2 Corinthians 5

Bible study this week for us will be on this key passage, 2 Corinthians 5.  The arguments leading up to this section in chapters 3 and 4 have laid the groundwork for the imagery of chapter 5.  We have seen the New Covenant in Christ proclaimed and that the witness to this Gospel is the Holy spirit.  We have seen the two kingdom motif laid out and the idea of our earthly bodies being mere jars of clay that are cracked by sin and doomed to decay and break.  We have the idea that the Holy Spirit indwells the elect, making us transformed and capable of sharing this information with others, but we realize that it is the Holy Spirit within that transforms, not the vessel that carries the Gospel in this world.  In chapter 5, Paul is hammering home the authorship of this salvation.  At the same time, he is reminding us that we are all charged with the ministry of spreading the Gospel.  What I have laid out below is a paragraph by paragraph paraphrasing of this chapter, adding antecedent concepts back into the argument for clarity and developing this argument in view of what Paul has said to the Corinthians and others before.

5:1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

We know that if we die (these jars of clay break) and leave these earthly bodies behind, we have a resurrection body for us on the Last Day that will last forever in Heaven.  While we remain in this world, we look forward to the world yet to come.  By virtue of our faith in the promise of the world yet to come for the elect through Jesus’ work on the Cross, we will be redeemed.  While we remain in this world in these bodies under the curse of Adam, we look to the resurrection, but with full knowledge that we are secure in our regeneration and salvation.  God has done all the work, has arranged all of the events for our salvation; they are finished, objective and historical facts, and the Holy Spirit gives testimony to these facts.

OK, is that really what Paul said?  Much of what he is stating here is in shorthand.  He has already revealed the formula for salvation through faith alone in the redeeming work of Christ alone due to His Grace alone for the Glory of God alone.  That is the formula that underlies this whole passage.  Paul will hit every point of it along the way in this passage, but it helps to remember that this whole formula is always in the forefront of the mind of Paul in this discussion.

6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

So we are bold in our faith.  We realize that as long as we remain in this world, and though we are citizens of the world to come by faith, we remain separated from God as long as we have these earthly bodies.  We are strong in our faith and long for the day that the Lord Jesus Christ returns in Judgment.  In our recognition of this faith in the Sufficiency of the Blood of Jesus Propitiating for us for our Sin and in our Gratitude for this Gift, we strive to obey the commandments of God.  We will all appear before God in Judgment on the Last Day, and each will be judged according to their righteousness. (It is understood here that the elect will be judged by the imputed righteousness of Christ from earlier arguments.)

Does Paul ever deny the Judgment on the Last Day?  No.  Never.  Does he ever infer that God will be anything but a Just God on that day?  No.  Never.  Does he ever imply, infer, suggest or outright say that we are capable of fulfilling the Law and actually receiving a just judgment of life from God?  No.  Never.  The fact that we will be judged according to our righteousness is terrible news.  This is horrible beyond belief!  This is not meant to be encouraging to man; this is meant to be a heavy handed threat of the Wrath of God.  This paragraph is about our faith, a faith that is manifest in a transformation of the heart by the Holy Spirit, a transformation that cannot be seen by man, but only by God.  This transformation is by the power of the Holy Spirit through knowledge and faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who has died in propitiation for our sins, reconciling us to God, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.  Paul is reminding us that our justification is through the Blood of Christ on the Cross.

11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 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.

Therefore, knowing that God is Just and Righteous, and that all men are imputed sin through Adam, all men should rightly fear the Wrath of God for our sin.  It is our duty to educate others to this reality.  God knows the heart of man, and that is the problem.  It is only through the imputed righteousness of Jesus that we may be judged worthy of salvation.  This transformation in Christ is written in the heart and is not visible to the eye.  The arguments concerning outward appearance and civic righteousness under the law of man do not fool God.  God sees the heart of man and he knows where the Holy Spirit dwells.  If it seems that our arguments are contrary to the logic of man, it is because the mind of God holds us to a different standard.  God’s reasons are hidden to man.  We act in obedience to Christ out of gratitude for his Gift: Jesus Christ died in propitiation for our sin, reconciling us to God, and in arising from the dead, He has secured victory over death for us for eternity.  We no longer live for ourselves, but rather for Him who has secured this eternal victory for us.

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Therefore, we no longer regard men by the outer body of this world, but rather by the transformed person that remains hidden while still in the world, because although Christ was once wholly man and of this world, He is also wholly God and of the world yet to come.  When we are made regenerated men by authentic Baptism and true faith through the Holy Spirit acting in us, we become new beings, reborn into the kingdom yet to come.  The old self is gone, though the body hangs on for a time, and the new self is hidden within the body of this world, but now has come through the promise to the world yet to come.  All this is a gift from God.  God through His Son Jesus Christ has accomplished this ministry of reconciliation on our behalf while we were still sinners.  This was done external to us, with no help from us, for us and for our salvation.  It is extrinsic to us.  It is historical fact.  And most importantly, when all of this was going on, we were still sinners, enemies of God.  God has made us His messengers, His ambassadors for Christ.  He has entrusted us with this mission.  And this is the message on behalf of Jesus Christ: Be reconciled to God.  For our sake, God made Jesus to be human, who having no sin and therefore being the Perfect Sacrifice for the whole world, through substitutionary atonement, imputed our sin to Jesus, and the righteousness of Christ to us, propitiated for us with God so that we may be judged righteous and sinless on the Last Day, imparting His victory over death to His elect so that we may live forever with Him in resurrected bodies in the redeemed world.

Why does this sound so repetitive when you read it?  Because, this is a big deal.  This is the Gospel.  Paul repeats himself to make sure we understand it.  I’ve added back the full promise every time Paul refers to the promise to make sure that you understand what is at stake in this passage.  And I could have added the full formula more than I have, and it would have been applicable to the passage.  Faith must have an object.  I can say that I have faith.  You can ask, faith in what?  I might reply faith in Jesus.  You might say, that’s nice.  So, what?  Why should you have faith in Jesus?  What did he do?

I just love (heavy sarcasm) those WWJD bracelets.  They absolutely and totally miss the point and misdirect the person.  It is not about what Jesus would do; it is about what Jesus has already done.  It is finished.  While we were still sinners, He did all of this for us.  That is the good news; that is the Gospel.  Therefore, the whole formula is necessary before we can start using shorthand to describe and articulate our faith.  That is the purpose of creeds.  That is the purpose of liturgy.  That is the purpose of a concise and Biblical statement of faith.  That is what Paul has been doing in 2 Corinthians 5.

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