2 Corinthians 5:11-21·~1 min

Ambassadors for Christ

Since he knows the fear of the Lord, Paul says he tries to persuade others, while his true character already lies open before God and, he hopes, before their consciences. He is not commending himself again, but giving them a way to answer those who boast in appearances, whether they judge him too intense or sober for their sake.

T¹¹herefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well. ¹²We are not commending ourselves to you again. Instead, we are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who take pride in appearances rather than in the heart. ¹³If we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.

Paul says Christ's love compels them because Christ died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the risen Lord. For that reason they no longer regard anyone according to the flesh, and in Christ a new creation has come: the old has passed and the new has arrived.

¹⁴For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died. ¹⁵And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again. ¹⁶So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!

All of this, Paul says, is from God, who reconciled them to himself through Christ and entrusted them with the ministry and message of reconciliation. So they speak as Christ's ambassadors, urging people to be reconciled to God, because God made the sinless Christ to be sin on their behalf so that in him they might become God's righteousness.

¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God. ²¹God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Section summaryBecause he knows the fear of the Lord and is compelled by Christ's love, Paul says his ministry is sincere and ordered toward the Corinthians' good rather than outward display. Christ's death and resurrection have changed how people are regarded, so that in him a new creation has begun. From God comes the whole work of reconciliation, and the apostles now carry that message as Christ's ambassadors.

Role in the chapterThis section turns confidence before Christ into apostolic appeal. It names the heart of Paul's ministry as reconciliation and gives the letter one of its clearest statements of what God has done in Christ.