The New Testament with Commentary 2 Corinthians 5

We live by faith

1 Now then, we know that though our earthly, tent-like ‘house’ may be destroyed, we have a building from God (not a handmade house), eternal in the heavens. 2 Further, in this one we do groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly habitation; 3 since, obviously, once clothed we will not be found naked. 4 Yes, being in this ‘tent’ is a burden, so we groan—not enough to want to strip, but to be really clothed; that what is mortal may be swallowed up by the Life.*

5 Now it is God who has prepared us for this very purpose, who also has given us the down payment of the Spirit.† 6 So we are always confident, even knowing that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord's home 7 —we walk by faith, not by sight— 8 indeed, we are confident in preferring to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.‡ 9 Yes, that is why we make it our aim (whether at home or away from it) to be well pleasing to Him. 10 Because we must all be exposed before Christ's Judgment Seat, that each one may receive his due for the things he did while in the body, whether good or bad.§ 11 Therefore, since we know the Lord's intimidation,* we try to convince people.

Why Christ died

We are well known to God, and I hope in your consciences as well. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity of boasting on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart.†

13 If we are ‘out of our senses’, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ's love impels us, having concluded this: if One died for all it follows that all died;‡ 15 and He died for all so that those who now live should no longer live for themselves but for the One who died for all§ and was raised again.*

We are Christ's ambassadors

16 So then, from now on we regard no one from a fleshly perspective—even if we have ‘known’ Christ in this way, we do so no longer†— 17 so then, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old things have passed on; look, all has become new!‡ 18 And that ‘all’ is from the God who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus§ Christ and given us the ministry of the reconciliation,* 19 namely that in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself,† not imputing their trespasses to them, including committing to us the message of this reconciliation.

20 So then, we are Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God! 21 Because He made the One who did not know sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become God's righteousness.‡

*5:4 This paragraph relates only to the redeemed; only we have the prospect of improving our ‘clothing’. As for the lost, the mortal will be swallowed up by the Death, and they will be left naked (but not cease to exist).

†5:5 If you don't have the Holy Spirit, you don't have a ‘contract’. He is the down payment on ‘the Life’ (verse 4); eternal life being a quality of life, we can start living it down here.

‡5:8 Paul is talking about facing death with confidence, knowing it is the doorway to something much better than this life. Of course this only applies to those who belong to Sovereign Jesus.

§5:10 If we are wise, like Paul, we will never forget the Accounting. He was ‘confident’ that upon leaving his physical body he would be at home with the Lord. To have the same confidence we also must consciously live so as to be well pleasing to Him. Notice that the emphasis is on what we do.

*5:11 God's holiness is an aggressive quality that attacks anything evil that tries to approach. That holiness is truly intimidating, and we will all be judged by it. Jonathan Edwards preached on that basis, with extraordinary effect, but there are few in our day who follow his example. On a lower level, worldly people tend to feel uncomfortable in the presence of someone who is holy, sometimes to the point of reacting aggressively. As Satan increases his hold on the world, such aggressive reaction will become ever more common.

†5:12 Paul will enlarge on this later on in the letter.

‡5:14 They all died in Him; just like all sinned in Adam.

§5:15 I follow the best line of transmission, along with a minority of the manuscript total (35% here), in reading “all” instead of the familiar ‘them’.

*5:15 The clearest statements giving why Christ died begin with Romans 14:9, “that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living”; followed by this verse, that we should no longer live for ourselves, but for Him. Philippians 2:8-11 refers to the final victory. Hebrews 2:14 refers to destroying Satan; saving us from hell is a by-product. As it says in Romans 10:9, “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord…’, you will be saved”.

†5:16 The unregenerate are forever trying to explain or understand Jesus in purely humanistic terms. We who are in Christ must not do so. Further, we should not try to understand anyone in such terms—we need to take account of what is happening in the spiritual realm. (As a student Saul of Tarsus had certainly seen and heard Jesus.)

‡5:17 This is neither immediate nor automatic; it is potential. No benefit of the shed blood of God's Lamb is automatic; it must be appropriated.

§5:18 Perhaps 3% of the Greek manuscripts omit “Jesus”, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.

*5:18 Yes, the reconciliation—no other reconciling compares with reconciling men to God.

†5:19 Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!

‡5:21 Here we are face to face with the mystery of our redemption. Jesus, God's Son, never sinned, did not ‘know’ sin, experientially, but He was “made to be sin” on our behalf. It is a grim picture, as though on the cross He was changed into a bundle of sin. And in exchange He gave us His righteousness. How can we ‘measure’ or understand such love? It is beyond our comprehension. As Romans 11:33 expresses it: “Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!”