Text -- 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NET)

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 5:20

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 5:20

We are ambassadors ( πρεσβεύομεν )

Only here and Eph 6:10.

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 5:20

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 5:20

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 5:20

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 5:20

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 5:20

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 5:20

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 5:20

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 5:20

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 5:20

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 5:20

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 5:20

¹ tn Or “as though God were begging.”

² tn Or “we beg you.”

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 5:20

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 5:16-21

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 5:16-21

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 5:20-21

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 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 5:18-21

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 5:20

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.

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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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

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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