2 Corinthians 5:16

Paul has been describing a ministry carried on through suffering, sustained by the hope of eternal glory and the knowledge that earthly life is brief (2 Corinthians 4:16–18). He has spoken of longing for a heavenly dwelling (2 Corinthians 5:1–10) and of the judgment seat of Christ before which we must all appear (2 Corinthians 5:10). “Wherefore” (hṓste) makes verse 16 the consequence of Christ’s death for all, and “henceforth” (apó with nŷn) marks a new starting point.

The verb for “know” in the first clause, eídō, means first to see and then, by implication, to know. Paul is speaking of how we perceive and weigh one another. “Flesh”, sárx, can mean the body, but here it means human nature apart from God’s working, with its worldly principles, its frailty and its eye for appearances. To know someone “after the flesh” is to judge them by status, wealth, ethnicity, looks, or anything else that belongs to that realm.

This spoke straight into Corinth. The church there was troubled by divisions and by challenges to Paul’s authority, and the culture around it prized outward appearance, polished speech, social standing and philosophy. Some in the church judged Paul by exactly these things, finding his presence unimpressive and his speech plain (2 Corinthians 10:10). A few verses earlier he had spoken of “them which glory in appearance, and not in heart” (2 Corinthians 5:12). Some believers from a Jewish background may also have prized lineage, circumcision and keeping the law of Moses as marks of standing with God. Whether the measure was Greek learning or Jewish descent, Paul sets it aside for the standard of the new creation.

He says the same elsewhere: “ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). He counted his own advantages “but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:7–8), and he sets those who “are after the flesh” and mind the things of the flesh against those who are after the Spirit (Romans 8:5–9).

The principle holds for every person we meet, believer or unbeliever, for each is made in the image of God and is someone for whom Christ died, a person God’s grace can reach. So we look past someone’s standing, wealth, background and even past sins to their worth and their need, and that way of seeing is what makes compassion and the sharing of the gospel possible.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ” names the one condition. To be in Christ is to be joined to him by faith, united with his death, his resurrection and his new life, and that union is the source of every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3–14). Whoever is in him “is a new creature”.

The word for new, kainós, means new in quality or kind, where neos would mean new in time. The word for creature, ktísis, means the act of creating or the thing created. Together, kainē ktisis means a new creation, something God brings into being by the same power he used in the beginning (Genesis 1:1). The believer is re-created by God at the core of who he is. It is God’s act, as the first creation was.

Paul uses the same phrase in Galatians 6:15, where the new creature counts for more than circumcision. He also says that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Ephesians 2:10), and that we are raised with Christ to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). An Old Testament promise stands behind this, “Behold, I will do a new thing” (Isaiah 43:19), and so does the hope ahead, when God makes a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1–5) and says, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). The “behold” of our verse, idou, is an exclamation of the same kind, calling us to look at something astonishing and certain.

Christ himself is the beginning of this new creation. He is “the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18) and “the last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45), through whom a new humanity is formed, as the old humanity came from the first Adam. To be in him is to share his own risen life, a foretaste of the world he will make new.

“Old things are passed away” uses parérchomai, to go by or go away, and figuratively to perish. It describes a decisive departure. “All things are become new” is just as wide: a new relationship with God, new desires, purposes and values, and the Holy Spirit living within to make a new way of life possible.

“And all things are of God.” Every part of the new creation, from its beginning to its working out in us, comes from him. He “hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ”, and he “hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation”.

The verb katallássō, “to reconcile”, means at root to change mutually, and figuratively to settle a difference. In Paul’s use God is the one who acts. People were estranged from him by sin, and he turned enmity into peace and favour by his own action through Christ. Among the Greeks and Romans, reconciliation often meant both sides working to mend things, or a payment to calm an offended party. Here the offended party is God, and he makes the peace himself, on his own terms, for people who were helpless to begin it.

Reconciliation removes the enmity itself and restores fellowship. Paul writes, “if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Romans 5:10–11). The noun katallagḗ, “reconciliation”, means an exchange or adjustment, and so restoration to God’s favour. It describes the new state of peace itself. In Romans the KJV translates the same word “atonement”: “by whom we have now received the atonement” (Romans 5:11).

It comes “by Jesus Christ”, through his perfect life, his death on the cross and his resurrection. He is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) and “the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:2), and through him the barrier of sin is removed and God’s justice is satisfied. Through him God reconciles “all things unto himself”, having “made peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:19–20), and he reconciles Jew and Gentile “unto God in one body by the cross” (Ephesians 2:16).

Then God gave “the ministry of reconciliation”. The word diakonía means attendance as a servant, and so aid or service, including the official service of a Christian teacher. Those who have received God’s reconciling grace are given the humble, active work of making it known.

“To wit” (hōs with hóti) means “namely, that”, and verse 19 explains how God reconciled us. God (theós) was himself present and at work in (en) Christ (Christós). The whole work of salvation is therefore God’s own, from beginning to end, since he was fully present and acting in his Son. This points to the incarnation, when the Word was made flesh (John 1:14), and to the life, death and resurrection through which the reconciliation was done.

The word “world”, kósmos, means an orderly arrangement and so the world with its inhabitants. Here it is humanity in its fallen state, all people without distinction, which shows how wide God’s purpose is. He was reconciling them “unto himself” (heautoû), drawing them back to himself.

“Not imputing their trespasses unto them” is the heart of how it was done. The verb logízomai means to take an inventory, to reckon or count, and it is the word behind “impute”. With the negative mḗ, Paul says that God leaves their trespasses (paráptōma), their errors and transgressions, off the account against them (autós). This is the legal side of forgiveness, an acquittal, and it is the ground of justification. David sang of it long before: “Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity” (Psalm 32:2), the verse Paul quotes in Romans 4:8.

Then God “hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation”. The verb títhēmi means to place or appoint, and the word (lógos) is the message itself, placed “unto us” (en hēmîn), with Paul and those who preach with him, and from them with all believers.

“Now then” (oûn) draws the conclusion. The verb presbeúō, from the word for an elder or senior, means to be a senior and so to act as a representative. It occurs only here and in Ephesians 6:20, where Paul calls himself “an ambassador in bonds”. In the Roman world ambassadors were respected envoys, sent by a sovereign to foreign lands to negotiate treaties, deliver messages and represent their ruler, and they carried the authority and dignity of the one who sent them. Paul and his fellow workers speak in the same way for Christ, divinely commissioned envoys of the King of kings in a land that is often hostile to him.

“As though God did beseech you by us” means that God himself makes his appeal through human messengers. “As though” is hōs, and “by us” is diá hēmōn. The verb parakaléō means to call near, and so to invite, implore, urge or comfort. God pleads with earnest love through the mouths and lives of his ambassadors, and so the message they carry is his. “We pray you” uses déomai, to beg or make request, and “in Christ’s stead” is hypér Christós, on behalf of Christ.

The plea itself is “be ye reconciled to God”. The verb is katallássō again, now as a passive imperative, “let yourselves be reconciled”, a call to receive the peace God offers in Christ. God has made the peace, and people are urged to accept it, to turn from sin and to come into a right relationship with their Creator.

Christ himself is the perfect representative of the Father, the Word made flesh who revealed the Father fully. He “made peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20), and his ambassadors carry on the work he gave when he sent his disciples to teach all nations (Matthew 28:18–20).

Verse 21 is the foundation under the whole passage. It explains how God could reconcile sinners to himself and leave their trespasses uncounted. In the Greek, “who knew no sin” stands first, so the verse opens on Christ’s sinlessness. He was pure in thought, word and deed, as Peter says: “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). Only a spotless sacrifice could bear the sins of others and satisfy God’s holiness, and his purity made him the one fit substitute.

“He” is God the Father, and “made” is poiéō, to make or do. God was the one acting, by his own purpose and design. “For us” is hypér hēmōn, on our behalf, in our place and for our good. Christ bore the judgment that was due to us. Behind this stands the sacrificial system of Israel, with the Day of Atonement at its centre (Leviticus 16), and the lamb brought to the slaughter in Isaiah (Isaiah 53:7). Christ fulfils all of it in one sacrifice, once for all. Paul says the same thing another way: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13).

Our standing with God rests on what Christ has done. When you fail, the verdict over you is still the one this passage gives, the righteousness of God in Christ, and you can live from that gift with gratitude and humility. Since God has left your trespasses off the account, you can seek peace and offer forgiveness in your own relationships.

The new way of seeing reaches the people around you. A neighbour’s past, background or standing belongs to the flesh, and Christ died for that neighbour. The message that reached you has been placed in your hands as well. Every believer carries it in some way, and the plea is God’s own: “be ye reconciled to God”.