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2 Corinthians Chapter Five

2 Corinthians 5

What then is the effect of the possession of life in Christ as applied to death and judgment, the two natural objects of men's fears, the fruit of sin? If our bodies are not yet transformed; and if that which is mortal is not yet swallowed up, we are equally full of confidence, because, being formed for glory, and Christ (who has manifested the victorious power that opened the path of heaven to Him) being our life, if we should leave this tabernacle and be absent from the body before we are clothed upon with the glory, this life remains untouched; it has already in Jesus triumphed over all these effects of the power of death. We should be present with the Lord; for we walk by faith, not by the sight of these excellent things. Therefore we prefer to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. For this reason we seek to be well-pleasing to Him, whether we are found absent from this body, or present in this body, when Christ shall come to take us to Himself and make us share His glory.

And this leads on to the second point-judgment. For we must all be manifested before the tribunal of Christ, in order that each may receive according to that which he shall have done in the body, be it good or evil. A happy and precious thought, after all, solemn as it may be; for, if we have really understood grace, if we are standing in grace, if we know what God is, all love for us, all light for us, we shall like to be in the full light. It is a blessed deliverance to be in it. It is a burden, an encumbrance, to have anything concealed, and although we have had much sin in us that no one knows (perhaps even some that we have committed, and which it would be no profit for any one to know), it is a comfort-if we know the perfect love of God-that all should be in perfect light since He is there. This is the case by faith and for faith, wherever there is solid peace: we are before God as He is, and as we are-all sin in ourselves alas! except so far as He has wrought in us by quickening us; and He is all love in this light in which we are placed; for God is light, and He reveals Himself. Without the knowledge of grace, we fear the light: it cannot be otherwise. But knowing grace, knowing that sin has been put away as regards the glory of God, and that the offence is no longer before His eyes, we like to be in the light, it is joy to us, it is that which the heart needs, without which it cannot be satisfied, when there is the life of the new man. Its nature is to love the light, to love purity in all that perfection which does not admit the evil of darkness, which shuts out all that is not itself. Now to be thus in the light, and to be manifested, is the same thing, for the light makes everything manifest.

We are in the light by faith when the conscience is in the presence of God. We shall be according to the perfection of that light when we appear before the tribunal of Christ. I have said that it is a solemn thing-and so it is, for everything is judged according to that light; but it is that which the heart loves, because-thanks to our God!-we are light in Christ.

But there is more than this. When the Christian is thus manifested, he is already glorified, and, perfectly like Christ, has then no remains of the evil nature in which he sinned. And he now can look back at all the way God has led him in grace, helped, lifted up, kept from falling, not withdrawn His eyes from the righteous. He knows as he is known. What a tale of grace and mercy! If I look back now, my sins do not rest on my conscience; though I have horror of them, they are put away behind God's back. I am the righteousness of God in Christ, but what a sense of love and patience, and goodness and grace! How much more perfect then, when all is before me! Surely there is great gain as to light and love, in giving an account of ourselves to God; and not a trace remains of the evil in us. We are like Christ. If a person fears to have all out thus before God, I do not believe he is free in soul as to righteousness-being the righteousness of God in Christ, not fully in the light. And we have not to be judged for anything: Christ has put it all away.

But there is another idea in the passage-retribution. The apostle does not speak of judgment on persons, because the saints are included, and Christ has stood in their place for all that regards the judgment of their persons: "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ." They do not come into judgment. But they shall be manifested before His tribunal, and receive that which they have done in the body. The good deserves nothing: they received that by which they have wrought what is good-grace produced it in them; nevertheless they shall receive its reward. What they have done is counted as their own act. If, by neglecting grace and the witness of the Spirit in them, the fruits which He would have produced have been turned aside, they will bear the consequences. It is not that, in this case, God will have forsaken them; it is not that the Holy Ghost will not act in them with regard to the condition they are in; but it will be in their conscience that He acts, judging the flesh which has prevented the man's bearing the natural fruit of His presence and operation in the new man. So that the Holy Ghost will have done all that is necessary with respect to their state of heart; and the perfect counsel of God with regard to the person will have been accomplished, His patience manifested, His wisdom, His ways in governing, the care which He deigns to take of each one individually in His most condescending love. Each one will have his place, as it was prepared for him of the Father. But the natural fruit of the presence and operation of the Holy Ghost in a soul which has (or, according to the advantages it has enjoyed, ought to have had) a certain measure of light, will not have been produced. It will be seen what it was that prevented. It will judge, according to the judgment of God, all that was good and evil in itself, with a solemn reverence for that which God is, and a fervent adoration on account of what He has been for us. The perfect light will be appreciated; the ways of God known and understood in all their perfection, by the application of the perfect light to the whole course of our life and of His dealings with us, in which we shall thoroughly recognise that love-perfect, sovereign above all things-has reigned, with ineffable grace.

Thus the majesty of God will have been maintained by His judgment, at the same time that the perfection and tenderness of His dealings will be the eternal recollection of our souls. Light without cloud or darkness will be understood in its own perfection. To understand it is to be in it and to enjoy it. And light is God Himself. How wonderful to be thus manifested! What love is that which in its perfect wisdom, in its marvellous ways overruling all evil, could bring such beings as we are to enjoy this unclouded light-beings knowing good and evil (the natural prerogative of those only of whom God can say "one of us"), under the yoke of the evil which they knew, and driven out by a bad conscience from the presence of God, to whom that knowledge belonged, having testimony enough in their conscience as to the judgment of God, to make them avoid Him and be miserable, but nothing to draw them to Him who alone could find a remedy! What love and holy wisdom which could bring such to the source of good, of pure happiness, in whom the power of good repels absolutely the evil which it judges!

With regard to the unrighteous, at the judgment-day they will have to answer personally for their sins, under a responsibility which rests entirely on themselves.

However great the happiness of being in the perfect light (and this happiness is complete and divine in its character), it is on the side of conscience that the subject is here presented. God maintains His majesty by the judgment which He executes, as it is written, "The Lord is known by the judgment that he executeth": there, in His government of the world; here, final, eternal, and personal judgment. And, for my part, I believe that it is very profitable for the soul to have the judgment of God present to our minds, and the sense of the unchangeable majesty of God maintained in the conscience by this means. If we were not under grace, it would be-it ought to be-insupportable; but the maintenance of this sentiment does not contradict grace. It is indeed only under grace that it can be maintained in its truth; for who otherwise could bear the thought, for an instant, of receiving that which he had done in the body? None but he who is completely blinded.

But the authority, the holy authority of God, which asserts itself in judgment, forms a part of our relationship with Him; the maintenance of this sentiment, associated with the full enjoyment of grace, a part of our holy spiritual affections. It is the fear of the Lord. It is in this sense, that "Happy is he who feareth always." If this weakens the conviction that the love of God rests fully, eternally, upon us, then we get off the only possible ground of any relation whatever with God, unless perdition could be so called. But, in the sweet and peaceful atmosphere of grace, conscience maintains its rights and its authority against the subtle encroachments of the flesh, through the sense of God's judgment, in virtue of a holiness which cannot be separated from the character of God without denying that there is a God: for if there is a God, He is holy. This sentiment engages the heart of the accepted believer, to endeavour to please the Lord in every way; and, in the sense of how solemn a thing it is for a sinner to appear before God, the love that necessarily accompanies it in a believer's heart urges him to persuade men with a view to their salvation, while maintaining his own conscience in the light. And he who is now walking in the light, whose conscience reflects that light, will not fear it in the day when it shall appear in its glory. We must be manifested; but, walking in the light in the sense of the fear of God, realising His judgment of evil, we are already manifested to God: nothing hinders the sweet and assured flow of His love. Accordingly the walk of such a one justifies itself in the end to the consciences of others; one is manifested as walking in the light.

These are therefore the two great practical principles of the ministry: to walk in the light, in the sense of God's solemn judgment for every one; and, the conscience being thus pure in the light, the sense of the judgment (which in this case cannot trouble the soul for itself, or obscure its view of the love of God) impels the heart to seek in love those who are in danger of this judgment. This connects itself with the doctrine of Christ, the Saviour, through His death upon the cross; and the love of Christ constrains us, because we see that, if one died for all, it is that all were dead. This was the universal condition of souls. The apostle seeks them in order that they may live unto God by Christ. But this goes farther. First, as regards fallen man's lot, death is gain. The saint, if absent from the body, is present with the Lord. As to judgment, he owns the solemnity of it, but it does not make him tremble. He is in Christ-will be like Christ; and Christ, before whom he is to appear, has put away all the sins he had to be judged for. The effect is the sanctifying one of bringing him fully manifested into the presence of God now. But it stimulates his love as to others, nor is it only by fear of judgment to come for them; Christ's love constrains him-love manifested in death. But this proves more than the acts of sin which bring judgment: Christ died because all were dead. The Spirit of God goes to the source and spring of their whole condition, their state, not merely the fruits of an evil nature-all were dead. We find the same important instruction in John 5:24, "He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment [that which applies to sins], but is passed from death unto life"; he has come out of the whole state and condition, as an already lost one, into another and different one in Christ. This is a very important aspect of the truth. And the distinction, largely developed in Romans, is found in many passages.

The work of manifestation before God in the light is already true, in so far as we have realised the light. Cannot I, being now in peace, look back at what I was before conversion, and at all my failures since my conversion, humbled but adoring the grace of God in all He has done for me, but without a thought of fear, or imputation of sin? Does not this awaken a very deep sense of all that God is in holy grace and love, in unbounded patience towards me, both keeping and helping and restoring? Such will be the case perfectly when we are manifested, when we shall know as we are known.

That this point may be still more clear, for it is an important one, let me add some further observations here. What we find in this passage is the perfect manifestation of all that a person is and has been before a throne characterised by judgment, without judgment as to the person in question being guilty. No doubt when the wicked receives the things done in the body, he is condemned. But it is not said "judged" here, because all then must be condemned. But this manifestation is exactly what brings all morally before the heart, when it is capable of judging evil for itself: were it under judgment, it could not. Freed from all fear, and in the perfect light and with the comfort of perfect love (for where we have the conscience of sin, and of its not being imputed, we have the sense, though in a humbling way, of perfect love), and at the same time the sense of authority and divine government fully made good in the soul, all is judged by the soul itself as God judges it, and communion with Himself entered into. This is exceedingly precious.

We have to remember that, at our appearing before the judgment-seat of Christ, we are already glorified. Christ has come Himself in perfect love to fetch us; and has changed our vile body according to the resemblance of His glorious body. We are glorified and like Christ before the judgment takes place. And mark the effect on Paul. Does the thought of being manifested awaken anxiety or dread? Not the least. He realises all the solemnity of such a process. He knows the terror of the Lord; he has it before his eyes; and what is the consequence? He sets about to persuade others who are in need of it.

There are, so to speak, two parts in God's nature and character: His righteousness, which judges everything; and His perfect love. These are one for us in Christ, ours in Christ. If indeed we realise what God is, both will have their place: but the believer in Christ is the righteousness which God, from His very nature, must have before Him on His throne, if we are to be with Him and enjoy Him. But the Christ, in the judgment-seat, before whom we are, is our righteousness. He judges by the righteousness which He is; but we are that righteousness, the righteousness of God in Him. Hence this point can raise no question in the soul, will make us adore such grace, but can raise no question, only enhance the sense we have of grace ourselves, make us understand it, as suited to man as he is, and feel the solemn and awful consequences of not having part in it, since there is such a judgment. Hence that other and indeed essential part of the divine nature, love, will work in us towards others; and, knowing the terror of the Lord, we shall persuade men. Thus Paul (it is conscience in view of that most solemn moment) possessed the righteousness which he saw in the Judge, for that which judged was His righteousness; but then he consequently seeks others earnestly, according to the work which had thus brought him near to God, to which he then turns (v. 13, 14). But this view of judgment and our complete manifestation in that day, has a present effect on the saint according to its own nature. He realises it by faith. He is manifested. He does not fear being manifested. It will unfold all God's past ways towards him when he is in glory; but he is manifested now to God, his conscience exercised in the light. It has thus a present sanctifying power.

Observe here the assemblage of powerful motives, of pre-eminently important principles; contradictory in appearance, but which, to a soul which walks in light, instead of clashing and destroying each other, unite to give its complete and thoroughly furnished character to the christian minister and ministry.

First of all, the glory, in such a power of life, that he who realises it does not desire death, because he sees in the power of life in Christ that which can absorb whatever in him is mortal, and he sees it with the certainty of enjoying it-such a consciousness of possessing this life (God having formed him for it, and given him the earnest of the Spirit), that death if it arrive to him is but a happy absence from the body in order to be present with the Lord.

Now the thought of ascending to Christ gives the desire of being acceptable to Him, and presents Him (the second motive or principle that gives a form to this ministry) as the Judge who will render to every one that which he has done. The solemn thought of how much this judgment is to be feared takes possession of the apostle's heart. What a difference between this thought and the "building of God," for which he was waiting with certainty! Nevertheless this thought does not alarm him; but, in the solemn sense of the reality of that judgment, it impels him to persuade others.

But here a third principle comes in, the love of Christ with reference to the condition of those whom Paul sought to persuade. Since this love of Christ's shews itself in His death, there is in it the witness that all were already dead and lost.

Thus we have here set before us glory, with the personal certainty of enjoying it, and death become the means of being present with the Lord; the tribunal of Christ, and the necessity of being manifested before it; and the love of Christ in His death, all being already dead. How are such diverse principles as these to be reconciled and arranged in the heart? It is that the apostle was manifested to God. Hence the thought of being manifested before the tribunal produced, along with the present sanctification, no other effect on him than that of solemnity, for he was not to come into judgment; but it became an urgent motive for preaching to others, according to the love which Christ had manifested in His death. The idea of the tribunal did not in the least weaken his certainty of glory. [1] His soul, in the full light of God, reflected what was in that light, namely, the glory of Christ ascended on high as man. And the love of this same Jesus was strengthened in its active operation in him by the sense of the tribunal which awaits all men.

What a marvellous combination of motives we find in this passage, to form a ministry characterised by the development of all that in which God reveals Himself, and by which He acts on the heart and conscience of man! And it is in a pure conscience that these things can have their force together. If the conscience were not pure, the tribunal would obscure the glory, at least as belonging to oneself, and weaken the sense of His love. At any rate one would be occupied with self in connection with these things, and ought to be so. But when pure before God, it only sees a tribunal which excites no sense of personal uneasiness, and therefore has all its true moral effect, as an additional motive for seriousness in our walk, and a solemn energy in the appeal which the known love of Jesus impels it to address to man.

As to how far our own relations with God enter into the service which we have to render to others, the apostle adds another thing that characterised his walk, and that was the result of the death and resurrection of Christ. He lived in an entirely new sphere, in a new creation, which had left behind, as in another world, all that belonged to a natural existence in the flesh here below. The proof that Christ had died for all proved that all were dead; and that He died for all in order that those who live should live no longer to themselves but to Him who died for them and rose again. They are in connection with this new order of things in which Christ exists as risen. Death is on everything else. Everything is shut up under death. If I live, I live in a new order of things, in a new creation, of which Christ is the type and the head. Christ, so far as in connection with this world below, is dead. He might have been known as the Messiah, living on the earth, and in connection with promises made to men living on the earth in the flesh. The apostle no longer knew Him thus. In fact Christ, as bearing that character, was dead; and now, being risen, He has taken a new and a heavenly character.

Therefore if any one is in Christ, he belongs to this new creation, he is of the new creation. He belongs no more at all to the former; the old things have passed away; all things are I become new. The system is not the fruit of human nature and of sin, like all that surrounds us here below, according to the I flesh. Already, looked at as a system existing morally before God, in this new creation, all things are of God. All that is found in it is of God, of Him who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ. We live in an order of things, a world, a new creation, entirely of God. We are there in peace, because God, who is its centre and its source, has reconciled us to Himself. We enjoy it, because we are new creatures in Christ; and everything in this new world is of Him, and corresponds with that new nature. He had also committed to the apostle a ministry of reconciliation, according to the order of things into which he had been himself introduced. Being reconciled, and knowing it by the revelation of God who had accomplished it for him, he proclaimed a reconciliation, the effect of which he was enjoying.

All this flowed from an immense and all-powerful truth. God was in Christ. But then, in order that others might have a part with him, and the apostle be the minister of this, it was also necessary that Christ should be made sin for us. One of these truths presents the character in which God has drawn nigh to us, the other, the efficacy of that which has been wrought for the believer.

Here is the first of these truths, in connection with the apostle's ministry, which form the subject of these chapters. God was in Christ (that is to say, when Christ was on earth). The day of judgment had not been waited for. God had come down in love into the world alienated from Him. Such was Christ. Three things were connected with and characterised this great and essential truth: reconciling the world, not imputing transgression, and putting the word of reconciliation into the apostle. As the result of this third consequence of the incarnation, the apostle assumes the character of ambassador for Christ, as though God exhorted by his means, he besought men, in the name of Christ, to be reconciled to God. But such an embassy supposed the absence of Christ; His ambassador acted in His stead. It was in fact based upon another truth of immeasurable importance, namely, that God had made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, in order that we should be made the righteousness of God in Him. This was the true way to reconcile us, and that entirely, to God, according to the perfection of God fully revealed. For He had set His love upon us where we were, giving His Son, who was without spot or motion or principle of sin; and making Him (for He offered Himself to accomplish the will of God) sin for us, in order to make us in Him-who in that condition had perfectly glorified Him-the expression of His divine righteousness, before the heavenly principalities through all eternity; to make us His delight, as regards righteousness; "that we should be the righteousness of God in him." Man has no righteousness for God: God has made the saints, in Jesus, His righteousness. It is in us that this divine righteousness is seen fully verified-of course in Christ first, in setting Him at His right hand, and in us as in Him. Marvellous truth! which, if its results in us cause thanksgiving and praise to resound when looking at Jesus, silences the heart, and bows it down in adoration, astonished at the sight of His wonderful acts in grace. [2]

Footnotes

[1] The truth is, the judgment-seat is what most brings out our assurance before God; for as He is, so are we in this world; and it is when Christ shall appear we shall be like Him.

[2] It should be observed that, in verse 20, the word "you" ought to be omitted. It was the way in which the apostle fulfilled his ministry to the world.

── John Darby《Synopsis of 2 Corinthians》

2 Corinthians 5

Chapter Contents

The apostle's hope and desire of heavenly glory. (1-8) This excited to diligence. The reasons of his being affected with zeal for the Corinthians. (9-15) The necessity of regeneration, and of reconciliation with God through Christ. (16-21)

Commentary on 2 Corinthians 5:1-8

(Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-8)

The believer not only is well assured by faith that there is another and a happy life after this is ended, but he has good hope, through grace, of heaven as a dwelling-place, a resting-place, a hiding-place. In our Father's house there are many mansions, whose Builder and Maker is God. The happiness of the future state is what God has prepared for those that love him: everlasting habitations, not like the earthly tabernacles, the poor cottages of clay, in which our souls now dwell; that are mouldering and decaying, whose foundations are in the dust. The body of flesh is a heavy burden, the calamities of life are a heavy load. But believers groan, being burdened with a body of sin, and because of the many corruptions remaining and raging within them. Death will strip us of the clothing of flesh, and all the comforts of life, as well as end all our troubles here below. But believing souls shall be clothed with garments of praise, with robes of righteousness and glory. The present graces and comforts of the Spirit are earnests of everlasting grace and comfort. And though God is with us here, by his Spirit, and in his ordinances, yet we are not with him as we hope to be. Faith is for this world, and sight is for the other world. It is our duty, and it will be our interest, to walk by faith, till we live by sight. This shows clearly the happiness to be enjoyed by the souls of believers when absent from the body, and where Jesus makes known his glorious presence. We are related to the body and to the Lord; each claims a part in us. But how much more powerfully the Lord pleads for having the soul of the believer closely united with himself! Thou art one of the souls I have loved and chosen; one of those given to me. What is death, as an object of fear, compared with being absent from the Lord!

Commentary on 2 Corinthians 5:9-15

(Read 2 Corinthians 5:9-15)

The apostle quickens himself and others to acts of duty. Well-grounded hopes of heaven will not encourage sloth and sinful security. Let all consider the judgment to come, which is called, The terror of the Lord. Knowing what terrible vengeance the Lord would execute upon the workers of iniquity, the apostle and his brethren used every argument and persuasion, to lead men to believe in the Lord Jesus, and to act as his disciples. Their zeal and diligence were for the glory of God and the good of the church. Christ's love to us will have a like effect upon us, if duly considered and rightly judged. All were lost and undone, dead and ruined, slaves to sin, having no power to deliver themselves, and must have remained thus miserable for ever, if Christ had not died. We should not make ourselves, but Christ, the end of our living and actions. A Christian's life should be devoted to Christ. Alas, how many show the worthlessness of their professed faith and love, by living to themselves and to the world!

Commentary on 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

(Read 2 Corinthians 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《Concise Commentary on 2 Corinthians》

2 Corinthians 5

Verse 1

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

Our earthly house — Which is only a tabernacle, or tent, not designed for a lasting habitation.

Verse 2

[2] For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

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

Verse 3

[3] If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

If being clothed — That is, with the image of God, while we are in the body.

We shall not be found naked — Of the wedding garment.

Verse 4

[4] For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

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

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

But clothed upon — With the glorious, immortal, incorruptible, spiritual body.

That what is mortal — This present mortal body.

May be swallowed up of life — Covered with that which lives for ever.

Verse 5

[5] Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

Now he that hath wrought us to this very thing — This longing for immortality.

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

Verse 6

[6] Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

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

Verse 7

[7] (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

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

Verse 8

[8] We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Present with the Lord — This demonstrates that the happiness of the saints is not deferred till the resurrection.

Verse 9

[9] Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

Therefore we are ambitious — The only ambition which has place in a Christian.

Whether present — In the body.

Or absent — From it.

Verse 10

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

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

Must appear — Openly, without covering, where all hidden things will be revealed; probably the sins, even of the faithful, which were forgiven long before. For many of their good works, as their repentance, their revenge against sin, cannot other wise appear. But this will be done at their own desire, without grief, and without shame.

According to what he hath done in the body, whether good or evil — In the body he did either good or evil; in the body he is recompensed accordingly.

Verse 11

[11] Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

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

Verse 12

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

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

Verse 13

[13] For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.

For if we are transported beyond ourselves — Or at least, appear so to others, treated of, 2 Corinthians 5:15-21, speaking or writing with uncommon vehemence.

It is to God — He understands (if men do not) the emotion which himself inspires.

If we be sober — Treated of, 2 Corinthians 6:1-10. If I proceed in a more calm, sedate manner.

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

Verse 14

[14] For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

For the love of Christ — To us, and our love to him.

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

Verse 15

[15] And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

And that he died for all — That all might be saved.

That they who live — That all who live upon the earth.

Should not henceforth — From the moment they know him.

Live unto themselves — Seek their own honour, profit, pleasure.

But unto him — In all righteousness and true holiness.

Verse 16

[16] Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

So that we from this time — That we knew the love of Christ.

Know no one — Neither ourselves, nor you, neither the rest of the apostles, Galatians 2:6, nor any other person.

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

Verse 17

[17] Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Therefore if any one be in Christ — A true believer in him.

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

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

Verse 18

[18] And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

And all these new things are from God, considered under this very notion, as reconciling us - The world, 2 Corinthians 5:19, to himself.

Verse 19

[19] To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Namely — The sum of which is, God - The whole Godhead, but more eminently God the Father.

Was in Christ, reconciling the world — Which was before at enmity with God.

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

Verse 20

[20] Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ-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.

Verse 21

[21] For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

He made him a sin offering, who knew no sin — A commendation peculiar to Christ.

For us — Who knew no righteousness, who were inwardly and outwardly nothing but sin; who must have been consumed by the divine justice, had not this atonement been made for our sins.

That we might be made the righteousness of God through him — Might through him be invested with that righteousness, first imputed to us, then implanted in us, which is in every sense the righteousness of God.

── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2 Corinthians》

Chapter 5. Hope In the Future

The Earthly Tent
An Eternal House in Heaven

I. Live by Faith

1. Live in the Body
2. Away from the Body
3. To Please the Lord

II. Live for the Lord

1. Out of Mind Before God
2. In Right Mind Before God
3. A New Creation

III. Live in Reconciliation with God

1. No Sin To Be Sin
2. Unrighteousness Becomes Righteousness
3. The Ministry of Reconciliation

── Chih-Hsin Chang《An Outline of The New Testament》
 
Chapter Five General Review
 
OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS CHAPTER
 
1) To understand the basis for Paul's hope despite his suffering
 
2) To see what motivated Paul in his work as a minister
 
3) To appreciate the gospel as a "ministry of reconciliation"
 
SUMMARY
 
As Paul continues describing the nature of his ministry, he explains
why he remains "hopeful" in spite of his suffering. He knows that
should his "earthly house" be destroyed, there is a "house not made
with hands" that God has prepared for him. For this he longs, being
confident because God has already given the Spirit as a guarantee. So
while he must walk by faith, and not by sight, he makes it his aim to
be pleasing to the Lord, before Whom he knows he will one day stand to
give an account (1-10).
 
Paul then describes his "devotion" as it pertains to his ministry.
Motivated by his knowledge of the terror of the Lord, he persuades men.
He endeavors to serve God and his brethren in such a way that the
Corinthians will be able to provide a defense to those who judge only
by appearance. Throughout it all, it is the love of Christ which
constrains Paul to live no longer for himself but for the Lord. Unlike
his detractors, he no longer judges people based upon appearances, for
he knows that if one is in Christ, he is a new creation (11-17).
 
Finally, Paul depicts the work of God in Christ as one in which God is
reconciling the world to Himself. Paul's own role is that of an
"ambassador for Christ", who has been entrusted with the "ministry of
reconciliation" so he might implore people on God's behalf that they be
reconciled to God (18-21).
 
OUTLINE
 
I. THE "HOPEFUL" NATURE OF PAUL'S MINISTRY (1-10)
 
 A. THE PROMISE OF A "BUILDING" FROM GOD (1-5)
 1. A house not made with hands, to replace the "earthly tent" (1)
 2. In this "earthly tent" we groan (2-4)
 a. Earnestly desiring to be clothed with the habitation from
 heaven (2)
 b. So as not to found "naked", and that mortality may be
 swallowed up by life (3-4)
 3. God has prepared us for this very thing, and has given the
 Spirit as a guarantee (5)
 
 B. WHAT THIS PROMISE PRODUCES IN PAUL (6-10)
 1. Confidence... (6-8)
 a. Knowing that at home in the body means absence from the
 Lord, necessitating walking by faith and not by sight (6-7)
 b. Preferring to be absent from the body and present with the
 Lord (8)
 2. An aim to be well pleasing to Christ (9-10)
 a. Whether present or absent (9)
 b. For we must all be judged by Christ (10)
 
II. THE "DEVOTED" NATURE OF PAUL'S MINISTRY (11-17)
 
 A. MOTIVATED BY THE FEAR OF THE LORD (11-13)
 1. Knowing the terror of the Lord, he persuades men (11a)
 2. He is aware both God and they know him well (11b)
 3. His desire is to so live in service to God and them (no matter
 what some may think of him) that they may find reason to glory
  in him (12-13)
 
 B. MOTIVATED BY THE LOVE OF CHRIST (14-17)
 1. Constrained by the love of Christ who died for all, he now
 lives for Him (14-15)
 2. He ceases to make superficial judgments based upon appearance,
 even as he had once done with Christ (16)
 3. For one in Christ is a new creation, and all things have 
 become new (17)
 
III. THE "RECONCILING" NATURE OF PAUL'S MINISTRY (18-21)
 
 A. PAUL HAS BEEN GIVEN A MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION (18-19)
 1. He himself has been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ
 (18a)
 2. God has given him the ministry of reconciliation (18b-19)
 a. The reconciliation of the world is actually God's work in
 Christ (19a)
 b. The "word of reconciliation" has been committed to Paul
 (19b)
 
 B. PAUL PLEADS WITH THEM TO BE RECONCILED TO GOD (20-21)
 1. As ambassadors of Christ, pleading for God and on Christ's
 behalf (20)
 2. For Christ became sin for us, that we might become the 
 righteousness of God in Him (21)
 
REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE CHAPTER
 
1) What are the main points of this chapter?
 - The "hopeful" nature of Paul's ministry (1-10)
 - The "devoted" nature of Paul's ministry (11-17)
 - The "reconciling" nature of Paul's ministry (18-21)
 
2) What did Paul know he would have if his "earthly house" were
 destroyed? (1)
 - A building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the
 heavens
 
3) What was Paul's earnest desire? (2)
 - To be clothed with the habitation from heaven
 
4) What has God given us as a "guarantee" of the "life" to come? (5)
 - The Spirit
 
5) What remains our condition while we are "at home in the body"? (6)
 - We are absent from the Lord
 
6) What does our present condition require of us in our daily "walk"?
 (7)
 - To walk by faith, not by sight
 
7) What is the desire of the "confident" Christian? (8)
 - To be absent from the body and present with the Lord
 
8) What is the aim of "confident" Christian? (9)
 - To be well pleasing to the Lord
 
9) Before what must we all one day appear? (10)
 - The judgment seat of Christ
 
10) What moved Paul to try and persuade men? (11)
 - Knowing the terror of the Lord
 
11) What motivated Paul to live for Jesus Christ? (14-15)
 - The love of Christ, who died for him
 
12) What is the condition of one in Christ? (17)
 - A new creation
 
13) Through Whom has God reconciled us to Himself? (18)
 - Jesus Christ
 
14) What two descriptive phrases does Paul use in reference to the 
 gospel that was committed to him? (18-19)
 - The ministry of reconciliation
 - The word of reconciliation
 
14) How has God reconciled us to Himself? (19)
 - By not imputing our trespasses to us
 
15) How does Paul view his role in this "ministry of reconciliation"?
 (20)
 - As an ambassador for Christ
 
16) How is it possible that we can become "the righteousness of God" in
 Christ? (21)
 - God has made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us

The Ministry Of Reconciliation (5:18-21)
 
INTRODUCTION
 
1. An important concept fundamental to the gospel of Christ is that of
 "reconciliation"
 
2. In 2 Co 5:18-21, Paul expounds upon this subject...
 a. He discusses how there is some sort of reconciliation between God
 and man
 b. He describes the role he played in what he calls the "ministry" 
 of reconciliation
 
3. There are a couple of questions I would like to address in this
 lesson...
 a. Exactly what is the nature of the reconciliation between God and
  man?
 b. What roles might we play in the gospel of Christ as the "ministry
 of reconciliation"?
 
[It is important that we first properly understand the meaning of
"reconciliation" and its concept as it relates to God and man...]
 
I. THE PROCESS OF RECONCILIATION
 
 A. DEFINING RECONCILIATION...
 1. Vine's definition of "reconcile" (Grk., katallasso)...
 a. "It properly denotes to change, exchange (esp. of money)"
 b. "Hence, of persons, to change from enmity to friendship,
  to reconcile"
 2. He goes on to add: "With regard to the relationship between
 God and man, the use of this and connected words show that 
 primarily reconciliation is what GOD (emphasis mine, MAC)
 accomplishes..."
  a. I.e., there is enmity between God and man (because of man's
 sin, cf. Isa 59:1-2)
 b. Yet the gospel proclaims how GOD has taken the initiative 
 to reconcile man back to Himself
 3. We should note this fine distinction:
 a. God is not reconciled to man, as though God were partly to
 blame for the enmity
 b. Rather, man is reconciled to God, for it is man who moved
 away from God!
 4. Thus the reconciliation between man and God is slightly 
 different, though the difference is important!
 a. When people need to be reconciled to one another, it 
 normally involves a situation where fault lies on both 
 sides to some degree
 b. Not so with the case between man and God; man has moved 
 away from God, and it is man who needs to be reconciled
 back to God, not God back to man!
 
 B. HOW RECONCILIATION IS MADE POSSIBLE...
 1. It is possible because of the initiatives that GOD took first!
 2. It is possible through Jesus Christ, in particular by His
 death for our sins!
 a. Note these verses that teach reconciliation comes through 
 Jesus - 2 Co 5:18; Co 1:19-20a
 b. Note these verses that teach reconciliation comes through
 Jesus' death on the cross - 2 Co 5:19,21; Ro 5:10; Co 1:
 20b-22
 c. In other words...
 1) God took Christ, who knew no sin, to represent our sin
  and to receive the punishment due for sin in His death
 on the cross
 2) So that we, who were enemies, alienated from God by our
 sins, might be reconciled back to God!
 3) And through Christ's death:
 a) We might become the righteousness of God in Him 
 - 2 Co 5:21a
 b) We might be holy, blameless and irreproachable in His
 sight, because our trespasses are not imputed to us 
  - Co 1:22; 2 Co 5:19; cf. Ro 4:6-8
 3. Indeed, reconciliation is possible because God has offered 
 Jesus as a "propitiation" for our sins!
 a. The word "propitiation" describes a sacrifice that is 
 designed to appease for sins
 b. It was used to describe those sacrifices that Gentiles 
 offered to their gods
 c. But in the NT, it is GOD who offers the "propitiation", not
 man!
 1) Cf. 1 Jn 2:1-2; 4:10
 2) This illustrates the great love God has for us, and how
 far He has gone in trying to reconcile man back to 
 Himself!
 
[It is when we understand the meaning and process of "reconciliation"
(along with "propitiation") that we begin to appreciate the wonderful
extent of God's grace and His love for mankind.
 
But God went beyond just sending His Son to die on the cross as a 
propitiation designed to reconcile man back to God; He has also 
developed...]
 
II. THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION
 
 A. GOD SENT "AMBASSADORS"...
 1. Note that Paul says God:
 a. "...has given to us the ministry of reconciliation"
 - 2 Co 5:18b
 b. "...has committed to us the word of reconciliation"
 - 2 Co 5:19b
 -- There is a ministry (service) in which the word of 
 reconciliation is to be made known to others!
 2. The apostles in particular had this "ministry"...
 a. The word apostle means "one sent"
 b. In a special way they were sent to serve as Christ's 
 "ambassadors" to the world! - 2 Co 5:20
 3. Therefore, through the apostles...through their word...
 a. God is pleading with us...
 b. Christ is imploring us...
 ...be reconciled to God! - 2 Co 5:20
 -- Thus God's great love is manifest in the fact that He also 
 sent ambassadors to tell the world what He has done to 
 reconcile man back to Himself
 
 B. HIS "AMBASSADORS" TODAY...
 1. The "ministry of reconciliation" continues today!
 a. For people are still lost in their sins
 b. And God still loves those who are lost
 2. But who are God's "ambassadors" today?
 a. Who will take the "word of reconciliation" to others?
 b. Who along with God and Christ will plead and implore: "Be 
 reconciled to God!"?
 3. While there may not be "formal" ambassadors like the apostles
 were, Christ still has His ambassadors:
 a. The people of God, who proclaim His praises - 1 Pe 2:9-10
 b. Faithful individuals, who properly taught can teach others 
 - 2 Ti 2:2
 c. In fact, ALL Christians should be involved in "the ministry
 of reconciliation"!
 1) Some may "go", while others may "send" - Ro 10:14-15
 2) Some may "teach", while others may "invite" - Jn 1:45-46
 4. In whatever way we serve, we must remember that we play an 
 important role in God's ministry of reconciliation today!
 
CONCLUSION
 
1. How important is "reconciliation" and "the ministry of 
 reconciliation"?
 a. If God is "pleading" and Christ is "imploring", then it must be
 very important!
 b. Indeed, the eternal destiny of one's soul depends upon whether he
 or she has been reconciled to God!
 
2. Does this not move us?
 a. First to be reconciled ourselves?
 b. And then to participate in the ministry of reconciliation for the
 sake of others?
 
3. A final thought: The fact that God "pleads" and Christ "implores"
 us to be reconciled tell us some things that are very important for
 us to realize...
 a. Reconciliation is not unconditional (we must respond!)
 b. Reconciliation is not universal (some will be lost!)
 
Indeed, the grace and mercy of God offered in the death of His Son must
not be received in vain! As Paul goes on to say:
 
 "We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not 
 to receive the grace of God in vain." (2 Co 6:1)
 
Only through an obedient faith can we be sure to receive God's grace, 
and have Jesus as the author of our eternal salvation! - cf. He 5:9
 
Have YOU been reconciled to God?

－－《Executable Outlines》

Hope In the Future

The Earthly Tent

An Eternal House in Heaven

I. Live by Faith

1. Live in the Body

2. Away from the Body

3. To Please the Lord

II.Live for the Lord

1. Out of Mind Before God

2. In Right Mind Before God

3. A New Creation

III. Live in Reconciliation with God

1. No Sin To Be Sin

2. Unrighteousness Becomes Righteousness

3. The Ministry of Reconciliation

－－ Chih-Hsin Chang《An Outline of The New Testament》