Who comes to your mind when you think about the people who taught you the Bible, who showed you the gospel, and who first helped you see, understand, and believe in Jesus? Your parents, pastors, or church leaders may come to mind. Now, think about how they first helped you fall in love with God’s Word.
This passage in 2 Corinthians describes the heart of every such person who genuinely laboured and gave of themselves to make Christ known to you through His Word. It represents their hopes and desires for you, from their heart to yours. In the example of Paul, we will look at their motivation, their model for ministry, and hear the message they so desperately want to communicate.
(A) THE MOTIVATION: ACCOUNTABILITY TO AND AFFECTION FOR JESUS (2 COR 5:11-15)
Knowing the fear of the Lord is Paul’s motivation for launching into his ministry of persuading others to respond to God (2 Cor 5:11). We don’t use this word often in the church because it seems like a marketing strategy, but Paul describes their action as persuasion. The reason he goes about persuading others is “knowing the fear of the Lord” (2 Cor 5:11).
2 Cor 5:11 flows from verse 10. In the previous verse, Paul spoke about how they have to stand before Jesus to account for the work done in the body. As he lives this life looking to the life to come, he lives with a deep sense of accountability, knowing that he would stand before the judgement seat of Christ to account for all the work he has done in the body of Christ. All will have to give an account to Jesus. It is this reason that motivates Paul to persuade others.
In contrast to a group of “peddlers of God’s word” (2 Cor 2:17), Paul is a minister of the new covenant (2 Cor 3:6), who refuses to tamper with God’s word” (2 Cor 4:2). Likewise, as stewards of the message that belongs to God, we dare not tamper with it, lest we be found guilty on the day of judgement.
Paul’s motivations are clear to God – God knows exactly the motives with which we serve Him – and he hopes the church knows this too (2 Cor 5:11).
Paul goes on to further lay out the contrasts between him and that of the false teachers who boast in outward appearances (2 Cor 5:12). He hopes that they will not only boast about him, but also that they will be confident in true gospel ministry, to discern truth from falsehood, and beyond that, to love, celebrate and treasure the right thing, that their hearts might be rightly located in Christ. Paul wants them to be glad that he is out there ministering and persuading for Christ, that his ministry is known to them and they can delight in it.
It is men and women who fear the Lord, who know they will stand before God in judgement, who will engage in this new covenant ministry to persuade others of the good news. That is Paul’s heart.
This new covenant ministry belongs to the church for our boasting, glory, and participation. 2 Cor 1:13-14, 2:3-4, and 3:1-2 describe a close dynamic between the minister of the church and the church. It is not just the preacher who must preach truth, but the congregation that must recognize and embrace truth. All of us are accountable to God – not just the preacher.
What goes through your mind as you sit in the pew, receiving from the pulpit? Do you think, “I’m so glad that we’re hearing truth, even if it’s not so relevant to me”? Do you think, “I’m so glad our preachers are persuading people out of their fear of the Lord, and are speaking out of a deep sense of reverence and accountability to God”?
In 2 Cor 5:14-15, Paul opens his heart to them and says he is controlled by the love of Christ. His ministry is driven by a hand over his hand, a power over his power, yet this is something he wants to do. This dynamic springs from his conclusion of the gospel: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised (2 Cor 5:14-15).
These verses describe the scale of Jesus’ death and the impact on Christians, such that when we give Jesus our lives today, we die to ourselves and live to him, and his death and resurrection becomes the reason for our own death and resurrection. We live this life as if it were Christ living in us. Our lives were won by Jesus at the cross and we now belong to Him. Seeing this truth gives Paul, and us today, a sense of indebtedness that drives our desire to be accountable to Jesus. It defines us; it compels us.
(B) OUR MODEL: “NEW CREATION” WORK REPRESENTING AND RECONCILING MAN TO GOD (2 COR 5:16-20A)
Since Paul is “controlled” by the love of Christ, he regards no one according to the flesh (2 Cor 5:16). He no longer thinks about Jesus and people the way he used to, that is, according to his old, sinful way of thinking. To think of Jesus according to the flesh could be to think of Jesus as a good teacher, an influencer but these are untrue. A new power and logic has gripped him, such that he now thinks in “new creation” terms; he is now controlled by a different set of motivations.
Why is this important? The Bible doesn’t just speak of Christianity as religious conversion, moral upgrading or self-help. The Bible uses new creation terms. At the creation of the world (Gen 1), God created everything out of nothing. By “new creation” (2 Cor 5:17), then, Paul did not have in mind a mere renovation, upgrading or self-improvement. When we are in Christ, we are a new creation – radically, categorically different and fundamentally new.
The Bible insists on such radical and categorical difference. We cannot just resolve to be better. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Cor 5:17). Our old selves must die and Christ must live in us. This is not accomplished by action plans and summoning up motivation, but God must make us new from within. We have to die to our desires and live for all that Christ desires and values. This is a spiritual work that no one can do unless compelled by the love of Christ. It is God’s power over our power, His hand over our hand.
The Bible insists on such radical and categorical difference. We cannot just resolve to be better. We need to remove ourselves, and let the old self die to let Christ in. It is an entirely different power and source. We cannot be what God wants us to be by just summoning our will or strategising and planning. We need to die and get out to allow all the Christ desires and hopes for to come in.
Have we been labouring in our own strength instead of remembering that in Christ, we are given new desires, and new capacities to love and grow? How do we unleash this power? 2 Cor 5:18 tells us – All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Gal 2:20 says we have been crucified with Christ and we no longer live, but Christ lives in us. This is God’s work, and He has made us partners with Him as ministers of the new covenant.
Paul uses two pictures to describe the work of Christian ministry (2 Cor 5:18-20). First, the picture of reconciliation. God reconciles us to Himself by not counting our trespasses against us, and then gives us this message of Christ reconciling the world to God (2 Cor 5:18-19).
Second, the picture of ambassadorship is one where God not only decided not to pursue our sins, but that He would initiate a relationship with us, and He sends that invitation for peace far and wide through his ambassadors. Ambassadors bring a message from their sovereign to the foreign body. As ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor 5:20), we bring His message of reconciliation that was entrusted to us. We announce good news on behalf of a king who ought to be offended by our sins – but who is not, and who takes the initiative to unilaterally offer peace terms. That’s the gospel.
Christian ministry is about representing God to man, to reconcile man to God. Is the generosity and kindness of our God evident in us as we extend His invitation to non-believers?
(C) THE MESSAGE: BE RECONCILED TO GOD THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST (2 COR 5:20B-6:2)
In the heart of the text, in 2 Cor 5:20, Paul calls them to be reconciled to God.
Who is it that knew no sin? Jesus, the person whom God made sin. Now, this did not mean Jesus wen out to sin. God turned Jesus into the object, the concentrated focal point of all our sin (noun).2 Cor 5:21 is super important because it describes the great exchange that took place!
What happens to us? We become the righteousness of God (it kinda breaks the earlier pattern). We are the righteousness of God, and don’t have to do anything! Jesus took all of it away. There is no more sin and consequences, even when we sin
According to Paul, we are working together with God as a partner equally invested in His work (2 Cor 6:1), so he appeals to them not to receive the grace of God in vain (2 Cor 6:2) – Don’t let it fall on deaf ears by not responding! Our sins have been taken far away and we now have His righteousness and that will not be taken away. We now have His righteousness by faith!
He then quotes Isaiah 49:8. In the same way the prophet Isaiah announced good news to Israel, he’s announcing the same message to the Corinthians. And as they are hearing this gospel he has written, God is working the out their salvation – thus now is the day of salvation! Just as Isaiah announced good news to the people, so too, Paul was bringing this good news to them! Paul reached into Isaiah to say that now is the favourable time and day of salvation. This also applies to us because as we too have heard the gospel, we are to respond! God is doing the same gospel work!
What is your spiritual state? Does the love of Christ compel you? If your heart is cold to the gospel, then now is the time to be reconciled to Christ, in this moment. Ask God to show you once again the glory of being forgiven, knowing your sins have been removed so that you can become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21).
Remember the faithful men and women who opened the gospel to us? By faith, let us ask God to make us like them for others.