what is included in it? Whether a man shall be in the body or out of it; that is to say, whether he be alive or dead. Here is an aim then, so great, so lofty, so all-comprehensive that it reduces the difference between living in the world and being out of it, to a trifle. And if we stand so high up that these two varieties of condition dwindle into insignificance and seem to have melted into one, do you think that there is anything else that will be very big? If the difference between life and death is dwindled and dwarfed, what else do you suppose will remain? Nothing, I should think.

So if we only, by God's help, which will be given to us if we want it, keep this clear before us as the motive of all our life, then all the possible alternatives of human condition and circumstance will sink into insignificance, and from that lofty summit will show scarce so gross as beetles' in the air beneath our lofty station.

Whether we be rich or poor, solitary or beset by friends, happy or sad, hopeful or despairing, young or old, wearied or buoyant, learned or foolish, it matters not. The one aim lifts itself before us, and they in whose eyes shine the light of that great issue are careless of the road along which they pass. Do you enlist yourselves in the company that fires at the long range, and all those that take aim at the shorter ones will seem to be very pitifully limiting their powers.

Then remember that this same aim, and this same result may be equally pursued and attained whether here or yonder. It is something to have a course of life which runs straight along, unbent aside, and not cut short off, by the change from earth to Heaven. And this felicity he only has who, amidst things temporal and insignificant, sees and seeks the eternal smile on the face of his unchanging Saviour. On earth, in death, through eternity, such a life will be homogeneous and of a piece; and when all other aims are hull down below the horizon, forgotten and out of sight, then still this will be the purpose, and yonder it will be the accomplished purpose, of each, to please the Lord Jesus Christ.

My dear friend, remember that in its full meaning this aim regards the future, and points onward to that great judgment-seat where you and I will certainly each of us give account of himself. Do you think that you will please Christ then? Do you think that When that day dawns, a smile of welcome will come into His eyes, and a glow of gladness at the meeting into yours? Or have you cause to fear that you will call on the rocks and the hills to cover you from the face of Him that sitteth on the Throne?'

We are all close by one another; our voices are very audible to each other. Do you learn, Christian people, that the first,--or at least a prime--condition of all Christian and Christ-pleasing life, is a wholesome disregard of what anybody says but Himself. The old Lacedaemonians used to stir themselves to heroism by the thought: What will they say of us in Sparta?' The governor of some outlying English colony minds very little what the people that he is set to rule think about him. He reports to Downing Street, and it is the opinion of the Home Government that influences him. You report to headquarters. Never mind what anybody else thinks of you. Your business is to please Christ, and the less you trouble yourselves about pleasing men the more you will succeed in doing it. Be deaf to the tittle tattle of your fellow soldiers in the ranks. It is your Commander's smile that will be your highest reward.

Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil, But lives and spreads aloft by those pure eyes, And perfect witness of all-judging Jove; As he pronounces lastly on each deed,

Of so much fame in heaven expect thy meed.'

Maclaren: 2Co 5:14

The Love That Constrains

The love of Christ constraineth us.'--2 Cor. 5:14.

IT is a dangerous thing to be unlike other people. It is still more dangerous to be better than other people. The world has a little heap of depreciatory terms which it flings, age after age, at all men who have a higher standard and nobler aims than their fellows. A favourite term is mad.' So, long ago they said, The prophet is a fool; the spiritual man is mad,' and, in His turn, Jesus was said to be beside Himself,' and Festus shouted from the judgment-seat to Paul that he was mad. A great many people had said the same thing about him before, as the context shows. For the verse before my text is: Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.' Now the former clause can only refer to other people's estimate of the Apostle. No doubt there were many things about him that gave colour to it. He said that a dead Man had appeared to him and spoken with him. He said that he had been carried up into the third heaven. He had a very strange creed in the judgment of the times. He had abandoned a brilliant career for a very poor one. He was obviously utterly indifferent to the ordinary aims of men. He had a consuming enthusiasm. And so the world explained him satisfactorily to itself by the short and easy method of saying, Insane.' And Paul explained himself by the great word of my text,' The love of Christ constraineth us.' Wherever there is a life adequately under the influence of Christ's love the results will be such as an unsympathising world may call madness, but which are the perfection of sober-mindedness. Would there were more such madmen! I wish to try to make one or two of them now, by getting some of you to take for your motto, The love of Christ constraineth us.'

I. Now The First Thing To Notice Is This Constraining Love.

I need not spend time in showing that when Paul says here' The love of Christ,' he means Christ's love to ,him, not his to Christ. That is in accordance with his continual usage of the expression; and it is in accordance with facts. For it is not my love to Jesus, but His love to me, that brings the real moulding power into my life, and my love to Him is only the condition on which the true power acts upon me. To get the fulcrum and the lever which will heave a life up to the heights you have to get out of yourselves.

Now Paul never saw Jesus Christ in this earthly life. Timothy, who is associated with him in this letter, and perhaps is one of the us, never saw Him either. The Corinthian believers whom he is addressing had, of course, never seen Him. And yet the Apostle has not the slightest hesitation in taking that great benediction of Christ's love and spreading it over them all. That love is independent of time and of space; it includes humanity, and is co-extensive with it. Unturned away by unworthiness, unrepelled by non-responsiveness, undisgusted by any sin, unwearied by any, however numerous, foiling of its attempts, the love of Christ, like the great heavens that bend above us, wraps us all in its sweetness, and showers upon us all its light and its dew.

And yet, brethren, I would have you remember that whilst we thus try to paint, in poor, poor words, the universality of that love, we have to remember that it does not partake of the weakness that infects all human affections, which are only strong when they are narrow, and as the river expands it becomes shallow, and loses the force in its flow which it had when it was gathered between straiter banks, so as that a universal charity is almost akin to a universal indifference. But this love that grasps us all, this river that proceedeth from the Throne of God and of the Lamb,' flows in its widest reaches as deep and as impetuous in its career as if it were held within the narrowest of gorges. For Christ's universal love is universal only because it is individualising and particular. We love our nation by generalising and losing sight of the individuals. Christ loves the world because He loves every man and woman in it, and His grace enwraps all because His grace hovers over each.

The sun whose beams most glorious areDespiseth no beholder,'

But the rays come straight to each eyeball. Be sure of this: that He who, when the multitude thronged Him and pressed Him, felt the tremulous, timid, scarcely perceptible touch of one woman's wasted finger on the hem of His garment, holds each of us in the grasp of His love, which is universal, because it applies to each. You and I have each the whole radiance of it pouring down on our heads, and none intercepts the beams from any other. So, brethren, let us each feel not only the love that grasps the world, but the love that empties itself on me.

But there is one more remark that I wish to make in reference to this constraining love of Jesus Christ, and that is, that in order to see and feel it we must take the point of view that this Apostle takes in my text. For hearken how he goes on. The love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then all died, and that He died for all,' etc. That is to say, the death of Christ for all, which is equivalent to the death of Christ for each, is the great solvent by which the love of God melts men's hearts, and is the great proof that Jesus Christ loves me, and thee, and all of us. If you strike out that conception you have struck out from your Christianity the vindication of the belief that Christ loves the world. What possible meaning is there in the expression, He died for all?' How can the fact of His death on a green hill' outside the gates of a little city in Syria have world-wide issues, unless in that death He bore, and bore away, the sins of the whole world? I know that there have been many--and there are many to-day--who not accepting what seems to me to be the very vital heart of Christianity--viz. the death of Christ for the world's sin, do yet cherish--as I think illogically--yet do cherish a regard for Him, which puts some of us who call ourselves orthodox,' and are tepid, to the blush. Thank God! men are often better than their creeds, as well as worse than them. But that fact does not affect what I am saying now, and what I beg you to take for what you find it to be worth, that unless we believe that Jesus Christ died for all, I do not know what claim He has on the love of the world. We shall admire Him, we shall bow before Him, as the very realised ideal of humanity, though how this one Man has managed to escape the taint of the all-pervading evil remains, upon that hypothesis, very obscure. But love Him? No! Why should I? But if I feel that His death had world-wide issues, and that He went down into the darkness in order that He might bring the world into the light, then--and I am sure, on the wide scale and in the long-run only then--will men turn to Him and say,' Thou hast died for me, help me to live for Thee.' Brethren, I beseech you, take care of emptying the death of Christ of its deepest meaning, lest you should thereby rob His character of its chiefest charm, and His name of its mightiest soul-melting power. The love that constraineth is the love that died, and died for all, because it died for each.

II. Now Let Me Ask You To Consider The Echo Of This Constraining Love.

I said a moment or two ago that Christ's love to us is the constraining power, and that ours to Him is but the condition on which that power works. But between the two there comes something which brings that constraining love to bear upon our hearts. And so notice what my text goes on to adduce as needful for Christ's love to have its effect--namely, because we thus judge,' etc. Then my estimate, my apprehension of the love of Christ must come in between its manifestation and its power to grip, to restrain, to impel me. If I may use such a figure, He stands, as it were, bugle in hand, and blows the sweet strains that are meant to set the echoes flying. But the rock must receive the impact of the vibrations ere it can throw back the thinned echo of the music. Love must be believed and known ere it can be responded to.

Now the only answer and echo that hearts desire is the love of the beloved heart. We all know that in our earthly life. Love is as much a hunger to be loved as the outgoing of my own affection. The two things are inseparable, and there is nothing that repays love but love. Jesus Christ wishes each of us to love Him. If it is true that He loves me, then, intertwisted with the outgoing of His heart towards me is the yearning that my heart may go out towards Him. Dear brethren, this is no pulpit rhetoric, it is a plain, simple fact, inseparable from the belief in Christ's love--that He wishes you and every soul of man to love Him, and that, whatever else you bring, lip reverence, orthodox belief, apparent surrender, in the assay shop of His great mint all these are rejected, and the only metal that passes the fire is the pure gold of an answering love. Brethren! is that what you bring to Jesus Christ?

Love seeks for love, and our love can only be an echo of His. He takes the beginning in everything. If I am to love Him back again, I must have faith in His love to me. And if that be so, then the true way by which you, imperfect Christian people, can deepen and strengthen your love to Jesus Christ is not so much by efforts to work up a certain warmth of sentiment and glow of affection, as by gazing, with believing eyes of the heart, upon that which kindles your love to Him. If you want ice to melt, put it out into the sunshine. If you want the mirror to gleam, do not spend all your time in polishing it. Carry it where it can catch the ray, and it will flash it back in glory. We love Him because He first loved us.' Our love is an echo; be sure that you listen for the parent note, and link yourselves by faith with that great love which has come down from Heaven for us all.

But how can I speak about echoes and responses when I know that there are scores of men and women whom a preacher's words reach who would be ashamed of themselves, and rightly, if they exhibited the same callousness of heart and selfishness of ingratitude to some human, partial benefactor as they are not ashamed to have exhibited all their lives to Jesus Christ. Echo? Yes! your heartstrings are set vibrating fast enough whenever, in the adjoining apartment, an instrument is touched which is tuned to the same key as your heart. Pleasures, earthly aims, worldly gifts, the sweetnesses of human life, all these things set them thrilling, and you can hear the music, but your hearts are not tuned to answer to the note that is struck in He loved me and gave' Himself for me.' The bugle is blown, and there is silence, and no echo, faint and far, comes whispering back. Brethren, we use no one else, in whose love we have any belief, a thousandth part so ill as we use Jesus Christ.

III. Now, Lastly, Let Me Say A Word About The Constraining Influence Of This Echoed Love.

Its first effect, if it has any real power in our hearts and lives, will be to change their centre, to decentralise. Look what the Apostle goes on to say: We thus judge that He … died for all, that they which live should not live henceforth unto themselves.' That is the great transformation. Secure that, and all nobleness will follow, and whatsoever things are lovely and of good report' will come, like doves to their windows, flocking into the soul that has ceased to find its centre in its poor rebellious self. All love derives its power to elevate, refine, beautify, ennoble, conquer, from the fact that, in lower degree, all love makes the beloved the centre, and not the self. Hence the mother's self-sacrifice, hence the sweet reciprocity of wedded life, hence everything in humanity that is noble and good. Love is the antagonist of selfishness, and the highest type of love should be, and in the measure in which we are under the influence of Christ's love will be, the self-surrendering life of a Christian man. I know that in saying so I am condemning myself and my brethren. All the same, it is true. The one power that rescues a man from the tyranny of living for self, which is the mother of all sin and ignobleness, is when a man can say' Christ is my aim," Christ is my object.' The life that I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.' There is no secret of self-annihilation, which is self-transfiguration, and, I was going to say, deification, like that of loving Christ with all my heart because He has loved me so.

Again, let me remind you that, on its lower reaches and levels, we find that all true affection has in it a strange power of assimilating its objects to one another. Just as a man and woman who have lived together for half a century in wedded life come to have the same notions, the same prejudices, the same tastes, and sometimes you can see their very faces being moulded into likeness, so, if I love Jesus Christ, I shall by degrees grow liker and liker to Him, and be changed into the same image, from glory to glory.'

Again, the love constrains, and not only constrains but impels, because it becomes a joy to divine and to do the will of the beloved Christ. My yoke is easy.'

Is it? It is very hard to be a Christian. His requirements are a great deal sterner than others. His yoke is easy, not because it is a lighter yoke, but because it is padded with love. And that makes all service a sacrament, and the surrender of my own will, which is the essence of obedience, a joy.

So, dear friends, we come here in sight of the unique and blessed characteristic of all Christian morality, and of all its practical exhortations, and the Gospel stands alone as the mightiest moulding power in the world, just because its word is love, and do as thou wilt.' For in the measure of thy love will thy will coincide with the will of Christ. There is nothing else that has anything like that power. We do not want to be told what is right. We know it a great deal better than we practise it. A revelation from heaven that simply told me my duty would be surplusage. If there had been a law that could have given life, righteousness had been by the law.' We want a life, not a law, and the love of Christ brings the life to us.

And so, dear friends, that life, restrained and impelled by the love to which it is being assimilated, is a life of liberty and a life of blessedness. In the measure in which the love of Christ constrains any man, it makes for him difficulties easy, the impossible possible, the crooked things straight, and the rough places plain. The duty becomes a delight, and self ceases to disturb. If the love of God is shed abroad in a heart, and in the measure in which it is, that heart will be at rest, and a great peace will brood over it. Then the will bows in glad submission, and all the powers arise to joyous service. We are lords of the world and ourselves when we are Christ's servants for love's sake; and earth and its good are never so good as when the power of His echoed love rules our lives. Do you know and believe that Christ loves you? Do you know and believe that you had a place in His heart when He hung on the Cross for the salvation of the world? Have you answered that love with yours, kindled by your faith in, and experience of, His? Is His love the overmastering impulse which urges you to all good, the mighty constraint that keeps you back from all evil, the magnet that draws, the anchor that steadies, the fortress that defends, the light that illumines, the treasure that enriches? Is it the law that commands, and the power that enables? Then you are blessed, though people will perhaps say that you are mad, whilst here; and you will be blessed for ever and ever.

Maclaren: 2Co 5:20

The Entreaties Of God

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech, by us: we pray, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.'--2 Cor. 5:20.

THESE are wonderful and bold words, not so much because of what they claim for the servants as because of what they reveal of the Lord. That thought, as though God did beseech,' seems to me to be the one deserving of our attention now, far rather than any, inferences which may be drawn from the words as to the relation of preachers of the Gospel to man and to God. I wish, therefore, to try to set forth the wonderfulness of this mystery of a beseeching God, and to put by the side of it the other wonder and mystery of men refusing the divine beseechings.

Before doing so, however, I remark that the supplement which stands in our Authorised Version in this text is a misleading and unfortunate one. As though God did beseech you' and we pray you' unduly narrow the scope of the Apostolic message, and confuse the whole course of the Apostolic reasoning here. For he has been speaking of a world which is reconciled to God, and he finds a consequence of that reconciliation of the world in the fact that he and his fellow-preachers are entrusted with the word of reconciliation. The scope of their message, then, can be no narrower than the scope of the reconciliation; and inasmuch as that is world-wide the beseeching must be co-extensive therewith, and must cover the whole ground of humanity. It is a universal message that is set forth here. The Corinthians, to whom Paul was speaking, are, by his hypothesis, already reconciled to God, and the message which he has in trust for them is given in the subsequent words: We then, as workers together with God, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.' But the message, the pleading of the divine heart,' be ye reconciled to God,' is a pleading that reaches over the whole range of a reconciled world. I take then, just these two thoughts, God beseeching man, and man refusing God.

I. God Beseeching Man.

Now notice how, in my text, there alternates, as if substantially the same idea, the thoughts that Christ and that God pray men to be reconciled. We are ambassadors on Christ's behalf, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray on Christ's behalf.' So you see, first, Christ the Pleader, then God beseeching, then Christ again entreating and praying. Could any man have so spoken, passing instinctively from the one thought to the other, unless he had believed that whatsoever things the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise; and that Jesus Christ is the Representative of the whole Deity for mankind, so as that when He pleads God pleads, and God pleads through Him. I do not dwell upon this, but I simply wish to mark it in passing as one of the innumerable strong and irrefragable testimonies to the familiarity and firmness with which that thought of the divinity of Jesus Christ, and the full revelation of the Father by Him, was grasped by the Apostle, and was believed by the people to whom he spoke. God pleads, therefore Christ pleads, Christ pleads, therefore God pleads; and these Two are One in their beseechings, and the voice of the Father echoes to us in the tenderness of the Son.

So, then, let us think of that pleading. To sue for love, to beg that an enemy will put away his enmity is the part of the inferior rather than of the superior; is the part of the offender rather than of the offended; is the part of the vanquished rather than of the victor; is the part surely not of the king but of the rebel. And yet here, in the sublime transcending of all human precedent and pattern which characterises the divine dealing, we have the place of the suppliant and of the supplicated inverted, and Love upon the Throne bends down to ask of the rebel that lies powerless and sullen at His feet, and yet is not conquered until his heart be won, though his limbs be manacled, that he would put away all the bitterness out of his heart, and come back to the love and the grace which are ready to pour over him. He that might the vengeance best have taken, finds out the remedy.' He against whom we have transgressed prays us to be reconciled; and the Infinite Love lowers Himself in that lowering which is, in another aspect, the climax of His exaltation, to pray the rebels to accept His amnesty.

Oh, dear brethren! this is no mere piece of rhetoric. What facts in the divine heart does it represent? What facts in the divine conduct does it represent? It represents these facts in the divine heart, that there is in it an infinite longing for the creature's love, an infinite desire for unity between Him and us.

There are wonderful significance and beauty in the language of my text which are lost in the Authorised Version; but are preserved in the Revised. We are ambassadors' not only for Christ,' but on Christ's behalf.' And the same proposition is repeated in the subsequent clause. We pray you,' not merely in Christ's stead,' though that is much, but on His account,' which is more--as if it lay very near His heart that we should put away our enmity; and as if in some transcendent and wonderful manner the all-perfect, self-sufficing God was made glad, and the Master, who is His image for us, saw of the travail of His soul, and,' in regard to one man, was satisfied,' when the man lets the warmth of God's love in Christ thaw away the coldness out of his heart, and kindle there an answering flame. An old divine says,' We cannot do God a greater pleasure or more oblige His very heart, than to trust in Him as a God of love.' He is ready to stoop to any humiliation to effect that purpose. So intense is the divine desire to win the world to His love, that He will stoop to sue for it rather than lose it. Such is at least part of the fact in the divine heart, which is shadowed forth for us by that wonderful thought of the beseeching God.

And what facts in the divine conduct does this great word represent? A God that beseeches. Well, think of the tears of imploring love which fell from Christ's eyes as He looked across the valley from Olivet, and" saw the Temple glittering in the early sunshine. Think of O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! how often would I have gathered thy children together, and ye would not.' And are we not to see in the Christ who wept in the earnestness of His desire, and in the pain of its disappointment, the very revelation of the Father's heart and the very action of the Father's arm? Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' That is Christ beseeching and God beseeching in Him. Need I quote other words, gentle, winning, loving? Do we not feel, when looking upon Christ, as if the secret of His whole life was the stretching out imploring and welcoming hands to men, and praying them to grasp His hands, and be saved? But, oh, brethren! the fact that towers above all others, which explains the whole procedure of divinity, and is the keystone of the whole arch of revelation; the fact which reveals in one triple beam of light, God, man, and sin in the clearest illumination, is the Cross of Jesus Christ. And if that be not the very sublime of entreaty; and if any voice can be conceived, human or divine, that shall reach men's hearts with a more piercing note of pathetic invitation than sounds from that Cross, I know not where it is. Christ that dies, in His dying breath calls to us, and' the blood of sprinkling speaketh better things than that of Abel'; inasmuch as its voice is, Come unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.'

Not only in the divine facts of the life and death of Jesus Christ, but in all the appeals of that great revelation which lies before us in Scripture; and may I say, in the poor, broken utterances of men whose harsh, thin voices try to set themselves, in some measure, to the sweetness and the fulness of His beseeching tones, does God call upon you to draw close to Him, and put away your enmity. And not only by His Word written or ministered from human lips, but also by the patient providences of His love He calls and prays you to come. A mother will sometimes, in foolish fondness, coax her sullen child by injudicious kindness, or, in wise patience, will seek to draw the little heart away from the faults that she desires not to notice, by redoubled ingenuity of tenderness and of care. And so God does with us. When you and I, who deserve--oh! so different treatment, get, as we do get, daily care and providential blessings from Him, is not that His saying to us, I beseech you to cherish no alienation, enmity, indifference, but to come back and live in the love'? When He draws near to us in these outward gifts of His mercy, is He not doing Himself what He has bid us to do; and what He never could have bid us to do, nor our hearts have recognised to be the highest strain of human virtue to do, unless He Himself were doing it first? If thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head.'

Not only by the great demonstration of His stooping and infinite desire for our love which lies in the life and death of Jesus Christ, nor only by His outward work, nor by His providence, but by many an inward touch on our spirits, by many a prick of conscience, by many a strange longing that has swept across our souls, sudden as some perfumed air in the scentless atmosphere; by many an inward voice, coming we know not whence, that has spoken to us of Him, of His love, of our duty; by many a drawing which has brought us nearer to the Cross of Jesus Christ, only, alas! in some cases that we might recoil further from it,--has He been beseeching, beseeching us all. Brethren! God pleads with you. He pleads with you because there is nothing in His heart to any of you but love, and a desire to bless you; He pleads with you because, unless you will let Him, He cannot lavish upon you His richest gifts and His highest blessings.

He pleads with you, bowing to the level, and beneath the level, of your alienation and reluctance. And the sum and substance of all His dealings with every soul is,' My son! give Me thy heart.' Be ye reconciled to God.'

II. And Now Turn, Very Briefly, To The Next Suggestion Arising From This Text, The Terrible Obverse.

So to speak, of the coin: Man refusing a beseeching God.

That is the great paradox and mystery. Nobody has ever fathomed that yet, and nobody will. How it comes, how it is possible, there is no need for us to inquire. It is an awful and a solemn power that every poor little speck of humanity has, to lift itself up in God's face, and say, in answer to all His pleadings, I will not!' as if the dwellers in some little island, a mere pin-point of black, barren rock, jutting up at sea, were to declare war against a kingdom that stretched through twenty degrees of longitude on the mainland. So we, on our little bit of island, our pin-point of rock in the great waste ocean, we can separate ourselves from the great Continent; or, rather, God has, in a fashion, made us separate in order that we may either unite ourselves with Him, by our willing yielding, or wrench ourselves away from Him by our antagonism and rebellion. God beseeches because God has so settled the relations between Him and us, that that is what He has to do in order to get men to love Him. He cannot force them. He cannot prise open a man's heart with a crowbar, as it were, and force Himself inside.

The door opens from within. Behold! I stand at the door and knock.' There is an if.' If any man open I will come in.' Hence the beseeching, hence the wail of wisdom that cries aloud and no man regards it; of love that stands at the entering in of the city, and pleads in vain, and says, I have called, and ye have refused … How often would I have gathered… and ye would not.' Oh, brethren! it is an awful responsibility, a mysterious prerogative, which each one of us, whether consciously or no, has to exercise, to accept or to refuse the pleadings of an entreating Christ.

And let me remind you that the act of refusal is a very simple one. Not to accept is to reject; not to yield is to rebel. You have only to do nothing, to do it all. There are dozens of people in our churches and chapels listening with self-satisfied unconcern, who have all their lives been refusing a beseeching God. And they do not know that they ever did it! They say, Oh! I will be a Christian some time or other.' They cherish vague ideas that, somehow or other, they are so already. They have done nothing at all, they have simply been absolutely indifferent and passive. Some of you have heard sermons like this so often that they produce no effect. It is the right kind of thing to say. It is the thing we have heard a hundred times.' Perhaps you wonder why I should be so much in earnest about the matter, and then you go outside, and discuss me or the weather, and forget all about the sermon.

And thus, once more, you reject Christ. It is done without knowing it; done simply by doing nothing. My brother! do not stop your ears any more against that tender, imploring love.

Then let me remind you that this refusing the beseechings of God is the climax of all folly. For consider what it is, a man refusing his highest good and choosing his certain ruin. I am afraid that people have been arguing and fighting so much of late years over disputable points in reference to the doctrine of future retribution that the indisputable fact of such retribution has lost much of its solemn power.

I pray you, brethren, to ask yourselves one question: Is there anything, in the present or in the future condition of a man that is not reconciled to God, which explains God's beseeching urgency? Why this energy and intensity of divine desire? Why this which, if it were human only, would be called passionate entreaty? Why was it needful for Jesus Christ to die? Why was it worth His while to bear the punishment of man's sin? Why should God and Christ, through all the ages, plead with unintermittent voice? There must be some explanation of it all, and here is the explanation, They that hate Me love death.' Be ye reconciled to God,' for enmity is ruin and destruction.

And finally, dear friends, this turning away from Him that speaketh from Heaven, of which some of you have all your lives been guilty, is not only supreme folly, but it is the climax of all guilt. For there can be nothing worse, darker, arguing a nature more averse or indifferent to the highest good, than that God should plead, and I should steel my heart and deafen mine ear against His voice. The crown of a man's sin, because it is the disclosure of the secrets of his deepest heart as loving darkness rather than light, is turning away from the divine voice that woos us to love and to God.

Oh! there are some of you that have heard that Voice too often to be much touched by it. There are some of you too busy to attend to it, who hear it not because of the clatter of the streets and the whir of the spindles. There are some of you that are seeking to drown it in the shouts of mirth and revelry. There are some of you to whom it comes muffled in the mists of doubt; but I beseech you all, look at the Cross, look at the Cross! and hear Him that hangs there pleading with you.

Before the battle there comes out the captain of the twenty thousand to the King with the ten thousand, who in His loftiness is not afraid to stoop to sue for peace from the weaker power. My brother! the moment is precious; the white flag may never be waved before your eyes again. Do not; do not refuse! or the next instant the clarion of the assault may sound, and where will you be then?

It is vain for thee to rush against the thick bosses of the Almighty buckler. We beseech, in Christ's behalf, be ye reconciled with God.'

MHCC: 2Co 5:1-8

The believer not only is well assured by faith that there is another and a happy life after this is ended, but he has good hope, through grace, of heaven as a dwelling-place, a resting-place, a hiding-place. In our Father's house there are many mansions, whose Builder and Maker is God. The happiness of the future state is what God has prepared for those that love him: everlasting habitations, not like the earthly tabernacles, the poor cottages of clay, in which our souls now dwell; that are mouldering and decaying, whose foundations are in the dust. The body of flesh is a heavy burden, the calamities of life are a heavy load. But believers groan, being burdened with a body of sin, and because of the many corruptions remaining and raging within them. Death will strip us of the clothing of flesh, and all the comforts of life, as well as end all our troubles here below. But believing souls shall be clothed with garments of praise, with robes of righteousness and glory. The present graces and comforts of the Spirit are earnests of everlasting grace and comfort. And though God is with us here, by his Spirit, and in his ordinances, yet we are not with him as we hope to be. Faith is for this world, and sight is for the other world. It is our duty, and it will be our interest, to walk by faith, till we live by sight. This shows clearly the happiness to be enjoyed by the souls of believers when absent from the body, and where Jesus makes known his glorious presence. We are related to the body and to the Lord; each claims a part in us. But how much more powerfully the Lord pleads for having the soul of the believer closely united with himself! Thou art one of the souls I have loved and chosen; one of those given to me. What is death, as an object of fear, compared with being absent from the Lord!

MHCC: 2Co 5:9-15

The apostle quickens himself and others to acts of duty. Well-grounded hopes of heaven will not encourage sloth and sinful security. Let all consider the judgment to come, which is called, The terror of the Lord. Knowing what terrible vengeance the Lord would execute upon the workers of iniquity, the apostle and his brethren used every argument and persuasion, to lead men to believe in the Lord Jesus, and to act as his disciples. Their zeal and diligence were for the glory of God and the good of the church. Christ's love to us will have a like effect upon us, if duly considered and rightly judged. All were lost and undone, dead and ruined, slaves to sin, having no power to deliver themselves, and must have remained thus miserable for ever, if Christ had not died. We should not make ourselves, but Christ, the end of our living and actions. A Christian's life should be devoted to Christ. Alas, how many show the worthlessness of their professed faith and love, by living to themselves and to the world!

MHCC: 2Co 5:16-21

The renewed man acts upon new principles, by new rules, with new ends, and in new company. The believer is created anew; his heart is not merely set right, but a new heart is given him. He is the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Though the same as a man, he is changed in his character and conduct. These words must and do mean more than an outward reformation. The man who formerly saw no beauty in the Saviour that he should desire him, now loves him above all things. The heart of the unregenerate is filled with enmity against God, and God is justly offended with him. Yet there may be reconciliation. Our offended God has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. By the inspiration of God, the Scriptures were written, which are the word of reconciliation; showing that peace has been made by the cross, and how we may be interested therein. Though God cannot lose by the quarrel, nor gain by the peace, yet he beseeches sinners to lay aside their enmity, and accept the salvation he offers. Christ knew no sin. He was made Sin; not a sinner, but Sin, a Sin-offering, a Sacrifice for sin. The end and design of all this was, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, might be justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Can any lose, labour, or suffer too much for Him, who gave his beloved Son to be the Sacrifice for their sins, that they might be made the righteousness of God in him?

Matthew Henry: 2Co 5:1-11

The apostle in these verses pursues the argument of the former chapter, concerning the grounds of their courage and patience under afflictions. And,

I. He mentions their expectation, and desire, and assurance, of eternal happiness after death, 2Co 5:1-5. Observe particularly,

1. The believer's expectation of eternal happiness after death, 2Co 5:1. He does not only know, or is well assured by faith of the truth and reality of the thing itself - that there is another and a happy life after this present life is ended, but he has good hope through grace of his interest in that everlasting blessedness of the unseen world: "We know that we have a building of God, we have a firm and well-grounded expectation of the future felicity."Let us take notice, (1.) What heaven is in the eye and hope of a believer. He looks upon it as a house, or habitation, a dwelling-place, a resting-place, a hiding-place, our Father's house, where there are many mansions, and our everlasting home. It is a house in the heavens, in that high and holy place which as far excels all the palaces of this earth as the heavens are high above the earth. It is a building of God, whose builder and maker is God, and therefore is worthy of its author; the happiness of the future state is what God hath prepared for those that love him. It is eternal in the heavens, everlasting habitations, not like the earthly tabernacles, the poor cottages of clay in which our souls now dwell, which are mouldering and decaying, and whose foundations are in the dust. (2.) When it is expected this happiness shall be enjoyed - immediately after death, so soon as our house of this earthly tabernacle is dissolved. Note, [1.] That the body, this earthly house, is but a tabernacle, that must be dissolved shortly; the nails or pins will be drawn, and the cords be loosed, and then the body will return to dust as it was. [2.] When this comes to pass, then comes the house not made with hands. The spirit returns to God who gave it; and such as have walked with God here shall dwell with God for ever.

2. The believer's earnest desire after this future blessedness, which is expressed by this word, stenazomen - we groan, which denotes, (1.) A groaning of sorrow under a heavy load; so believers groan under the burden of life: In this we groan earnestly, 2Co 5:2. We that are in this tabernacle groan, being burdened, 2Co 5:4. The body of flesh is a heavy burden, the calamities of life are a heavy load. But believers groan because burdened with a body of sin, and the many corruptions that are still remaining and raging in them. This makes them complain, O wretched man that I am! Rom 7:24. (2.) There is a groaning of desire after the happiness of another life; and thus believers groan: Earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven (2Co 5:2), to obtain a blessed immortality, that mortality might be swallowed up of life (2Co 5:4), that being found clothed, we may not be naked (2Co 5:3), that, if it were the will of God, we might not sleep, but be changed; for it is not desirable in itself to be unclothed. Death considered merely as a separation of soul and body is not to be desired, but rather dreaded; but, considered as a passage to glory, the believer is willing rather to die than live, to be absent from the body, that he may be present with the Lord (2Co 5:1), to leave this body that he may go to Christ, and to put off these rags of mortality that he may put on the robes of glory. Note, [1.] Death will strip us of the clothing of flesh, and all the comforts of life, as well as put an end to all our troubles here below. Naked we came into this world, and naked shall we go out of it. But, [2.] Gracious souls are not found naked in the other world; no, they are clothed with garments of praise, with robes of righteousness and glory. They shall be delivered out of all their troubles, and shall have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, Rev 7:14.

3. The believer's assurance of his interest in this future blessedness, on a double account: - (1.) From the experience of the grace of God, in preparing and making him meet for this blessedness. He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, 2Co 5:5. Note, All who are designed for heaven hereafter are wrought or prepared for heaven while they are here; the stones of that spiritual building and temple above are squared and fashioned here below. And he that hath wrought us for this is God, because nothing less than a divine power can make a soul partaker of a divine nature; no hand less than the hand of God can work us for this thing. A great deal is to be done to prepare our souls for heaven, and that preparation of the heart is from the Lord. (2.) The earnest of the Spirit gave them this assurance: for an earnest is part of payment, and secures the full payment. The present graces and comforts of the Spirit are earnests of everlasting grace and comfort.

II. The apostle deduces an inference for the comfort of believers in their present state and condition in this world, 2Co 5:6-8. Here observe, 1. What their present state or condition is: they are absent from the Lord (2Co 5:6); they are pilgrims and strangers in this world; they do but sojourn here in their earthly home, or in this tabernacle; and though God is with us here, by his Spirit, and in his ordinances, yet we are not with him as we hope to be: we cannot see his face while we live: For we walk by faith, not by sight, 2Co 5:7. We have not the vision and fruition of God, as of an object that is present with us, and as we hope for hereafter, when we shall see as we are seen. Note, Faith is for this world, and sight is reserved for the other world: and it is our duty, and will be our interest, to walk by faith, till we come to live by sight. 2. How comfortable and courageous we ought to be in all the troubles of life, and in the hour of death: Therefore we are, or ought to be, always confident (2Co 5:6), and again (2Co 5:8), We are confident, and willing rather to be absent from the body. True Christians, if they duly considered the prospect faith gives them of another world, and the good reasons of their hope of blessedness after death, would be comforted under the troubles of life, and supported in the hour of death: they should take courage, when they are encountering the last enemy, and be willing rather to die than live, when it is the will of God that they should put off this tabernacle. Note, As those who are born from above long to be there, so it is but being absent from the body, and we shall very soon be present with the Lord - but to die, and be with Christ - but to close our eyes to all things in this world, and we shall open them in a world of glory. Faith will be turned into sight.

III. He proceeds to deduce an inference to excite and quicken himself and others to duty, 2Co 5:9-11. So it is that well-grounded hopes of heaven will be far from giving the least encouragement to sloth and sinful security; on the contrary, they should stir us up to use the greatest care and diligence in religion: Wherefore, or because we hope to be present with the Lord, we labour and take pains, 2Co 5:9. Philotimoumetha - We are ambitious, and labour as industriously as the most ambitious men do to obtain what they aim at. Here observe, 1. What it was that the apostle was thus ambitious of - acceptance with God. We labour that, living and dying, whether present in the body or absent from the body, we may be accepted of him, the Lord (2Co 5:9), that we may please him who hath chosen us, that our great Lord may say to us, Well done. This they coveted as the greatest favour and the highest honour: it was the summit of their ambition. 2. What further quickening motives they had to excite their diligence, from the consideration of the judgment to come, 2Co 5:10, 2Co 5:11. There are many things relating to this great matter that should awe the best of men into the utmost care and diligence in religion; for example, the certainty of this judgment, for we must appear; the universality of it, for we must all appear; the great Judge before whose judgment-seat we must appear, the Lord Jesus Christ, who himself will appear in flaming fire; the recompence to be then received, for things done in the body, which will be very particular (unto every one), and very just, according to what we have done, whether good or bad. The apostle calls this awful judgment the terror of the Lord (2Co 5:11), and, by the consideration thereof, was excited to persuade men to repent, and live a holy life, that, when Christ shall appear terribly, they may appear before him comfortably. And, concerning his fidelity and diligence, he comfortably appeals unto God, and the consciences of those he wrote to: We are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

Matthew Henry: 2Co 5:12-15

Here observe, I. The apostle makes an apology for seeming to commend himself and his fellow-labourers (2Co 5:13), and tells them, 1. It was not to commend themselves, nor for their own sakes, that he had spoken of their fidelity and diligence in the former verses; nor was he willing to suspect their good opinion of him. But, 2. The true reason was this, to put an argument in their mouths wherewith to answer his accusers, who made vain boastings, and gloried in appearances only; that he might give them an occasion to glory on their behalf, or to defend them against the reproaches of their adversaries. And if the people can say that the word has been manifested to their consciences, and been effectual to their conversion and edification, this is the best defence they can make for the ministry of the word, when they are vilified and reproached.

II. He gives good reasons for their great zeal and diligence. Some of Paul's adversaries had, it is likely, reproached him for his zeal and fervour, as if he had been a madman, or, in the language of our days, a fanatic; they imputed all to enthusiasm, as the Roman governor told him, Much learning has made thee mad, Act 26:24. But the apostle tells them, 1. It was for the glory of God, and the good of the church, that he was thus zealous and industrious: " Whether we be beside ourselves, or whether we be sober (whether you or others do think the one or the other), it is to God, and for his glory: and it is for your cause, or to promote your good,"2Co 5:13. If they manifested the greatest ardour and vehemency at some times, and used the greatest calmness in strong reasonings at other times, it was for the best ends; and in both methods they had good reason for what they did. For, 2. The love of Christ constrained them, 2Co 5:14. They were under the sweetest and strongest constraints to do what they did. Love has a constraining virtue to excite ministers and private Christians in their duty. Our love to Christ will have this virtue; and Christ's love to us, which was manifested in this great instance of his dying for us, will have this effect upon us, if it be duly considered and rightly judged of. For observe how the apostle argues for the reasonableness of love's constraints, and declares, (1.) What we were before, and must have continued to be, had not Christ died for us: We were dead, 2Co 5:14. If one died for all, then were all dead; dead in law, under sentence of death; dead in sins and trespasses, spiritually dead. Note, This was the deplorable condition of all those for whom Christ died: they were lost and undone, dead and ruined, and must have remained thus miserable for ever if Christ had not died for them. (2.) What such should do, for whom Christ died; namely, that they should live to him. This is what Christ designed, that those who live, who are made alive unto God by means of his death, should live to him that died for them, and rose again for their sakes also, and that they should not live to themselves, 2Co 5:15. Note, We should not make ourselves, but Christ, the end of our living and actions: and it was one end of Christ's death to cure us of this self-love, and to excite us always to act under the commanding influence of his love. A Christian's life should be consecrated to Christ; and then do we live as we ought to live when we live to Christ, who died for us.

Matthew Henry: 2Co 5:16-21

In these verses the apostle mentions two things that are necessary in order to our living to Christ, both of which are the consequences of Christ's dying for us; namely, regeneration and reconciliation.

I. Regeneration, which consists of two things; namely, 1. Weanedness from the world: " Henceforth we know no man after the flesh, 2Co 5:16. We do not own nor affect any person or thing in this world for carnal ends and outward advantage: we are enabled, by divine grace, not to mind nor regard this world, nor the things of this world, but to live above it. The love of Christ is in our hearts, and the world is under our feet."Note, Good Christians must enjoy the comforts of this life, and their relations in this world, with a holy indifference. Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet, says the apostle, we know him no more. It is questioned whether Paul had seen Christ in the flesh. However, the rest of the apostles had, and so might some among those he was now writing to. However, he would not have them value themselves upon that account; for even the bodily presence of Christ is not to be desired nor doted upon by his disciples. We must live upon his spiritual presence, and the comfort it affords. Note, Those who make images of Christ, and use them in their worship, do not take the way that God has appointed for strengthening their faith and quickening their affections; for it is the will of God that we should not know Christ any more after the flesh. 2. A thorough change of the heart: For if any man be in Christ, if any man be a Christian indeed, and will approve himself such, he is, or he must be, a new creature, 2Co 5:17. Some read it, Let him be a new creature. This ought to be the care of all who profess the Christian faith, that they be new creatures; not only that they have a new name, and wear a new livery, but that they have a new heart and new nature. And so great is the change the grace of God makes in the soul, that, as it follows, old things are passed away - old thoughts, old principles, and old practices, are passed away; and all these things must become new. Note, Regenerating grace creates a new world in the soul; all things are new. The renewed man acts from new principles, by new rules, with new ends, and in new company.

II. Reconciliation, which is here spoken of under a double notion: -

1. As an unquestionable privilege, 2Co 5:18, 2Co 5:19. Reconciliation supposes a quarrel, or breach of friendship; and sin has made a breach, it has broken the friendship between God and man. The heart of the sinner is filled with enmity against God, and God is justly offended with the sinner. Yet, behold, there may be a reconciliation; the offended Majesty of heaven is willing to be reconciled. And observe, 1. He has appointed the Mediator of reconciliation. He has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, 2Co 5:18. God is to be owned from first to last in the undertaking and performance of the Mediator. All things relating to our reconciliation by Jesus Christ are of God, who by the mediation of Jesus Christ has reconciled the world to himself, and put himself into a capacity of being actually reconciled to offenders, without any wrong or injury to his justice or holiness, and does not impute to men their trespasses, but recedes from the rigour of the first covenant, which was broken, and does not insist upon the advantage he might justly take against us for the breach of that covenant, but is willing to enter into a new treaty, and into a new covenant of grace, and, according to the tenour thereof, freely to forgive us all our sins, and justify freely by his grace all those who do believe. 2. He has appointed the ministry of reconciliation, 2Co 5:18. By the inspiration of God the scriptures were written, which contain the word of reconciliation, showing us that peace was made by the blood of the cross, that reconciliation is wrought, and directing us how we may be interested therein. And he has appointed the office of the ministry, which is a ministry of reconciliation: ministers are to open and proclaim to sinners the terms of mercy and reconciliation, and persuade them to comply therewith. For,

2. Reconciliation is here spoken of as our indispensable duty, 2Co 5:20. As God is willing to be reconciled to us, we ought to be reconciled to God. And it is the great end and design of the gospel, that word of reconciliation, to prevail upon sinners to lay aside their enmity against God. Faithful ministers are Christ's ambassadors, sent to treat with sinners on peace and reconciliation: they come in God's name, with his entreaties, and act in Christ's stead, doing the very thing he did when he was upon this earth, and what he wills to be done now that he is in heaven. Wonderful condescension! Though God can be no loser by the quarrel, nor gainer by the peace, yet by his ministers he beseeches sinners to lay aside their enmity, and accept of the terms he offers, that they would be reconciled to him, to all his attributes, to all his laws, and to all his providences, to believe in the Mediator, to accept the atonement, and comply with his gospel, in all the parts of it and in the whole design of it. And for our encouragement so to do the apostle subjoins what should be well known and duly considered by us (2Co 5:21), namely, (1.) The purity of the Mediator: He knew no sin. (2.) The sacrifice he offered: He was made sin; not a sinner, but sin, that is, a sin-offering, a sacrifice for sin. (3.) The end and design of all this: that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, might be justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Note, [1.] As Christ, who knew no sin of his own, was made sin for us, so we, who have no righteousness of our own, are made the righteousness of God in him. [2.] Our reconciliation to God is only through Jesus Christ, and for the sake of his merit: on him therefore we must rely, and make mention of his righteousness and his only.

Barclay: 2Co 5:1-10

There is a very significant progression of thought in this passage, a progression which gives us the very essence of the thought of Paul.

(i) To him it will be a day of joy when he is done with this human body. He regards it as merely a tent, a temporary dwelling place, in which we sojourn till the day comes when it is dissolved and we enter into the real abode of our souls.

We have had occasion before to see how Greek and Roman thinkers despised the body. "The body," they said, "is a tomb." Plotinus could say that he was ashamed that he had a body. Epictetus said of himself. "Thou art a poor soul burdened with a corpse." Seneca wrote, "I am a higher being and born for higher things than to be the slave of my body which I look upon as only a shackle put upon my freedom.... In so detestable a habitation dwells the free soul." Even Jewish thought sometimes had this idea. "For the corruptible body presses down upon the soul and the earthly tabernacle weighs down the mind that muses on many things." (Wis 9:15).

With Paul there is a difference. He is not looking for a Nirvana with the peace of extinction; he is not looking for absorption in the divine; he is not looking for the freedom of a disembodied spirit; he is waiting for the day when God will give him a new body, a spiritual body, in which he will still be able, even in the heavenly places, to serve and to adore God.

Kipling once wrote a poem in which he thought of all the great things that a man would be able to do in the world to come:

"When earth's last picture is painted

And the tubes are twisted and dried,

When the oldest colours have faded,

And the youngest critic has died,

We shall rest, and, faith, we shall need it--

Lie down for an aeon or two,

Till the Master of All Good Workmen

Shall put us to work anew.

And those that were good shall be happy,

They shall sit in a golden chair

They shall splash at a ten-league canvas

With brushes of comets' hair.

They shall find real saints to draw from,

Magdalene, Peter and Paul,

They shall work for an age at a sitting

And never be tired at all.

And only the Master shall praise them,

And only the Master shall blame;

And no one will work for money

And no one will work for fame;

But each for the joy of the working,

And each in his separate star,

Shall draw the thing as he sees it,

For the God of things as they are."

That was how Paul felt. He saw eternity not as release into permanent inaction, but as the entry into a body in which service could be complete.

(ii) For all his yearning for the life to come, Paul does not despise this life. He is, he says, in good heart. The reason is that even here and now we possess the Holy Spirit of God, and the Holy Spirit is the arrabon (728) (compare 2Co 1:22), the first instalment of the life to come. It is Paul's conviction that already the Christian can enjoy the foretaste of the life everlasting. It is given to the Christian to be a citizen of two worlds; and the result is, not that he despises this world, but that he finds it clad with a sheen of glory which is the reflection of the greater glory to come.

(iii) Then comes the note of sternness. Even when Paul was thinking of the life to come, he never forgot that we are on the way not only to glory, but also to judgment. "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ." The word for judgment seat is bema (968). Paul may be thinking simply of the tribunal of the Roman magistrate before which he himself had stood, or he may be thinking of the Greek way of justice.

All Greek citizens were liable to serve as judges, or, as we would say, as jurymen. When an Athenian sat in judgment on a case he was given two bronze discs. Each had a cylindrical axis. One axis was hollow and that disc stood for condemnation; one was solid and that disc stood for acquittal. On the bema (968) there stood two urns. One, of bronze, was called "the decisive urn", for into it the judge dropped the disc which stood for his verdict. The other, of wood, was called "the inoperative urn", for into it the judge dropped the disc which he desired to discard. So at the end the jury dropped into the bronze urn either the disc that stood for acquittal or the one that stood for condemnation. To an onlooker they looked exactly alike and none could tell the verdict the judges gave. Then the discs were counted and the verdict given.

Even so some day we shall await the verdict of God. When we remember that, life becomes a tremendous and a thrilling thing, for in it we are making or marring a destiny, winning or losing a crown. Time becomes the testing ground of eternity.

Barclay: 2Co 5:11-19

This passage follows very directly on the one that has gone before. Paul had just spoken of standing at the judgment tribunal of Christ. All his life is lived with that kept in view. It is not so much the terror of Christ he really talks about. It is rather awe and reverence that he means. The Old Testament is full of the thought of a cleansing fear. Job speaks of "the fear of the Lord that is wisdom." (Job 28:28). "What does the Lord your God require of you?" asks the writer of Deuteronomy, and the first item on his answer is, "to fear the Lord your God." (Deu 10:12). "The fear of the Lord," says Proverbs, "is the beginning of knowledge." (Pro 1:7compare Pro 9:10). "By the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil." (Pro 16:6). This does not describe the fear of a dog who waits for a whipping or of a cowed child. It is that which keeps even a thoughtless man from desecrating a holy place. It is that which keeps a man from doing things which would break the heart of someone whom he loves. "The fear of the Lord," said the psalmist, "is clean." (Psa 19:9). There is a cleansing fear without which a man cannot live the life he ought.

Paul is trying to persuade men of his own sincerity. He has no doubt whatever that in the sight of God his hands are clean and his motives pure. but his enemies have cast suspicion on them, and he wishes to demonstrate his sincerity to his Corinthian friends. This is not from any selfish desire to vindicate himself. It is from the knowledge that, if his sincerity is questioned, the impact of his message will be injured. A man's message will always be heard in the context of his character. That is why the preacher and the teacher must be beyond suspicion. We have to avoid, not only evil, but the very appearance of evil lest anything make others think less, not of us, but of the message which we bring.

In verse 13, (2Co 5:13), Paul insists that behind all his conduct there has been one motive only--to serve God and to help the Corinthians. More than once Paul was thought to be crazy (Act 26:24). He was suffering the same misunderstanding as Jesus suffered (Mar 3:21). The real enthusiast always runs the risk of seeming crazy to lukewarm people.

Kipling tells how, on a world tour, General Booth boarded the ship at a certain port. He was seen off by a horde of tambourine-beating Salvationists. The whole thing revolted Kipling's fastidious soul. Later he got to know the General and told him how much he disapproved of this kind of thing. "Young man," said Booth, "if I thought that I could win one more soul for Christ by standing on my hands and beating a tambourine with my feet I would learn to do it."

The real enthusiast does not care if others think he is a fool. If a man follows out the Christian way of generosity, forgiveness and utter loyalty, there will always be worldly-wise people who will bluntly call him crazy. Paul knew that there was a time for calm, sensible conduct, and he knew, too, that there was a time for the conduct which to the world looks mad. He was prepared to follow either for the sake of Christ and of men.

Paul goes on to the moving motive of the whole Christian life. Christ died for all. To Paul the Christian is, in his favourite phrase, in Christ, and therefore the old self of the Christian died in that death and he arose a new man, as new as if he had been freshly created by the hands of God. In this newness of life he has acquired a new set of standards. He no longer judges things by the standards the world uses. There was a time when Paul had judged Christ by human standards and had set out to eliminate the Christian faith from the world. But not now. Now his standards are different. Now the man whose name he had sought to obliterate is to him the most wonderful person in the world, because he had given to him that friendship of God which he had longed for all his life.

Barclay: 2Co 5:20-21

The office that Paul claims as his one glory and his one task is that of ambassador for Christ. The Greek he uses (presbeutes, compare 4246) is a great word. It had two uses corresponding with the Latin word of which it is a translation (legatus).

(i) Roman provinces were divided into two types. One was under the direct control of the senate, the other under the direct control of the Emperor. The distinction was made on this basis--provinces which were peaceful and had no troops in them were senatorial provinces; provinces which were turbulent and had troops stationed in them were imperial provinces. In the imperial provinces, the man who administered the province on behalf of the Emperor, was the legatus presbeutai. So then, the word in the first place paints a picture of a man who has a direct commission from the Emperor; and Paul regarded himself as commissioned by Jesus Christ for the work of the Church.

(ii) But presbeutes (compare 4246) and legatus have an even more interesting meaning. When the Roman senate decided that a country should become a province they sent to it ten legati or presbeutai, that is, envoys, of their own number, who, along with the victorious general, arranged the terms of peace with the vanquished people, determined the boundaries of the new province, drew up a constitution for its new administration, and then returned to submit what they had done for ratification by the senate. They were the men responsible for bringing others into the family of the Roman Empire. So Paul thinks of himself as the man who brings to others the terms of God, whereby they can become citizens of his empire and members of his family.

There is no more responsible position than that of ambassador.

(i) An ambassador of Britain is a Briton in a foreign land. His life is spent among people who usually speak a different language, who have a different tradition and who follow a different way of life. The Christian is always like that. He lives in the world; he takes part in all the life and work of the world; but he is a citizen of heaven. To that extent he is a stranger. The man who is not willing to be different cannot be a Christian at all.

(ii) An ambassador speaks for his own country. When a British ambassador speaks, his voice is the voice of Britain. There are times when the Christian has to speak for Christ. In the decisions and the counsels of the world his must be the voice which brings the message of Christ to the human situation.

(iii) The honour of a country is in its ambassador's hands. His country is judged by him. His words are listened to, his deeds are watched and people say, "That is the way such-and-such a country speaks and acts." Lightfoot, the great Bishop of Durham, said in an ordination address, "The ambassador, while acting, acts not only as an agent, but as a representative of his sovereign.... The ambassador's duty is not only to deliver a definite message, to carry out a definite policy; but he is obliged to watch opportunities, to study characters, to cast about for expedients, so that he may place it before his hearers in its most attractive form." It is the great responsibility of the ambassador to commend his country to the men amongst whom he is set.

Here is the Christian's proud privilege and almost terrifying responsibility. The honour of Christ and of the Church are in his hands. By his every word and action he can make men think more-or-less of his Church and of his Master.

We have to note Paul's message. "Be reconciled to God." The New Testament never speaks of God being reconciled to men, but always of men being reconciled to God. There is no question of pacifying an angry God. The whole process of salvation takes its beginning from him. It was because God so loved the world that he sent his son. It is not that God is estranged from man but that man is estranged from him. God's message, the message which Paul brought, is an appeal from a loving Father to wandering and estranged children to come home where love is waiting for them.

Paul beseeches them not to accept the offer of the grace of God all to no purpose. There is such a thing--and it is eternity's tragedy--as the frustration of grace. Let us think of the matter in human terms. Suppose that a father sacrifices and toils to give his son every chance, surrounds him with love, plans for his future with care, and does everything humanly possible to equip him for life. And suppose the son feels no debt of gratitude, never feels the obligation to repay by being worthy of all this; and suppose he fails, not because he has not the ability, but because he will not try, because he forgets the love that gave him so much. That is what breaks a father's heart. When God gives men all his grace and they take their own foolish way and frustrate that grace which might have recreated them, once again Christ is crucified and the heart of God is broken.

Constable: 2Co 1:12--8:1

II. ANSWERS TO INSINUATIONS ABOUT THE SINCERITY OF PAUL'S COMMITMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS AND TO THE MINISTRY 1:12--7:16

Second Corinthians is a rather difficult book to outline because it is a very personal letter.

"Traditionally, Paul's two letters to Timothy and one to Titus are called the Pastorals.' But 2 Corinthians has a strong claim to be recognized as the Pastoral Epistle par excellence, because it contains not pure' but applied' pastoralia."⁶³

Paul's purpose in writing was not to teach doctrine primarily, though he did so to a considerable extent. It was primarily to answer the criticisms of opponents who were seeking to undermine his ministry, especially in Corinth.

"Here it is his strong feeling rather than any deliberate arrangement that suggests the order of his utterances. Nevertheless, although exact analysis is seldom possible owing to digressions and repetitions, yet some divisions are fairly clear, and the letter becomes more intelligible when they are noted."⁶⁴

Constable: 2Co 3:1--6:11

B. Exposition of Paul's view of the ministry 3:1-6:10

The apostle proceeded to explain his view of Christian ministry further so his readers would appreciate and adopt his viewpoint and not lose heart.

Constable: 2Co 4:7--5:11

3. The sufferings and supports of a minister of the gospel 4:7-5:10

Paul proceeded to explain further the nature of ministry under the New Covenant so his readers would understand his ministry and theirs better. The nature of Christianity is paradoxical. Second Corinthians explains more of these paradoxes than any other New Testament book.

In writing this epistle Paul wanted his readers to realize that his ministry was not faulty, as his critics charged, but that it was solidly within the will of God. To do this he described his own ministry as a projection or extension of Jesus' ministry. As Jesus had died and been raised, Paul was similarly dying, but he was also experiencing the benefits of resurrection. He used the death and resurrection of Jesus metaphorically to describe his own ministry. This becomes most evident in 4:7-15, but also in 5:14-21 and in chapters 8-9 where the metaphor describes the ministry of giving.¹⁴⁶

Constable: 2Co 5:1-10

The contrast between our present and our future dwellings 5:1-10

Paul continued to give reasons why we need not lose heart. The themes of life in the midst of death and glory following as a result of present suffering also continue.

What about the believer who dies before he or she has followed God faithfully for very long? Will such a person experience no glory in the future? Paul explained that there are three bases for comfort in such a case. All Christians who die will receive an immortal body (v. 1). This is by itself a substantial gift of glory. Second, all Christians, including those who die soon after becoming believers, presently possess the Holy Spirit who is God's pledge of our future complete glorification (vv. 4-5). Third, death begins a new phase of existence for all believers that will be far superior to what we experience now (vv. 7-8).

5:1 "For" (NASB) or "Now" (NIV, Gr. gar) continues the contrast between things presently seen and things not yet seen (4:18). Here Paul contrasted our present and future bodies.

"The clothed upon' and swallowed up by life' imagery (vv. 2-4), when read alongside 1 Cor 15:53-54, leaves little doubt that this house' is the individual's resurrection body."¹⁶⁰

As a tentmaker, Paul compared the human body to a tent.¹⁶¹ In ancient times a tent was a familiar symbol of what was transitory.¹⁶² Our physical bodies are only temporary structures, but God is preparing new bodies for us that are superior to anything that human hands can produce and maintain.

Paul earlier indicated that he expected that the Lord would probably return before he died (1 Thess. 4:15, 17; 1 Cor. 15:51). Here he said that he might die before Jesus Christ returns for His own. Perhaps his recent brush with death in Ephesus made this possibility fresh in his mind (1:8-11). No Christian can ever be sure which will come first, the Rapture or death. These statements indicate that Paul believed in Jesus' imminent return to take Christians to heaven (John 14:1-3).¹⁶³

5:2-3 Paul changed his figure slightly. God will clothe us with a new and better garment. Until then we groan because we feel the pains associated with mortality, namely our physical limitations, sickness, and the increasing disability that accompanies advancing age. This new covering apparently awaits us immediately after death and before our resurrection. It is therefore probably an intermediate body.

Even though there is no specific instruction concerning an intermediate body and its characteristics in Scripture, its existence seems beyond doubt. References to believers after death and before resurrection suggest that they have bodies (cf. Lazarus, Luke 16:19-25; Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, Matt. 17:1-3, et al; the martyred dead in heaven, Rev. 6:9-11 and 7:13-17). These bodies evidently will not be suitable for eternal existence since God will replace them with resurrection bodies.¹⁶⁴ Another view sees this "building" or "dwelling" as our heavenly home.¹⁶⁵

Verse 3 is parenthetic. Paul clarified that believers who die are not disembodied spirits until the resurrection of their bodies. Another interpretation sees believers as unclothed (without an intermediate body) between their death and resurrection.¹⁶⁶ Those who hold this view understand Paul to be saying that he did not look forward to his disembodied condition. He anticipated the time when God would clothe him with an immortal body (at his resurrection).

I believe that one of the strongest arguments that we will never be disembodied spirits is that the Bible consistently views humans as unified beings. It does not describe the body as merely the house that the real person lives in. That is a Platonic concept that the early Gnostics and other anthropological dualists held. Rather, the Bible describes people as consisting of material and immaterial parts. If we were to lack material substance (either mortal or immortal), we would seemingly be less than human beings.

5:4 This verse expands verse 2. The Christian does not groan in his or her present body because he or she wants to get rid of it. At least that was not what Paul meant here. We groan because we long to receive the immortal bodies that God will give us. God's promises of something better make us dissatisfied with what we have now. We long for the time when immortal life will in a sense consume what is mortal and dies. This is another paradox. Paul was confident that if death would destroy his present body he would certainly receive a glorious future body that God would provide.

5:5 The hope of an immortal body is not just wishful thinking. We already have the down payment of our inheritance in the Holy Spirit. In modern Greek the word translated "pledge" (NASB) or "deposit" (NIV) here, arrhabona, elsewhere describes an engagement ring (cf. 1:22). Our present possession of the Holy Spirit is God's guarantee that He will provide all that we need in the future.

The Spirit may not seem like a very convincing guarantee since we cannot see Him. However, we can see what His presence in us produces, namely our character transformation. This should give us confidence that God will transform us completely in the future.

5:6-8 Verses 6-8 bear the same relation to each other as do verses 2-4. Verses 2 and 6 make a statement. Verses 3 and 7 are parenthetical, and verses 4 and 8 expand verses 2 and 6 respectively.

Statement	verse 2	verse 6
Parenthesis	verse 3	verse 7
Explanation	verse 4	verse 8

Since we have the promise that we will obtain a glorified body (v. 1), and since we have a pledge of that promise in our present transformation (v. 5), we can feel consistently confident.

However because we are absent from the Lord while we are living in our mortal bodies we desire to leave these bodies and take up our new residence in the Lord's presence. Note that there are no other alternatives for the believer. We are either in our mortal bodies and absent from the Lord or we are with the Lord and absent from our mortal bodies. This is a strong guarantee that when we leave our mortal bodies we will go immediately into the Lord's presence. Being "at home with the Lord" implies a closer fellowship with Christ than we experience now as well as closer proximity to Him (cf. 1 Thess. 4:17; Phil. 1:23).

We need never despair, therefore, when we walk by faith believing what God has revealed He has in store for us. Nevertheless the fact that we now walk by faith and not by sight reminds us that the fellowship that we enjoy with the Lord now, while genuine, is inferior to what we will experience.

5:9 As we look forward to the realization of these good things our ambition must be to please God come life or death. The prospect of face-to-face fellowship with Jesus Christ should motivate us to please Him out of love (cf. Gal. 1:10; Phil. 1:20; Col. 1:10; 1 Thess. 4:1). Paul did not mean that we can perform acts after we die that will please God (cf. v. 10), though we can. "At home or absent" is a figure of speech (merism) for always.¹⁶⁷

"To be well-pleasing to Christ is, indeed, the sum of all ambition which is truly Christian."¹⁶⁸

". . . one always wishes to please the one he or she loves."¹⁶⁹

5:10 It is not only the hope of God's positive provisions that should motivate the Christian, however. We must also bear in mind that we will have to account for our works when we meet the Lord. Then He will reward His children on the basis of their deeds. This is not a judgment to determine whether we will enter heaven but one to determine to what extent He will reward us who enter heaven.¹⁷⁰

"The imagery used here for the future moment of eschatological revelation is that of the forensic process whereby the Roman governor sat on his tribunal to hear accusation and defense of an accused person standing before him. If he judged the accused guilty, the governor would order immediate punishment. Paul's use of this language to the Corinthians may have been calculated; he himself had stood accused before the Roman governor Gallio in the Corinthian agora some years earlier (Acts 18:12, 16-17), as the original members of the Corinthian church doubtless remembered."¹⁷¹

The Greek word translated "bad" (phaulos) really means worthless. The idea is not that God will reward us for the good things we did and punish us for the bad things we did. He will rather reward us for the worthwhile things we did and not reward us for the worthless things we did (cf. Matt. 6:19-21; 1 Cor. 9:24-27). The worthwhile things are those that contribute to the advancement of God's mission and glory in the world. Worthless deeds are those that make no contribution to the fulfillment of God's good purposes (cf. Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27).

"The bad works are discarded as unworthy of reward but good works are rewarded. The penalty is limited to the loss of reward."¹⁷²

". . . believers do not face condemnation at Christ's tribunal (see Rom 5:16, 18; 8:1) but rather evaluation with a view to the Master's commendation given or withheld (1 Cor 3:10-15)."¹⁷³

"Judgment on the basis of works is not opposed to justification on the basis of faith. . . . Yet not all verdicts will be comforting. The believer may suffer loss' (1 Cor. 3:15) by forfeiting Christ's praise or losing a reward that might have been his."¹⁷⁴

"The judgment seat of Christ might be compared to a commencement ceremony. At graduation there is some measure of disappointment and remorse that one did not do better and work harder. However, at such an event the overwhelming emotion is joy, not remorse. The graduates do not leave the auditorium weeping because they did not earn better grades. Rather, they are thankful that they have been graduated, and they are grateful for what they did achieve. To overdo the sorrow aspect of the judgment seat of Christ is to make heaven hell. To underdo the sorrow aspect is to make faithfulness inconsequential."¹⁷⁵

". . . because much is required of those to whom much has been given, the thought of the judgment seat of Christ has for the Christian a peculiar solemnity. It is not meant to cloud his prospect of future blessedness, but to act as a stimulus, as strong a stimulus as the most imperious of human ambitions; for the word philotimoumetha, translated we labour (RV we make it our aim'), means literally we are ambitious'."¹⁷⁶

Throughout this section contrasts between the Spirit-imparted viewpoint on life and the natural viewpoint stand out. Some of the Corinthians were criticizing Paul because they were looking at his activities from the human viewpoint and were projecting that point of view onto him. They were concluding that he viewed life as they did. For their benefit he drew these contrasting views of life clearly.

The extent to which we view life from Paul's spiritual viewpoint will be the extent to which we do not lose heart in our ministry.

Constable: 2Co 5:11--6:11

4. The life of a minister of Christ 5:11-6:10

The section of this epistle that expounds the glory of the Christian ministry (2:14-6:10) builds to a climax in the following verses (5:11-6:10). Here Paul clarified the driving motive, the divine mission, the dynamic message, and the diverse ministries of the New Covenant. He did so to inspire the Corinthians to recognize his ministry as Spirit-led and to follow his example in their ministries.

Constable: 2Co 5:11-15

The constraining love of Christ 5:11-15

5:11 Respect for the Lord since He would be his judge (v. 10) motivated Paul to carry out his work of persuading people to believe the gospel. A healthy sense of our accountability to God should move us to fulfill our calling as Christians (Matt. 28:19-20).

"According to II Cor. 5:11, the judgment seat is the place where the terror of the Lord' will be manifested. The word terror' in this verse is a translation of the Greek word phobos, referring to that which causes fear,' terror,' apprehension.' This is the same word translated fearful' in Heb. 10:31 . . . another reference to events at the judgment seat."¹⁷⁷

Paul had a double purpose. The NEB translates "we persuade men" as "we address our appeal to men." Paul tried to persuade people of the truth of the gospel but also of the truth about himself. His motives were pure (1:12), and his conduct had been consistent with his apostleship (cf. 3:1-6; 4:1-6). Paul's knowledge that his life was an open book to God led him to voice the hope that it would be transparent to all the Corinthians too.

"The ministry is ultimately responsible to God. Christian ministers are servants of the Lord (1 Cor. 3:5), attendants of Christ and stewards of God (1 Cor. 4:1); they discharge their ministry in the sight of God' (2 Cor. 4:2; cf. 1 Cor. 4:5) as knowing the fear of the Lord' (2 Cor. 5:11)."¹⁷⁸

5:12 Paul insisted that he had bared his soul to the readers in the previous verses not to boast (cf. 3:1). He had written what he had to give his allies in Corinth ammunition to combat his critics whose judgments were wrong. He was simply reminding his original readers of things they should have remembered. The external appearances that Paul's critics admired included physical relationship to Jesus during His earthly ministry (5:16), their Jewish orthodoxy (11:22), and their visions and revelations (12:1-7). The heart reality that Paul considered more important was the testimony of his clear conscience before God and people.

"His anomalous position as an apostle who was called directly by Christ and who did not belong to the college of the twelve disciples meant that he had no option but to appeal to that call. But this laid him open to the accusation that he was self-commended. In consequence, whenever he affirms his ministry--in this case that he evangelizes (we persuade men')--he must disclaim self-commendation (see on 3:1 and 6:4). Nonetheless, his ministry did commend him, as the Corinthians should have recognized (12:11; cf. 4:2, 10:18)."¹⁷⁹

5:13 All of Paul's ministries to and for the Corinthians had been for God's glory and their welfare.

What Paul meant by the charge of being beside himself, and its opposite, being of sound mind, could and probably does include all the following possibilities. Some critics apparently attacked him for his teaching that differed from mainstream Judaism, his ecstatic experiences, and his ceaseless service. To this his response was, "That is for God to judge" (cf. vv. 9-11). Other critics may have thought him crazy for speaking in tongues and having visions (cf. Acts 22:17-21). For Paul, that was a matter between him and God (cf. 1 Cor. 14:2). Occasionally Paul may have appeared carried away with his emotions, but that conduct only resulted in God's glory. His self-commendation may have looked like lunacy to some in Corinth, but Paul was only defending God's cause. To the Jews the apostle's conversion marked him as a madman, but that change of mind was a totally rational decision.¹⁸⁰ Jesus' critics had misjudged Him too.

5:14-15 The primary reason Paul could not live for himself, however, was God's love for him (probably a subjective genative¹⁸¹) that extended to Jesus Christ's dying on the cross. Jesus provided the example that all His disciples must follow. He gave His life for others. Yet Jesus' death was much more than an example. Paul had come to appreciate the widespread effects of that death (as being "for all") and the essence of that death (as a substitute).

"Paul is not suggesting that, irrespective of their response and attitude, all men know forgiveness of sins or experience selfless living. There is universalism in the scope of redemption, since no man is excluded from God's offer of salvation; but there is a particularity in the application of redemption, since not all men appropriate the benefits afforded by this universally offered salvation."¹⁸²

The apostle had also become aware that such love merited complete devotion (i.e., making the fulfillment of God's desires rather than selfish desires the goal of life). We "all died" (v. 15) in the sense that all believers died in the person of their representative, Jesus Christ.¹⁸³

". . . Christ's death was the death of all, in the sense that He died the death they should have died; the penalty of their sins was borne by Him; He died in their place . . ."¹⁸⁴

". . . One died on behalf of all (not only, for the benefit of all . . . but instead of all . . ."¹⁸⁵

Moreover as Jesus died to His own desires and rose to continue serving us, so we should die to our own selfish interests and live to serve others. Paul himself modelled what he observed in Jesus' experience and called on his readers to duplicate His example.

"Thus there emerge from v. 11 and v. 14 two motives for apostolic evangelism, the fear of the Lord' and the love of Christ.' . . . The one relates to Jesus' role as Judge, the other to his role as Savior."¹⁸⁶

In this section Paul identified two motives for Christian service: an awareness of our accountability to God (v. 11) and the example of Jesus Christ (v. 14). Jesus is both our Judge and our Savior, and His two roles should have an impact on how we live.

Constable: 2Co 5:16-17

The new creation 5:16-17

5:16 Paul now illustrated how Christ's love had changed his viewpoint. Since his conversion, he had stopped making superficial personal judgments based only on external appearances (cf. v. 12). Previously he had looked at people on a strictly physical basis, in terms of their ethnicity rather than their spiritual status. Now whether a person was a believer or a non-believer was more important to him than whether one was a Jew or a Gentile.

Paul had also formerly concluded that Jesus could not be the divine Messiah in view of His lowly origins, rejection, and humiliating death. Now he recognized Him for who He really was and what He really had done (cf. vv. 14-15). Probably Paul did not claim to have known Jesus during His earthly ministry here, though he may have known Him. However after his conversion on the Damascus road, Paul saw Christ in a new light (i.e., according to the Spirit).

5:17 Jesus Christ's death and resurrection (vv. 14-15) had had another effect besides altering Paul's viewpoint (v. 16).¹⁸⁷ Whenever a person experiences conversion, as Paul did, he or she really becomes a new person. It is not just his or her viewpoint that should change and can change, but many things really do change. Certain old conditions and relationships no longer exist (Gr. parelthen, aorist tense), and others take their place and continue (Gr. gegonen, perfect tense).

Obviously there is both continuity and discontinuity that takes place at conversion (justification). Paul was not denying the continuity. We still have the same physical features, basic personality, genetic constitution, parents, susceptibility to temptation (1 Cor. 10:14), sinful environment (Gal. 1:4), etc. These things do not change. He was stressing the elements of discontinuity: perspectives, prejudices, misconceptions, enslavements, etc. (cf. Gal. 2:20). God adds many new things at conversion including new spiritual life, the Holy Spirit, forgiveness, the righteousness of Christ, as well as new viewpoints (v. 16).

The Christian is a new creature (a new man, Rom. 6) in this sense. Before conversion we did not possess the life-giving Holy Spirit who now lives within us (Rom. 8:9). We had only our sinful human nature. Now we have both our sinful human nature and the indwelling Holy Spirit. This addition makes us an essentially new person since the Holy Spirit's effects on the believer are so far-reaching. We also possess many other riches of divine grace that contribute to our distinctiveness as believers.¹⁸⁸

Constable: 2Co 5:18-21

The ministry of reconciliation 5:18-21

This section and the first two verses of chapter 6 constitute the crux of Paul's exposition of the apostolic office (2:14-7:4) and of the entire letter.¹⁸⁹

5:18-19 The basis of this total change (new attitudes, v. 16, and new creation, v. 17) is God's gracious provision of reconciliation in sending His Son to die for us. He has brought people to Himself by dealing with our sins in Christ. God is the reconciler, and He has reconciled everyone to Himself, the elect and the non-elect alike (cf. Rom. 5:10-11; Col. 1:20-22). He has brought everyone into a savable relation to Himself by sending His Son who paid the penalty for sin that separates people from God. The fact that God has reconciled everyone does not mean that everyone is justified. People still need to respond to the offer of salvation by believing the gospel to receive justification (v. 20). Reconciliation removes a barrier to our salvation, but it does not by itself accomplish our salvation.

God has committed the message of this provision to those who have experienced reconciliation, and our ministry is to present it to all people (Matt. 28:19-20). Paul was perhaps speaking primarily of his own ministry of bringing people back to God as well as the ministry of his fellow apostles. However all believers clearly share this ministry since God has reconciled us all. The word of reconciliation is the gospel message.

5:20 This makes us God's ambassadors, one of the most exalted titles the Christian can claim. Ambassadors authoritatively announce messages for others and request, not demand, acceptance. The Christian ambassador, moreover, announces and appeals for God.

". . . when Christ's ambassador entreats it is equivalent to the voice of God entreating through him."¹⁹⁰

However the stakes involved require an urgent appeal. We should never present the gospel to the lost with a "take it or leave it" attitude. Our presentation should communicate the urgency of their believing the message. Full reconciliation only takes place when a person trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her Savior (John 3:16). Consequently it may be helpful to think of reconciliation as objectively provided by God in the past but needing subjective appropriation by the unsaved in the present.

We could understand the word "you" in "we beg (or implore) you" as a specific reference to the Corinthians or as a general reference to all people. Paul was probably not appealing to his Corinthian readers to be reconciled to God. They had already been reconciled (v. 18) and had trusted in Christ.¹⁹¹ He was explaining his ministry to the unsaved generally (v. 19).

5:21 Verse 21 condenses the ground of Paul's appeal and expresses it in another paradox. This verse explains the "how" of full reconciliation and takes us to the very heart of the atonement.

"In these few direct words the Apostle sets forth the gospel of reconciliation in all its mystery and all its wonder. There is no sentence more profound in the whole of Scripture; for this verse embraces the whole ground of the sinner's reconciliation to God and declares the incontestable reason why he should respond to the ambassadorial entreaty. Indeed, it completes the message with which the Christian ambassador has been entrusted."¹⁹²

Paul probably intended that we understand what he wrote about Jesus Christ becoming sin in three ways. First, God treated Jesus as if He were a sinner when He poured out His wrath on Jesus who bore the guilt and penalty for all people's sins.¹⁹³ Second, Jesus Christ became a sin offering (Lev. 4:24; 5:12), the perfect and final one.¹⁹⁴ Third, He became the locus of sin under the judgment of God.

"So complete was the identification of the sinless Christ with the sin of the sinner, including its dire guilt and its dread consequence of separation from God, that Paul could say profoundly, God made him . . . to be sin for us.'"¹⁹⁵

Jesus Christ was the target of God's punishment of sinners God having imputed the sin of all humankind to Him (cf. Rom. 8:3; 1 Cor. 15:3). Now God makes us the targets of His righteousness and imputes that to us (1 Cor. 1:30; Phil. 3:9). The effect of God imputing righteousness to believers is that now God sees us as He sees His righteous Son, namely fully acceptable to Him.

"Paul has chosen this exceptional wording ["made sin for us"] in order to emphasize the sweet exchange' whereby sinners are given a righteous status before God through the righteous one who absorbed their sin (and its judgment) in himself."¹⁹⁶

"Here, then is the focal point to which the long argument has been building up. Paul, having himself been reconciled to God by the death of Christ, has now been entrusted by God with the task of ministering to others that which he has himself received, in other words, reconciliation. Verse 20 then follows from this as a dramatic double statement of his conception of the task . . . That is to say, when Paul preaches, his hearers ought to hear a voice from God, a voice which speaks on behalf of the Christ in whom God was reconciling the world. Astonishingly, the voice of the suffering apostle is to be regarded as the voice of God himself, the God who in Christ has established the new covenant, and who now desires to extend its reconciling work into all the world. The second half of the verse should not, I think, be taken as an address to the Corinthians specifically, but as a short and pithy statement of Paul's whole vocation: On behalf of Christ, we make this appeal: "Be reconciled to God!"

"What the whole passage involves, then, is the idea of the covenant ambassador, who represents the one for whom he speaks in such a full and thorough way that he actually becomes the living embodiment of his sovereign--or perhaps, in the light of 4:7-18 and 6:1-10, we should equally say the dying embodiment."¹⁹⁷

College: 2Co 5:1-21

2 CORINTHIANS 5

5. Confident in Eternal Home (5:1-10)

This entire section of 2 Cor 5:1-10 is something of an anomaly in its context. It certainly intends to show just how and why Paul believes his life is "achieving for us an eternal glory" (4:17) and illustrates in imaginative language just what is temporary and what is currently unseen but eternal (4:18). However, it does not really add to the point he has already made in defending the credibility of his apostolic ministry and can rightly be labelled a digression. This explains why this passage often receives isolated treatment but also why allowing the immediate context to completely control the meaning of the images he creates is probably a mistake. The dominant motivation for introducing his provocative notions about death and heaven probably come out of his own personal experiences (including a brush with death according to 2 Cor 1:8) which have caused him to reevaluate and express differently his views on these subjects. He may also be motivated by wrong notions about death and heaven current in Greek culture and perhaps in Corinth specifically.

Permanent Home Guaranteed (5:1-5)

5:1 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,

The opening conjunction, rendered by the NIV "now" more literally means "for" (gavr, gar ) and indicates that Paul views what he will say as logically supporting what he has said particularly in 4:18 but mostly likely also generally in 4:16-18.

It is difficult to conclude from "we know" (oida, oida ) whether Paul believes he is about to share information with the Corinthians they already know or whether this is information he and maybe other apostles know but that he is only just now going to tell them. Based on the fact that he has written to them about this subject in 1 Cor 15:50-57, he most likely believes that the basics of what he will say is common Christian teaching they are familiar with, even if he may add a different dimension to it in this current rendition.

Describing the human body as "earthly" (ejpivgeio", epigeios ) draws from the biblical teaching that "Adam," whose Hebrew name means "earth," was constructed from the earth. It suggests that Paul's initial idea, at least, is a truism for humanity in general. The eventual "destruction of everyone's earthly tent" is a given Paul described in 4:16 as a gradual reality for every human body, including his. Now, he contemplates the human body as terminated, "dead" from the merely human point of view. It "is destroyed" (kataluvw, katalyô), he says. This word, frequently employed in the gospels and Acts, is only found two other times elsewhere (Gal 2:18; Rom 14:20). It has the sense of dismantling something in order to render it useless, as in the accusation that Jesus "abolishes" the law (Matt 5:17) and Jesus' prediction that each stone of the temple will be "thrown down" (Mark 13:2). It intensifies the word "loosen" (luvw, lyô), upon which it is built.

Paul's occupation as a leather worker and tentmaker may have drawn him to "tent" (skh'no", skçnos) as an appropriate metaphor for the human body, encased by skin. However, the word had already been used this way by Greek philosophers as well as in the Septuagint. Why Paul chose this rare form of the word, found only here and in 5:4 in the NT, rather than the more common form (skhnhv, skçnç), found twenty times in the NT, is difficult to know. Perhaps, its use in such a clear parallel to body (sw'ma, sôma) in Wisdom of Solomon 9:15 has made an impression on him. Although not evident in the NIV translation, the "tent" actually is in apposition to "house" (oijkiva, oikia) which literally might be rendered "earthly house, a tent."

No doubt, Paul chooses "tent" to emphasize the temporary, conditional quality of human life, which applies to believers and himself as well. All human bodies will one day be rendered ineffective in death. The conditional construction "if" (ejavn, ean ) should not be taken so far as to suggest that what Paul contemplates is a mere possibility. The uncertainty implied has only to do with the timing of each individual's death, not its inevitability.

It is suggested that Paul's contemplation of his own personal death before the Parousia, or return of Christ, marks a profound change in his outlook as he writes 2 Corinthians. Previously, as he writes 1 Thess 4:15-18 four or five years earlier, he seems to presume that he will be among those living who will be "caught up" to meet Christ. When he writes 1 Cor 15:50-56 he appears ambivalent on the point. But now, in this passage, which speaks not a word about the Parousia, but rather about personal death, he includes himself. Perhaps, he has indeed turned a corner in his own life expectancy as he views himself "wasting away" (4:16) and contemplates at least one critical point in which he "despaired of life" (1:8).

we have a building from God,

The word "building" (oijkodomhv, oikodomç) usually refers to the activity of construction and fortification as when Paul speaks later (2 Cor 10:8; 12:19; 13:10) of his purpose being to "build up" the Corinthians. He can also refer to Christians being "a building" (1 Cor 3:9; Eph 2:21), which has led some interpreters to believe Paul has in mind the corporate entity of the church. In Matt 24:1 (Mark 13:1,2), Jesus refers to the temple "buildings" in his prophecy of their destruction. Here, the word functions as a synonym of "house" in the previous clause, though it emphasizes the sturdiness and perhaps the larger size of this superior replacement dwelling for the believer who dies before the Parousia. The very fact that this building is "from God" sets it apart qualitatively from the tent-house characterized as "earthly."

Since the first half of the conditional is tentative only in terms of its timing, the second half of the conditional beginning with "we have" (e[comen, echomen ) is misunderstood if taken as a mere possibility. This superior dwelling believers have is not in their possession previous to their death, though they may have a down payment on it via the indwelling of the Holy Spirit or even the initiation of this new body through baptism (Rom 6:1-2). The present tense of the verb, though, stresses the certainty of future full occupation of the house.

Thus, at death Christians have a basis for being hopeful regarding the next phase of their existence. A splendid replacement "body" has already been reserved. When exactly Christians acquire this new body according to this passage is a matter of considerable debate. Some believe Paul could not have wavered from his earlier position in 1 Thess 4:15-18 that this occurs at the Parousia when Christ returns for the living and the dead. Others contend that the hope Paul holds out strongly implies immediate possession of this new body upon death. What is the point, it is suggested, of further extending the carrot of a new body yet for an indefinite period after death, which is surely being contemplated here? To assume an intermediate state in this passage is to force upon it the presumptions of 1 Thess 4:15-18.

The fact is that this passage, even as Paul's argument unfolds, maintains an either-or position. Christians are either in their old body or their new body. Note especially 5:8. No intermediate state is contemplated. Is it so impossible to believe that Paul's thinking on this issue has developed in the direction God desires it to as he accepts the inevitability of his own death prior to Christ's return? As some suggest, what is the concept of an intermediate state in the NT anyway, other than a construct to deal with the time restrictions of human existence? If God himself is outside of time, unrestricted by it (2 Pet 3:8), just as he is above and beyond the universe itself, why should people after death necessarily remain restricted by it? The idea of the dead waiting in some undefined, subconscious state without their new bodies is alien to the whole tenor of this passage. Perhaps 1 Thessalonians 4 should be interpreted in light of 2 Corinthians since this is the later state of Paul's writing.

The absence of an intermediate state in Paul's thoughts here finds corroboration in considering a couple of key matters from the gospels. First, when a Sadducean questioner comes to debate Jesus on the question of life after death in Mark 12:18-27 (Matt 22:23-33; Luke 20:27-40), in which Sadducees did not believe, Jesus' telling point is to argue for the continued existence of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with God from the present tense of Exod 3:6 ("I am the God of Abraham, . . .). Second, the appearance of Moses and Elijah with Jesus at the transfiguration (Mark 9:4; Matt 17:3; Luke 9:30) would suggest that they had received their new, postmortem bodies from God and that they had come to Jesus from being with God. Third, Jesus appears to have received his new body after his death, since he can go through walls (John 20:26).

Fourth, in Luke 23:43 Jesus promises the thief on the cross, "Today, you will be with me in Paradise." It should not be presumed from this that Paradise suggests an intermediate state since Stephen in Acts 7:57 says that he sees Jesus "at the right hand of God" and Paul says in Phil 2:9 that "God exalted him to the highest place."

Fifth, the only place which describes an intermediate state is the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) - and it must be remembered that this is a parable, a fictional story which Jesus creates to make a point about how one cannot reverse their fortunes after death. A very Jewish concept of an intermediate state is the backdrop for the story. Jesus does not say in the passage that this is reality or that he believes it to be actual any more than he believes in an actual farm which he develops for the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Thus, Paul's contemplation of death without an intermediate state in 2 Corinthians 5 does not fly in the face of all the evidence. True, it cannot be conformed totally with what is said in 1 Thessalonians 4.

However, this is hardly the only unexplained theological discrepancy found in Scripture. Better to admit the inexplicable paradox than make 2 Corinthians 5 say what it doesn't say.

an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

Employing the same word for "house" (oijkiva, oikia ) that he used to describe the earthly, temporary body that all people are born with, Paul now contrasts with it this new house awaiting all believers after death. Naturally, since it comes from God, this new house has been built in God's neighborhood where God himself resides, "heaven." Like God, it will also stand solid and secure forever. Of course such a dwelling could not be built by human construction methods. Only God could possibly build it.

The only other use of the adjective "not built by human hands" (ajceiropoivhto", acheiropoiçtos) is in Mark 14:58 ("I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man") where Jesus' accusers at his trial quote his prophecy with the understanding that it referred only to the temple and as evidence that he is a national threat to peace. Jesus did issue such a prophecy (John 2:19). However, with the gift of hindsight, Jesus' disciples (and we today) realized it was double-pronged, that he referred to his own death and resurrection, as well (John 2:20-23). It may even be that Paul views his ideas about the destruction of the human bodies of believers and their replacement by heavenly bodies as delicately rooted in Jesus' enigmatic words.

5:2 Meanwhile we groan,

Although the NIV's temporal "meanwhile" may be implied, the opening conjunctions (kaiÉ gaÉr, kai gar ) more likely signal a causal sense, "because," just as when he uses them in 5:4. The NIV also cuts out the specific reference back to eternal house, "in this," (ejn touvtw/, en toutô). Paul only uses the verb "groan" (stenavzw, stenazô) one other time, other than again in 5:4. In Rom 8:23, he describes believers, who have received the Holy Spirit, as demonstrating their hopefulness with deep longing for the complete redemption of their bodies through inward groans. His meaning is probably similar here.

The groaning seems to be something in between positive and negative. It comes from confidence and an abiding faith in Christ and his promises for eternal reconciliation with God, yet finds the present human circumstances (perhaps even persecution) and feeble human body agonizingly frustrating.

longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,

Paul frequently expresses his intense desire to be present personally with those whom he is writing with the word "longing" (ejpipoqevw, epipotheô). However, it is a deep, spiritual yearning he knows believers experience to attain the permanent, eternal, bodily structure for themselves described in 5:1. The word "dwelling" is the same Greek word (oijkhthvrion, oikçtçrion) translated as "building" by the NIV in 5:1. He has already described this building as "from God" and "in heaven." To say now that it is "from heaven" simply reiterates its divine origin and location.

The infinitive "to be clothed" (ejpenduvw, ependyô) is used only here and in 5:4 in the NT, although the noun cognate is used in John 21:7 to describe a coat, or cloak, which goes over other clothes. The infinitive here and in 5:4, strictly translated, would be "to be overclothed," with the intended imagery of the believer's heavenly body going directly over the physical body. Such imagery would seem to be a distinctive change from what Paul visualizes in 1 Cor 15:53-54, where the verb "clothe" (ejnduvw, endyô) without the compound preposition "over" (ejpi-, epi- ) is used no less than four times, indicating a change, or exchange, of clothing, perishable for imperishable.

Doubtful of such enormous differences riding on a simple preposition, some suggest that the ependyô is not intended to carry its distinctive meaning here but is simply synonymous, or maybe an intensification, of endyô. However, the revulsion at being "found naked" expressed in the very next verse would seem to coincide with an assertion here that at no time, even upon death, will believers be bodiless, which an exchange of bodies would involve, even if just briefly. Rather, believers will don a supramaterial body over the top of whatever current condition their bodies are in at death, and thus will their old bodies be transformed from material to immaterial.

Such thinking is not really in conflict with 1 Corinthians 15. It simply refines the picture in light of further development and contemplation, changing the metaphor from changing clothes (1 Cor 15) to adding clothes (2 Cor 5). Why exactly Paul might be concerned about being naked at death in his present problems with the Corinthians will be taken up in the next verse.

Some suggest that drawing the distinction between ependyô and endyô necessitates the reasoning that Paul has in mind the Parousia rather than death in 5:2. Paul's expressed desire to be overclothed, it is said, equates with his desire to avoid death and remain alive until the Parousia since he associated being overclothed with being alive at the Parousia and being merely clothed (1 Cor 15:53-54) as having died previous to the Parousia. However, such subtlety imposes a theological distinction on endyô and ependyô that is far too technical to be convincing and forces the conspicuously unmentioned Parousia into the context of 2 Cor 5. The concern about death overwhelms this passage beginning with considering the destruction of the earthly tent in 5:1.

5:3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.

An antonym, "when we are unclothed" (ejkdusavmenoi, ekdysamenoi ), is found for the participle "when we are clothed" (ejndusavmenoi, endysamenoi ) in a few manuscripts. Despite its narrow majority for adoption by the UBS Greek text and by the Nestle text, most commentaries and English translations do not follow suit. Indeed, the overwhelming support for endysamenoi in the Greek manuscripts outstrips the concern that it banally repeats what was just said in 5:2 or that it states the patently obvious. Paul emphasizes being clothed in order to pick up on and emphasize his point in 5:2 and to emphasize a further crucial point, at no time after death will believers be without bodily form.

Some urge that being "found naked" should be identified with judgment for moral guilt, meaning as opposed to nonbelievers, Christians will not be found guilty at end-time judgment. Judgment does come up in 5:10, and the connection between the phrase and judgment has a solid biblical basis. However, in this immediate context of 5:1-5, such an idea comes out of the blue and is not at all obvious. Rather, the issue in Paul's mind at this point involves the condition of the believer's existence after death. Will there be a period of bodilessness, or nakedness, in between death and reception of one's new, heavenly body?

The cause for dealing with such an issue comes from the fact that it is antithetical to the common Greek Platonic view that the very goal of humanity is spiritual nakedness in the sense of the soul being at last rid of the moral and physical encumbrance of the human body. Likely, Paul is influenced by his own Jewish background which is averse to nakedness, not only among the living but among the dead. With the addition of 5:3 to Paul's thought, he may be attempting to dissuade at least the Greek believers (but perhaps also Jewish converts who have fallen into this view) in the Corinthian church from their likely culturally inherited views on this subject. His point could be polemical, trying to counter false teaching, but this is not necessary for him to be simply saying as he does that, no, life after death is not bodiless, nor is such nakedness to occur among believers, even temporarily. Rather a new, permanent, eternal body goes right on top of the old at death.

The Greek word "naked" (gumnov", gymnos ) has come into English in the words gym, gymnasium, and gymnastics. Since in ancient Greece, athletic training and competition, or gymnastics, occurred nude, an association between the activity and the lack of apparel took place, so that gymnos could refer to nakedness. The verb form of the word, gymnazô, is used in the sense of "train" in 1 Tim 4:7; Heb 5:14; and 12:11.

5:4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened,

With this verse, Paul gathers up his key ideas from the three previous verses before proceeding much further in his thoughts. Repeating the rare form for "tent" (skh'no", skçnos) from 5:1 helps the reader recall that his discussion began by contemplating the body's destruction, or death. Now, he drops back a bit to consider the impact of life continuing on before death and the new heavenly body is received.

With "we groan" (stenavzw, stenazô), Paul reaches back to 5:2 to remind readers that this word characterizes the believer's condition before death. While in that verse, he sketched out the more hopeful focus of the groaning, in this verse he touches the more stressful aspect of the inner anxiety. This impression primarily comes from the new word he adds to the mix, "are burdened" (participle from barevw, bareô). The word is only used six times in the NT, referring to heavy, sleepy eyes in Matt 26:43 and Luke 9:32, bearing emotional weight in Luke 21:34, and being overstressed with financial burdens in 1 Tim 5:16. The only other time it is used in 2 Corinthians, in 1:8, it describes the physical and emotional stress on Paul from his brush with death while in Asia.

The burden weighing Paul down here in 5:4 most likely, then, has something to do with contemplating the reality of his own death. The burden may relate to his realization that he is wearing down both physically and emotionally from his hard life as a travelling apostle, sometimes rejected and persecuted apostle, on which he commented in 4:16. What he says, though, he believes, relates to all Christians.

because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,

With this clause, Paul formulates the cause of the burden, again primarily reusing terms already introduced. The NIV's "heavenly dwelling" has been added by the translators, despite its absence from the Greek text, to help clarify the sense of being "clothed" (ejpenduvw, ependyô) to include the full expression of a permanent, heavenly building found in 5:2. Paul adds the verb "we wish" (qevlw, thelô), which simply steps in as a synonym for "longing" in 5:2.

So far, he says nothing new, then. In his current condition in a physical body which is deteriorating, he desires to be overclothed with his new, eternal-quality body. However, his addition of wishing "not to be unclothed" puts some fresh wood on the fire, the intention of which is not so easy to discern.

The word "unclothed" (ejkduvw, ekdyô) is the opposite of "overclothe" (ejnduvw, endyô) and the only other use of it in the NT describes Jesus being stripped of his clothes leading up to his crucifixion (Matt 27:28,31; Mark 15:20; Luke 10:30). The question is whether Paul intends "unclothed" to function as equivalent to "naked," used in 5:3. If so, then, he is simply recapitulating his earlier rejection of the Greek concept of bodiless death. But does he express a personal, Jewish-based fear and revulsion of being unclothed by adding this point? This is not likely since in both 5:6 and 5:7 he will emphasize his complete confidence that there is no bodiless state.

Is Paul expressing a desire to continue living or a desire to die? When he says he does not wish to be unclothed, it sounds like he does not wish to die but to remain living, a typical human fear of death. However, when he says he desires his new body, it sounds like he would prefer to die so that he might receive it. The latter is precisely what he articulates in 5:8, though he seems to be trying to talk himself into being content with his present life on the basis of his confidence in eternal life. Perhaps, then, in saying that he does not want to be unclothed he means to express that he does not wish to remain unclothed because he considers himself unclothed as long as he is not overclothed with his new body. Unclothed, then, would describe his current condition, overclothed, the eternal condition he anticipates. This would mean that "unclothed" does not equate with "naked" and that he is no longer addressing the issue of a bodiless state.

so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Paul's focus continues to be on the certain future of himself and all believers. If a believer receives an eternal, divinely-crafted body over the top of his human body at death, then what Paul says now is also true, though he has changed images. Life, which is really an extension of God since it comes from him alone, can be compared to a big fish which consumes all the little fish in its gaping mouth, or even a person wolfing down supper, or slurping down a Big Gulp. Life is an infinitely larger and greater sphere than what is encompassed by the human body. With this image, Paul expresses the fact that the finiteness of human existence is and will be subsumed within the infiniteness of God's eternal realm.

The word "mortal" (qnhtov", thnçtos) is only used by Paul in the NT (Rom 6:12; 8:11; 1 Cor 15:53-54; 2 Cor 4:11) and always refers unmistakably to the flesh and bones of the human bodily existence. The word "swallowed up" (katapivnw, katapinô), Paul already uses similarly in 1 Cor 15:54 when he speaks of death being swallowed up by victory. Elsewhere in the NT it refers to drowning (Heb 11:29), the eating habits of lions (1 Pet 5:8), and swallowing unimaginably large items like a camel (Matt 23:43) or a river (Rev 12:16).

5:5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose

Paul gives voice to the activity of God in creating human beings through the participle "who has made" (from katergavzomai, katergazomai ), which means to prepare or produce something. Even though God may create everyone, only believers are in his thoughts here as being formed for the express purpose of embracing a full and complete life with God. Some conjecture exactly what the emphatic "this very" (aujtoÉ tou'to, auto touto ) refers back to, whether to the "groaning" of verse four, being "unclothed," "being clothed," or to life swallowing mortality. Grammatically, the most likely is the closest referent, life swallowing mortality. Indeed, it makes sense that Paul would emphasize this more general purpose to God's universe which subsumes within it the hope for a heavenly body.

and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Paul, earlier, in 1:22, referred to the Holy Spirit in the very same way to build confidence in the Corinthians that God keeps his promises. Now, regarding the specific promise of a heavenly body after death, he once again reminds them of the Holy Spirit, which each believer has. The function of the Spirit remains as "a deposit" (ajrrabwvn, arrabôn), normally a business term for a financial down payment, but interestingly the term for an engagement ring in Modern Greek. As in 1:22, the NIV adds "guaranteeing what is to come" in order to explain the function of an arrabôn. Strictly speaking, then, the next "payment" God will make to believers is the heavenly body each will receive at death.

Despite Paul's terminology, the Spirit should not be thought of as a static entity attached to us somewhere after becoming Christians only to be turned in like a claim check for an eternal body. Rather, the Spirit should be recognized as a living, growing entity within us which enables us gradually through bumps and starts to grow toward the spiritual potential God has in mind for us until we either go to be with the Lord through death or Christ returns to bring us to God. To a certain extent, the Spirit can be viewed as the subjective experience which verifies the objective knowledge of the future God has prepared for his children. However, to be fully operational, it must break out of the mere subjective realm into observable, objective behavior.

Pleasing the Lord Prioritizes Life (5:6-10)

5:6 Therefore we are always confident

With "therefore" (ou , oun ) Paul indicates that this paragraph draws conclusions from previous statements. No doubt, the deposit of the Spirit is to be a confidence booster and an encouragement as believers encounter the reality of death. However, the assertion of confidence surely reaches even further back to the "therefore" (diov, dio ) and "we do not lose heart" (we do not quit) of 4:16 and 4:1. Paul, then, believes what he has said in the whole of 5:1-5 about being clothed with an eternal body responds to the melancholy which can accompany the proximity of death.

The NIV appropriately renders the participle (qarrou'nte", tharrountes ) as a verb, "we are confident," since without doing so, the sentence has no verb and is incomplete. Insertion of the proper verb form of "we are confident" (qarrou'men, tharroumen ) may even motivate Paul's restatement of his point in 5:8. This situation provides one of those interesting glimpses into the reality of Paul's dictation process.

The actual word "being confident" (qarrevw, tharreô) relates to the ideas of "being courageous" and "of good cheer," essentially to remain upbeat despite conditions which might lead to the opposite disposition. Paul may be aware that Greek philosophers of his day use the word of a person's relationship to deity and also to death. In their case, it is confidence in one's moral achievements and in the immortality of the soul apart from the body after death. For Paul, it is confidence through Christ that believers retain material existence in the heavenly body they receive at death.

Interestingly, outside of Hebrews (13:6), "being confident" (tharreô) is only used in 2 Corinthians, once more in this context (5:8) and in 7:16 and 10:1-2. The latter context indicates that Paul's exclusive use of the word in this respect may well respond to the accusation of his opponents that he himself is timid and waffling in too many situations to be trustworthy in his apostolic teaching as a whole.

The addition of "always" (pavntote, pantote ) intends to offer a stark contrast, perhaps with pagans who are frightened at what lies beyond death and possibly also believers particularly in Corinth who do not possess the confidence they should rightfully have. It suggests that no matter the situation which brings upon death, whether expected or unexpected, disastrously gruesome or calmly benign, Christians have no reason whatsoever not to face death courageously and in good cheer. The future beyond is certain. It is bodily, though of a new quality. It is with God.

and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.

The words "know that" introduce a statement of fact, not just a belief. The fact which follows revolves around the two opposite verbs, "we are at home" (ejkdhmevw, ekdçmeô) and "we are away from" (ejndhmevw, endçmeô), both only used three times in the NT and only in this context (also 5:8 and 5:9). The root word dçmos upon which both are built means "country" or "district." Adding the preposition en constructs a word which refers to making one's home residence within a certain district, most likely the one one was born and raised in, and ek to travel outside or to move to live outside one's home district. With these two words, so diametrically opposed, Paul essentially articulates the reality that the human body makes it impossible for people to be in two places at the same time. They can't be both home and abroad. They can only be one or the other.

As far as Christians are concerned, they are either living in their physical human, temporary bodies, which are condemned for destruction, or they are in their new, heavenly, eternal body. The question naturally arises, which one does Paul consider their actual home, this body or that body? Paul has already indicated but intends to make perfectly clear in what follows that the home country for Christians is with the Lord, "Lord" here most likely referring to the risen Christ as stated in a similar context in Phil 1:23. This idea is supported elsewhere in the NT in such places as 1 Peter (1:1; 2:11), which speaks of Christians as aliens and strangers, and by the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) in which Jesus prepares disciples to be outcasts from their cultures.

Many react to the curious way in which Paul expresses himself and suggest that Paul himself is not happy with the possibility of his words being twisted to suggest that believers are cut off from the Lord while they are in their human bodies. This, it is suggested, provides the impetus for restating himself in 5:8. Of course, Paul does not mean that believers are outside of their relationship with Christ. That is impossible since this is grounded in the promises of God himself from whom believers, Paul says in Rom 8:29, cannot be separated. Paul is thinking spatially, not soteriologically or relationally.

Paul's awkward language can be attributed to his desire to show right off the bat where the true home for believers is located. If they are "away from the Lord" while in their human body, home must be in eternity with the risen Christ (Phil 1:23). Unlikely as it may seem to believers now when they are in their human body, the reality is that this present "home," however comfortable or uncomfortable, is nothing more than a motel along the highway. This cannot be fully comprehended until the new, eternal residence is occupied, or occupies the believer at death ("overclothe," 5:2,4).

Paul's language may also be understood as pointedly countering opponents at Corinth who are teaching a kind of superspirituality which is influencing some Corinthian believers to think they are already with Christ in heaven and that the body and its actions here are superfluous. Thus, he emphasizes the spatial separation between believers and heaven which requires accountability for Christian behavior, noting what he will say in 2 Cor 5:10.

5:7 We live by faith, not by sight.

Though not translated by the NIV, this clause includes the conjunction "for" (gavr, gar ). Paul believes what he says here helps substantiate what he said in 5:6. That a believer's true home is with Christ even while in a human body does constitute an aspect of Christian faith. It is part of the fundamental Christian faith in the risen Christ but also in his promise to prepare a place for believers and the reality of Christ's resurrection power being effective in believers.

The word "live" (peripatevw, peripateô), more literally translated "walk," for Paul normally has moral connotations, as in living "decently" (Rom 13:13), acting "in love" (Rom 14:15), not incorporating "deception" (2 Cor 4:2), not behaving "by the standards of the world" (2 Cor 10:2). That this is so in 5:7 becomes clearer when Paul talks about "pleasing him" in 5:9 and being judged by "things done while in the body" in 5:10.

The NIV's translation of the word "sight" (eido", eidos ) is disputable. No other biblical rendition of the word in this way can be substantiated, and even outside the biblical literature the more prominent meaning of eidos is "form" or "shape." In Luke 3:32, the Holy Spirit is described as being in the "form" of a dove; in Luke 9:32, the "form" of Jesus' face is said to have changed; in John 5:37, God's "form" has not been seen; and in 1 Thess 5:22, believers are told to avoid every "form" of evil.

The fact that this verse is so often quoted out of context as a general Christian principle makes a translation like, "For we live by faith and not by form" sound wrong even though it should be preferred. Once such a translation is accepted, it helps bring to the foreground interpretations more specifically in line with the context. At least two may be suggested.

First, and preferred, is that by "form" Paul has in mind the believer's own human body. That Christians don't live by form would encompass the difficulty even Christians have in believing that their sum of existence is not contained in their human body. The current form of existence is bound for destruction. It is not a proper gauge to determine the reality of the heavenly body that will go over it, only faith is.

Second, by "form" Paul may have in mind the resurrected body of Christ which cannot be seen by Christians now but is an aspect of their faith. This connects well with the first half of the clause but is hard-pressed to justify such a specialized sense of the word "form."

5:8 We are confident, I say,

The NIV's "I say" (dve, de ) does a good job of showing that in 5:8 Paul essentially repeats what he said in 5:6. This time Paul constructs his sentence properly, making "we are confident" (qarrou'men, tharroumen ) a proper verb instead of a participle. The effect of the repetition is to underline the certitude Paul has regarding the believer's home residence.

and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

If anything, Paul makes it even clearer than he did in 5:6 that the believer's home residence is where Christ is, the eternal, heavenly home. He speaks as if he were a weary traveler, away for a long time, who has finally turned toward home, every step motivated by images of family and friends and the warm comforts of home.

Even though "away from the body" points to death, Paul's stated preference to be home should not be taken as some kind of death wish or abandonment of his apostolic commission, as becomes clearer in 5:9. It simply acknowledges the difficulties of his apostolic life and is a way of articulating his deep, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Perhaps, he so strongly identifies with Christ (maybe, like an older brother), he longs to be with him above anyone else. Although the preposition translated "with" (prov", pros ) normally indicates proximity and is translated "to" or "toward," the NIV has accurately represented the occasional relational dimension, notably observed also in John 1:1.

The claim by some that the verb translated "prefer" (eujdokevw, eudokeô) must refer to a deliberate choice, and thereby that Paul is talking about a moral orientation now rather than future life, is not compelling. In the NT, the word usually means "well-pleased," as when God speaks at Jesus' baptism (Matt 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22) and transfiguration (Matt 17:5). In 1 Cor 1:21, Paul uses the word to refer to God's "pleasure" or "preference" to employ what those who are worldly-wise would consider the foolishness of the gospel. In 5:8, then, Paul is not talking about a cold, hard choice, but rather what circumstances give him the most personal pleasure. Hands down, it is to be in his new eternal body in the presence of Christ. This is not a tough choice. It is a preference anyone who is confident of their future with Christ can state easily.

5:9 So we make it our goal to please him,

The conjunction "so" (divo, dio ) has a much stronger sense of inference than the NIV's rendering. Combined with the untranslated conjunction kaiv ( kai ), the opening could be translated, "therefore," "indeed." The emphasis Paul makes may relate to the clever turn of phrase he has forged with "to please him." Having just articulated what his pleasure is regarding where he prefers to be, using a word prefixed with eu (eudokeô), he now employs another word with that prefix (eujavresto", euarestos ) to signify the pleasure, regardless of where he is, he wishes to provide Christ. All nine NT uses of the word itself are from Paul or books related to Paul. Nearly always, as here, the objective is to produce pleasure for God or Christ by appropriate action (Rom 12:1,2; 14:18; Eph 5:10; Phil 4:18; Col 3:20; Heb 13:21).

The verb translated "make our goal" (filotimevomai, philotimeomai ) is only used two other times in the NT, both by Paul (Rom 15:20; 1 Thess 4:11), always viewing aspiration and ambition positively. However, the more common sense in Greek literature outside the NT is negative, to love honor and to compete with others for civic recognition. Indeed, it was a staple of the Greco-Roman world for people of merit to be honored by the pomp and circumstance of official public ceremonies, and people did vie to be called to the platform. This context may propel Paul into the public judgment scene of 5:10.

whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

Paul repeats this characterization of life before death and life after death for the third time now (also 5:6 and 5:8). The unwavering language underlines the either-or conception of where people can exist, either in their human body on earth or in their heavenly body with Christ. Any idea that Paul may have of an intermediate state, if he has any, simply does not manifest itself in this context. Paul displays a similar bipolar mind-set in Rom 14:8, there using the language of "life" and "death."

In the Greek, as reflected in the NASB, this statement is interjected between "goal" and "to please."

5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,

The "for" indicates that Paul intends to provide motivation for believers to make pleasing Christ their number one priority. Although Paul believes all humanity is subject to God's judgment, here he has in mind believers only bearing Christ's scrutiny. The word "must" (dei', dei ) is often employed in the NT in contexts of divine ordination (1 Cor 15:25,53; Matt 16:21; Rev 1:1; 4:1; 22:6).

The word "judgment seat" (bh'ma, bçma) in more mundane contexts simply means "a raised step." However, it became associated with the raised position of royal thrones, and finally, with official, tribunal settings in which kings and governors made edicts, judgments and rulings. Thus, Jesus is described as being brought before the judgment seat of Pilate (John 19:13), and Paul himself comes before the judgment seat of Festus (Acts 25:6), and more relevantly, the judgment seat of Gallio in Corinth itself (Acts 18:12-17). Paul now pictures Christ upon his own throne of judgment evaluating those who have served him.

that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

It might seem that the doctrine of salvation by grace would preclude any evaluation or judgment of Christians. However, what Paul says here and elsewhere affirms that this is not so. Actions in no way earn salvation. In fact, since all sin, they earn damnation. But, as Jas 2:14-26 puts it so well, belief in Christ which does not include a consistent life of service to Christ is hypocritical and really not belief at all. What Paul seems to have in mind, then, is not judgment determining whether or not believers are saved, but rather an assessment of the quality of their lives within their salvation status. First Corinthians 3:10-15 speaks of lives being tested with fire revealing their quality to be like gold, wood, or straw, and of believers being just barely saved. Other passages which assert the reality of personal evaluation include Rom 2:5-11; 14:12; and 1 Cor 4:5.

When exactly this evaluation of believers takes place is not directly addressed in this passage. It would seem that it must be after believers receive their heavenly body after death since this goes on over the old one which is destined for destruction. Paul's adamancy that once believers are away from their old body, they are with Christ suggests that this evaluation takes place immediately upon arrival to be with Christ. Suggestions that there must be a waiting interval or an intermediate state of some kind are not pondered in this passage and, it must be remembered anyway, that time factors lose their relevance at death.

Although God is pictured as judge in the OT (Gen 18:25; Deut 32:4; Jer 11:20), the NT is consistent in asserting that, upon the completion of his mission, Christ has been commissioned by God for this task of judging all (John 5:22; Rom 2:16; 2 Tim 4:1). This appropriately effects a role reversal for those who have rejected Christ (Mark 14:62; Phil 2:10).

In Rom 9:11 Paul describes Isaac and Rebekah's twins as having done nothing "good or bad" before their birth. The fact that he includes "bad" in 5:10 suggests that Christ will be seriously disappointed by some of the things each individual Christian does but that the whole picture will be in view. Some suggest that in raising this negative aspect Paul has his eye on his opponents in Corinth. This seems unlikely at this point, since later on, Paul will seriously question salvation status altogether (2 Cor 11:13).

D. PREACHING RECONCILIATION THROUGH CHRIST (5:11-6:2)

1. Motivated by Christ's Love (5:11-15)

5:11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men.

After going off on something of a tangent regarding his confidence in both his predeath and postdeath relationship to the Lord in 5:1-10, Paul turns his full attention back to defending himself from direct criticisms of his apostolic ministry. Such obvious reaction to attacks from opponents in Corinth has not been so evident since 4:1 where he categorically denies any deceptive practices in his dissemination of the gospel. That same accusation seems to ring just beneath the surface of what he says here in 5:11-15 and somewhat in 5:16-6:2 as well.

Paul's acknowledgement "to fear the Lord" at least faintly comes from his awareness of Christ's judgment mentioned in 5:10, indicated by the common inferential conjunction "then" (ou , oun ). However, his use of the participle eijdovte" ( eidotes , from oida, oida ) for "know" rather than ginwvskw (ginôskô)may suggest that he does not have in mind mere informational knowledge but rather experiential knowledge. He has personally experienced "the Lord," God not Christ here (note 7:1).

The lasting impression of his experiences which dominates his evangelistic activities he describes as "fear." This fear does not petrify him; it energizes him. It is something in between the "fear" or respect for God that brings wisdom (Job 28:28; Eccl 12:13; Prov 9:10) and the terrifying fear of an unrepentant sinner in God's midst. He knows who God is, understands what God expects of him, seeks with all his might not to let him down, and has experienced the unbridgeable gulf between his finite, sinful humanity and God's infinite, loving magnitude.

Some suggest that with "persuade," Paul primarily has in mind persuading those who criticize his ministry. However, his use of the very general a[nqrwpo" (anthrôpos) for "men" as well as the overall context suggest it is much more likely that he has in mind his ministry of preaching the gospel, particularly his willingness to adapt his language and methods to make it accessible to everyone he encounters (1 Cor 9:22). This may leave him open to charges of deception. However, he contends what he does is not deceptive but rather embodies the reality that the truth of the gospel resonates with all people. He does not change the gospel to win personal favor, as he emphasizes in Gal 1:10. Rather, pleasing God drives him and empowers him.

What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.

The phrase "what we are is plain" is the NIV's attempt to get a handle on what is in Greek just one word, pefanerwvmeqa (pephanerômetha), from fanerovw (phaneroô), a commonly employed word in the NT which usually is translated "reveal" in the active sense or "appear," "be revealed," in the passive as it is here. The verb is perfect tense here, which literally translated would be, "We have been revealed," or "made known." What Paul is trying to say is that all his motivations, good and bad, all his desires, sins, and evil thoughts are known to God. Everything about him is visible, or, better, "transparent" to God.

Not only that, Paul believes everything God knows about him can also be known by the Corinthian believers who truly seek the truth. He utters a similar conviction later on in 2 Cor 7:12 where he also uses phaneroô. Earlier, dealing with the accusation of deception in 4:2, he made a similar pronouncement. There, "conscience" (suneivdhsi", syneidçsis) also entered his remarks as he stated his confidence in submitting himself to the scrutiny of other's consciences, knowing the moral character of God stands behind the function of true, human conscience.

Saying "I hope" suggests Paul is cautiously optimistic that his readers will in fact diligently search their consciences for the truth about his apostolic practices. His reservations regarding success about this have nothing to do with any lack of confidence in God, himself, or even many of the Corinthians. Rather, his fear is that the influence of his accusers will prejudice some so much that they will not be able to see the truth about Paul. No doubt, he hopes what he is saying right here in 2 Corinthians will counteract this negative influence, and all will be well.

So far in 2 Corinthians 5, Paul has consistently written in the first person plural ("we"), even when referring to himself. The shift to first person singular ("I") at this point is noteworthy, probably indicating the gravity of the situation in his mind and perhaps his own intense emotional state surrounding this issue. As he sees it, the future of his continued ministry among the Corinthians rides on them seeking their conscience regarding his integrity.

5:12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again,

Paul's denial reflects the rhetorical question he asked at 3:1. Ultimately, Paul seeks only God's approval, not theirs. Yet, he seems to be nursing a wound, indicated by his emphasis upon "again" (pavlin, palin ) in both contexts, inflicted by opponents at Corinth who have accused him of seeking glory for himself at the expense of the Corinthians. With his apostolic practices under attack, Paul is in a catch-22 as he seeks to defend himself without coming off as self-seeking. At 4:2 and 6:4, as here, he seems satisfied to commend himself under the umbrella of God whom he diligently serves and the conscience of others. The issue of commendation is a regularly recurring feature of 2 Corinthians, the word itself (sunivsthmi, synistçmi) occurring nine times (3:1; 4:2; 5:12; 6:4; 7:11; 10:12,18 - twice; 12:11).

but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us,

Paul knows that a great many people in the Corinthian church still believe in him and are trying to defend him against his accusers. His purpose in speaking about his merits, then, is not for self-justification. Rather, he realizes the practical necessity of providing substance for those desiring to represent his cause to others. Given his distance and the row created by his Painful Visit, he really is dependent upon their advocacy.

The NIV's "take pride" captures the positive feeling he desires to create in his readers. However, it misses the key point, which is that he expects them to speak on his behalf to his critics. The word kauvchma (kauchçma) normally is translated "boasting," a key concept in this context and in 2 Corinthians generally, used 29 times in its various cognates. Paul does not boast of himself but sees nothing wrong with fellow Christians bragging about his character and his accomplishments in serving God.

so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.

The NIV's "can answer" is a good representation of what Paul intends, even though all he actually writes is "you might have" (e[chte, echçte). That his supporters might have something to say to his detractors which counters their accusations clearly is his idea here. Once again, however, the underachieving translation of "pride" stands in for "boast" (kaucavomai, kauchaomai ). Paul's opponents are not just proud of the wrong things; they are bragging about the wrong things; they are tooting their own horns to impress others with their superiority to Paul. This is the very reason why Paul needs his supporters galvanized to boast on his behalf for the right reasons.

Paul characterizes misguided boasting as harping on "what is seen." This translates the Greek phrase ejn proswvpw/ (en prosôpô), which literally means "in the face." His opponents are drawing attention to superficial trivialities, activities which are unconnected to what is really vital, that which is "in the heart." These inward, spiritual motivations should certainly be evidenced by one's actions. However, as Paul has discovered with Corinthians, such spiritually-connected actions may be quite different than what others are looking for. In that case, only God can judge the heart (1 Sam 16:7), and those who wish truly to discern the spiritual integrity of others must look inward themselves, at their consciences (5:11), to discover what God knows. If they don't do this, just like many of the Corinthians, they will continue to be fooled into being wowed by the superficial actions of those who are spiritually empty.

The concentration on impressive, outward display of "spirituality" in Paul's Corinthian rivals may be compared to the Sophists, a Greek philosophical party who were known to make every effort to impress crowds with their meticulous attention to speech and clothing despite their lack of substance. What kinds of things Paul's rivals may have been using to promote themselves becomes clearer in 5:13.

5:13 If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.

For "we are out of our mind" (ejxevsthmen, exestçmen) Paul chooses a word used only one other time in the NT, in Mark 3:21, where Jesus' family comes to Capernaum to take him home because they think he is crazy. It is possible, whether or not he is aware of Mark 3:21, that Paul sees himself in a similar circumstance. A contingent of people in Corinth believe his actions, perhaps even his zealous evangelistic activities, have been so irrational that he must be crazy. If so, then Paul is saying that his demeanor which is driven by his devotion to God ("fear of the Lord" - 5:11) only appears irrational to those who are themselves unwilling to look within themselves for the mind of God to assess his behavior. This point of view coincides reasonably well with Paul's exposition on human "wisdom" and the message of the cross in 1 Cor 1:14-2:16 which appears "foolish" to those who do not have the mind of Christ.

All of Paul's behavior, however, does not appear irrational. Some of it, perhaps most of it, falls within the parameters of what the Corinthian believers would consider normal, not mad. This toned down activity, easily understood by the Corinthians, he calls being "in our right mind" (swfronevw, sôphroneô). This Greek word can function as an antonym of crazy to describe the Gerasene Demoniac after Jesus cast out the Legion (Mark 5:15; Luke 8:35) and is often associated with self-control.

Although the above interpretation has its attractions, most commentators set it aside in favor of a view which gives a specialized intention to Paul's use of the word exestçmen. It is suggested that this word refers to ecstatic manifestations, purportedly of the Spirit, which Paul's opponents put on display to affirm their spiritual prowess but which Paul declines to show in public. This, then, connects to Paul's rivals boasting of the outward matters rather than inward in 5:12. Paul's own reluctant "boast" in 2 Corinthians 12:2 of being caught up to the third heaven reflects, then, the superiority of his private, ecstatic experiences, heretofore kept to himself. The privacy of his own charismatic experiences may also reflect his own recommendation to keep such things out of public view in 1 Corinthians 14. Paul, then, it seems, opens himself up for people to view him as inferior to his rivals at Corinth because, unlike them, he refuses to parade his spiritual superiority about in outward, ecstatic displays.

The most convincing argument for this second view is that it is able to treat both datives, "for the sake of God" and "for you" the same, as datives of reference, better translated in that case "to God" and "to you." Its weakness is in establishing that exestçmen can actually refer to ecstatic manifestations. Even in 2 Cor 12:2, Paul speaks of his heavenly experience in terms of being "in the body or out of the body," not "out of his mind." Even then, it hardly qualifies as an external, spiritual manifestation like his rivals.

Though the first view has few championing it recently, the fact that it does not presume any specialized calculation by the reader makes it the preferred interpretation, at least for now. The fact that in 5:14 Paul will return to the issue of his motivation for behavior and hints at nothing about motivation for not displaying ecstatic experiences also lends credence to the first view.

5:14 For Christ's love compels us,

Paul restates the force which has dictated and continues to generate his actions. In 5:11, it was the fear of the Lord; now, it is the self-giving love which Christ shines into his life, really into the lives of all believers. Theoretically, Paul could be describing our love for Christ as the driving force in our lives. However, he never speaks of the love of Christ in this sense, but the love which Christ displays, especially on the cross, is foundational to Paul's theology (Rom 8:34-35; Gal 2:20).

The word "compels" (sunevcw, synechô) can mean "hold," "keep together," even "encircle," or "hem in." It refers to someone whose activity has been restricted or narrowed in someway. Thus, it can describe someone who is ill or bedridden, as in Matt 4:24 and Acts 28:8, or even someone who is under guard (Luke 22:63). It can also refer to someone who is stressed out about a tough decision about their life's direction, as in Luke 12:50 with regard to Christ and Phil 1:23 regarding Paul.

No doubt, Paul means the word in a positive sense. Christ's love does not deter him in any negative way. However, it does narrow his activity to that which advances Christ's message. We could think of a horse with blinders or a narrow mountain pass. The restriction compels in a positive sense to move forward efficiently, with no wasted energy. Such is how Paul describes the affect of Christ in his life and in the lives of all believers.

because we are convinced that one died for all,

Paul delineates just how it is that he has come to this kind of life so completely dedicated to advancing the message of Christ. He announces that this has been a carefully considered decision on his part in weighing the evidence for the crucifixion of Christ and its conclusive solution for man's salvation and redemption. From this point through 5:15 he will lay out what exactly he believes about this, which for Christians must be recognized as "irreducible cognitive content" of Christian faith. What he says is comparable to what he says elsewhere in places like 1 Thess 5:10; 1 Cor 15:3; Gal 2:20; Rom 5:8; and 14:10.

This first statement tags the key elements of Paul's doctrine of salvation. This is the first of three times that Paul will use the word "all" (pa'", pas ), and the first of four times that he will use the word "died" (apoqnh/vskw, apothnçskô). "All" signifies the universal efficacy of the crucifixion and is what makes the message so compelling to get out. Everyone everywhere deserves to know what Christ has done for them. This compulsion to make sure as many people as possible can hear and understand that Christ died for them still drives the church to do what seems to many to be crazy things, like going to remote places on the globe and budgeting decades to create written languages for tribes so they can read a statement like this in the Bible for themselves. It also may explain why some in Corinth may consider Paul mad (5:13), as he certainly was excessively compulsive about all this.

In this passage, Paul does not explain the reason why "the one" had to die, nor even that the one was crucified. Other places, like Romans and Galatians, spell out that his death was required because of the alienation of humankind from God due to rebellious sin. Here, he wishes to draw the reader into the attractive symmetry of the gospel as utterly compelling. "One . . . for all" says everything. One, pure, sinless one in trade for everyone else. Here also is where Christ's love for all is revealed as he willingly gives himself up to pay the penalty everyone else deserves.

Some try to explain that "all" in this passage must be limited to those who believe since Christ's death actually only affects those who are saved. Such overly theological analysis, however, destroys what is so compelling to Paul. Christ is the universal solution. That is the message.

Some argue that Paul's use of "for" (hJupevr, hyper ) does not demand that he has in mind substitution, that his idea here is more general than other places like Gal 3:13 and should simply be understood as "on behalf of" or "for the benefit of." While it is certainly true that hyper can be taken the second way, the major rationale for this comes from looking at the second half of the clause. If substitution was intended, then logically Paul should have followed up with "therefore, none died" rather than "therefore, all died." However, this is to overlook that he does get to the idea of all living in 5:15. He simply wishes to say something more profound about death first, in his own mind still assuming his fundamental doctrine of substitution. To remove the idea of substitution from Paul's underlying thoughts here, then, is to nitpick and to misrepresent his thinking.

and therefore all died.

Paul seems to be thinking along the lines of what he says in Romans 5 and 6 (see also 1 Cor 15:22), even though, there, he associates death as being in Adam and his sin as juxtaposed with life, or grace, being in Christ and what he did. Most likely, Paul in his mind has collapsed this foundational idea into the one statement he has made here. In a sense all humanity died in Christ, too. True, a person's complete identification with Christ and his death occurs in baptism (Rom 6:3), and, no doubt, Paul has this in mind too. However, even though everyone has not believed in Christ and been baptized, nor will they, the once-and-for-all historical event of the crucifixion is such that their death for sin has indeed already taken place on the cross. Faith taps them into the full saving power of that redemptive reality.

5:15 And he died for all,

By repeating his first clause of 5:14, Paul reveals without a doubt that this, as far as he is concerned, is the crux of the gospel.

that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Paul's language is very similar to Rom 6:8. However, his purpose for identifying believers with Christ's death and resurrection there emphasizes salvation more. Here, salvation certainly is in view in the statement "all those who live." However, his thrust is toward the moral, spiritual, and certainly evangelistic commitment involved in Christians' living daily for Christ. What he says goes a long way toward explaining his own sold-out compulsion to serve Christ no matter what others may think, including those Corinthians who remain skeptical.

At his point, with "those who live," Paul does narrow his scope to baptized believers. Only these can apply the crucifixion of Christ to their daily patterns of life. As Paul says in Gal 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Such identification basks not just in the glory of the cross but must embrace the suffering of the cross, as well. As Jesus adjures his disciples in Mark 8:34, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

With "raised again" Paul completes the gospel message. Living a new life for Christ is not possible without God's action of resurrecting Jesus from the grave. Paul's passive language of "was raised" is consistent with the overall NT theology that insists it was and could only be the power of God which brought Jesus back to life after he submitted completely to death. So, in the end, the gospel story is embraced by divine action which demonstrates God's love for men and women, not just in the cross (John 3:16) but also in the resurrection of Christ. With Christ alive, believers too may draw upon that resurrection power as they submit their lives to Christ's service. This is precisely what Paul invokes here and will continue to draw upon when he talks about new creation and reconciliation in the next paragraph, 5:16-6:2.

2. Christ's Message of Reconciliation Delivered (5:16-6:2)

5:16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.

In the previous verse Paul spoke of a distinctive change that occurs in the lives of those who commit themselves to the truth of the gospel message. No longer ordering their lives around their own self-interests and gratification, they now throw all they have and are into their allegiance to Christ and dedication to his priorities. Beginning with 5:16, he articulates the first of at least two dramatic consequences of this changed life. The standard Greek conjunction to indicate this, w{ste (hôste), begins both 5:16 and 5:17, translated as "so" and "therefore" by the NIV.

Paul's emphasis on "we," indicated by the fact that he actually states the pronoun (though not necessary in Greek since the person and number, usually conveyed by the pronoun in English, is included in the construction of the Greek verb), is an indication that probably he has his own conversion experience in mind as prototypical of all believers. It likely also indicates that he continues to contrast the peculiarities of his own actions while with the Corinthians with his detractors among them. The verb he chooses, "regard" (oida, oida ), is extremely common, used over 300 times in the NT. Normally, it is simply translated "know." Paul's more specialized idea here of "knowing well enough to value or esteem" is paralleled in 1 Thess 5:12.

With "now" and "no one," Paul underscores that a dramatic, life-changing shift has occurred in how he estimates the value of people he knows. His former criteria he decries as kataÉ savrka ( kata sarka ), which the NIV brings across as "from a worldly point of view." This phrase, literally translated "according to the flesh" is characteristically Pauline and is crucial, especially in Romans 8, to his articulation of the sinful nature of humans, even Christians, which, without the power of the Spirit against it, holds them back from doing God's will in their lives. Paul can also use the phrase to speak nonpejoratively, simply of the human body, as in Gal 2:20 and even 2 Cor 4:11. Here, he seems to have something of both in mind.

He is no longer impressed by people's physical prowess or their personal accomplishments. This is to dwell on the exterior, which he has already denounced in 5:12 as typical of his Corinthian opponents. Apparently, he sees the vacuousness of this worldly approach because he used to do it too. But Paul cannot have in mind only the superficial aspects of the lives of others. The heart of the matter goes to himself. Is he evaluating people according to the flesh, with his eyes powered by his own sinful nature, which could lead him to envy, competitiveness, and self-pride? His answer is, "No!" The typical human approach to personal relationships is disgustingly insufficient. Like 5:12, he seeks to know people "in the heart," to allow the Spirit of Christ within him to help him know the true spiritual condition of others. That's the only thing that matters in a life prioritized by commitment to Christ.

Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

Paul narrows the field of relationships down to the one which ultimately matters the most. One cannot evaluate, "know" (ginwvskw, ginôskô, this time) Christ according to the flesh (ejn sarkiv, en sarki , repeated again but not shown in the NIV). Of course, in reality it is truly coming to know Christ first which now has transformed all his other relationships.

Paul refers to his preconversion understanding of Christ. On the face of it, without spiritually transformed vision, Jesus appeared to be a fraud with no other purpose than replacing the Law God had entrusted to the Jews with his own authority and leading naοve people away from pure, holy lives. He was crucified as a rebel leader, after all, and reports of his resurrection could easily be dismissed as fanciful concoctions of his crazed followers. Paul's superficial knowledge of Jesus, led him not just to dismiss him as the furthest thing from a true Messiah but to seek to destroy the growing movement of those believing he was. This fanatical life of persecuting Christians previous to his own personal encounter with the resurrected Christ surely weighs down his statement here. For Paul, the opposite of knowing Christ according to the flesh is to know Christ according to the cross (1 Cor 2:2; 2 Cor 4:10-11), when one comes to appreciate spiritually the understanding that Christ died for all.

Some have suggested that Paul is trying to dismiss the importance of the historical Jesus in contrast to proper theological understanding of Christ's significance. This is said to be his way of combating those who criticized the genuineness of his apostolic office because he did not walk with Jesus as one of the twelve. Although it is certainly true that knowing Jesus soteriologically, or as personal savior and the theology which accompanies this, is vital as compared to actually meeting him face to face in A.D. 30, such concern is alien to this context and is, in fact, grammatically suspect. The placement of the phrase kata sarka (NIV - "in this way" but actually "in the flesh") directly after the verb (ginôskô) and most importantly before the noun, "Christ," indicates that it modifies the verb and not the noun. In Rom 9:5, where Paul clearly refers to Christ's "human ancestry," kata sarka occurs after the noun "Christ." Here Paul refers to a way of knowing, in this case a worldly, superficial, spiritually uninformed way.

5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

Although constructed (using w{ste, hôste, "therefore,") as a second consequence of changed priorities articulated in 5:15, what Paul says really amounts to a general explanation of the circumstances which change believers' priorities and also their manner of regarding people. Logically, being part of the new creation is the foundation for both the changes expressed in 5:15 and 5:16.

He structures this statement, one of the most quotable and significant in all his writings, as a conditional, meaning that if the first statement occurs, then the second does also. For a person to be "in Christ," a very loaded term Paul uses over twenty-five times in his writings," means that a person has personal fellowship with Christ based on identification with his death and resurrection through baptism as well as fellowship with the full community of Christians. Thus, believers are baptized into Christ (Gal 3:27-28) and are one body in Christ (Rom 12:5). So, the phrase has both soteriological dimensions as well as ecclesiological dimensions. What Paul makes clear in this verse is that it also has eschatological dimensions.

When Paul says that a believer is a "new creation" he means that the transformation of the believer initiated at baptism is part of a general transformation of all creation which is part and parcel of the new age to come. Anticipation of this cosmic upheaval comes from Isa 65:17-25, which begins: "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered." This new age has already begun in the hearts and minds and actions of believers. In Gal 6:15 Paul says that being part of this new creation God is bringing to pass is all that really matters.

the old has gone, the new has come!

Paul describes the transformation as completed because of his absolute certainty that it will happen since it is powered by God. It began with the appearance of the person of Christ and the inauguration of the Kingdom of God It continues to build in the transformed lives of believers, and perhaps elsewhere within creation.

By opening the second clause with "Behold!" (ijdouv, idou ), left untranslated in the NIV, Paul depicts the reality of all this as if the reader is watching it occur, almost like observing a sunrise. One minute it is dark and hazy, the next, the sun has popped out and one "beholds" its wonder as it transforms the shimmering landscape.

The word "old" (arcai'o", archaios ) depicts something which has been around from the beginning, "ancient," but which has become ridiculously old-fashioned or worn out, like polyester leisure suits, bell-bottoms, and avocado kitchen appliances. Such things might have seemed fashionable 30 years ago, but in comparison with the new, their oldness is painfully obvious. This is so also with the old creation and the new. The difference to the transformed believer between the old life and the new life in Christ is night and day. There is simply no comparison.

But again, Paul describes all this not just as what happens in the lives of believers but ultimately what is happening and will be completed in the final chapter of existence. The universe itself as we know it will "pass away" or "disappear," alternate translations of the NIV's "gone" (parevrcomai, parerchomai ). Key uses of this word and concept are also found in Matt 24:35, where Jesus speaks of heaven and earth passing away and 2 Pet 3:10 which speaks of the heavens disappearing with a roar. All in its place will be totally new, a newness which can begin to be appreciated now only by those "in Christ."

5:18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ

Paul's actual statement is, "All things are from God." While the general affirmation is doctrinally sound (actually contained in Rom 11:36) and likely underlies Paul's sentiment, the NIV is correct to add "this" to clarify that Paul's reference point for the statement is what he has been talking about. It is the new creation and the impact of that upon believers which Paul attributes to the work and plan of God himself.

The ten uses of the verb and noun forms of "reconcile" (katallavsw, katallassô; katallaghv, katallagç) by Paul, the only one who uses them in the NT, concentrates right here in 2 Cor 5:18-20 (five times) and in Rom 5:10-11 (three times). The word's function in Greek usage is restricted to personal relationships and does not enter into religious vocabulary. Rudimentarily, it means to exchange items with someone. Extending from that comes the idea of a mutual exchange of apologies or compensations which restore friendly relationships between individuals after a period of discord and separation. Paul's idea that God is the initiator of reconciliation between himself and mankind is unique, contrasting even with Jewish notions (found in 2 Macc 1:5; 8:9), perhaps intentionally, that people must take steps to reconcile themselves to God, especially through prayer.

As Paul will explain in 5:19, it is rebellious sin against God which has put people in need of reconciliation with him. Even though some may desire to seek reconciliation with God to remove the alienation sin has created, the gap is so wide people cannot breach it completely out of their own effort, however sincere. Because God must uphold his justice, the damage is irreparable apart from divine intervention. And so, Paul names Christ as the agent, or person through which reconciliation is accomplished. Although "in Christ" in the earlier editions of the NIV makes a nice parallel in English to the same key phrase in 5:17, the actual preposition employed here is "through" (diav, dia ), and the NIV editors have changed the most recent versions accordingly. What is involved in Christ's effort Paul comes back to in 5:21.

and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

Since reconciliation is usually mutual, both parties reaching out to one another, the human-divine situation Paul describes sounds odd. Does God do everything for both parties, humanity and himself? Yet, he is not even the one who broke down the relationship by any offense.

The fact that Paul introduces the idea of the ministry of reconciliation, describing his own ministry, but surely the ministry of the whole church, every believer, as well, indicates that there is indeed something people must do to enter into this newfound friendship with God. Even though compensation for their offense against God was accomplished through Christ, they must accept "the message of reconciliation" (5:19), the gospel, and commit themselves to the person of Jesus Christ. However, due to the freedom of choice God has granted to every individual, he cannot and will not force anyone to accept the message and be reconciled. It is not a mutual reconciliation until an individual accepts Christ as God's only official medium of reconciliation.

A person's apologetic response does not change God's attitude from wrath to mercy. This has already been accomplished on the cross and demonstrated by the resurrection. Further, its reality is seen in God's investment in the ministry of reconciliation to the world through the human agency of people like Paul and the church as a whole.

With this reference to "ministry of reconciliation," Paul has now described his apostolic ministry in a total of four overlapping ways, as "ministry of the Spirit" (3:8), "ministry of righteousness," (3:9) and ministry "of a new covenant" (3:6). These remain as aspects of church ministry today.

5:19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,

The two conjunctions (wJ" o}ti, hôs hoti) introducing this clause pose translators with a quandary. The first word normally is translated "as;" the second can be translated causally as "since" or "because," or it can introduce either an indirect ("that") or a direct quotation. Many believe that since Paul seems to be imparting formulaic tradition concerning the doctrine of Christ in what follows, whether the language originally came from him or was something already recited in the early church which he adopts, that the emphasis should be on hoti ("that") introducing either a direct or an indirect quotation. However, the case for Paul quoting his own teaching seems far-fetched and the case for this being non-Pauline teaching is impossible to prove since the language of reconciliation is only used by Paul in the NT and, at that, only here in 2 Corinthians and also in Romans.

The case for a causal understanding of hôs hoti is hobbled by the fact that Paul at first simply repeats what he said in 5:18. However, when he comes to the second clause, introducing the problem of sin, he is saying something about cause: Paul has a ministry of reconciliation because God's reconciliation does not count men's sins against them. Paul may have gotten ahead of himself slightly, grammatically speaking, in expressing the causal aspect a clause too early.

By placing "in Christ" at the end of the clause, the NIV chooses to avoid any possible confusion which might result from placing it where it actually occurs in the Greek text, after "was." The resulting translation would read, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" (retained in the KJV and NASB), emphasizing the incarnational aspect of Christ. Although it certainly is true that Christ's divinity is stressed in the NT (most notably John 1:1), that does not seem to be the central focus in this context. The point, which Paul seems intent simply to repeat at this juncture, is that Christ is the person in whom ("in" as in 5:17) God's desire for reconciliation is accomplished.

The word "world" (kovsmo", kosmos ) can refer to "the earth" as in 2 Pet 3:6. However, normally it refers to people and the cultural influences of civilization, as Paul earlier used it in 2 Cor 1:12 and can be found dozens of times in the NT, notably John 3:16. So, the reconciliation Paul has in mind should be understood as referring to humanity. It certainly is true that the new creation, of which the reconciliation of humanity is a part, includes the cosmos, or the universe, as Paul has suggested in 5:17. However, despite the earth bearing consequences of man's sin and its groaning to be transformed (Rom 8:20-21), there is no indication biblically that the earth is in any way held liable for its contrition in human sinfulness. If anything, it is an innocent victim of man's selfishness and depravity.

Paul's conscientious insertion of the word "world" and his use of the past tense "was" emphasizes that Christ's work of reconciliation was for absolutely everyone and that it was completed on the cross. This is important because it underlies a gospel message that is universal and totally available right now.

not counting men's sins against them.

As one author has said, "God has discarded all the arithmetic that has to do with humanity's sins." The word "counting" does come from a fairly common Greek word (logivzomai, logizomai ) which was used in mathematical and business contexts in Greek. It is a favorite of Paul's, used eight times in 2 Corinthians (though only used just this way here) and over twenty times in Romans (most importantly Rom 4:8, but also ten other times as "credit" in Rom 4:3-24). The idea that because of Christ God has thrown away the scorecard to calculate and justify his judgment upon each individual is the thrilling news of the new covenant which Paul is so excited to share. The infinite quality of his sacrifice simply overwhelms the balance sheet as his credit is transferred over to undeserving humanity.

Although the Greek word "sins" (paravptwma, paraptôma) is usually singular in the NT (plural elsewhere only in Rom 4:25; 5:16), the plural fits better with the verb "count." This is the only use of the word in 2 Corinthians. However, Paul uses it fifteen other times throughout his letters, ten times in Romans. The word outside biblical literature usually refers to an accidental error or inadvertent mistake, its root, piptô, meaning "fall" or "slip." However, in the NT and in Paul it seems to be interchangeable with the more common word for sin, aJmartiva ( hamartia ), used 173 times, even though it is usually distinguished from hamartia by being translated as "trespass." Accountability is never in doubt. This is suitably illustrated by Rom 5:12-20 where both words are used numerous times without differentiation.

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Having described his calling and that of the church as a "ministry of reconciliation" in 5:18, he now emphasizes that "reconciliation" is the content of this ministry as well. While the task of reconciliation has been completed on God's end, people must yet hear and receive the good news of what God has done. This falls to the church and people like Paul to accomplish. The verb Paul uses to describe this commissioning is not the more open-ended "give" (divdwmi, didômi) as in 5:18, but the word tivqhmi (tithçmi), "commit," often translated simply "place," which endows one with a burden of responsibility. Paul will amplify on this issue in the next verses.

5:20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.

Paul's conclusion at this point extends from what he just said in 5:19. If he has been entrusted to deliver "the message," literally, "the word" (lovgo", logos ), about what God has accomplished through Christ, then, he and all who deliver this divine message to the world function as "ambassadors." Though only used twice in the NT, both times by Paul, here and in Eph 6:20, this word (presbeuvw, presbeuô) describes official representatives of Caesar or envoys from other nations to Caesar.

Like a career diplomat, then, Paul represents Christ. His message is one he carries on behalf of Christ. Though not translated by the NIV, the Greek preposition uJpevr ( hyper - "on behalf of"), which occurs before "Christ," stipulates this. The message Paul carries is a message of peace, a message to lay down all arms, because God's wrath of judgment has been averted through what Christ has done. The message is about Christ, but it comes from God himself, just as Christ represents the divine initiative of reconciliation mentioned in 5:18.

Does Paul speak to the world in place of God? To a certain extent, the answer has to be "yes." The whole point of sending an envoy instead of the ruler is because the ruler chooses not to come for any number of reasons. This is not to say that Paul, or the church for that matter, is God's exclusive means of communicating to the world. He has other means, whether through nature, the inner voice, or even Scripture. However, the church and its representatives are the officially chosen medium for delivering the good news of reconciliation to the world. This is a sobering responsibility which Paul certainly took seriously. Today, the church must not forget that all it does should be focused on being God's mouthpiece of good news to people who desperately need this message.

Does everything Paul speaks come from God because he is an apostle? Or, for the matter, does everything the church pronounces come directly from God? The answer has to be "No." It is this particular message that carries the official imprimatur of God. Paul can be wrong and all too human in his judgments in many matters just as those in the church today can be. There may be other official communications from God, but it is only the message of reconciliation that Paul talks about here.

In a very real sense, Paul's conclusion that he is Christ's ambassador sums up and culminates everything he has been saying in defense of his ministry since 2:14. If the Corinthians didn't recognize this before - and apparently some of them didn't - they certainly should now after his detailed, highly personalized, at times, emotionally laden rendition of his principles of true, apostolic ministry.

We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

The NIV's "implore" is a very good rendition of the verb (devomai, deomai ) which carries with it a deep sense of emotional urgency or longing. Of the six times Paul uses the word, three are here in 2 Corinthians (8:4; 10:2). The last one, 10:2, in which Paul "begs" the Corinthians not to force him to come again to confront those who will not reform their behavior, may be seen as a bookend to this present appeal. Obviously, if all those who are hearing this letter read do receive the true message of the gospel - even if for a second time - and renew the relationship with God Christ has provided for them, Paul's concern expressed in 10:2 will be moot.

It is striking that Paul has taken all that he has said in principle about true ministry and boiled it down to this very practical appeal to the Corinthians. It would seem that his statement in normal preaching contexts would be directed at nonbelievers following an explanation of the message of reconciliation he has been commissioned to deliver. His adaptation of it to this context, so clearly directed at the Corinthians, suggests that he believes the troubles he has had in gaining full acceptance with them as an apostle, God's commissioned ambassador, is because at least some of them have not been fully converted or are in need of reconversion after being influenced against him by the outside agitators there. How can they be right with God and reject him? This is not arrogance. It is simply certainty regarding who he is and that the message he delivers is from God himself.

The significant difference between "reconciliation" and "atonement," redemption," or "propitiation" as words to represent what God has done in Christ is that it includes more than just a vertical, or God-man component. Reconciliation has a horizontal, man-man, component as well. Biblically, reconciliation with God is supposed to get translated into reconciliation with others as well (note 1 Cor 7:11). Since Paul is looking to patch up a stormy relationship with some of the Corinthians, this two-dimensional word is perfect for this situation. Reconciliation with God should lead to reconciliation between himself and the Corinthians.

5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin ^a for us,

^a 21 Or be a sin offering

Having emphasized in 5:18 and 5:19 that God took action to enable rebellious humanity to be reconciled to him, Paul now explains just how what Christ did could accomplish this objective. The idea that it was God's "will" for someone without "deceit in his mouth" to be caused "to suffer" and in effect become "a guilt offering" in order to "justify many" and "bear their iniquities" as God's "righteous servant" had long before been penned in Isa 53:10-12. Most likely, the early church had connected Isaiah's Suffering Servant with Jesus very early on. Regardless, Paul certainly seems influenced by the passage here and elsewhere, though it must be said that he does not take over the specific wording which would relate to guilt offering from Isa 53:10 (dw'te periÉ aJmartiva", dôte peri hamartias, "offering for sin").

The doctrine that Jesus was sinless prevails broadly across the NT, suggested in Matt 27:4,24; Luke 23:47; John 8:46; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 1:19; 2:22. This seems to be essential for him to qualify as the Suffering Servant, a life worthy to be exchanged for the sins of humanity. The necessity of this exchange, the guiltless for the guilty, Paul in Rom 8:1-4 explains more expansively than he does here.

The necessity from God's perspective is "that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us." The very moral standards established by God as expressed in the law cannot be met by sinful humanity. The one who has kept them all without fault is Jesus Christ. God's Son was fully human yet "had no sin," literally "knew no sin" (ginwvskw, ginôskô), not meaning that he did not experience all the cunning lures of sin like everyone else (Heb 4:15). Just the opposite, he experienced all sin's temptations but never acted outside of God's moral standards, never in rebellion against God, like the rest of us.

God made him "to be sin" in the sense that, being exchanged for us, he bore the consequences of our sin, the suffering of God's condemnation in his death and the ensuing alienation from God. In a crushing moment in infinity, he experienced the accumulation of the haunting, lonely, terrifying separation from God humanity has felt since the first sin.

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Taking on the totality of human guilt for sin against God, Jesus Christ in effect has given humanity his own perfect, robust relationship with God. No longer alienated by our sin, we are now "the righteousness of God." Paul has already identified his true, apostolic ministry as one which "brings righteousness" in 3:9. This is how. The message of reconciliation made possible because of what Christ did also, when accepted, makes a person fully and completely worthy to be welcomed by God into his presence. God's moral character embodied in Jesus Christ is how God views believers. Thus, true reconciliation is accomplished.

Much discussion ensues regarding this phrase "righteousness of God" (dikaiosuvnh qeou', dikaiosynç theou) as Paul uses it, particularly in Romans. Grammatically, the issue is whether Paul intends the phrase as an objective (righteousness which God imputes to believers) or subjective (God's own righteousness) genitive. The case for objective genitive is much stronger in Romans than it is here and stands as the historical benchmark of reformation and evangelical scholarship from the time of Luther and Calvin.

Recognizing that Paul wrote 2 Corinthians before he wrote Romans and that in Romans he is much more expansive on the whole issue of salvation, it is very possible that at this less developed stage in 2 Corinthians he has the more common subjective understanding in mind and by the time he writes Romans, theologically he has crossed over to emphasize the objective. Notably, the NIV translates the phrase here as a subjective genitive but in Rom 1:17; 3:21,22; 10:3 as objective, "righteousness from God."

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

McGarvey: 2Co 5:1

For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens . [An allusion to the merging of the tabernacle into the temple of Solomon. As the Spirit of God dwelt in the frail tent during the pilgrimage in the wilderness, and afterwards took up his abode in the substantial and immovable temple in the midst of an established city, so the spirit of man sojourns in a tent-dwelling -- a mortal body -- while on his journey to the new Jerusalem, but at the journey's end he shall have a "house not made with hands;" i. e., not this present, material body which seems almost within the compass of human construction, but a spiritual body which is utterly beyond it (comp. Mar 14:58). Hence it is also spoken of as "from heaven," to distinguish it from this present body, the substance of which comes from the earth. The present tense "we have" is used, not because our spiritual bodies now exist in organic form (a mechanical view), but to give vivid expression to the certainty of our receiving such bodies (comp. 2Ti 4:8); and perhaps also to indicate that in divine contemplation and plan our future bodies are growing and taking form according to the daily growth and development of our inner man.]

McGarvey: 2Co 5:2

For verily in this we groan [Rom 7:24 ; Rom 8:23], longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven:

McGarvey: 2Co 5:3

if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked .

McGarvey: 2Co 5:4

For indeed we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but that we would be clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life . [The apostle here expresses two wishes, suited to either contingency which confronted him. If he survived till the Lord's coming, he longed to be clothed with the spiritual body which the redeemed shall then receive; and expressed the hope that if he survived to that day he would be found clothed in that body, and not be left naked as an outcast (Rev 3:18). If, on the other hand, it was his lot to die before the Lord came, he wished for the full consummation of God's purpose. He had no desire to be a disembodied spirit, but he wished to pass through that state to his final spiritual body; just as a seed might say that it did not wish for the germinal death, but was ready to pass through that stage in order to reach its future as a new plant. Paul did not long for divestment, but for the superinvestment of immortality, the swallowing up of the carnal by the spiritual, as in the case of Enoch (Gen 5:24) and Elijah (2Ki 2:11). "The transition of figure from building to clothing is very easy, for our clothes are but a tighter house. One is a habit, the other a habitation" (Whedon).]

McGarvey: 2Co 5:5

Now he that wrought us for this very thing is God, who gave unto us the earnest of the Spirit . [God designed man for such superinvestment, and hence placed in him the longing or groaning for its accomplishment. As an infallible guarantee that the longing should be satisfied, he has given to the redeemed an earnest of the Spirit. Having given unto us of his own Spirit, it is a light thing that he should give us the spiritual body (Rom 8:32).]

McGarvey: 2Co 5:6

Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord

McGarvey: 2Co 5:7

(for we walk by faith, not by sight) ;

McGarvey: 2Co 5:8

we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord . [The soul has two homes, a bodily and a spiritual, and the latter is preferable; but the latter is not attained before the resurrection day. In the state between death and resurrection, of which Paul speaks in 2Co 5:4 ; the spirit is with Christ, as we are here informed. Though Christ is with us now while we are in the flesh, yet we walk by faith and have no perception of him. After death we have a spiritual perception of his presence, as Paul's language indicates; but it is only at the resurrection, when we are fully incorporated in our spiritual body, that we shall see him as he is (1Jo 3:2), and know as we are known (1Co 13:12). The disembodied state, though inferior in happiness to the resurrection glory, is yet preferable to our present state. Though such a condition may be lower than the highest heaven, yet it is "home" and "with the Lord."]

McGarvey: 2Co 5:9

Wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto him .

McGarvey: 2Co 5:10

For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad . [Paul's aspirations caused no laxity as to duty. He tried to so live as to please Christ now, and also when summoned before him; i. e., he strove to please Christ whether conscious of his presence or not, realizing that all his deeds would come to public and open manifestation and judgment. In thus outlining his own course, the apostle gave a salutary warning to his enemies that they should follow his example, and also gave them a tacit notice that, no matter how ill they might use him, they would still find him sustaining the conflict with untiring zeal.]

McGarvey: 2Co 5:11

Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences . [Knowing therefore what reason there is to fear displeasing God, we do not court his displeasure by abandoning our ministry because men misjudge and slander us, nor by letting our ministry lose its force and power through our indifference to the good opinion of men concerning us; but, on the contrary, we continue in our ministry, and patiently persuade our opponents of our sincerity and integrity when we assert (2Co 5:9) that our sole ambition is to please God. But we do not need to persuade God in this matter, for our hearts are known and manifest to him, and I trust that they are also in like manner manifest to you by reason of this apology which you have caused me to make.]

McGarvey: 2Co 5:12

We are not again commending ourselves unto you, but speak as giving you occasion [literally a "starting-point," or, in warfare, "a base of operations"] of glorying on our behalf, that ye may have wherewith to answer them that glory in appearance, and not in heart . [In thus speaking of his manifest righteousness in the sight of God and the church, the language of Paul might be construed as boastful and self-commendatory. To prevent such a misconstruction he tells them plainly that his purpose is to draw a contrast between himself and his opponents, a contrast which Paul's friends in Corinth might use with telling effect when contending for the superiority of the apostle. Paul's opponents gloried in those things which were outward, or which made an external show, taking pride in their letters of recommendation, their personal knowledge of Christ in the flesh, their learning and eloquence, their intercourse with the original apostles, their Hebrew descent, circumcision, etc. Paul, on the contrary, gloried in the vital religion of the heart, in that moral and spiritual imitation of Christ which is well pleasing to God, and which delights in the thought that it is constantly manifest to God.]

McGarvey: 2Co 5:13

For whether we are beside ourselves, it is unto God; or whether we are of sober mind, it is unto you . [Paul could not appeal to the approval of his character in the sight of God without bringing to his own mind and the mind of his readers the striking difference between the manifestations of divine communion, inspiration, etc., which characterized his own life, and the dry, barren formalism which characterized the lives of his critics; yet he well knew that if his friends gloried in those things wherein his life touched upon the divine, his enemies would sneer at them as mere evidences of insanity and madness. To answer this sneer the apostle sets forth his whole life in its two grand divisions or forms of manifestation, viz.: his insanity and sanity. That which his enemies knew as the insane part of it was wholly devoted to God, and that which was generally recognized as the sane part of it was wholly devoted to the church, and at this time especially directed toward Corinth. Hence it appeared that in neither department of his life was there any room for self-seeking. His friends therefore could answer his enemies thus: "Viewed in one aspect, Paul's life is wholly devoted to the glory of God, and viewed in another it is utterly sacrificed for us and our salvation. It is evident, therefore, that having but these two ends in view, he can not be seeking self-exaltation." Paul's opponents looked upon his madness as commencing with his conversion, and in their eyes his ecstasies, visions, revelations, trances, inspiration and mystic intercourse with God and Christ were conclusive evidences that his mind was unbalanced. But the very nature of the phenomena showed a character void of all self-seeking. Paul's sanity consisted in his sound judgment, forbearance, tact, consideration, charity, etc., in the handling of the churches as is displayed in all his epistles. It is true that in this field the apostle maintains his dignity and authority, but in every instance where he does so, it is for the obvious purpose of directing and benefiting others, and not with any design to exalt himself.]

McGarvey: 2Co 5:14

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died ;

McGarvey: 2Co 5:15

and he died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again . [Paul's life was devoted to Christ, and to man for Christ's sake. When tempted to swerve from either of these services, Christ's love for him confined him within the limits of the life of sacrifice which he has described, and which he regarded as prescribed for him by the Lord. His reasons for regarding this life as prescribed for him grew out of his view of the death of Christ. He regarded the death of Christ as representative. As Christ had died as the head of the race, therefore all men had died with him to their sins, and so were obligated to lead self-sacrificing, unselfish, sinless lives for the sake of him who, on their behalf, had died and risen again. Compare Rom 6:1-11 ; Gal 5:4 ; Gal 2:19-20 ; Col 3:3]

McGarvey: 2Co 5:16

Wherefore we henceforth know no man after the flesh: even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more .

McGarvey: 2Co 5:17

Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new . [By his spiritual participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, Paul had become a regenerated man, and as such he refused to judge or look upon men after that carnal, superficial, unregenerate method which estimates them according to outward appearances, and not according to their inward spiritual life. In asserting this great principle he is reminded that before his conversion he had known and judged Christ after this carnal fashion. The allusion suggests that if he made a woeful mistake in thus doing, his enemies were even now following in his footsteps in thus judging him, a minister and servant of Jesus Christ. Christian men, being spiritual beings, are to be judged as such. The old standards of the law can not be applied to them; they are not to be accepted because they are children of Abraham, nor rejected because they are Gentiles. To them all things are become new, and they must judge and be judged by the new environment into which the providence of God has brought them.]

McGarvey: 2Co 5:18

But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation ;

McGarvey: 2Co 5:19

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 . [Christ's love, I say, constrains me to sacrifice for men, and to persuade them when they grossly misconstrue me, and to seek reconciliation with them when they fight against me. For the whole dispensation under which I work is from God, and is an effort on his part to reconcile his human enemies unto himself. When I myself was such an enemy God reconciled me, and gave to me the work or ministry of reconciling others; so that I am obliged, both by a sense of duty and of gratitude, to proclaim to man that God sent Christ to reconcile the world to him through the forgiveness of those trespasses which made them fear and hate him; and that I may not fail in this sacred office I am likewise obliged to persuade men that this ministry of reconciliation is committed to me.]

McGarvey: 2Co 5:20

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 .

Lapide: 2Co 5:1-21

CHAPTIER 5

SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER

i. The Apostle goes on to remind the Corinthians of the glories of heaven, saying that in exile here and in the tabernacle of the flesh he longs for them, and wishes to be absent from the body and present with the Lord.

ii. He shows (ver. 9) that it is his endeavour to please not men but Christ alone, who shall come to judgment.

iii. He declares (ver. 14) that he is constrained to do this by the love of Christ, who has reconciled us by His death; and therefore that he no longer knows any one according to the flesh, but only him who is a new creature in Christ.

iv. He professes himself (ver. 18) to be a minister and ambassador of Christ, and he prays them to be reconciled to God for Christ's sake.

Ver. 1.— For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved. If this mortal body, which is as it were a tent in which we tarry for a brief space while travelling here, be dissolved, we have a firm and lasting house in the glory of the soul and eternal life. This is the interpretation of Photius, Anselm, S. Thomas, Lyranus, and it is supported by vers. 6 and 8. From this and the explanation of the Fathers, and especially from ver. 8, we gather, against Tertullian, the Greeks, Armenians, Luther, and Calvin, that souls immediately at death are beatified, and do not sleep under the altar till the resurrection.

Secondly and more fitly we may say that this house is the body glorified by the resurrection, and this body we have, i.e., shall surely have at the resurrection. And this meaning is more in harmony with ver. 4 and the last chapter; for the Apostle is urging them to endure, in hope of the resurrection when we shall receive our glorified body, bodily mortification and suffering. So, in 1Co 15:43, he says that the body is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory, i.e., glorified. Such a body is properly the home of a beatified soul, as a mortal body is the home of a soul living and suffering here. So S. Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, Ambrose.

It may be said that the glory itself into which the beatified soul enters is the house of the soul, even as Christ says: "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." I answer that "enter into joy" does not mean that that joy is a house into which the soul enters, as some seem to think, but by metonymy the place of joy is called joy, and the meaning is: "Enter into the heavenly nuptials, enter into heaven, where is the place of the most perfect joy for ever." It is less accurate to speak of that glory or joy as a house into which the Blessed shall enter.

Chrysostom ( Hom. 5 in Ep. ad Heb.) says that "we ought to put off our body with as much ease as we should a coat, or as Joseph left his cloak with the Egyptian woman;" and Aloysius Gonzaga, on his death-bed, spoke of his death as a mere change from one house to another.

Ver. 2.— For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. That is, (1.) we long to be free, as the Syriac takes it, from the earthly house of our natural body, and receive the heavenly home of our glorified body. (2.) But a better meaning is: We groan because of the death which must intervene between this life and the life of eternity; for death is a violence done to nature. We should wish to be clothed upon with glory, not to be deprived of life, as appears from ver. 4.  S. Gregory ( Morals, lib. xxxi. c. 26) says: " Lo! Paul longs to die and yet shrinks from death. Why is this? Because, though victory is for ever joyous, yet pain for the present is grievous. For, as a brave man who is girt ready for battle with one that is close at hand is both nervous and ardent, trembling and resolute; as his pallor betrays his fears, while his wrath urges him forward; so is a holy man, when he sees his suffering near, both distressed by the weakness of his nature and strengthened by the certainty of his hope: he trembles at the prospect of a speedy death, and yet rejoices that by dying he will more truly live. No one, however, can enter the Kingdom but through death, and, therefore, in all, confidence is mingled with wavering, and wavering with confidence; joy with fear, and fear with joy."

It may be asked how the metaphor of a house and tabernacle agrees with that of a garment which is put over all. I answer that the Apostle uses here two metaphors, one taken from a house, one from a garment. The Hebrews are wont, and in this they are here copied by S. Paul, to mingle many metaphors at once. We may see this repeatedly in the Prophecies and the Psalms, and also in the parables of Christ.

Ver. 3.— If so that being clothed we shall not be found naked. Instead of clothed, some read unclothed, through a difference of a letter in the Greek compound verb. This reading is followed by Augustine and Bede, Ambrose, Tertullian, and Paulinus; and Augustine thus gives the sense: "We shall be clothed upon with heavenly glory, when once we are stripped of this body and clothed with Christ."

We should observe that the Apostle here distinguishes three things, (1.) the being unclothed and naked, (2.) the being clothed, (3.) the being clothed upon. As in the last verse he called our heavenly glory a house, so here by another metaphor he calls it a robe. Now some explain this passage thus: We long to be clothed upon with our heavenly home, the heavenly and incorruptible body, in such a way, however, that we may be gifted with immortality and glory, and be found not bare, but clothed with glory. For, as the Apostle says in I Cor. xv. 51: "We shall all rise indeed to immortality, but we shall not all he changed into glory." But this is true of the reprobate alone. Although they will have an immortal body, yet it cannot be said that they will have a celestial body; this will be the endowment of the Blessed only. A celestial body, then, is one that is both immortal and glorious, and consequently they that have this are necessarily clothed and not found naked. This is the distinction pointed out here by the Apostle in the conditional statement, "If so be that, being clothed, we shall not be found naked."

Secondly, S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Theodoret, Ambrose explain the passage differently. They say: This house, i.e., this celestial glory will be our portion if we be found worthy of it, and are placed among the elect and not the reprobate: in other words, if we are found clothed with grace, charity, and good works, and not naked without them. This is the sentence of S. Paulinus ( Ep. 8 ad Sever. Sulpit. ). He says: "If, when you are stripped of your body, you be not found naked of good works." If we be clothed with them, then God will super-clothe us with the new robe of eternal glory. But since in the next verse he explains this nakedness to be the separation of the soul from the body, in the words not for that we would be unclothed, i.e., of the body, so that the soul alone be beatified in nakedness, but clothed upon, it seems better, with Tertullian ( de Resurr. Carnis, c. 42), to say that we are called naked and unclothed when we are dead, and when the soul has lost the body; and consequently that we are clothed when the soul regains the body, and puts it on as her robe, and are clothed upon when the body is clad and adorned with heavenly glory as its robe. As the soul's dress will be the body, so the body's will be glory; and thus the soul will be clothed with the body, and clothed upon with glory. Therefore, we long to be clothed upon with it, "if so be that, being clothed, we shall not be found naked."

We should notice again that the word if points to something that is peculiar and not common to all the elect, but proper to those only who shall be found at the end of the world alive and clothed with the body, and who so live, or so die, as quickly to rise again, and seem to be not dead but alive, clothed upon with immortality. As Cajetan rightly points out, the sense therefore is: It will not be our lot to be dissolved in death, from which we naturally shrink, and on account of which we groan, but to be clothed upon with glory, which we so ardently long for; that is to say, if at the end of the world we be found remaining and not yet dead, but clad with the body, and so not be made naked; or if so, at all events for so short a time that we may be said to pass from this life to eternity.

Ver. 4.— For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened. Being burdened, as the Syriac takes it, through the weight and load of the body. Yet we may say with S. Gregory Nazianzen: "Take from me, 0 Lord, this heavy robe" (this earthly, burdensome, and troublesome body), "but give me another, one that is lighter."

Not for that we would be unclothed but clothed upon. We would not be deprived of the body, but we would be clothed upon with glory, if nevertheless being clothed with a body of flesh we be not found stripped of it by death. The Apostle is in the habit of speaking of the resurrection and the day of judgment as if they were close at hand, and as if he with the others then alive would behold them. Cf. 1Th 4:17. Since the Apostle says that we would not be stripped of our body, Plato was wrong in identifying σω̃μα and ση̃μα, as though the body were a tomb. In this he was followed by Origen, who supposed souls to be enclosed in bodies as in prisons in punishment of their sins. But the soul does not long to be set free from the body, as it would if this theory were true. The body is therefore the friend, companion, and colleague of the soul, and the soul demands its body as form requires matter, and vice versâ. The Apostle would seem to be here condemning this error of Plato and his followers, which was commonly taught in the schools of Corinth.

That mortality might be swallowed up of life. Mortality by immortality.

Ver. 5.— Now He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God. He that wrought, perfected, and formed us, i.e., (1.) He that created us for this eternal life of bliss, is God. (2.) He who by His eternal decree prepared and predestinated us for this same bliss, is God. (3.) Best of all, He who by His grace so forms and prepares the will and understanding of man and his whole nature, and who makes him so live as to be worthy of being beatified with this immortality, is God.

Who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. I.e., as Ambrose says, the Spirit Himself. God has not given us a pledge of gold or of silver, i.e., gold or silver as a pledge, but He has given us His Holy Spirit, inasmuch as He has infused into us His charity, and the virtues of the Spirit of holiness, whereby as sons we cry "Abba, Father," in full trust in God as our Father. For this Spirit is a pledge of our heavenly inheritance of glory laid up for us, and God has given us this Spirit to assure us through Him, as a pledge and earnest, that we shall attain our future inheritance if only we imitate our Father, and call upon Him as sons, and obey Him, and retain inviolate His Spirit as a pledge.

Ver. 6.— Therefore we are always confident. We confidently and boldly endure, nay, long for dangers and death for the sake of Christ and His Gospel. So Theophylact. The word, therefore, points to this daring confidence as the result of hope for this eternal inheritance, and of the possession of a pledge of it in the Holy Spirit.

Knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. As long as we are in the body here, so long are we absent in banishment from the sight of the Lord God, our Father, and from our inheritance; we are living like foreigners in a strange land, as long as we are in this mortal body. Because we are enrolled as citizens of heaven and heirs of God, we are pilgrims here; therefore we hasten to be free from this pilgrimage and to attain our heavenly country, to enter into the inheritance of God, our Father. Therefore we boldly meet dangers and death, and enter upon them as the road to heaven. S. Bernard ( de Præcep. et Dispens. c. xxvii.) says: " What is all care for the body but absence from the Lord? And what is absence but exile? Therefore we are in exile away from the Lord, and live in exile in the body, while our endeavour after God is hampered by the burdens laid upon it by the body, and while charity is wearied with its cares."

Ver. 7.— For we walk by faith, not by sight. For we do not yet behold the nature and beauty of God face to face. So Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, and Œcumenius. Therefore they are wrong, whoever they be, that say that the Blessed see God, not directly in His Essence, but by means of some appearance which represents His Essence, in the same way that the appearance of colour received on the retina represents to the eye the colour of the wall. It is no such kind of sight that the Apostle here means, but that by which an object is plainly seen in itself. For faith is opposed to sight; but by faith we do not see, but darkly believe what is future and absent.

Ver. 8.— Willing rather to be absent from the body. "Having a good will" (the Latin version); "greatly desiring" (the Syriac); "wishing with all our heart" (Chrysostom). We choose rather to be absent from the body, that we may come to appear before the presence of God and enjoy the sight of His countenance.

Hence it is proved that souls behold God immediately after death; for the reason given for preferring to be absent from the body is that we may be present with the Lord, or, as Erasmus and Vatablus rightly translate the words, "that we may be at home with the Lord." But if we shall be still exiles when separated from the body, and do not at once reach the home of our Father, but must still linger on the way and live still in exile, then we should not desire to be absent from the body, nay, we should prefer to spend our exile in it, as the natural abode of our soul, rather than in some unknown place.

Ver. 9 . — Wherefore we labour. We vie with each other in our zeal, our ministry, our endeavours to please God; we strive not to be surpassed by any one in this contest

Whether present or absent. These are mutually opposed. If we are absent from God we are present with the body, and vice versâ.

We should notice that the Greek word here used strictly means to live at home amongst one's own people; and the opposite denotes living out of one's country and in exile. Hence Erasmus and Vatablus translate, "whether present at home, or living in exile abroad." But the Apostle seems to use the words in a more extended sense; for he applies the words which we have translated "present or absent" to life in the body and also to life with God. But we cannot properly speaking be said both to be at home in the body, and, when separated from the body, with God; and, again, we cannot be said both to be in exile both in the body and with God; and, therefore, we take the meaning to be to dwell or to be present, and in the other case, to leave, to be absent. For as long as we live in this body we are absent from the Lord; and, on the other hand, as long as we inhabit heaven we are present with the Lord and absent from the body. But still there is no reason why the Apostle should not mean to be at home and to be in exile.

Observe that the Apostle said in ver. 1, that we have two houses, one earthly and the other heavenly, and that in both we are at home; for the body is our natural home, and heaven our supernatural. Consequently, our exile is two-fold. While in the body we are exiles from heaven, and, when separated by death from the body, we pass to another land and are exiles from the body. The Apostle's meaning then is: In whatever state we may be, whether absent from God and present with the body, or vice versâ, we endeavour to please God, that we may be able to appear before His presence and enjoy the light of His countenance. For unless we please God, neither shall we be able, while present in the body and absent from the Lord, to come into His presence, nor while absent from the body and present with the Lord, shall we be able to abide in His presence and enjoy it in bliss. We strive, then, while here to attain both; we endeavour both to come into His presence, and to merit to remain in it for ever. "He who pleases God here," say Ambrose and Anselm, "will not be displeasing to Him there."

Others take the clause to mean, "whether living here or departing from the body to go to the Lord," &c. In other words, we do all that we can to please God down to the very last breath of life, when the soul leaves the body. This is adopted by Tertullian ( de Resurr. Carnis, c. xliii.); but since these words of the Apostle, as I have said, have a more extended meaning, the former sense is more probable. This last restricts them too closely to the body.

Ver. 10 . — For we must all appear. The particle for gives the reason of what has just been said. We strive to please the Lord in all our works, in order that, at the tribunal of Christ, before which we all must stand, we may be gifted with a glorious body, and with the blissful presence of God and the Beatific Vision. We would not be deprived of it with those who, by their evil works, have displeased God.

Before the judgment seat of Christ. We must all be made manifest to Christ the Judge and to all men before the dread tribunal, that each may see the good and evil deeds of every one. Hence it follows that Paul and the other Apostles must also be judged, but in such a way that at the same time they may be judges of others, and condemn those who have refused to believe (S. Mat 19:28).

That every one may receive the things done in his body, &c. Glory or punishment will be awarded in proportion to each one's merits or demerits. Observe 1. that the deeds of the body are also deeds of the soul; for the soul in this life does nothing and can do nothing without the body; so much so, that for thought itself it needs the help of images drawn from corporeal things. In this way what the soul does by the instrumentality of the body is done by the body.

2. Chrysostom points out that each one's own deeds are here spoken of, because the merits of others, as, e.g., of our parents, will not avail us before the judgment-seat of Christ. Cf. Eze 14:14, Eze 14:20. If we would think of this tribunal when we are tempted by our companions, by lust, by pride, by gluttony, we should easily overcome them all, and should not suffer ourselves to be drawn away by fear or lust from obedience to the law of God. Cf. Chrysostom ( Hom. 10 Moral.).

The Pelagians inferred from this verse that infants have no sin, and that there is no such thing as original sin; for it is said here that Christ, when He comes to judgment, will only call into question the sins that each has committed in his body. But infants have done nothing, nor could do anything of their own; and, therefore, they conclude that they have no sin on which Christ can pass judgment.

S. Augustine ( Ep. 107) answers that this sentence of the Apostle's reaches even to infants; for, he says, original sin as a habit is theirs individually and inheres in them, but the actual sin of Adam, viz., the eating of the forbidden fruit, which was his own and physically inherent in him, from which original sin as a habit was derived to every one born from him, may be said to morally belong to each infant, and be regarded as its own proper act; and in this sense they committed this sin, not directly but in Adam; for the will of Adam was regarded as the will of all his descendants, including even children.

But a better answer can be given, and one more in harmony with the Apostle's meaning, viz., that the Apostle is not speaking of infants but of adults. For he is exhorting them to do all that they can to please God in all things, that each may receive a reward from God proportioned to their deeds. Infants, though they will have to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, yet will not need to have their works examined nor their demerits, but will receive the punishment due to original sin, as S. Augustine says ( Serm. de Omnibus Sanct.), and also Nazianzen ( Orat. 60).

Ver. 11 . — Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord. Knowing what I have just said of Christ's judgment-seat, when each will receive the reward of his deeds; or, knowing that the Lord is to be feared as a Judge and Avenger, we therefore persuade men to fear Him also.

Fear has a twofold meaning—(1.) actively of the fear we feel because of the Lord; (2.) passively of that which the Lord is, viz., a terrible Judge. Jacob, e.g., calls God "the fear of his father Isaac," or the Object that Isaac feared (Gen 31:42). So here fear is put for the object of fear—a fearful thing, a terror. The meaning, therefore, is: Knowing that God is to be feared, we persuade men. Cf. Isa 8:13.

But we are made manifest unto God. God knows that I sincerely fear Him, and try to make others fear Him also. Paul, by speaking of this fear and desire of pleasing God, might seem to some, and especially to his rivals the false apostles; who were only too glad to find an occasion of reproach against him, to be praising himself as holy; hence by these words and what follows he clears himself from any charge of vainglory and love of praise.

Ver. 12. — That ye may have somewhat. Some occasion of glorying about me, some answer to give to my opponents.

Which glory in appearance and not in heart. Who boast of their piety, but know in their conscience that they are hypocrites and false apostles.

Ver. 13.— For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. The Greek verb translated beside ourselves denotes a rapt state, when the mind is carried out of itself, whether by some strong influence of nature, of disease, of melancholy, or of apprehension of new and unwonted objects; or when God throws it into deep contemplation and ecstasy, or when frenzy and insanity drive it into delirious folly. All these senses are applicable here; nay, the Syriac, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Vatablus, and Erasmus render it "whether we be mad." S. Paul opposes "whether we be beside ourselves" to "whether we be sober," as if he meant whether we be foolish or wise. The same contrast is found in Act 26:25. The same word is applied by His relations to Christ in S. Mar 3:21.

Again, this rapture and folly may be understood either of self-praise or of the love and contemplation of God. The Apostle seems to be speaking primarily of self-praise, according to Ambrose and Chrysostom, and this is supported by what has just gone before. But since this praise has for its object the excellence of the ministry of the New Testament, and the height of love and clear knowledge of God attained under it, the word may be equally well referred to this latter. He seems indeed to be alluding to the vision of Moses, when he saw the glory of God on Mount Sinai at the reception of the law. Cf. 2 Cor. iii. 7, 18, where a comparison is drawn between Moses and S. Paul. Hence, in chaps. iv. and v., S. Paul praises himself for the tribulations and labours he had undergone for the sake of the Gospel, by which he was striving after the glorious presence of God.

The meaning, therefore, is—(1.) If, forgetful of ourselves, we are carried away by the vehemence of our zeal, which the world regards as folly, so that, like fools, we give way to praising our ministry, and speak of ourselves too highly and too boastfully (for to praise one's self, as S. Ambrose says, is pride, and boasting, and folly), it is to God's glory that we do it. If we are sober in our words and praises of ourselves, it is to teach you modesty. Hence (2.) follows the explanation of S. Augustine, Anselm, Theophylact, and others. If we are hurried into excess or ecstasy of love, knowledge, and speech of God, as, e.g., in iii. 18, v. 8, 9, so that we seem to boast and sing our own praises, or, as Chrysostom renders it, if we seem drunken and foolish with love and contemplation (as in Act 2:13; Act 26:24), it is to God's glory that we do it.

Plato in Phædrus says that frenzy or folly is fourfold—that of poets, of mystics, of seers, of lovers—and that the fourth is the best and most blessed. " Of Divine frenzy or madness there are," he says, " four kinds laid down, over which as many gods preside. The inspiration of the seer is attributed to Apollo, of the mystic to Liber, of the poet to the Muses, while the frenzy of lovers comes from Venus and Cupid. We hold that the last of these is the best and most excellent." Theophylact says that this last kind of frenzy was S. Paul's, inasmuch as he was one who lived not in himself, but was carried out of himself and lost in Christ, his Beloved, and wished to be anathema from Christ for his brethren's sake. The soul of one who loves is not where it lives but where it loves. Theophylact says: " If we are beside ourselves because of God, it is that we may bring you to Him. So S. Paul loved God with a lover's frenzy, and lived for Him alone, and by Him he loved was carried out of himself and wholly given to God. The life that he lived was not his own but the life of Him that he loved, beloved and precious for His sake only."

But S. Augustine, Bede, and Anselm understand this verse, not of frenzy, but of S. Paul's being carried up to the third heaven, and their explanation is this: "What is 'that whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God,' but seeing things which it is not lawful for a man to utter? What is that 'whether we be sober, it is for your cause,' but what he says elsewhere, 'I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified?'"  S. Augustine again ( Enarr. in Ps. civ.) says: " What is meant by 'whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God,' but leaving all carnal things, and being unable to speak of what we have seen? What is meant by 'whether we be sober, it is for your cause,' but we speak so as you can understand? For Christ by His birth and Passion made Himself such that men might be able to speak of Him."

The being out of one's mind is, says S. Anselm, the having it fixed on things above, so that things below slip from the memory. In this state were all the Saints to whom the secrets of God that pass this world's understanding were revealed. So here the Apostle, being mentally set free from all human frailty and from all the perishing and changeable things of this world, lived in heart in an ineffable contemplation of those things, of which he says that he had heard unspeakable things which it was not lawful for a man to utter. But for the sake of others he descends, and says: "Whether we be sober, it is for your cause"—although we may contemplate high things, yet we speak soberly of them, that you may be able to take them in. This is Anselm's explanation.

S. Bernard ( de Nat. et Dignit. Amoris, c. iii.) describes beautifully this frenzy of S. Paul's. He says: " Hear this holy frenzy: 'Whetter we be beside ourselves, it is to God: whether we be sober, it is for your cause.' Do you wish to hear further frenzy? 'Yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin—and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy Book of Life.' Do you wish for more? Listen to the Apostle himself: 'I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren.' Does not this sound like the wholesome frenzy of a mind well affected, viz., that he is firmly affected to what cannot possibly be effected, viz., to be anathema from Christ for Christ's sake? This was the drunkenness of the Apostles at the coming of the Holy Ghost; this was the madness of Paul when Festus said to him: 'Paul, thou art beside thyself.' The reason follows: Was it wonderful that he should be pronounced mad, who, when in danger of death, was endeavouring to convert to Christ his judges, by whom he was being judged for Christ's sake? It was nor much learning that gave this madness, as the king said, concealing the truth that he perceived; but, as was said, it was the Holy Spirit, with which he was drunken, who made him wish to make those who were judging him like himself in all things. And, to pass over all other instances, what greater madness could be conceived than that a man who had left world from an ardent desire to cling closely to Christ should again lay hold of the world at the call of obedience and brotherly love, and descend front the sky to the sty? I speak of our young friend, Benjamin, who in his madness thinks nothing of himself, but only of Him who has made him wholly beside himself. With this same madness were the martyrs afflicted who smiled amid their tortures. So do we delight to be beside ourselves."

Again ( Serm. 85 in Cantic.) he says: " Perchance one may ask me what it is to enjoy the Word. Hear one who has had that experience, as he says, 'Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God, or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.' By the mere will of God my relations with Him are one thing, my relations with you another. It was allowed me to experience that ecstasy but not to speak of it; in my soberness I so condescend to you that you may be able to understand what I say. Whoever thou art that art anxious to know what enjoyment of the Word is, prepare for It thy mind and not thy ear. It is taught by grace and not by the tongue. It is hidden from the wise and prudent, and revealed unto babes."

Ver. 14. — For the love of Christ constraineth us. This love of Christ by which He loved us, and gave Himself for us, compels us to follow His example, and give ourselves for all men to save them from death. And hence, as occasion requires, we are at one time beside ourselves, at another, sober. It is better to understand the love of Christ objectively, rather than subjectively.

That if one died for all then were all dead. The bearing of this verse is explained by the next, which also gives its connection with the preceding. So great was the love of Christ that He died for all. Hence it follows that we were dead, for He died to set us free (by taking it on Himself) from death, bodily and spiritual, which sin had brought on us. Hence plainly appears Christ's compassion and love; and they constrain us to love Christ in return, and to work in every way for the salvation of our neighbour; to exclude no one, but to labour for all, whether rich or poor, even as Christ did.  S. Thomas explains it otherwise. "All ought to be dead to the old life, and account themselves dead, that they may live, not to themselves, but to Christ." But this is somewhat obscure and far fetched, and is identical with what is said in the next verse, which yet is distinct from this.

Were all dead. Except, says S. Anselm, the Blessed Virgin, who never incurred original sin and spiritual death. Secondly and better, all died in Adam because in him all came under the necessity of sin and of death, even the Mother of God herself, so that she and all others without exception needed to be redeemed by the death of Christ. In Adam, therefore, the Blessed Virgin sinned and died, but in herself she incurred neither sin nor spiritual death, because she was kept from them by God's prevenient grace, as was said in the notes to Rom 5:12.

Ver. 15 . — And that He died for all, &c. We judge also that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live for their own glory, or pleasure, or their desires, but for Christ, who by right of redemption has made us His servants; and as a servant does not labour and live for himself but for his lord, so should each of us be able to say: "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me;" and, "My soul shall live to Him." Anselm says: " The soul of man should fail in itself to avail in Christ, who died that we should die to our sins, and who rose that we should rise to works of righteousness. What else is 'living not for themselves but for Him,' but living not according to the flesh in the hope of earthly vanities, but according to the Spirit, in hope of the resurrection which has already taken place in themselves in Christ?"

Ver. 16 . — Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh. Because the love of Christ for us is so great, and constrains us, therefore we regard carnal things, that is things external and temporal, such as fame, health, friendships, kindred, of no account out of Christ. So Chrysostom takes no one to stand for "nothing," as does Vatablus; and S. Augustine ( contra Faust. lib. ix. c. 7) takes it in the same way. But by the flesh he understands the corruption and mortality of the flesh to be meant; and the sense then would be: We no longer know this carnal and mortal life, because, filled with a sure hope, we meditate on and seek for a future life, that blissful spiritual life awaiting us after the resurrection, in which Christ is even now preparing us a place. This meaning is suitable but somewhat far-fetched, for the Apostle is here setting in opposition to the flesh, or the carnal man, the new creature which is in this life, and which lives through faith and grace in Christ; therefore he adds: "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature."

In the third place, then, we may more simply and properly explain the verse thus: We henceforth know none of those outward relation-ships of kindred, friendship, nationality, rank, breeding, or learning, for we are dead to these natural affections, and having been regenerated in Christ, we live to Him alone, and love Him alone, and all others in Him, according to the spirit of charity, and not according to the flesh. In other words, we seek not to please men, or the praise and glory of men, but of God only. S. Paul's rivals, the Judaising false apostles, as we shall see in chap. xi., were wont to boast that they were Hebrews and of the seed of Abraham, and this boasting he calls, in xi. 18, "glorying after the flesh." Hence this verse is a tacit rebuke to them, where he says that he knows no one in the way of earthly love or boasting, or because of relationship and friendship according to the flesh, not even in Abraham himself. Similarly, in Phi 3:3, he says, "We rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh;" i.e., we once rejoiced that we were Hebrews and nobly born according to the flesh, but now we are dead to those affections, for all our praise and rejoicing is Christ. So Gagneius.

Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh. If at any time we, whether I, Paul, myself, or the other Apostles, regarded and saw Christ present with us in a mortal body and subject, like us, to bodily sufferings, such as hunger and thirst and cold, now we know Him not save as immortal and passible. So Chrysostom, Theodoret, and the Seventh General Synod. This interpretation too is supported by what follows.

Secondly, and better, Gagneius takes the meaning to be: If we formerly knew, i.e., thought of great account, and made our boast of Christ after the flesh, that Christ by birth was a Jew and of our nation, so that we Hebrews were relations of Christ after the flesh, as the false apostles boast; and if we were proud of having lived with Christ on terms of intimacy, then are we now dead to all such feelings, and, being re-created by Christ, we think more highly of Him, and now know Him only according to the Spirit, i.e., as the God-man, the Redeemer of the world, our Teacher, the Author of grace and salvation; and as we live and labour for such an one, so do we preach Him throughout the whole world.

Thirdly, others with great probability think that Paul is referring to that time in his own life when he was a persecutor of Christ. Although once, he would seem to say, I had an unworthy opinion of Christ, thinking that He was to be a mere temporal king, such as the Jews expect the Messiah to be, yet I no longer know Him or regard Him as such.

Hence, fourthly, we may see the error of Faustus the Manichean, in explaining S. Paul to mean that in the beginning he thought Christ to have had a real body, but afterwards saw his error, and that he means the same in Phi 2:7, when he says that Christ was made in the likeness of men, as if He had a fantastical and apparent body, but not one that was real and substantial. Eutyches again twisted this passage to suit his heresy. He said that "we know not Christ according to the flesh" means that, by the Incarnation the flesh and human nature of Christ were swallowed up by His Divinity; and he laid down that in Christ was one nature as well as one person, and that that one was Divine.

We may see here how heretics twist and wrest aside the Scripture to suit their own fancies, just as if it were a nose of wax. So did the Iconoclasts of olden times, and lately Calvin ( de Reliquiis ) twist these words of the Apostle against the veneration of relics and of images of Christ and the Saints, just as though the Apostle had said: Now after the resurrection we know not Christ after the flesh; whatever in Him was carnal must be consigned to oblivion and sent about its business, that we may devote all our energies to seeking Him and possessing Him according to the spirit. But it is most evident that this is not the Apostle's meaning; for if it were, he would have us forget the flesh, the death, and Passion of Christ, and be unmindful of it and unthankful for it, the very opposite of which Christ commanded when He instituted the Eucharist as the perpetual memorial of His death. Whence S. Paul himself says (1Co 11:26): "As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do show the Lord's death till He come." Therefore the Apostle's meaning here is not Calvin's, but the one I have given above. Cf. Second Council of Nice, act 6, following Epiphanius and Cyril.

Ver. 17.— Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. If any one is with me regenerate in Christ, and recreated and changed, as it were, into a new creature, even as I am not what I was, Saul being changed into Paul, then the old rites of Judaism, the old former affections and judgments, such as knowing any one according to the flesh, have all passed away. In such an one all is made new: he has new affections, new thoughts about the realities and hopes of Christianity, a new life, a new hope of the resurrection, new grace, sanctification, and justification. On this newness, cf. S. Anselm and S. Augustine ( de Cantic. Novo. vol. ix.).

S. Bernard ( de Assumpt. B. Mariæ ) assigns its cause He says: " All things are made new, i.e., the old fortress is overturned, a new one raised. Lust having been banished, the heart expands with a mighty longing; and after its arrival the mind yearns far more for heavenly things than it had ever before longed for earthly. Now is the wall of continence raised up, the bulwark of patience. But this work rises on the foundation of faith, and grows by 1ove of one's neighbour till it reaches even to the love of God."

Ver. 18 . — And all things are of God. All these new things were created and given by the gift and grace of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, in order that through our preaching we may persuade men to repent and receive the faith of Christ, that so we may reconcile them to God.

Ver. 19.— God was in Christ. I.e., as the Son by oneness of Essence. So Ambrose and Primasius. Hence S. Ambrose ( de Fide ad Gratian, lib. iii. c. 5) says that God, i.e., everlasting Divinity, was in Christ, and Christ reconciled the world because He was God. Secondly, and better: "God was in Christ," i.e., through Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. Thirdly, Cajetan takes it: God reconciled to Himself the world in Christ, or the world that believes in Christ. But this seems forced and harsh.

Not imputing their trespasses unto them. Not imputing but freely forgiving their trespasses, not by imputation of the righteousness of Christ, as the heretics think, but by a real infusion of it. So Chrysostom and Anselm.

Observe the Hebraism. (1.) When the Scripture says that God imputes or does not impute sin, it does not mean that He acts against the reality of things, for so would God be false, but rather, since the judgment of God is most pure, He regards things and sins as they truly are. (2.) The same appears from the fact that the whole law, and consequently every sin against the law, depends on the judgment of God, i.e., on the eternal law which is in the Mind of God. (3.) And the chief reason is that all remission of sins depends on the forgiveness of God: but to forgive is not to impute; for sin, belonging to the sphere of morals as an offence against God, is removed by forgiveness, which equally belongs to the moral world. But the generous goodness of God infuses, together with this forgiveness, grace, charity, and all virtues, that we may be adorned with them as real gifts of God, may be justified and become worthy of the friendship of God.

And hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. He hath given us the duty of preaching the word of God, by which we are to reconcile men to God, as was said at the last verse. By metonymy, word may be put for the reality as sign for the thing signified. In this way the word of reconciliation would be reconciliation itself, or the power and ministry of reconciling men to God.

Ver. 20.— We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. As Christ's ambassadors, even as if Christ were entreating you by us, we implore you to give up your wills to be reconciled to God. See what diligence, what energy, what zeal the Apostle displays in his endeavours to convert the Corinthians.

Ver. 21 . — Him who knew no sin. Experimentally, says S. Thomas, Christ knew no sin, though by simple knowledge He did, for He did no sin.

Hath made Him to be sin for us. For us, says Illyricus, who were sin; because, he says, sin is the substance and form of our soul. But to say this of ourselves is folly, of Christ blasphemy. (1.) The meaning is that God made Christ to be the victim offered for our sin, to prevent us from atoning for our sins by eternal death and fire. The Apostle plays on the word sin, for when he says, "Him who knew no sin," he means sin strictly speaking; but when he says, "He made Him to be sin for us," he employs a metonymy. So Ambrose, Theophylact, and Anselm. In Psa 40:12, Christ calls our sins His. (2.) Sin here denotes, says S. Thomas, the likeness of sinful flesh which He took, that He might be passible, just as sinners who are descended from Adam are liable to suffering. (3.) Sin, in the sense of being regarded by men as a noteworthy sinner, and being crucified as a malefactor. So the Greek Fathers.

Of these three interpretations the first is the more full, significant, and vigorous, and the one more consonant with the usage of Scripture, which frequently speaks of an expiatory victim as sin. Cf. Hos 4:8;  Lev 4:24 and Lev 4:21;  Eze 44:29. The reason of this metonymy is that all the punishment and guilt of the sin were transferred to the expiatory victim, and so the sin itself might seem to be also transferred to it. In token of this the priest was accustomed to lay his hands on the victim, and call down on it the sins of the people; for by the hands are signified sinful actions, which are for the most part executed by the hands, as Theodoret says in his notes on Leviticus i. Therefore the laying of hands on the victim was both a symbol of oblation and a testimony of the transference of guilt to the victim, showing that it was expiatory, and that it bore the sin itself, with all its burden of guilt and punishment. In this way the high-priest on the great Day of Atonement turned a goat into the wilderness, having imprecated on it the sins of the whole people. Cf. Lev 16:20.

That we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. (1.) That we might be made righteous before God, with the righteousness infused by God through the merits of Christ. So Chrysostom. He says righteousness and not righteous, says Theophylact, to signify the excellency of the grace, which effects that in the righteous there is no deformity, no stain of sin, but that there is complete grace and righteousness throughout. (2.) The righteousness of God was Christ made, in order that its effects, or the likeness of the uncreated righteousness of God, might be communicated to us by His created and infused righteousness. So Cyril ( Thesaur. lib. xii. c. 3).  (3.) Christ is so called because God owes not to us, but to Christ and His merits, the infusion of righteousness and the remission of our sins. Cf. Augustine ( Enchirid. c. 41). Cf. also 1 Cor. i. 30. Heretics raise the objection that Christ was made for us sin, in the sense that our sin was imputed to Him and was punished in Him; therefore we are made the righteousness of God, because it is imputed to us. I answer that the two things are not parallel; for Christ could not really be a sinner as we can really be righteous, nor does the Apostle press the analogy. He only says that Christ bore our sins, that we through Him might be justified. Moreover, Christ actually was made sin, i.e., a victim for sin (this is the meaning of "sin" here), and therefore we truly become the righteousness of God. So easily and completely can we turn the tables on these Protestant objectors.

Commentary -- Other

Evidence: 2Co 5:10

Judgment Day : For verses that warn of its reality, see 2Th 1:7-9 .

Evidence: 2Co 5:14

QUESTIONS & OBJECTIONS

" Because Jesus died on the cross, we are all forgiven of every sin."

The forgiveness that is in Jesus Christ is conditional upon " repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" ( Act 20:21 ). It is a gift that God offers to everyone, but individuals must receive it by repenting and trusting in Christ, or they will remain dead in their sins. No one has biblical grounds to continue in sin, assuming that they are safe just because Jesus died on the cross. See 1Jo 3:4-6 .

Evidence: 2Co 5:17

New birth—its necessity for salvation . See Tit 3:5 . " It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man." Albert Einstein

Introduction / Outline

Robertson: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

Second Corinthians

From Macedonia a.d. 54 Or 55

By Way of Introduction

The Pauline authorship is admitted by all real scholars, though there is doubt by some as to the unity of the Epistle. J.H. Kennedy ( The Second and Third Letters of St. Paul to the Corinthians , 1900) has presented the arguments in a plausible, but not wholly convincing, manner for the plea that chapters 2 Corinthians 10-13 really represent a separate and earlier letter, the one referred to in 2Co_2:3, which was later tacked on to chapters 1-9 as part of the same Epistle. This theory does explain the difference in tone between chapters 1 to 7 and 10 to 13, but that fact is sufficiently clear from the stubborn minority against Paul in Corinth reported by Titus after the majority had been won to Paul by First Corinthians and by Titus (2Co_2:1-11). There are in fact three obvious divisions in the Epistle. Chapters 1 to 7 deal with the report of Titus about the victory in Corinth and Paul’s wonderful digression on the glory of the ministry in 2 Corinthians 2:12-6:10; chapters 8 and 2Co_9:1-15 discuss the collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem already mentioned in 1Co_16:1. and which Titus is to press to completion on his return to Corinth; chapters 10 to 13 deal sharply with the Judaizing minority who still oppose Paul’s leadership. These three subjects are in no sense inconsistent with each other. The letter is a unity. Nowhere do we gain so clear an insight into Paul’s own struggles and hopes as a preacher. It is a handbook for the modern minister of inestimable value. One can hear Paul’s heart throb through these chapters. The syntax is often broken by anacolutha. The sentences are sometimes disconnected. Grammatical agreements are overlooked. But there is power here, the grip of a great soul holding on to the highest ideals in the midst of manifold opposition and discouragements. Christ is Master of Paul at every turn.

The date of the Epistle is clearly after I Corinthians, for Paul has left Ephesus and is now in Macedonia (2Co_2:13), probably at Philippi, where he met Titus, though he had hoped to meet him at Troas on his return from Corinth. At a guess one may say that Paul wrote in the autumn of a.d. 54 or 55 of the same year in the spring of which he had written I Corinthians, and before he went on to Corinth himself where he wrote Romans (Act_20:1-3; Rom_16:1).

The occasion for writing is the return of Titus from Corinth with mixed news of the Pauline majority and the minority in opposition. So Titus is sent back with this Epistle to finish the task while Paul waits awhile for matters to clear up (2Co_13:1-10).

It is not certain whether the letter mentioned in 2Co_2:3 is our I Corinthians or a lost letter like the one alluded to in 1Co_5:9. If it is a lost one, we know of four Corinthian Epistles (the one in 1Co_5:9, our I Corinthians, the one in 2Co_2:3, our II Corinthians), assuming the unity of II Corinthians. Few things in Paul’s ministry gave him more concern than the troubles in Corinth. The modern city pastor finds little in his work that Paul has not faced and mastered. There is consolation and courage for the preacher in the conduct and counsels of this greatest of all preachers.

JFB: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

THE following reasons seem to have induced Paul to write this Second Epistle to the Corinthians: (1) That he might explain the reasons for his having deferred to pay them his promised visit, by taking Corinth as his way to Macedonia (1Co 4:19; 2Co 1:15-16; compare 1Co 16:5); and so that he might set forth to them his apostolic walk in general (2Co 1:12, 2Co 1:24; 2Co 6:3-13; 2Co 7:2). (2) That he might commend their obedience in reference to the directions in his First Epistle, and at the same time direct them now to forgive the offender, as having been punished sufficiently (2Co 2:1-11; 2Co 7:6-16). (3) That he might urge them to collect for the poor saints at Jerusalem (2Co 8:1-9, 2Co 8:15). (4) That he might maintain his apostolic authority and reprove gainsayers.

The external testimonies for its genuineness are IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 3,7,1]; ATHENAGORAS [Of the Resurrection of the Dead]; CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA [Miscellanies, 3, p. 94; 4, p. 101]; TERTULLIAN [On Modesty, 13].

The TIME OF WRITING was after Pentecost, A.D. 57, when Paul left Ephesus for Troas. Having stayed in the latter place for some time preaching the Gospel with effect (2Co 2:12), he went on to Macedonia, being eager to meet Titus there, having been disappointed in his not coming to Troas, as had been agreed on between them. Having heard from him the tidings he so much desired of the good effect produced on the Corinthians by his First Epistle, and after having tested the liberality of the Macedonian churches (2Co 8:1), he wrote this Second Epistle, and then went on to Greece, where he abode for three months; and then, after travelling by land, reached Philippi on his return at Passover or Easter, A.D. 58 (Act 20:1-6). So that this Epistle must have been written about autumn, A.D. 57.

Macedonia was THE PLACE from which it was written (2Co 9:2, where the present tense, "I boast," or "am boasting," implies his presence then in Macedonia). In Asia (Lydian Asia) he had undergone some great peril of his life (2Co 1:8-9), whether the reference be [PALEY] to the tumult at Ephesus (Acts 19:23-41), or, as ALFORD thinks, to a dangerous illness in which he despaired of life. Thence he passed by Troas to Philippi, the first city which would meet him in entering Macedonia. The importance of the Philippian Church would induce him to stay there some time; as also his desire to collect contributions from the Macedonian churches for the poor saints at Jerusalem. His anxiety of mind is recorded (2Co 7:5) as occurring when he came into Macedonia, and therefore must have been at Philippi, which was the first city of Macedonia in coming from Troas; and here, too, from 2Co 7:6, compared with 2Co 7:5, must have been the scene of his receiving the comforting tidings from Titus. "Macedonia" is used for Philippi in 2Co 11:9, as is proved by comparison with Phi 4:15-16. So it is probably used here (2Co 7:5). ALFORD argues from 2Co 8:1, where he speaks of the "grace bestowed on the churches (plural) of Macedonia," that Paul must have visited other churches in Macedonia, besides Philippi, when he wrote, for example, Thessalonica, Berea, &c., and that Philippi, the first on his route, is less likely to have been the scene of his writing than the last on his route, whichever it was, perhaps Thessalonica. But Philippi, as being the chief town of the province, was probably the place to which all the collections of the churches were sent. Ancient tradition, too (as appears from the subscription to this Epistle), favors the view that Philippi was the place from which this Epistle was sent by the hands of Titus who received, besides, a charge to prosecute at Corinth the collection which he had begun at his first visit (2Co 8:6).

The STYLE is most varied, and passes rapidly from one phase of feeling to another; now joyous and consolatory, again severe and full of reproof; at one time gentle and affectionate, at another, sternly rebuking opponents and upholding his dignity as an apostle. This variety of style accords with the warm and earnest character of the apostle, which nowhere is manifested more beautifully than in this Epistle. His bodily frailty, and the chronic malady under which he suffered, and which is often alluded to (2Co 4:7; 2Co 5:1-4; 2Co 12:7-9; compare Note, see on 2Co 1:8), must have been especially trying to one of his ardent temperament. But besides this, was the more pressing anxiety of the "care of all the churches." At Corinth, as elsewhere, Judaizing emissaries wished to bind legal fetters of letter and form (compare 2Co. 3:3-18) on the freedom and catholicity of the Church. On the other hand, there were free thinkers who defended their immorality of practice by infidel theories (1Co 15:12, 1Co 15:32-36). These were the "fightings without," and "fears within" (2Co 7:5-6) which agitated the apostle's mind until Titus brought him comforting tidings from Corinth. Even then, while the majority at Corinth had testified their repentance, and, as Paul had desired, excommunicated the incestuous person, and contributed for the poor Christians of Judea, there was still a minority who, more contemptuously than ever, resisted the apostle. These accused him of crafty and mercenary motives, as if he had personal gain in view in the collection being made; and this, notwithstanding his scrupulous care to be above the possibility of reasonable suspicion, by having others besides himself to take charge of the money. This insinuation was palpably inconsistent with their other charge, that he could be no true apostle, as he did not claim maintenance from the churches which he founded. Another accusation they brought of cowardly weakness; that he was always threatening severe measures without daring to execute them (2Co 10:8-16; 2Co 13:2); and that he was vacillating in his teaching and practice, circumcising Timothy, and yet withholding circumcision from Titus; a Jew among the Jews, and a Greek among the Greeks. That most of these opponents were of the Judaizing party in the Church, appears from 2Co 11:22. They seem to have been headed by an emissary from Judea ("he that cometh," 2Co 11:4), who had brought "letters of commendation" (2Co 3:1) from members of the Church at Jerusalem, and who boasted of his purity of Hebrew descent, and his close connection with Christ Himself (2Co 11:13, 2Co 11:23). His partisans contrasted his high pretensions with the timid humility of Paul (1Co 2:3); and his rhetoric with the apostle's plain and unadorned style (2Co 11:6; 2Co 10:10, 2Co 10:13). It was this state of things at Corinth, reported by Titus, that caused Paul to send him back forthwith thither with this Second Epistle, which is addressed, not to Corinth only (1Co 1:2), but to all the churches also in Achaia (2Co 1:1), which had in some degree been affected by the same causes as affected the Corinthian Church. The widely different tone in different parts of the Epistle is due to the diversity which existed at Corinth between the penitent majority and the refractory minority. The former he addresses with the warmest affection; the latter with menace and warning. Two deputies, chosen by the churches to take charge of the contribution to be collected at Corinth, accompanied Titus (2Co 8:18-19, 2Co 8:22).

JFB: 2 Corinthians (Outline)

• THE HEADING; PAUL'S CONSOLATIONS IN RECENT TRIALS IN ASIA; HIS SINCERITY TOWARDS THE CORINTHIANS; EXPLANATION OF HIS NOT HAVING VISITED THEM AS HE HAD PURPOSED. (2Co. 1:1-24)
• REASON WHY HE HAD NOT VISITED THEM ON HIS WAY TO MACEDONIA; THE INCESTUOUS PERSON OUGHT NOW TO BE FORGIVEN; HIS ANXIETY TO HEAR TIDINGS OF THEIR STATE FROM TITUS, AND HIS JOY WHEN AT LAST THE GOOD NEWS REACHES HIM. (2Co. 2:1-17)
• THE SOLE COMMENDATION HE NEEDS TO PROVE GOD'S SANCTION OF HIS MINISTRY HE HAS IN HIS CORINTHIAN CONVERTS: HIS MINISTRY EXCELS THE MOSAIC, AS THE GOSPEL OF LIFE AND LIBERTY EXCELS THE LAW OF CONDEMNATION. (2Co. 3:1-18) Are we beginning again to recommend ourselves (2Co 5:12) (as some of them might say he had done in his first Epistle; or, a reproof to "some" who had begun doing so)!
• HIS PREACHING IS OPEN AND SINCERE, THOUGH TO MANY THE GOSPEL IS HIDDEN. (2Co. 4:1-18)
• THE HOPE (2Co 4:17-18) OF ETERNAL GLORY IN THE RESURRECTION BODY. (2Co. 5:1-21)
• HIS APOSTOLIC MINISTRY IS APPROVED BY FAITHFULNESS IN EXHORTATION, IN SUFFERINGS, IN EXHIBITION OF THE FRUITS OF THE HOLY GHOST: HIS LARGENESS OF HEART TO THEM CALLS FOR ENLARGEMENT OF THEIR HEART TO HIM. EXHORTATIONS TO SEPARATION FROM POLLUTION. (2Co. 6:1-18)
• SELF-PURIFICATION THEIR DUTY RESULTING FROM THE FOREGOING. HIS LOVE TO THEM, AND JOY AT THE GOOD EFFECTS ON THEM OF HIS FORMER EPISTLE, AS REPORTED BY TITUS. (2Co. 7:1-16)
• THE COLLECTION FOR THE SAINTS; THE READINESS OF THE MACEDONIANS A PATTERN TO THE CORINTHIANS; CHRIST THE HIGHEST PATTERN; EACH IS TO GIVE WILLINGLY AFTER HIS ABILITY; TITUS AND TWO OTHERS ARE THE AGENTS ACCREDITED TO COMPLETE THE COLLECTION. (2Co. 8:1-24)
• REASONS FOR HIS SENDING TITUS. THE GREATER THEIR BOUNTIFULNESS, THE MORE SHALL BE THE RETURN OF BLESSING TO THEM, AND THANKSGIVING TO GOD. (2Co 9:1-15)
• HE VINDICATES HIS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY AGAINST THOSE WHO DEPRECIATED HIM FOR HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE. HE WILL MAKE HIS POWER FELT WHEN HE COMES. HE BOASTS NOT, AS THEY, BEYOND HIS MEASURE. (2Co. 10:1-18)
• THROUGH JEALOUSY OVER THE CORINTHIANS, WHO MADE MORE ACCOUNT OF THE FALSE APOSTLES THAN OF HIM, HE IS OBLIGED TO COMMEND HIMSELF AS IN MANY RESPECTS SUPERIOR. (2Co. 11:1-33)
• REVELATIONS IN WHICH HE MIGHT GLORY: BUT HE RATHER GLORIES IN INFIRMITIES, AS CALLING FORTH CHRIST'S POWER: SIGNS OF HIS APOSTLESHIP: HIS DISINTERESTEDNESS: NOT THAT HE IS EXCUSING HIMSELF TO THEM; BUT HE DOES ALL FOR THEIR GOOD, LEST HE SHOULD FIND THEM NOT SUCH AS HE DESIRED, AND SO SHOULD HAVE TO BE SEVERE AT HIS COMING. (2Co. 12:1-21) He proceeds to illustrate the "glorying in infirmities" (2Co 11:30). He gave one instance which might expose him to ridicule (2Co 11:33); he now gives another, but this one connected with a glorious revelation of which it was the sequel: but he dwells not on the glory done to himself, but on the infirmity which followed it, as displaying Christ's power. The oldest manuscripts read, "I MUST NEEDS boast (or glory) though it be not expedient; for I will come." The "for" gives a proof that it is "not expedient to boast": I will take the case of revelations, in which if anywhere boasting might be thought harmless. "Visions" refers to things seen: "revelations," to things heard (compare 1Sa 9:15) or revealed in any way. In "visions" their signification was not always vouchsafed; in "revelations" there was always an unveiling of truths before hidden (Dan 2:19, Dan 2:31). All parts of Scripture alike are matter of inspiration; but not all of revelation. There are degrees of revelation; but not of inspiration.
• HE THREATENS A SEVERE PROOF OF HIS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY, BUT PREFERS THEY WOULD SPARE HIM THE NECESSITY FOR IT. (2Co 13:1-14)

TSK: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

The most remarkable circumstance in this Epistle, observes Mr. Scott, is the confidence of the Apostle in the goodness of his cause, and in the power of God to bear him out in it. Opposed as he then was by a powerful and sagacious party, whose authority, reputation, and interest were deeply concerned, and who were ready to seize on every thing that could discredit him, it is wonderful to hear him so firmly insist upon his apostolical authority, and so unreservedly appeal to the miraculous power which he has exercised and conferred at Corinth. So far from shrinking from the contest, as afraid of some discovery being made, unfavourable to him and the common cause, he, with great modesty and meekness indeed, but with equal boldness and decision, expressly declares that his opposers and despisers were the ministers of Satan, and menaces them with miraculous judgments, when as many of their deluded hearers had been brought to repentance and re-established in the faith, as proper means could in a reasonable time effect. It is inconceivable that a stronger internal testimony, not only of integrity, but of divine inspiration, can exist. Had there been anything of imposture among the Christians, it was next to impossible but such a conduct must have occasioned a disclosure of it. Of the effects produced by this latter epistle we have no circumstantial account; for the journey which St. Paul took to Corinth, after he had written it, is mentioned by St. Luke only in a few words (Act 20:2, Act 20:3). We know, however, that St. Paul was there after he had written this Epistle; that the contributions for the poor brethren at Jerusalem were brought to him from different parts to that city (Rom 15:26); and that, after remaining there several months, he sent salutations from some of the principal members of that church, by whom he must have been greatly respected, to the church of Rome (Rom 16:22, Rom 16:23). From this time we hear no more of the false teacher and his party; and when Clement of Rome wrote his epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul was considered by them as a divine apostle, to whose authority he might appeal without fear of contradiction. The false teacher, therefore, must either have been silenced by St. Paul, by virtue of his apostolical powers, and by an act of severity which he had threatened (2Co 13:2, 2Co 13:3); or this adversary of the apostle had, at that time, voluntarily quitted the place. Whichever was the cause, the effect produced must operate as a confirmation of our faith, and as a proof of St. Paul’s divine mission.

TSK: 2 Corinthians 5 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Co 5:1, That in his assured hope of immortal glory, 2Co 5:9, and in expectation of it, and of the general judgment, he labours to keep a good conscience; 2Co 5:12, not that he may herein boast of himself, 2Co 5:14. but as one that, having received life from Christ, endeavours to live as a new creature to Christ only, 2Co 5:18. and by his ministry of reconciliation, to reconcile others also in Christ to God.

Poole: 2 Corinthians 5 (Chapter Introduction)

CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 5

MHCC: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

The second epistle to the Corinthians probably was written about a year after the first. Its contents are closely connected with those of the former epistle. The manner in which the letter St. Paul formerly wrote had been received, is particularly noticed; this was such as to fill his heart with gratitude to God, who enabled him fully to discharge his duty towards them. Many had shown marks of repentance, and amended their conduct, but others still followed their false teachers; and as the apostle delayed his visit, from his unwillingness to treat them with severity, they charged him with levity and change of conduct. Also, with pride, vain-glory, and severity, and they spake of him with contempt. In this epistle we find the same ardent affection towards the disciples at Corinth, as in the former, the same zeal for the honour of the gospel, and the same boldness in giving Christian reproof. The first six chapters are chiefly practical: the rest have more reference to the state of the Corinthian church, but they contain many rules of general application.

MHCC: 2 Corinthians 5 (Chapter Introduction)

(2Co 5:1-8) The apostle's hope and desire of heavenly glory.

(2Co 5:9-15) This excited to diligence. The reasons of his being affected with zeal for the Corinthians.

(2Co 5:16-21) The necessity of regeneration, and of reconciliation with God through Christ.

Matthew Henry: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians

In his former epistle the apostle had signified his intentions of coming to Corinth, as he passed through Macedonia (1Co 16:5), but, being providentially hindered for some time, he writes this second epistle to them about a year after the former; and there seem to be these two urgent occasions: - 1. The case of the incestuous person, who lay under censure, required that with all speed he should be restored and received again into communion. This therefore he gives directions about (ch. 2), and afterwards (ch. 7) he declares the satisfaction he had upon the intelligence he received of their good behaviour in that affair. 2. There was a contribution now making for the poor saints at Jerusalem, in which he exhorts the Corinthians to join (ch. 8, 2Co 9:1-15).

There are divers other things very observable in this epistle; for example, I. The account the apostle gives of his labours and success in preaching the gospel in several places, ch. 2. II. The comparison he makes between the Old and New Testament dispensation, ch. 3. III. The manifold sufferings that he and his fellow-labourers met with, and the motives and encouragements for their diligence and patience, ch. 4, 5. IV. The caution he gives the Corinthians against mingling with unbelievers, ch. 6. V. The way and manner in which he justifies himself and his apostleship from the opprobrious insinuations and accusations of false teachers, who endeavoured to ruin his reputation at Corinth, ch. 10-12, and throughout the whole epistle.

Matthew Henry: 2 Corinthians 5 (Chapter Introduction)

The apostle proceeds in showing the reasons why they did not faint under their afflictions, namely, their expectation, desire, and assurance of happiness after death (2Co 5:1-5), and deduces an inference for the comfort of believers in their present state (2Co 5:6-8), and another to quicken them in their duty (2Co 5:9-11). Then he makes an apology for seeming to commend himself, and gives a good reason for his zeal and diligence (2Co 5:12-15), and mentions two things that are necessary in order to our living to Christ, regeneration and reconciliation (2Co 5:16 to the end).

Barclay: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS TO THE CORINTHIANS

The Greatness Of Corinth

A glance at the map will show that Corinth was made for greatness. The southern part of Greece is very nearly an island. On the west the Corinthian Gulf deeply indents the land and on the east the Saronic Gulf. All that is left to join the two parts of Greece together is a little isthmus only four miles across. On that narrow neck of land Corinth stands. Such a position made it inevitable that it should be one of the greatest trading and commercial centres of the ancient world. All traffic from Athens and the north of Greece to Sparta and the Peloponnese had to be routed through Corinth, because it stood on the little neck of land that connected the two.

Not only did the north to south traffic of Greece pass through Corinth of necessity, by far the greater part of the east to west traffic of the Mediterranean passed through her from choice. The extreme southern tip of Greece was known as Cape Malea (now called Cape Matapan). It was dangerous, and to round Cape Malea had much the same sound as to round Cape Horn had in later times. The Greeks had two sayings which showed what they thought of it--"Let him who sails round Malea forget his home," and, "Let him who sails round Malea first make his will."

The consequence was that mariners followed one of two courses. They sailed up the Saronic Gulf, and, if their ships were small enough, dragged them out of the water, set them on rollers, hauled them across the isthmus, and re-launched them on the other side. The isthmus was actually called the Diolkos, the place of dragging across. The idea is the same as that which is contained in the Scottish place name Tarbert, which means a place where the land is so narrow that a boat can be dragged from loch to loch. If that course was not possible because the ship was too large, the cargo was disembarked, carried by porters across the isthmus, and re-embarked on another ship at the other side. This four mile journey across the isthmus, where the Corinth Canal now runs, saved a journey of two hundred and two miles round Cape Malea, the most dangerous cape in the Mediterranean.

It is easy to see how great a commercial city Corinth must have been. The north to south traffic of Greece had no alternative but to pass through her; by far the greater part of the east to west trade of the Mediterranean world chose to pass through her. Round Corinth there clustered three other towns, Lechaeum at the west end of the isthmus, Cenchrea at the east end and Schoenus just a short distance away. Farrar writes, "Objects of luxury soon found their way to the markets which were visited by every nation in the civilized world--Arabian balsam, Phoenician dates, Libyan ivory, Babylonian carpets, Cilician goatsair, Lycaonian wool, Phrygian slaves."

Corinth, as Farrar calls her, was the Vanity Fair of the ancient world. Men called her The Bridge of Greece; one called her The Lounge of Greece. It has been said that if a man stands long enough in Piccadilly Circus he will in the end meet everyone in the country. Corinth was the Piccadilly Circus of the Mediterranean. To add to the concourse which came to it, Corinth was the place where the Isthmian Games were held, which were second only to the Olympics. Corinth was a rich and populous city with one of the greatest commercial trades in the ancient world.

The Wickedness Of Corinth

There was another side to Corinth. She had a reputation for commercial prosperity, but she was also a byword for evil living. The very word korinthiazesthai, to live like a Corinthian, had become a part of the Greek language, and meant to live with drunken and immoral debauchery. The word actually penetrated to the English language, and, in Regency times, a Corinthian was one of the wealthy young bucks who lived in reckless and riotous living. Aelian, the late Greek writer, tells us that if ever a Corinthian was shown upon the stage in a Greek play he was shown drunk. The very name Corinth was synonymous with debauchery and there was one source of evil in the city which was known all over the civilized world. Above the isthmus towered the hill of the Acropolis, and on it stood the great temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. To that temple there were attached one thousand priestesses who were sacred prostitutes, and in the evenings they descended from the Acropolis and plied their trade upon the streets of Corinth, until it became a Greek proverb, "It is not every man who can afford a journey to Corinth." In addition to these cruder sins, there flourished far more recondite vices, which had come in with the traders and the sailors from the ends of the earth, until Corinth became not only a synonym for wealth and luxury, drunkenness and debauchery, but also for filth.

The History Of Corinth

The history of Corinth falls into two parts. She was a very ancient city. Thucydides, the Greek historian, claims that it was in Corinth that the first triremes, the Greek battleships, were built. Legend has it that it was in Corinth that the Argo was built, the ship in which Jason sailed the seas, searching for the golden fleece. But in 146 B.C. disaster befell her. The Romans were engaged in conquering the world. When they sought to reduce Greece, Corinth was the leader of the opposition. But the Greeks could not stand against the disciplined Romans, and in 146 B.C. Lucius Mummius, the Roman general, captured Corinth and left her a desolate heap of ruins.

But any place with the geographical situation of Corinth could not remain a devastation. Almost exactly one hundred years later, in 46 B.C. Julius Caesar rebuilt her and she arose from her ruins. Now she became a Roman colony. More, she became a capital city, the metropolis of the Roman province of Achaea, which included practically all Greece.

In those days, which were the days of Paul, her population was very mixed. (i) There were the Roman veterans whom Julius Caesar had settled there. When a Roman soldier had served his time, he was granted the citizenship and was then sent out to some newly-founded city and given a grant of land so that he might become a settler there. These Roman colonies were planted all over the world, and always the backbone of them was the contingent of veteran regular soldiers whose faithful service had won them the citizenship. (ii) When Corinth was rebuilt the merchants came back, for her situation still gave her commercial supremacy. (iii) There were many Jews among the population. The rebuilt city offered them commercial opportunities which they were not slow to take. (iv) There was a sprinkling of Phoenicians and Phrygians and people from the east, with their exotic customs and their hysterical ways. Farrar speaks of "this mongrel and heterogeneous population of Greek adventurers and Roman bourgeois, with a tainting infusion of Phoenicians; this mass of Jews, ex-soldiers, philosophers, merchants, sailors, freedmen, slaves, trades-people, hucksters and agents of every form of vice." He characterizes her as a colony "without aristocracy, without traditions and without well-established citizens."

Remember the background of Corinth, remember its name for wealth and luxury, for drunkenness and immorality and vice, and then read 1Co_6:9-10 .

Are you not aware that the unrighteous will not inherit the

Kingdom of God? Make no mistake--neither fornicators, nor

idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sensualists, nor homosexuals, nor

thieves, nor rapacious men, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor

robbers shall inherit the Kingdom of God--and such were some of

you.

In this hotbed of vice, in the most unlikely place in all the Greek world, some of Paulgreatest work was done, and some of the mightiest triumphs of Christianity were won.

Paul In Corinth

Paul stayed longer in Corinth than in any other city, with the single exception of Ephesus. He had left Macedonia with his life in peril and had crossed over to Athens. There he had had little success and had gone on to Corinth, and he remained there for eighteen months. We realize how little we really know of his work when we see that the whole story of that eighteen months is compressed by Luke into 17 verses (Act_18:1-17 ).

When Paul arrived in Corinth he took up residence with Aquila and Prisca. He preached in the synagogue with great success. With the arrival of Timothy and Silas from Macedonia, he redoubled his efforts, but the Jews were so stubbornly hostile that he had to leave the synagogue. He took up his residence with one Justus who lived next door to the synagogue. His most notable convert was Crispus, who was actually the ruler of the synagogue, and amongst the general public he had good success.

In the year A.D. 52 there came to Corinth as its new governor a Roman called Gallio. He was famous for his charm and gentleness. The Jews tried to take advantage of his newness and good nature and brought Paul to trial before him on a charge of teaching contrary to their law. But Gallio, with impartial Roman justice, refused to have anything to do with the case or to take any action. So Paul completed his work in Corinth and moved on to Syria.

The Correspondence With Corinth

It was when he was in Ephesus in the year A.D. 55 that Paul, learning that things were not all well in Corinth, wrote to the church there. There is every possibility that the Corinthian correspondence as we have it is out of order. We must remember that it was not until A.D. 90 or thereby that Paulcorrespondence was collected. In many churches it must have existed only on scraps of papyrus and the putting it together would be a problem: and it seems that, when the Corinthian letters were collected, they were not all discovered and were not arranged in the right order. Let us see if we can reconstruct what happened.

(i) There was a letter which preceded 1 Corinthians. In 1Co_5:9 Paul writes, "I wrote you a letter not to associate with immoral men." This obviously refers to some previous letter. Some scholars believe that letter is lost without trace. Others think it is contained in 2Co_6:14-18 and 2Co_7:1 . Certainly that passage suits what Paul said he wrote about. It occurs rather awkwardly in its context, and, if we take it out and read straight on from 2Co_6:13 to 2Co_7:2 , we get excellent sense and connection. Scholars call this letter The Previous Letter. (In the original letters there were no chapter or verse divisions. The chapters were not divided up until the thirteenth century and the verses not till the sixteenth, and because of that the arranging of the collection of letters would be much more difficult).

(ii) News came to Paul from various sources of trouble at Corinth. (a) News came from those who were of the household of Chloe (1Co_1:11 ). They brought news of the contentions with which the church was torn. (b) News came with the visit of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus to Ephesus. (1Co_16:17 ). By personal contact they were able to fill up the gaps in Paulinformation. (c) News came in a letter in which the Corinthian Church had asked Paul guidance on various problems. In 1Co_7:1 Paul begins, "Concerning the matters about which you wrote..." In answer to all this information Paul wrote 1 Corinthians and despatched it to Corinth apparently by the hand of Timothy (1Co_4:17 ).

(iii) The result of the letter was that things became worse than ever, and, although we have no direct record of it, we can deduce that Paul paid a personal visit to Corinth. In 2Co_12:14 he writes, "The third time I am ready to come to you." In 2Co_13:1-2 , he says again that he is coming to them for the third time. Now, if there was a third time, there must have been a second time. We have the record of only one visit, whose story is told in Act_18:1-17 . We have no record at all of the second, but Corinth was only two or three daysailing from Ephesus.

(iv) The visit did no good at all. Matters were only exacerbated and the result was an exceedingly severe letter. We learn about that letter from certain passages in 2 Corinthians. In 2Co_2:4 Paul writes, "I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears." In 2Co_7:8 he writes, "For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it though I did regret it; for I see that that letter has grieved you, though only for a while." It was a letter which was the product of anguish of mind, a letter so severe that Paul was almost sorry that he ever sent it.

Scholars call this The Severe Letter. Have we got it? It obviously cannot be I Corinthians, because it is not a tear-stained and anguished letter. When Paul wrote it, it is clear enough that things were under control. Now if we read through 2 Corinthians we find an odd circumstance. In 2Cor 1-9 everything is made up, there is complete reconciliation and all are friends again; but at 2Cor 10 comes the strangest break. 2Cor 10-13 are the most heartbroken cry Paul ever wrote. They show that he has been hurt and insulted as he never was before or afterwards by any church. His appearance, his speech, his apostleship, his honesty have all been under attack.

Most scholars believe that 2Cor 10-13 are the severe letter, and that they have become misplaced when Paulletters were put together. If we want the real chronological course of Paulcorrespondence with Corinth, we really ought to read 2Cor 10-13 before 2Cor 1-9. We do know that this letter was sent off with Titus. (2Co_2:13 ; 2Co_7:13 ).

(v) Paul was worried about this letter. He could not wait until Titus came back with an answer, so he set out to meet him (2Co_2:13 ; 2Co_7:5 , 2Co_7:13 ). Somewhere in Macedonia he met him and learned that all was well, and, probably at Philippi, he sat down and wrote 2Cor 1-9, the letter of reconciliation.

Stalker has said that the letters of Paul take the roof off the early churches and let us see what went on inside. Of none of them is that truer than the letters to Corinth. Here we see what "the care of all the churches" must have meant to Paul. Here we see the heart-breaks and the joys. Here we see Paul, the shepherd of his flock, bearing the sorrows and the problems of his people on his heart.

The Corinthian Correspondence

Before we read the letters in detail let us set down the progress of the Corinthian correspondence in tabular form.

(i) The Previous Letter, which may be contained in 2Co_6:14-18 and 2Co_7:1 .

(ii) The arrival of Chloepeople, of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus, and of the letter to Paul from the Corinthian Church.

(iii) 1 Corinthians is written in reply and is despatched with Timothy.

(iv) The situation grows worse and Paul pays a personal visit to Corinth, which is so complete a failure that it almost breaks his heart.

(v) The consequence is The Severe Letter, which is almost certainly contained in 2Cor 10-13, and which was despatched with Titus.

(vi) Unable to wait for an answer, Paul sets out to meet Titus. He meets him in Macedonia, learns that all is well and, probably from Philippi, writes 2Cor 1-9, The Letter of Reconciliation.

The first four chapters of 1 Corinthians deal with the divided state of the Church of God at Corinth. Instead of being a unity in Christ it was split into sects and parties, who had attached themselves to the names of various leaders and teachers. It is Paulteaching that these divisions had emerged because the Corinthians thought too much about human wisdom and knowledge and too little about the sheer grace of God. In fact, for all their so-called wisdom, they are really in a state of immaturity. They think that they are wise men, but really they are no better than babies.

FURTHER READING

2 Corinthians

F. F. Bruce, 1 and 2 Corinthians (NCB; E)

J. Hering, The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (translated by A. W. Heathcote and P. J. Allcock)

A. Plummer, 2 Corinthians (ICC; G)

R. V. G. Tasker, The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (TC; E)

Abbreviations

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

NCB: New Century Bible

TC: Tyndale Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

Barclay: 2 Corinthians 5 (Chapter Introduction)

Joy And Judgment To Come (2Co_5:1-10)

The New Creation (2Co_5:11-19)

Ambassador For Christ (2Co_5:20-21; 2Co_6:1-2)

Constable: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Historical background

First Corinthians did not dispel the problems in the church at Corinth completely. While it resolved some of these, opposition to the Apostle Paul persisted and Paul's critics continued to speak out against him in the church. One man in particular seems to have been the ringleader of the opposition (10:7). He had rallied the support of a significant minority. The issue was Paul's apostolic authority. His critics were claiming authority equal with Paul's. This was in effect a claim to apostolic authority on their part or a denial of the full apostolic authority of Paul.

News of continuing problems in Corinth reached Paul in Ephesus during his prolonged stay there during his third missionary journey. He then made a brief visit to Corinth. However his efforts to resolve the conflicts fell through (2:1; 12:14; 13:1-2). Paul apparently suffered insult and lost face during that visit (2:5-8; 7:12). Consequently this was a painful visit for Paul. He then returned to Ephesus.

Paul's next step in dealing with the situation in Corinth was to send a severe letter from Ephesus by the hand of Titus and another unnamed brother (2:3-4; 7:8-12; 12:18). He apparently directed this letter, now lost, at the party opposed to him and particularly its leader. Some commentators believe that 2 Corinthians 10-13 contains part of this letter, but the evidence for this is not convincing.¹

Paul evidently intended to receive Titus' report concerning the effects of this severe letter in Ephesus. However, persecution there made it expedient for Paul to leave that city earlier than he had anticipated (Acts 20:1). He found an open door for the gospel to the north in Troas. Eager to meet Titus who was taking the land route from Corinth back to Ephesus Paul moved west into Macedonia (2:12-13). There Titus met him and gave him an encouraging report (7:6-16). Most of the church had responded to Paul's directives and the church had disciplined the troublemakers (2:5-11). Unfortunately some in the congregation still refused to acknowledge Paul's authority over them (10:1-13:10).

Paul rejoiced at the repentance of the majority. However his concern for the unrepentant minority and his desire to pick up the money the Corinthians had begun to collect for their poorer brethren in Jerusalem led him to write 2 Corinthians. Along with these primary motives Paul also felt compelled to refute the charge of fickleness leveled at him by his critics. He had changed his travel plans and had not come to see them as he had said he would.

The whole situation provided him an opportunity to clarify the nature of Christian ministry.

Paul wrote the Second Epistle to the Corinthians from Macedonia, perhaps Philippi, Thessalonica, or Berea, probably in the fall or winter of 56 A.D. A date a year earlier or later is possible.

Some commentators believe Paul wrote 1 Corinthians after his painful visit and after he wrote the severe letter.² I believe it is more probable that he wrote 1 Corinthians before these two events.³ It is very difficult to reconstruct the details of Paul's activities since the data available to us is incomplete.

Paul's Corinthian Contacts
Paul's founding visit	His "former letter"	The Corin-thians' letter to him	First Corin-thians	Paul's "painful visit"	His "severe letter"	Second Corin-thians	Paul's antici-pated visit

"2 Corinthians is very different from the letters between which it was written, 1 Corinthians and Romans. Whereas each of those letters is, in its own way, systematic and orderly, 2 Corinthians is, on the face of it, uneven and digressive. It is no surprise, therefore, that many scholars have suggested that 2 Corinthians is really a collection of letters put together later as a single letter."⁴

"Second Corinthians presents many inspiring texts and passages to the reader and teacher of God's Word. A quick survey reveals approximately eighty individual verses lending themselves to extended meditation and exposition, apart from the sixty or so constituent paragraphs of the letter. This letter is a rich lode for the edification of God's people."⁵

Message⁶

The subject of 2 Corinthians is ministry, the church's work of service in the world. This is the central concept Paul dealt with in this epistle. What did he say about ministry?

He spoke of ministry in two ways. There is ministry per se (philosophy of ministry), and there is ministry to the world (practice of ministry).

Let's consider first what Paul revealed about the ministry of the church per se. This is the way Paul spoke of ministry most often in 2 Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians there is more emphasis on the practice of ministry than on the philosophy of ministry.

Paul had a lot to say about the authority of the church's ministry. Jesus Christ is the church's authority. He is the One who assigns each believer particular ministry within the body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 12:11, 18, 28; Eph. 4:11-13). The Corinthian church was having a major problem because some in its company were failing to accept Paul's appointment by Christ as an apostle and their own appointment as non-apostles. This was a practical repudiation of Jesus Christ's authority in the church. We must bow to the authority of Christ in the church by recognizing and responding appropriately to those He has appointed to various roles in the body. We identify these people by their gifts (divinely given abilities) and by their offices (divinely given positions).

Paul also had a lot to say in this epistle about the resources of the church's ministry. He emphasized three primarily.

One important resource is the encouragement of God. Paul spoke of this in the first part of the epistle especially. We read "comfort" in our texts, but the Greek word paraklesis means comfort through encouragement. The same Greek root describes the Holy Spirit as our Paraclete in John 14-16. Paul both taught and demonstrated in this letter that God's encouraging comfort always exceeds our discouragement and distress in ministry. The secret to finding it sufficient is taking God's view of how our ministry is really proceeding. This viewpoint Paul revealed, too.

A second resource is divine revelation. Paul did not preach himself or a message that he had concocted. He preached what God had revealed. Thus, revelation constituted both Paul's public message and his personal encouragement. We, too, have received the same message to communicate as ambassadors of Christ. It is a message of reconciliation, and it is the source of our encouragement.

A third resource is the prayers of the saints. Paul called for and counted on the prayers of God's people to bring God's power into play through him as he ministered (1:11). He realized that his own prayers would not move God to work as well as the concerted prayers of many of God's children (cf. James 4:2). Lack of prayer is often a sign of confidence in self rather than confidence in God.

In addition to the authority and resources of our ministry, Paul also had a lot to say in this epistle about experience in ministry. Three features mark experience in ministry.

First, one thing that marks ministry is tribulation. Paul spoke extensively in 2 Corinthians about the afflictions he experienced during his ministry. Furthermore he revealed that these are part of ministry, anyone's ministry who is carrying it out as God has directed. Some people do not welcome the gospel. To them it is a death scent. We should expect to experience tribulation in ministry. We have all experienced this in witnessing to some extent.

Second, another thing that should mark our ministry is hope. God has revealed the end of our ministry. We will all stand before Jesus Christ and receive a reward one day (5:10). This hope is a certainty. The Christian who loses sight of his or her hope is going to drift and suffer discouragement rather than press toward the mark. The end of our ministry is constantly in view in this epistle.

Third, a mark of Christian ministry is triumph. Paul revealed and illustrated by his own attitude that no matter how response to our ministry may appear to us our ministry is always triumphant. The reason for this is that God is at work through His ministers. One of the problems Paul's critics in Corinth had and that we have is that they were evaluating ministry superficially rather than realistically. We need to evaluate ministry on the basis of what God has revealed is happening, not what appears to be happening.

Paul not only revealed much about ministry per se in 2 Corinthians, he also revealed a lot about the ministry of the church to the world. Three emphases predominate.

First, Paul revealed what the message of the church is: the Word of God. Ours is a ministry of the Word. By "the Word" Paul meant the revelation God has given us. In his day it consisted of the Old Testament Scriptures plus the revelations that he and the other New Testament prophets had received that were for all Christians. Paul contrasted his message and ours with the message of Moses and exulted in its superiority. God has removed the veil and we can now see His glory clearly revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.

Second, Paul revealed the church's equipment to carry on its ministry to the world. We are ready to minister only when we separate from the world's sins and conform to God's will. Paul contrasts with his critics in this letter in all these respects. As these characteristics mark us we, too, will be ready to minister.

Third, Paul revealed the exercise of the church's ministry to the world. In exercising its ministry the church does three things according to this epistle.

1. It exercises discipline to restore the erring to effective ministry. Paul's great concern in this epistle was the restoration of the rebellious critics in the Corinthian church to unity and usefulness.

2. The church also is to give no occasion of stumbling to others. Paul's concern was that the behavior of the Corinthian Christians would be an encouragement to other believers and a base from which the gospel could proceed even farther into unevangelized regions beyond.

3. Third, the church exercises the grace of giving. It seeks to facilitate the principle of equality that God has demonstrated throughout history, namely that those who have should share with those who have not. This applies not only to the gospel message but to the physical necessities of life (chs. 8-9).

From these emphases the message of the book emerges. The church needs to submit to revealed authority, to draw upon supernatural resources and equipment, and to experience triumph through tribulation as it executes its mission. As it does so it will effectively carry out its ministry of proclaiming the message of reconciliation to the world.

Constable: 2 Corinthians (Outline)

Outline

I. Introduction 1:1-11

A. Salutation 1:1-2

B. Thanksgiving for comfort in affliction 1:3-11

1. Thanksgiving for comfort 1:3-7

2. Thanksgiving for deliverance 1:8-11

II. Answers to insinuations about the sincerity of Paul's commitment to the Corinthians and to the ministry 1:12-7:16

A. Defense of his conduct with regard to his promised visit and the offender 1:12-2:17

1. The postponement of the intended visit 1:12-2:4

2. The treatment of the offender and the result of the severe letter 2:5-17

B. Exposition of Paul's view of the ministry 3:1-6:10

1. The superiority of Christian ministry to Mosaic ministry 3:1-11

2. The great boldness of the new ministers 3:12-4:6

3. The sufferings and supports of a minister of the gospel 4:7-5:10

4. The life of a minister of Christ 5:11-6:10

C. Appeal for restoration of the Corinthians' confidence in him 6:11-7:16

1. An appeal for large-heartedness and consistency 6:11-7:4

2. The encouraging response of the Corinthians so far 7:5-16

III. Instructions concerning the collection for the poor saints in Judea 8:1-9:15

A. The example of the Macedonians 8:1-7

B. The supreme motive for giving 8:8-15

C. The delegates of the churches 8:16-24

D. The anticipated visit of Paul 9:1-5

E. The benefits of generous giving 9:6-15

IV. Appeals concerning Paul's apostolic authority 10:1-13:10

A. Replies to charges made against Paul 10:1-18

1. Reply to the charge of cowardice 10:1-6

2. Reply to the charge of weakness 10:7-11

3. Reply to the charge of intrusion 10:12-18

B. Claims made by Paul 11:1-12:18

1. Paul's reasons for making these claims 11:1-6

2. Freedom to minister without charge 11:7-15

3. Paul's service and sufferings 11:16-33

4. Special revelations Paul received 12:1-10

5. Paul's supernatural miracles and paternal love 12:11-18

C. Exhortations in view of Paul's approaching visit 12:19-13:10

1. Paul's concerns 12:19-21

2. Paul's warnings 13:1-10

V. Conclusion 13:11-14

A. The exhortation 13:11-12

B. The salutation 13:13

C. The benediction 13:14

Constable: 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

THE SECOND

EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE,

TO THE CORINTHIANS.

INTRODUCTION.

The subject and design of this second Epistle to the Corinthians, is much the same as of the former. He comforts and congratulates with those who were now reformed by his admonitions. He blames the faulty with apostolical liberty; and being forced to justify himself and his proceedings against the upstart false teachers, he gives an ample account of his sufferings, and also of the favours and graces, which God had bestowed upon him. This Epistle was written not long after the first, (an. 57. [in the year 57.]) some months before that to the Romans, from some place in Macedonia, perhaps from Philippi, as marked at the end of divers Greek copies, though it is observed, that those subscriptions are not much to be relied upon. (Witham) --- In this Epistle St. Paul comforts those who are now reformed by his admonitions to them in the former, and absolves the incestuous man on doing penance, whom he had before excommunicated for his crime. Hence he treats of true penance, and of the dignity of the ministers of the New Testament. He cautions the faithful against false teachers, and the society of infidels. He gives an account of his sufferings, and also of the favours and graces which God hath bestowed on him. (Challoner) --- St. Paul, not being able to come to the Corinthians as soon as he had promised, writes this Epistle to inform them, that it was not through inconstancy, but on account of several weighty reasons, which had hitherto hindered him. Several other reasons, likewise, compelled him to write. For during his absence, several false teachers of the Jews had come amongst them, teaching them that it was necessary to observe the law of Moses, in order to be saved. St. Paul, therefore, first excuses himself, by saying, that the afflictions and troubles he had met with, had hindered him from coming to them. He next orders the fornicator to be restored to favour; after which, he extols his apostleship, forming a comparison between the law of Christ, and of Moses, wherein he blames the false teachers. He then subjoins an exhortation to a pious and holy life, with liberality in their alms, after the example of the Macedonians. As the false teachers had been very industrious in establishing their own reputation, by detracting from that of St. Paul, he enumerates his own sufferings, and the favours he had received from God, shewing that he had much more reason to glory than they; and concludes by exhorting them to correct those faults with which they still remained infected. (Estius) --- This letter may be justly appreciated as a perfect masterpiece of that animated and solid eloquence, which all interpreters so much admire in St. Paul. (Bible de Vence)

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Gill: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CORINTHIANS

This epistle, according to the subscription at the end of it, was written from Philippi of Macedonia; and though the subscriptions annexed to the epistles are not always to be depended on, yet it seems very likely that this was written from thence; for the apostle not finding Titus at Troas, as he expected, went into Macedonia, where he met with him, and had an account from him of the success of his first epistle; of the state and condition of the church, and of the temper and disposition of mind in which the members of it were, and which gave him great satisfaction; upon which he immediately wrote this second epistle, and sent it by the same person to them; see 2Co 2:12, 2Co 7:5. It is very probable it might be written the year after the former; and so it is placed by Dr. Lightfoot in the year 56, as the former is in the year 55; though some place this in the year 60, and the other in 59. The occasion of this epistle was partly to excuse his not coming to them according to promise, and to vindicate himself from the charge of unfaithfulness, levity, and inconstancy on that account; and partly, since what he had wrote about the incestuous person, had had a good effect both upon him and them, to direct them to take off the censure that had been laid upon him, and restore him to their communion, and comfort him; likewise to stir them up to finish the collection for the poor saints they had begun; as also to defend himself against the calumnies of the false teachers, who were very industrious to sink his character and credit in this church; which he does by observing the doctrines of the Gospel he preached, which were far more glorious than, and abundantly preferable to, the ministration of the law of Moses, which those men desired to be teachers of; as likewise the success of his ministry in every place; the many sufferings he had underwent for the sake of Christ, and his Gospel; the high favours and privileges he had received of the Lord, as well as the signs, wonders, and miracles done by him in proof of his apostleship; and in which are interspersed many things useful and instructive.

Gill: 2 Corinthians 5 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CORINTHIANS 5

The apostle, in this chapter, enlarges upon the saints' comfortable assurance, expectation, and desire of the heavenly glory; discourses of the diligence and industry of himself and other Gospel ministers in preaching the word, with the reasons that induced them to it; and closes it with a commendation of the Gospel ministry from the important subject, sum, and substance of it. Having mentioned in the latter part of the, preceding chapter, the eternal weight of glory, the afflictions of the saints are working for, and the invisible realities of that state they are looking to, here expresses the assurance that he and others had of their interest therein; and which he signifies by an edifice, and illustrates it by its opposition to the body, which he compares to an house and tabernacle; the one is man's, the other of God, and not made with hands; the one is earthly, the other in heaven; the one is to be, and will be dissolved, the other is eternal, 2Co 5:1 and therefore it is no wonder that it should be so earnestly desired, as it is said to be in 2Co 5:2 where the desire of it is signified by groaning, which supposes something distressing, and which makes uneasy; and by an earnest longing after deliverance and happiness, and which is explained by a desire to be clothed upon with the house from heaven; where the heavenly glory is not only, as before, compared to an house, but also to a garment, which all those that are clothed with the righteousness of Christ may justly expect to be arrayed with; for these will not be found naked nor remain so, 2Co 5:3 which earnest desire after immortality and glory is more fully explained, 2Co 5:4 in which not only the body, in its present state, is again compared to a tabernacle, and the saints represented as being distressed, and so groaning whilst in it; but the cause of this groaning is suggested, which is a burden they labour under, both of sin and affliction; and yet such is the natural inclination of man to remain in the body, and his unwillingness to part from it, that he does not desire to be stripped of that, but to have the robe of immortality put upon it, that so the present mortality that attends it might be wholly swallowed up in it: and that the saints had reason to believe there was such an happiness to be enjoyed, and that they had such an interest in it is clear; because as God had prepared that for them, he had also wrought and prepared them for that; and besides, had given them his Spirit as the earnest and pledge of it, 2Co 5:5 wherefore, as they were confidently assured of it, and considering that they were but sojourners and strangers whilst in the body, and in the present state of things, and not at home in their Father's house, and absent from Christ, 2Co 5:6 as is evident from their walking by faith in the comfortable assurance, lively hope, and earnest expectation of things future and unseen, and not in the beatific vision of them, 2Co 5:7. Hence they were very desirous, and chose rather to quit their present dwelling, the tabernacle of the body, that they might be at home, and enjoy the presence of the Lord, 2Co 5:8. And this confidence and hope of eternal things wrought in the apostle, and other faithful ministers of the word, great carefulness and diligence to serve the Lord acceptably, and discharge with faithfulness the trust reposed in them, 2Co 5:9 the reason of which concern also, or what likewise animated them to a diligent performance of their duty, was their certain appearance before the judgment seat of Christ; which appearance will be universal, and when there will be a distribution of rewards and punishments to everyone according to his works, 2Co 5:10. And besides, it was not only their own personal concern in this awful affair that engaged them to such a conduct, but the regard they had to the good of immortal souls, to whom the day of judgment must be terrible, unless they are brought to believe in Christ; and for the truth of this they could appeal both to God, and to the consciences of men, particularly the Corinthians, 2Co 5:11. And lest this should be imputed to pride and arrogance, the apostle suggests the reason why he made mention of all this, that they might have wherewith to answer the false teachers, and vindicate the faithful ministers of the Gospel, 2Co 5:12. However, let it be construed which way it will, as the effect of madness or sobriety, this he could with the greatest confidence affirm, that his view was the glory of God, and the good of souls, 2Co 5:13 and to this diligence and faithfulness in preaching the Gospel, he and others were not only moved by their desire and expectation of happiness, by the future judgment in which they must appear, and by their concern for immortal souls, that they might escape the vengeance of that day; but they were constrained thereunto by the love of Christ in dying for them, and in whom they died, 2Co 5:14 the end of which was, that they might live not to themselves, but to him that died and rose again, 2Co 5:15. And as a further instance of their integrity and faithfulness, the apostle observes, that they had no regard to men on account of their carnal descent, and outward privileges, as the Jews; nor even did they consider Christ himself in a carnal view, or esteem of him as a temporal king, as they once did, 2Co 5:16 their sole aims and views being the spiritual good of men, and the advancement of the spiritual interest and kingdom of Christ; and the conclusion from hence is, that whoever is truly in Christ, and in his kingdom, is a new creature, and is in a new world, in a new dispensation, in which both the old things of the law, and of Heathenism, and of his former conversation are gone, and all things in doctrine, worship, and conversation are become new, 2Co 5:17. And from hence the apostle proceeds to a commendation of the Gospel dispensation, and the ministry of it, from its author God, and from the subject matter of it, reconciliation of men to God by Christ, 2Co 5:18 which is more fully explained and enlarged on, both with respect to the efficient cause of reconciliation, the objects of it, and the means and manner in which it is brought about, and also the publication of it in the Gospel by the ministers of it, 2Co 5:19 and who are described as the ambassadors of Christ, acting in the name of God, and as in the stead of Christ, for the good of men, 2Co 5:20. And closes the chapter with an account of the great propitiation, Christ, by whom reconciliation is made; as that he was in himself without sin, and yet was by imputation made sin for sinners, that they, in the same way, might be made righteous in the sight of God through him, 2Co 5:21.47

College: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION

Studying 2 Corinthians plunges the modern reader back to the real, tumultuous world of early Christianity. The simple ideals of sharing and goodwill described in Acts 2:42-47 seem to have little place among the diverse converts from this boomtown of Corinth where Paul chooses to anchor his Greek mission. Rather, this microcosm of the early church bickers and accuses, revels in disorder and confusion, reeks of unrenounced pagan practices, and uncritically pursues self-promotion and even disloyalty to Paul, its founder.

When we speak of restoring the NT church, the Corinthian church is not what we have in mind. But maybe this is where we should really start: a real community of believers struggling to understand and implement their Christian faith against the helter-skelter backdrop of values and principles they desired to leave behind. As we understand what Paul teaches this troubled church, we will learn badly needed principles to help bring to maturity our own, real churches which inherit the same struggle.

Second Corinthians stands in stark contrast to Paul's other NT writings in a number of ways. Other letters, like 1 Corinthians, Romans, Galatians, and Colossians are carefully ordered, easily outlined, logical, controlled, as Paul confidently responds to carefully gauged concerns. Methodically, he establishes crucial, theological principles as the basis for practical, behavioral appeals.

By contrast, 2 Corinthians is chaotic and disjointed. Digressions lead the reader far afield before returning to the point. So uneven is 2 Corinthians, that many scholars suggest it is a composite of four or five writings, even a number of conservative scholars admitting two. Intensity, emotion, defensiveness, and second-guessing rather than controlled reasoning bind this epistle together. We see Paul at his weakest, basest, most human. Yet seeing him work through the truth of the gospel in the midst of exasperating difficulties is enlightening.

To a certain extent, it is healthy for our lofty ideals of this giant to be punctured and brought down to reality, even as the Corinthian church does so for our view of the early church. Paul's relationship with the Corinthians at this historical juncture is ugly, and readers deserve to be warned about how disconcerting seeing this can be.

These features of 2 Corinthians make studying and understanding the text much more dependent than usual on grasping the historical circumstances behind and leading up to its writing. Without a clear grasp of the historic story, hopeless confusion will engulf efforts to interpret the text at a number of points.

So, study of 2 Corinthians must begin by seeking to understand the Corinth of Paul's day and Paul's relationship to the local church there before preceding to a reliable interpretation of the text.

THE CITY OF CORINTH

Fortunately, Corinth is a NT city we know a great deal about. It has been heavily excavated and was minutely described by classical writers like Strabo and Dio Chrysostom.

The city that Paul entered in A.D. 50 had been resurrected from the ashes of the old city burned to the ground by the Romans in 146 B.C. Having laid in ruins for 100 years, two years before his death in 44 B.C., Julius Caesar decreed that Corinth (and also Carthage) should be rebuilt. Although located just 60 miles from Athens on the narrow isthmus strategically joining the Greek mainland to the Peloponnesus, the new Corinth was built and organized as a Roman city. Its colonists were gleaned from freedmen, former slaves originating from Syria, Egypt, Judea, Greece, and from retiring Roman soldiers.

The city's layout and its buildings were Roman, as was its governmental organization and law. Its official language was Latin, although Greek was the common language for business and conversation. The people prized Roman articles, importing them in great quantities. In addition to the four magistrates elected each year and its city council, it was administrated by a proconsul appointed annually by the Roman senate.

Corinth's dominance over the five-mile wide isthmus insured economic vitality. Ships traveling between Italy and Asia Minor were happy to pay the fee to cross the isthmus rather than sail the extra 200 miles south around treacherous Cape Malae. Besides, Corinth had even constructed a grooved pavement, called the Diolkos, between the ports on either side of the isthmus on which smaller ships could be hauled in wheeled vehicles. For a larger ship, the goods were loaded on transport carts and reloaded onto another ship waiting at the other harbor.

Julius Caesar dreamed of increasing Corinth's stock by constructing a canal across the isthmus. Not until Nero, A.D. 67., was such a project begun. Actual completion, however was not achieved until modern times, in 1893.

With the two ports, Laechaeum, on the Corinthian Gulf, and Cenchraea, on the Saronic Gulf, Corinth thrived as a center for trade. The major land route between the Greek mainland and the Peloponnesus also went through it. Besides shipbuilding and repair, it hosted bronze, tile, and pottery factories, as well as the necessary warehousing for transportable goods. Corinth's market areas boasted hundreds of stalls filled with craftsmen plying their trade, locals selling merchandise and food, as well as visitors from throughout the empire hawking imported items. They even had places which sold drinks cooled by underground water systems. Paul himself, we know, took up a leather-working stall in this area for eighteen months (Acts 18:1-3).

New Corinth was an eclectic, international city from its inception. In Paul's day, it was a bustling, wide open, boomtown, with over 80,000 inhabitants, and growing every day. It had already outstripped Athens politically, replacing it as the capital of Achaia.

Corinth's prestige was further enhanced by its hosting of the Isthmian Games, second only in significance to the Olympics. Held every two years in Corinth since A.D. 3, these games drew thousands of tourists and lots of business. The city's most prestigious political official was the one responsible for administering the games, occupying a prominent year-round governmental office. The games were dedicated to the Greek sea god, Poseidon, and featured oratory, music, and drama, as well as athletic contests. A dramatic theater as well as a 20,000 seat stadium were used for these events.

Corinth's eclecticism revealed itself in an array of religious choices established by its multicultural inhabitants. Egyptians promoted the cults of Isis and Osiris. Isis was worshiped as a god for sailors because the myth tells of her enduring search on the seas for her betrayed and lost husband Osiris. Osiris is a god of afterlife, who after his death was resurrected to become head of the underworld.

Greeks and Romans honored Poseidon, god of the sea; Athena, goddess of war, the sea, cities and the arts; Aphrodite, goddess of love and fertility; Apollo, god of prophecy; Asklepios, god of healing; and emperors beginning with Julius Caesar. Prominent temples and statues are dedicated to all of these. Apollos often features prominently in colonized cities as an ode of good fortune. His famous Delphic oracle is only some 30 miles from Corinth. The much publicized report that Old Corinth's temple to Aphrodite housed over 1,000 sacred prostitutes is regarded as Athenian slander and is not so certain to still be functioning this way in Paul's day, although this does not mean to imply that Corinth was any more sexually pristine than any other seaport.

One of the busiest religious centers in Paul's day was the Asklepium. Comparable to a modern-day health club, people came here to bathe in its fountain, sleep (healing in their dreams), excercise, read, and dine (on sacrificial meat, cf. 1 Cor 8:10; 10:21). Replicas of body parts found in excavations were offered to the Asklepios by thankful beneficiaries of his healing.

Though not a god, Sisyphus, was considered one of the founding kings of ancient Corinth. Noted for his craftiness, in Greek mythology he was banished to Hades with the everlasting task of pushing a rock up a hill only to have it slip back down. For the Corinthian in Paul's day, he stands for successful cunning in business, but behind the temporary luster, perhaps, he signifies the emptiness of life's ambitions that lurked in the background of people's thoughts.

Judaism came with the early Jewish colonists and seems to have thrived. A dynamic synagogue certainly was functioning when Paul arrived, according to Acts 18:4-17. Also, a building inscription reading "Synagogue of the Hebrews" has been found by archaeologists along the Lechaeum road. Although the inscription is somewhat later than Paul's day, its location in the city center suggests the prominence of Judaism from the early days of New Corinth. Significant increases to the Jewish population likely occurred in A.D. 19 and in the late 40s when Tiberius and then Claudius expelled Jews from Rome. According to Acts 18:2, the latter purge is what brought Aquila and Priscilla and their tentmaking business to Corinth for the eighteen months Paul evangelized there. As Acts 18:8,17 indicate, the Jewish community probably had a certain amount of freedom to manage its own affairs and to appoint its own officials.

Due to Roman influence, Corinthians banded together into self-governing clubs and societies of 10 to 15 people which met in homes around the city. These clubs were delineated by individual trades or professions. Something like small unions, they provided vital social interaction and shared meals but even underwrote members' burial expenses from their kitty of dues. Although each had its sponsoring god, they were not religious in nature.

Most likely, the Corinthian church of Paul's day took on the pattern of these clubs as they met in various homes throughout the city. This helps explain the household factions decried in 1 Cor 1:10-12 and even the food-related problems of 1 Corinthians 8 and 11:17-34.

Corinth in the time of Paul was a city of wealth and prosperity. The families who had come a generation or two previously had worked hard. They had carved out successful lives by their own sweat and ingenuity. Like American immigrants, they were proud of their accomplishments, which they demonstrated in their proliferation of self-commending inscriptions around the city. But like the grandchildren of immigrants today, the Corinthians of Paul's day were noted for their superficial materialism and moral perversity. Such traits are epitomized by the fact that before the century was over, Corinth would become the first Greek city in the Roman Empire to hold bloodthirsty gladiatorial shows.

PAUL AND THE CORINTHIANS

Paul's rocky, seven-year relationship with the Corinthians begins in the fall of A.D. 50 as he enters Corinth on what becomes the last stop of his second missionary journey. Already on the road for a year, he had established churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens, despite opposition from Gentiles, Jews, and intellectuals (Acts 16-17). As Acts 18 describes, he enters the din of Corinth alone but is quickly befriended by Aquila and Priscilla, who were probably already Christians when they came to Corinth from Rome. For eighteen months the three of them lived, worked, and spread the gospel together there, eventually joined by Silas and Timothy.

At first, Paul shared the gospel and fielded questions in the Jewish synagogue. It wasn't too long, however, before stiff opposition to his presence arose, and he was ejected. However, he took with him many new Christians from among the God-fearing Gentiles who attended the synagogue, as well as Jews including the head of the synagogue, Crispus. Boldly, they set up shop for the first church right next door in the home of Titius Justus. Presumably, they continued to meet there and in other homes around the city for the next eighteen months, since God had instructed Paul to remain in Corinth despite the risks of conflict.

Sparks did fly, and at one point the Jews pressed charges against Paul for breaking Jewish law before Gallio, the Roman proconsul. Quite rightly, Gallio rebuffed the Jewish accusations as being outside any Roman concern. Although this may seem like a relatively minor incident in the life of Paul, the mention of Gallio in Acts 18:14 emerges as the single most important event enabling us to date Paul's life with accuracy. The reason for this is that archaeologists have discovered a datable inscription about a boundary dispute from Emperor Claudius to Gallio which places Gallio's one-year term between A.D. 51 and 52. Anchored by Paul's encounter with Gallio being A.D. 51, the rest of Paul's life can be dated backward and forward from time periods provided in the Acts and his letters.

Upon leaving Corinth, Paul sailed to Syria, probably Antioch, before quickly setting out over land to revisit the previously established churches in Asia Minor and then settling in Ephesus for three years. While in Ephesus, he sent the Corinthians three letters and slipped across the Aegean Sea in a vessel for a brief, surprise visit.

The first letter, commonly known as the "previous letter," is mentioned in 1 Cor 5:9-11. Given the wild immorality of Corinth, it is not surprising that Paul emphasized separation from such people in this letter. However, it has never been found, although a few scholars believe 2 Cor 6:14-7:1 may have originally been part of it.

Next, Paul received a letter from the Corinthians asking various specific questions about Christian life and practice. He is also informed verbally from members of Chloe's household (1 Cor 1:11) about the factionalism that is hurting the church's witness. He responded with the letter we know of as 1 Corinthians. During this period, Timothy was dispatched to Corinth for a brief time (1 Cor 4:17; 16:10) as Paul's personal ambassador, perhaps to give further voice to Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians or to other issues Paul anticipated. We have no indication as to how long Timothy stayed.

Paul's brief trip to Corinth in A.D. 54 and the letter on its heels upon his return are chief events which underlie Paul's writing of 2 Corinthians in A.D. 56. We don't know why Paul went. Maybe Timothy reported that Paul's personal presence was needed. Possibly, conservative agitators had followed Paul to Corinth as they previously had to Galatia and were stirring up trouble, causing the Corinthians to second-guess Paul's credibility (2 Cor 11:13). What we do know is that this trip, usually described as "the painful visit" (2 Cor 2:1), was a complete disaster. Paul left angry and humiliated. Apparently, he confronted the ringleader of the trouble (perhaps someone in the church who had been influenced by the outsiders) face to face but when the man insulted him, no one in the church came to Paul's defense.

Speculation regarding the accusations hurled at Paul include the illegitimacy of his authority over the Corinthians and his misuse of funds collected for the Jerusalem offering (1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 Cor 7:2; 8:11). This was not a theological issue so much as one of personal integrity. Paul speaks of his being hurt emotionally most by the fact that the church did not side with him (2 Cor 2:5-11).

Upon his return, Paul wrote a third letter to the Corinthians, "the severe letter" (2 Cor 2:4; 7:8). Although not existing today, as described in 2 Cor 2:4-11 and 7:5-13, it was undoubtedly the most emotional and strident of any of Paul's letters. Apparently, he unleashed his anger and disappointment, scolding the church for not supporting him and demanding that the majority of the church take charge and discipline the offender as well as apologize to him. The letter is so harsh that Paul seems genuinely afraid ("fears within" - 2 Cor 7:5) that it will drive the church farther away from him and from Christ. But he sees no choice; this situation can't be left like it is.

Titus received the formidable task of delivering this explosive letter into the charged atmosphere of the Corinthian church and carrying out its demands. Paul's anxieties over Titus's success seem to overwhelm him as he waits for news. Apparently, the arrangements with Titus were that they would meet in Troas after a set period of time, maybe as long as six months. Second Corinthians 2:12 tells us that Paul went by land up to Troas, probably in A.D. 55 but was crushed to find Titus was not there. Remaining for some time evangelizing, maybe a month or so, he crossed over to Macedonia, probably Philippi, desperate to find Titus there. Finally, Titus arrived with the great news that the Corinthians - or most of them - were back in the fold. Genuinely remorseful over their hurtful behavior toward Paul, they had, indeed, dealt with the offender and expressed their renewed devotion to him (2 Cor 7:7,11,12).

The letter we call 2 Corinthians historically comes as Paul's fourth letter to Corinth. Buoyed by Titus's positive report, Paul writes this highly emotional letter, sending it back with Titus (2 Cor 7:17), probably A.D. 56. The letter interacts over and over with the events of the Painful Visit and the Severe Letter. Paul gushes with joy over the Corinthians' response (2 Cor 7:7,13-16), even recommending that they lift the punishment on the person who offended him (2 Cor 2:7). However, the tone of the letter is extremely defensive as Paul squirms under pressure from the Corinthians (most likely as advised by Titus) to toot his own horn regarding his own apostolic credentials. Out of his love for them, but against his own convictions against boasting, he is willing to explain the superiority of his apostleship in terms the Corinthians seem to require. These terms - such as providing letters of recommendation (2 Cor 3:1) and lists of accomplishments (2 Cor 6:3-13; 11:16-12:10) - Paul regards as superficial and unnecessary (2 Cor 3:2-3; 10:7) and probably reflect the influence of the conservative agitators upon the Corinthians. Paul seems to know he must respond, however uncomfortable it is for him, in order to block any further inroads from these outsiders and thus reinforce his renewed relationship with the Corinthians.

Titus brought 2 Corinthians to Corinth armed with Paul's commendation within the letter to spur the church to complete its collection of the offering for the Jerusalem Christians (1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 Cor 8:10-24). Paul followed a few months later (2 Cor 12:14; Acts 20:3) and remained in Corinth three months. During this period, he wrote Romans, but we know nothing of his interaction with the Corinthian church. Presumably, he finalized the Corinthian offering, but he must have worked diligently to solidify this troubled church and contend personally with the outside agitators and their remaining pockets of influence. At any rate, once the various representatives from the Greek and Asian churches arrived in Corinth with their offerings (Acts 20:1-6), he tried to set sail with them to Syria but, discovering treachery from the Jewish community in Corinth, he and the others traveled first to Troas, and, then, set sail from there.

We have no certainty of further communication or visitation between Paul and the Corinthian church after this. Possibly, following release from his first Roman imprisonment, he returned to Corinth and other churches in Greece and Asia Minor, as the Pastoral epistles suggest (1 Tim. 1:3; 2 Tim. 4:20).

THE UNITY OF 2 CORINTHIANS

One may rightly comment that the literary unity of 2 Corinthians "cannot just be presupposed." Analyses which question whether various sections of 2 Corinthians are original to it have come long and hard during the past two centuries of critical scholarship. Second Corinthian's sharp shifts in content and uneven tone make it the most susceptible of all the NT books to patchwork theories despite the fact that none of the Greek manuscripts (dating back to the third century) give the slightest hint that 2 Corinthians was ever anything different than what we read today. Although the ebb and flow of research has sidelined many conjectures, questions still remain regarding some parts of 2 Corinthians. As many as nine sections of 2 Corinthians have been scrutinized. However, just five will be discussed here.

First, 2 Cor 2:14-7:4 has been noted as at one time existing separately from 2 Corinthians. Even a casual reader is jolted at the jump between the travelogue commentary in 2:12-13 and the military parade description of the gospel in 2:13-17 which opens a five-chapter philosophy of apostolic ministry. It is all the more noticeable when, beginning at 7:5, the travelogue picks up again and continues on until 7:16. However, upon closer perusal, scholars are increasingly reluctant to name this as part of a separate letter. Despite the abruptness between 2:13 and 2:14, the theme of human weakness and divine power in 2:12-17 connects to 1:8-10, and the theme of divine ownership connects 1:22 and 2:14. Despite the change of subject between 7:4 and 7:5, the verbal links supplied by "encouragement" (7:4,13), "joy" (7:4,7) and "troubles" (7:4,5) supply sturdy connections. Besides, the efforts to postulate yet another letter between 1 and 2 Corinthians or to connect this to the Severe Letter are unwarranted. More recent efforts to anaylze 2 Corinthians 1-7 through the eyes of Roman rhetoric as well as chiastic structure loudly confirm separation of 2:14-7:4 as ill-conceived. Certainly, it is a digression but not without purpose and point to the context as a whole.

Second, perhaps less obvious to the casual reader because it is such a short section is 2 Cor 6:14-7:1. Here, again, though, the careful reader observes an interruption between 6:13 ("Open wide your hearts also") and 7:2 ("Make room for us in your hearts"). Scholarly analysis of these six verses suggests that not only are they out of place, they don't sound like Paul, using six words he never uses elsewhere in his writings nor used by anyone else in the NT ( hapax legomenae ). Is this a snippet of something someone else said or wrote that Paul has adapted into his material, or is it something Paul wrote or spoke at another time and place that he decides to use here?

Despite some of the unusual language, Pauline themes do appear here: the church as the temple of God, the polarization of righteousness and unrighteousness as well as between light and dark. Also, plenty of characteristic Pauline language occurs: "living God" (2 Cor 3:3; 1 Thess 1:9), "unbeliever" (twelve other occurrences in 1 and 2 Cor), and "holiness" (Rom 1:4; 1 Thess 3:13). Although conclusions vary, many today incline toward this section being from Paul.

Eyeing the language of separation from unrighteousness, some have been tempted to conclude that 6:14-7:1 is part of the "previous" letter mentioned in 1 Cor 5:9. However, the point is explicitly different. Paul emphasizes that in the previous letter he urged separation from the immorality of believers not dissociation from unbelievers as emphasized in 6:14-7:1.

Most likely, then, Paul himself has inserted this pre-formed, self-contained unit of material from previous teaching, either oral or written, perhaps influenced by others. Interesting comparisons to Qumran materials as well as writings of Philo have been made. The placement exactly here in 2 Corinthians is so awkward as to be unlikely to come from anyone other than Paul. However, two points should be kept in mind. One is that Paul dictated this letter as he did all his letters. This fact enhances the potential for distraction, interruption, and loose digressions such as this. A second point is that although the section's relationship to the immediately previous verses is not obvious, as one backs up to 6:1 and reads of Paul's concern about receiving "God's grace in vain" or to 5:19 to see Paul's emphasis on people "no longer living for themselves but for him who died for them," Paul's emphasis on separation and holiness in 6:14-7:1 fits well.

Probably inconceivable to the casual reader is the suggestion that 2 Corinthians 8 and 2 Corinthians 9 both were not originally part of 2 Corinthians. Arguments regarding 2 Corinthians 8 - repetition of information about Titus (7:13-15; 8:16-17), presumption of knowledge about the two brothers coming with him (8:18,22), or even evidence that 2 Corinthians 8 as well as 2 Corinthians 9 are formal business letters - do not convince many. Arguments regarding 2 Corinthians 9, first proposed by Semler 200 years ago, that 2 Corinthians 9 was originally a letter sent to Christians outside Corinth, are more formidable, and give scholars more pause.

What pulls them up short is the language Paul uses to refer to the collection ("service") in 9:1, which, in Greek, reads like a first mention of the collection. In addition to that, the regional reference to Achaia in 9:2 and the repetition of information from chapter 8 in chapter 9 regarding the collection give added support to the idea of chapter 9 being originally independent.

On the other side of the question is the fact that Paul's reference to the collection in 9:1 is modified by ( men gar , "and for") which suggests a resumption of a previous subject perhaps after a brief pause in dictation. The repetition of details regarding the collection is probably emphatic, and the regional reference to Achaia seems unlikely to exclude Corinth. Tipping the scale against an independent chapter 9, as noted by Furnish, are two references in chapter 9 which presume information from chapter 8: the mention of the brothers (9:3; 8:18) and the emphasis on their completing the collection (9:4-5; 8:7-15).

Admittedly, this is a close call. However, the evidence does not demand that chapters 8 and 9 are two separate letters about the collection, one to Corinth, and one to Achaia. Rather, these are interdependent chapters in 2 Corinthians, chapter 8 dealing with the details of the collection project and chapter 9 emphasizing motivation for the project, as noted by Danker.

Fourth, without a doubt the most serious challenge to the unity of 2 Corinthians comes from chapters 10-13. As long ago as 1870, Hausrath broadcast his belief that in these chapters, he had discovered the missing "severe" letter to the Corinthians. No doubt, in chapters 10-13 Paul erupts into harsh tones of anger and disappointment which seem to undercut completely the exuberance and joy which he builds up to by chapters 7, 8, and 9.

But Hausrath looked closer and pointed to evidence that chapters 10-13 were written previous to chapters 1-9. Particularly he saw passages in chapters 1-9 written in the past tense which appear to allude to passages from chapters 10-13 written in future tenses, such as 1:23 which says that Paul "did not return" to them in order to spare them, corresponding to 13:2 in which Paul asserts that he "will not return" in order to spare them or when Paul says in 2:3-4 that he "wrote" them out of great distress and in 13:10 when he says "I write" so that I may not have to be harsh. Hausrath also contends that Paul's reference to Rome (west of Corinth) as "regions beyond you" in 2 Cor 10:16 makes much better sense if he is in Ephesus (east of Corinth), where he wrote the Severe Letter, rather than Macedonia (north of Corinth), where he wrote 2 Corinthians.

Criticism against Hausrath's identification of 2 Cor 10-13 with the "severe" letter has withered its persuasiveness among scholars. Primarily, chapters 10-13 do not contain something we know specifically was in the Severe Letter: Paul's demand that an individual who offended him be punished (2:5-6; 7:12). Also, chapters 10-13 promise a visit (12:14; 13:1), but the Severe Letter was sent in place of a Painful Visit (1:23; 2:1). Regarding "regions beyond you," the language need not be taken so literally and the Macedonian region should be recognized as much more culturally distinct from Achaia than it looks like on a map.

More appealing to scholars of all stripes, including many conservatives, is to view 2 Cor 10-13 as a separate, fifth letter, written after Titus returns with new, bad news after delivering 2 Corinthians 1-9. This position still takes into account Hausrath's future tense passages. It helps make sense of 2 Cor 12:18 which refers to Titus's visit in the past tense when it was in the planning stage in 2 Corinthians 7-9. Also, it explains the increased strident tones of chapters 10-13 as Paul's response to new, outside influences claiming some kind of rival apostolic authority to Paul's (11:13; 12:11) rather than to internal problems which seem to be his concern in chapters 1-9.

This way of viewing chapters 10-13 is attractive but is not demanded by the evidence. As Witherington points out, the past (aorist) tenses describing Titus's visit in 12:17-18 need not be real. Especially as Paul reaches the end of the book, they could well be epistolary (spoken from the standpoint of the audience reading the letter). The mention of the unnamed brother traveling with Titus does correspond with 2 Cor 8:18,22. Reading 12:17-18 this way opens up the very real possibility that Paul could have received new information about problems in Corinth before sending 2 Corinthians but after writing chapters 1-9. This could explain the gulf between chapters 10-13 as well as an entirely separate letter.

Other ways which account for the change of tone in chapter 10-13 have to do with how one reads the letter. Perhaps chapters 1-9 are directed to the majority of the church which has fallen into line with Paul after the Painful Visit, the Severe Letter, and Titus's hard work while chapters 10-13 are to the minority who are still under the sway of outside opposition to Paul. After all, 2 Cor 2:6 does speak of "the majority" which imposed discipline upon the offender named in the Severe Letter.

Perhaps, as a growing group of scholars are showing, Paul's heightened criticism of the Corinthians in chapters 10-13 concludes a calculated rhetorical plan employing counterattack ( synkrisis ) or strong emotional appeal ( peroratio ) to win his defense against the charges being leveled at him by the Corinthians. One must admit that Paul never relaxes from a defensive posture in 2 Corinthians from the beginning to the end. While Paul's harsh tones in chapters 10-13 following the lead up in chapters 7, 8, and 9 may seem abrupt, his concerns from early in the letter haven't really changed, just his emotionalism. The issue of his character raised in chapter 1 and of the legitimacy of his apostleship raised in chapter 3 remain the object of his defense in chapters 10-13.

The correspondence of these issues is enough to suggest that even though outside influence of "false apostles" (11:13) is not named earlier, they influence the minority of the Corinthian church and provide the ammunition against Paul observed in the earlier chapters. Who else would have brandished "letters of recommendation" (3:1)? Their earliest influences could even be in the background of Paul's problems associated with the Painful Visit.

As evident from 2 Cor 7:8-13, the offending individual merely became the pretext for the whole church failing to rally behind Paul until after the Severe Letter. Although Paul can be ecstatic that most of the church has recommitted themselves to him and to the gospel by the time he writes 2 Corinthians, nevertheless, pockets of opposition likely remain under the growing influence of the outside agitators. With chapters 10-13 Paul intends to level a decisive blow against this opposition not only to bring the remainder of the church back to the true gospel but also to shore up any lingering doubts from those who have pledged their loyalty.

Paul's transition to chapter 10 indeed is rocky but, as Danker points out, no more so than Phil 3 or Rom 9. In this commentary, therefore, we will treat 2 Corinthians as a unity and will treat chapters 10-13 as primarily aimed at responding to a vocal minority of the church who remain mesmerized by the outsiders' criticisms of Paul.

PAUL'S OPPONENTS

Second Corinthians resounds with the echo of outside voices filling the Corinthians' heads with notions geared to sever their relationship with Paul. Since Paul originally brought the gospel to Corinth and made it possible for people there to be reconciled with God through Christ and begin a vibrant church meeting in homes throughout the city, others have come to Corinth presenting themselves as superior in authority to the apostle Paul himself. Presuming the opponents in 2 Cor 10-13 and 1-9 are the same, they supposedly have letters of authentication from Jerusalem (3:1-3), Paul blasts them as "false apostles" (11:13) and sarcastically as "super apostles" in 12:11. Nevertheless, they have influenced and confused the Corinthians enough to force Paul to write 2 Corinthians and fill it with self-commendation regarding his integrity and his "superior" apostolic credentials over theirs. He does this because he feels he must in order to win the Corinthians back, but he finds doing so personally disturbing and repugnant.

Whereas Paul finds it difficult to boast about himself, self-commendation seems to be the chief characteristic of these outsiders. Clues from 2 Corinthians indicate that they were proud of their Jewish heritage (11:22), their "Christian" service (11:23), their oratorical skill (11:6), their self-confidence (1:15-17), and their charismatic experiences (12:12). They preached a different gospel than Paul's (11:4). They also accepted money from the Corinthians, unlike Paul who refused it (12:16). They may have viewed Paul's effort to collect money from the Corinthians for the Jerusalem Christians as cutting off their own purse strings and threatening their prosperity in Corinth.

Their heated, personalized efforts to undercut Paul sound like Paul's opposition in Galatians, commonly called Judaizers (Gal 4:17). However, no mention of the law or circumcision in 2 Corinthians clouds this identification and requires that, if these are the same people, they have changed their tune considerably since Galatians. The fact that they tout letters of recommendation - where else but from Jerusalem - makes it difficult to lay aside the picture of a band of renegade, conservative Jewish Christians who first followed Paul to Galatia and now to Corinth with the expressed purpose of replacing Paul's gospel and his authority to represent true Christianity (Gal 1:6-7).

It is going too far to say that their credentials were currently legitimate or that they were actual apostles since Acts 15:24 reports that a faction of Jewish Christians had gone out falsely representing the church to new, Gentile congregations. It is possible, though, that they do have apostolic credentials - perhaps even knew Jesus before his crucifixion - but now are misusing these credentials to subvert Paul's successful mission to Gentiles in Galatia and now also in Corinth and other churches as well.

The picture of these Corinthian opponents as ultraconservative Jewish Christians clashes with a considerable amount of the evidence which points to their Greek or even gnostic origins. Their connection to revelations and wonders, rhetorical skills, "worldly" wisdom, and just their overall egotistical posture must be reckoned with. Undermining at least the gnostic element is the positive use of "knowledge" in 2 Corinthians. Nevertheless, a typical result when these ingredients are combined emerges with a conclusion that they were "Hellenistic Jews who were propagating . . . a 'spiritual gnosticism.'"

However, it seems inconceivable that ultraconservative Jewish Christians coming out of Jerusalem could be pushing a gospel so infiltrated with Greek ideas as to be outside the bounds of Paul's own radicalized message which had stripped unnecessary Jewish elements. Could these Jewish agitators be so clever as to be able to manipulate the Corinthians against Paul by successfully incorporating elements from Greek culture into their opposition to Paul which they themselves don't believe? It doesn't seem likely, but then no identification satisfactorily combines the paradoxical elements of these opponents as currently gleaned from the information we have from 2 Corinthians and the first century. As one commentator astutely points out, any final resolution is also hampered considerably by the fact that 2 Corinthians provides no information about the doctrine or theology of these opponents. Most current discussion recognizes the limitations involved in this discussion and offers no more than conjectures as has been done here.

It's best, then, to keep in mind the characteristics of Paul's opponents available from reading 2 Corinthians without any adamant historical identification until better information becomes available. They were Jewish. They were Greek. They considered themselves Christians. They hated Paul. They hurt Paul, and he feared what more they could do. It was up to him to marshal all the strength and the skills he had to prevent them from doing any further damage. They had backed him into a corner, and he responds with ferocity and emotion in 2 Corinthians, compelled out of his deep love for the Corinthians and his commitment to true, saving Christianity and humble, self-sacrificing leadership.

RELEVANCE

Christians treat 2 Corinthians like the ugly twin sister of 1 Corinthians. First Corinthian's poignant theology about challenging issues attracts everyone's constant attention. Meanwhile, 2 Corinthians sits in the corner waiting for someone to ask it to dance. Yet, once we make some effort to get to know 2 Corinthians, we will be pleasantly surprised.

Today, as in the days of the early church, various outside forces threaten to sever people's loyalty to Christ and cut away at the fabric of the church. It might be a cult like Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses. It might be cultural forces like the challenges of postmodernism or the mind-set of the so-called Generation X which questions absolutes like God and salvation in Christ alone. It might just be an obstinate person who envies the authority of the minister, elders, or deacons and questions their integrity and decision-making at every turn and who draws around him or her an anti-faction.

If you are someone who cares deeply about your local church and would do almost anything to maintain its success and its integrity as a body of Christian believers, then 2 Corinthians will speak to your heart and nourish your soul. You will relate to Paul's agony over this church , feel his compassion, and be engulfed by his intense emotion in this letter. You will take in the principles of genuine church leadership and apply them to your life responsibly to enable you to enrich the quality of your local church.

The comments which follow are intended to help you both to understand 2 Corinthians in its own historical context and to apply its key principles to your own personal context in the church today.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aalen, S. "Glory." NIDNTT , 2:44-52.

Alexander, L.C.A. "Chronology of Paul." Dictionary of Paul and His Letters , pp. 115-123. Edited by Gerald Hawthorne, Ralph Martin, and Daniel Reid. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1993.

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-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

ABBREVIATIONS

1 Clem 1 Clement

1QH The Thanksgiving Hymns (Dead Sea Scroll)

1QM The War Scroll (Dead Sea Scroll)

1QS Rule of the Community (Dead Sea Scroll)

2 Clem 2 Clement

AJP American Journal of Philology

ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der römishen Welt, ed. Temporini and Haase

AusBR Australian Biblical Review

AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies

BA Biblical Archaeologist

BBR Bulletin for Biblical Research

BSac Bibliotheca Sacra

BT Bible Translator

BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin

CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly

CD The Damascus Document (Dead Sea Scroll)

DPL Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. Hawthorne, Martin, and Reid

Ebr. De Ebrietate (Philo)

EvQ Evangelical Quarterly

ExpTim Expository Times

HBT Horizons in Biblical Theology

Heres Qui Rerum Divinarum Heres sit (Philo)

HTR Harvard Theological Review

ICC International Critical Commentary

Int Interpretation

JB Jerusalem Bible

JBL Journal of Biblical Literature

JRH Journal of Religious History

JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament

JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

JTS Journal of Theological Studies

LB Living Bible

NAB New American Bible

NASB New American Standard Bible

NEB New English Bible

Neot Neotestamentica

NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament

NIDNTT New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. Brown

NIV New International Version

NLT New Living Translation

NovT Novum Testamentum

NovTSupp Novum Testamentum Supplements

NRSV New Revised Standard Version

NTS New Testament Studies

RB Revue Biblique

ResQ Restoration Quarterly

RSV Revised Standard Version

SCJ Stone-Campbell Journal

SJT Scottish Journal of Theology

Spec.Leg. Philo, De Specialibus Legibus

TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Kittel and Friedrich

TEV Today's English Version

T.Jos Testament of Joseph

T.Levi Testament of Levi

T.Naph Testament of Naphtali

TS Theological Studies

TynBul Tyndale Bulletin

WW Word and World

ZNW Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenshaft

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

College: 2 Corinthians (Outline)

OUTLINE

I. OPENING - 1:1-2

II. THANKSGIVING - 1:3-11

A. GOD COMFORTS - 1:3-7

B. GOD DELIVERS - 1:8-11

III. DEFENSE OF INTEGRITY - 1:12-2:13

A. CLARITY SOUGHT - 1:12-14

B. SECOND TRAVEL ITINERARY EXPLAINED - 1:15-17

C. CANDOR DEMANDED - 1:18-22

D. THIRD TRAVEL ITINERARY DEFENDED - 1:23-2:4

E. THE OFFENDER FORGIVEN - 2:5-11

F. ACTUAL TRAVEL DESCRIBED - 2:12-13

IV. DEFENSE OF APOSTOLIC MINISTRY IN PRINCIPLE - 2:14-7:4

A. SUFFICIENT FOR MINISTRY - 2:14-3:6

1. The Aroma of Christ Spread - 2:14-17

2. A Living Letter of Recommendation Sent - 3:1-3

3. A Personal Reference Provided - 3:4-6

B. SUPERIOR TO THE OLD COVENANT - 3:7-18

1. Glory Unsurpassed 3:7-11

2. Glory Unobstructed 3:12-18

C. TENACIOUS DESPITE SHORTCOMINGS - 4:1-5:10

1. Christ Preached Plainly - 4:1-6

2. Hardships Overcome because of Jesus' Death - 4:7-12

3. Increasing Multitudes Brought to Life - 4:13-15

4. Driven by Unseen, Eternal Reward - 4:16-18

5. Confident in Eternal Home - 5:1-10

a) Permanent Home Guaranteed - 5:1-5

b) Pleasing the Lord Prioritizes Life - 5:6-10

D. PREACHING RECONCILIATION THROUGH CHRIST - 5:11-6:2

1. Motivated by Christ's Love - 5:11-15

2. Christ's Message of Reconciliation Delivered - 5:16-6:2

E. HARDSHIPS IN MINISTRY - 6:3-10

F. AN APPEAL FOR OPENNESS AND RECONCILIATION - 6:11-7:4

1. Paul's Heart Opened - 6:11-13

2. Holiness Demanded - 6:14-7:1

3. Paul's Trust Expressed - 7:2-4

V. ENCOURAGING NEWS: RELATIONSHIP FULLY RESTORED - 7:5-16

A. TITUS REPORTS LOVE FOR PAUL - 7:5-7

B. TRUE REPENTANCE DEMONSTRATES INNOCENCE - 7:8-13a

C. TITUS EXPRESSED DEEP AFFECTION - 7:13b-16

VI. PREPARATION FOR THE COLLECTION - 8:1-9:15

A. INCENTIVES TOWARD GENEROSITY - 8:1-15

1. Excel Like the Macedonians - 8:1-7

2. Give Like Christ - 8:8-9

3. Complete Your Offering - 8:10-12

4. Achieve Equity - 8:13-15

B. TITUS PLUS TWO OTHERS SENT TO CORINTH TO HELP - 8:16-9:5

1. Criticism to Be Thwarted - 8:16-21

2. Measure Up to Expectations - 8:22-24

3. Follow Through on What Was Begun - 9:1-5

C. MORE INCENTIVE TO BE GENEROUS - 9:6-15

1. God Will Be Generous - 9:6-11

2. God Will Be Praised - 9:12-15

VII. FINAL DEFENSE OF MINISTRY - 10:1-13:10

A. LAUNCH OF A MASSIVE COUNTERATTACK - 10:1-18

1. Powerful Weapons Employed - 10:1-6

2. Forceful Personal Presence Warned - 10:7-10

3. God's Expansion of the Gospel Boasted - 10:12-18

B. COMPARISON TO FALSE APOSTLES MADE - 11:1-15

1. True Message of Jesus Preached - 11:1-6

2. No Money Accepted - 11:7-12

3. The False Apostles Serve Satan - 11:13-15

C. BOASTING AS A "FOOL" - 11:16-33

1. Rationale Provided - 11:16-21a

2. Ancestry and Hardships Listed - 11:21b-29

3. Weakness Boasted - 11:30-33

D. MORE BOASTING - 12:1-10

1. A Vision Divulged - 12:1-6

2. An Irremovable Thorn Remains - 12:7-10

E. "BOASTING" RETROSPECTIVE - 12:11-13

F. PREPARATION FOR THE THIRD VISIT - 12:14-13:10

1. No Exploitation Tactics Employed - 12:14-18

2. More Trouble Feared - 12:19-21

3. Harsh Treatment for Sinners Warned - 13:1-4

4. Faith-testing Evidences Paul's Strength - 13:5-10

VIII. CLOSING REMARKS - 13:11-14

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV