"We are treated as imposters, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known, as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, and yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything!"  (II Corinthians 6:8-10)
 
In last week's lesson, on II Corinthians 5:16-6:2, the apostle Paul noted that as a result of us being reconciled to God, through Christ, "we have become new creatures; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come"!  Verse 21 explains that "He (God the Father) has made Him (God the Son), who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him"!  And not only that, but that "we have been given the ministry of reconciliation...and are ambassadors for Christ"!  Having the privilege of carrying the good news of redemption and reconciliation to a weary and needy world!  Echoing the words of Jesus, in Matthew 28:18-20, commissioning His followers to "go into all the world and make disciples"!
 
And we were challenged to demonstrate the same sense of privilege, and urgency, and passion as Paul did in reaching out to the Corinthians, where he wrote of his deep concern that some might "preach another gospel," a gospel contrary to the one he delivered, and thus that some might "receive the gospel of grace by faith in vain"!  A gospel of works!  And he also noted that not only did one need to receive the gospel by faith alone, but also receive it at "the acceptable time," when they heard His call!  "Now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation," he wrote, at the close of last week's passage!
 
And all that set the scene for our lesson last night, on verses 3-13, where Paul warns that those who engage in the ministry of reconciliation should expect to be rejected by some, while accepted by others, and to encounter both hardships and joy, as Christ taught His disciples! (Jesus said to His disciples, in Matthew 5:11-12--"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me!  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you!"
 
Paul begins by writing, in verse 3, that he determined "to give the Corinthians no cause for offense in anything, so that his ministry not be discredited"!  It was important to Paul that his ministry not be discredited, and so he did everything he could to make sure that he did not give anyone cause of justifiable criticism of him or his ministry!  In Romans 2:24, he wrote that "the name of God is blasphemed among the Greeks because of you"!  And, I Corinthians 8:9 to "take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak"!  (MacArthur writes, "What an unbelievably frightening indictment to say that one was the cause of some blaspheming against God because he named His name and was a hypocrite"!)
 
And so, as Constable notes, the apostle Paul goes on in the verses that follow to describe how he "commended himself as a servant of God, and defended his ministry in order to provide the faithful Corinthians with more ammunition to rebut his critics, and not just through his words but through his actions"!
 
In verses 4-5, he writes that "in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance,

• "in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses" (trials Constable describes which were of a general nature that Paul endured);
• "in beating, in imprisonments, in tumults" (describing physical persecutions that Paul endured);
• "in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger" (describing some of the self-imposed deprivations that Paul endured for the furtherance of the gospel)!

Then, in verses 6-7a,

• "in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left" (describing the various graces and positive character qualities that God produced within Paul through these trials)!

Paul protected his purity and his virtues!  MacArthur writes that he "made these the theme of II Corinthians and that it was not just what he preached (or said) but what he lived"!  (The way we live "is the only letter of commendation that really matters," Paul implies!)
 
"in the Holy Spirit" is thrown in the middle of this list but is really the heart of it all," MacArthur writes!  And Constable notes that Paul cites the Holy Spirit in the same sense that he did in Galatians 5:16, where he writes, "But I say walk in the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh"!  And it produces "genuine love" which is an honest desire to do what is best for those in view"!  
 
And he operated within the confines of "the word of truth" (as revealed in Scripture), and "in the power of God," and "by the weapons of righteousness" (the final three!) , These are the spiritual weapons that God supplies!  The "sword of the Spirit," the Word of God, and the "shield of faith"!  Romans 6:13 calls for us to present our members as instruments of righteousness to God"!  And Ephesians 5:10-18 challenges us, "finally, to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might...and to put on the full armor of God, so that we will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil, and be able to resist in the evil day, and having everything to stand firm"!
 
And yet, despite the nobility and the commendable characteristics of Paul's life and ministry, it was marked by a series of paradoxes, which Paul describes in verses 8-10!  "By glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown, and yet well-known; as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things!"  Wow!
 
Constable writes that human responses to Paul's preaching varied greatly, but that God's estimate was positive regardless of the opinions of the people!  And that regardless, the great apostle Paul continued "to fight the good fight of faith"!  I Corinthians 4:13 says, that "when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; and we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now!"  (To "conciliate," according to the dictionary, means "to appease, or overcome the distrust or animosity toward one!  To try to regain the friendship by pleasant behavior"!  Or (and here's that word again!) to "reconcile"! 
 
Paul appealed to the Corinthians as a father to his children--speaking "with his mouth freely and with his heart opened wide"--wanting the same response from his readers!  "In order to stimulate the Corinthians to accept him and his ministry to that they would continue to experience all the blessing that God wanted them to have," MacArthur notes!
 
May we as MOBsters, like the apostle Paul, be given the grace (and "wherewithall"!) to demonstrate the same kind of love and care, and openness of heart, to those with whom we cross paths in our lives--so that Christ may be honored and glorified, and that we might all continue to experience the blessings of God!
 
Merry Christmas to all!  Til we meet again, in 2026!
 
Lowell 

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come!  Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to HImself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation!"  (II Corinthians 5:17-18)
 
In last week's lesson (on II Corinthians 5:11-15), we found the apostle Paul continuing to have to defend his integrity against the false accusations of some in the church of Corinth who were being used by Satan to question his character and motives, and thereby to split the church and stunt the spiritual growth of new believers!  And so Paul, "knowing the fear of the Lord," and mindful that his life was an "open book" to God (and hopefully to them as well!), he sought to "persuade men"--not only to believe and trust in Christ but also to recognize and accept him, and receive his instructions, as a representative of Christ to the church!
 
And if they thought--because of the passion and zeal he exhibited in their presence--that he was "beside himself," and fanatical to the point of being out of his mind and unbalanced, "it was of God," he claimed, since he was dealing with critical truths that needed to be proclaimed and taken to heart by them!  For "the love of Christ controls us (he wrote), having concluded this, that one died for all, so that they all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf!"!
 
MacArthur summed up the lesson best, we noted, by writing that, "As the apostle Paul defended his integrity to the Corinthians, he wanted them to know that his old, self-centered life was finished and that he had an all-out desire to live righteously!  For genuine believers, their death in Christ is not only a death to sin, but a resurrection to a new life of righteousness"!  
 
And so that set the scene for our lesson last night on II Corinthians 5:16-6:2, where Paul begins with yet another "therefore" (with more to come)!
 
"Therefore, from now on (Paul continues) we recognize no one according to the flesh (or "from a worldly point of view," says the NIV); even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer!"  (Constable says that Paul "had stopped making superficial personal judgments on a person's external appearances, and that his (or her) spiritual condition was more important," and also that, "after his conversion on the Damascus Road, he saw Christ in totally new light"!)
 
"Therefore (Paul writes), if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come!"  (MacArthur says that "the words ('in Christ') comprise a brief but most profound statement of the inexhaustible significance of the believer's redemption, which includes (1) the believer's security in Christ, who bore in His own body God's judgment for our sin; (2) the believer's acceptance in Him with whom God is alone pleased; (3) the believer's future assurance in Him who is the resurrection to eternal life and the sole guarantor of the believer's inheritance in heaven; and (4) the believer's participation in the divine nature of Christ, the everlasting Word!"
 
"There's both continuity and discontinuity that takes place at conversion (Constable writes)!  We have the same physical features, the same basic personality, the same genetic constitution, the same susceptibility to temptation, and live in the same sinful environment! But we have a new spiritual life, an indwelling Holy Spirit, forgiveness of sins, the righteousness of Christ, and new viewpoints and values!"
 
Verse 18 says that "all these things come from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation"!  (According to the dictionary, the word "reconciliation" means "to settle or resolve something"!  Like settling  a dispute!  Or reestablishing a relationship!  Or creating harmony once again!)
 
MacArthur notes that verse 21 "answers all the questions regarding being reconciled to God, and resolves the seeming paradox of redemption!  It reveals the essence of the atonement, expresses the heart of the gospel message. and articulates the most glorious truth in Scripture--how fallen man's sin-sundered relationship with God can be restored!  It reveals truths about (1) the benefactor (God the Father), (2) the substitute (God the Son), (3) the beneficiaries (those who trust Christ), and (4) the benefits!"
 
1--Reconciliation with God is made possible by God the Father who designed the plan to reach sinners through the sacrifice of His Son!  John 3:16 says that "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life!"  Romans 5:8 says that "But God demonstrated His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!"  Reconciliation required the death of Christ because "the wages of sin is death" (but "the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"! Romans 6:23)
 
2--Jesus Christ is our substitute!  Verse 21 says it so clearly!  "He (God the Father) made Him (Jesus Christ, the Son) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf!"  Only He could bear the wrath of God for sin!  Galatians 4:4-5 says that "when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons!"  Galatians 2:13 says that "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us...!"  Our sins were "imputed" on Him! I John 2:2 says that "He Himself (Jesus Christ) is the propitiation for our sins..." His "atoning death" for us "satisfied" the demands of God's holy justice and wrath against sin!
 
3--We, as believers, are the beneficiaries!  Christ's substitutionary death on the cross was "efficacious" for us and all those who would believe, and whom the Father would draw!
 
4-And the benefits are that we "become the righteousness of God in Him"!
 
Romans 5:10-11 puts it this way: "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.  And not only this, but we exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation!"
 
And so, as Constable notes, "when repentant sinners acknowledge their sin, affirm Jesus as Lord, and trust solely in His completed work on their behalf, God credits His righteousness to their account!"
 
And that explains verse 21!  And the high point of the gospel!  
 
Jesus said to Zaccheus, in Luke 19:10, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost!"
 
What a wonderful thing!  To be reconciled to God, the One who created us that we might know Him, and be able to walk with Him--as Adam and Eve did in the garden, before the fall--and have a special relationship with Him, and enjoy Him forever!  Wow!
 
But there's more!  The same God who provided for our reconciliation has "given to us the ministry of reconciliation," and (with another "therefore"!) to be "ambassadors for Christ" in reaching the world with the gospel message!  Echoing the words of Jesus, in Matthew 28:18-20, when He called His disciples "to go into all the world and make disciples"!
 
The apostle Paul responded to this call with a sense of urgency, even "begging" the Corinthians "on  behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God"!  And expressing concern that "the grace of God would be received in vain"!  He later expressed this same passionate concern (in II Corinthians 11:3-4) where he wrote, "But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.  For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you put up with it easily enough"!
 
Paul expressed similar concern for the Galatians, in Galatians 1:6-9, where he wrote, "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; but there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.  But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!  As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!"  Wow!
 
And not only must one need to receive the grace of God by faith, he (or she!) must also receive it "at the acceptable time," Paul writes (in 6:2)!  There may not be another opportunity when God speaks to one's heart again as He does in that moment when the Holy Spirit draws him!  Constable notes that "there is a time in God's grace when He may be sought by sinners.  The Lord warned those in the pre-flood world (in Genesis 6:3): "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever..."!  Hosea 5:6 warned that apostate Israel would go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them!"  Isaiah 55:6 says, "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near!"
 
"Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation," Paul writes in the closing verse of this passage!
 
May we approach this blessed ministry of reconciliation with the same sense of privilege, compassion, and urgency as Paul!  Isaiah 52:7 says, "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, 'Your God reigns!"
 
All of which makes you want to sing "Amazing Grace!"  Or, "And Can It Be?"  Or, "Something beautiful, something good...!"  Or "Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb..."!  Or, during this Christmas season, "Go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born!"
 
May God be with you, til we meet again!
 
Lowell

"For the love of God controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf!" (II Corinthians 5:14-15)
 
In our lesson last week, on II Corinthians 5:1-11, the apostle Paul (a tent-maker by trade) began (in verse 1) with one of the most profound verses in all of Scripture, describing and affirming the confidence, and assurance we as "born-again" believers in Christ can have, not only now but when, at some point, we face death in this life!  He wrote that "we know (with certainty!) that if the earthly tent which is our house (in this life!) is torn down (speaking of "death"), we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens!"  And so, describing the great contrast between the fragileness, vulnerability, and temporary state of our physical bodies in this life with the "building from God--the stableness, stability, and permanence of our glorious, resurrected bodies in the life to come!  This is the "blessed hope" of every believer, when we shall see our Savior and Lord face to face!
 
"For indeed in this house (our physical body!) we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven...so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life" (eternal life!)  And he adds that, "He who prepared us for this purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit (the Holy Spirit, who indwells every believer!) as a pledge" (or a guarantee for this to happen!)  But Paul's not done!  "Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--for we walk by faith, and not by sight--we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord!"  Wow!  Paul is saying that, considering his circumstances, he'd rather die and be with Christ than go on living in this life!  Because he "knew" (he knew!) what was ahead for him!
 
But then another "therefore" (which sounds more like a "but"!)  "Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to the Lord!"  That was his greatest goal and desire!  To always be "pleasing to the Lord"!  (MacArthur notes that "the noblest and highest ambition to which we (as believers) can aspire, whether in this life, or the next, is to be pleasing to the Lord"!)
 
Paul said as much to the Ephesians (in Ephesians 5:6-10): "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things (sin in the world!), the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.  Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord!"
 
And why?  He answers it in verse 10: "For we (as believers!) must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be (not condemned, but) recompensed (or rewarded!) for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad!"
 
And that set the scene for our lesson last night (on verses 11-15) where the apostle Paul begins with yet another "therefore"!  (MacArthur notes that "this passage is a very personal, first-person communication for the apostle Paul, and that one of the hardest things he had to do was to defend himself against the false accusations of some people who had come into the church of Corinth, a church which he founded, and for people whom he dearly loved, amid great trials and suffering!)
 
"Therefore (Paul continues), knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men...!"  Persuade them of what?  Not only of their need to believe and trust Christ as their Savior and Lord, but also for them to recognize and accept him as Christ's representative to them in this world!  He knew he had to defend his own integrity, and the integrity of his ministry from the many false accusations against him (among them: that he was proud, self-serving, untrustworthy, incompetent, and even mentally unbalanced).  And so, defending himself, for the sake of Christ and the preservation of the church!
 
MacArthur notes that "the greatest impact that critics can have on anyone who's in the ministry is an assault on their integrity!  And that's what was happening here! Constable notes that "assaults on Paul's integrity threatened not only to split the church but to stunt the spiritual growth of the believers"!  And so the whole epistle of II Corinthians is basically a defense of his integrity and for the preservation of the church of God!  
 
Knowing the "fear of the Lord" not only influenced and generated integrity in Paul's life but motivated him to preach the gospel of salvation to others!  He wrote in Hebrews 10:31 that it's "a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!"  Jesus said something similar to His disciples, in Matthew 10:28,  "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell!"  And, in Luke 12:3, "But I will warn you whom to fear; fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!"
 
Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom!"  And Paul wrote in II Corinthians 7:1, "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God!"  MacArthur says, "this is not referring to be afraid of the Lord, but to have a worshipful reverence and awe as an essential motivation to live in such a way as to honor Him!  And he notes in another place that "life is summed up in its richest form by fearing the Lord!"
 
Constable wrote that "the testimony of a clear heart and a good conscience before God and people was important to the apostle Paul, and he told the Corinthians (in verse 11) that his life was made manifest to God (first of all!); and that he hoped it would also be "manifested also in their consciences" as well!  Remember what he had already told them (in 1:11) that "the testimony of his conscience" was that "in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you," and so they "had reason to be proud of him as he also would be proud of them, in the day of our Lord Jesus"!  And why?  In verse 12, he says, "So that you will have an answer to those who take pride in appearance and not in heart"!
 
Constable notes that Paul "knew his life was an open book to God, and he wanted it to be transparent to all the Corinthians as well!  Paul wanted to be seen like David in Old Testament time, who wrote, in Psalm 26:1, "Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord, without wavering!"
 
"For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; (but) if we are of sound mind, it is for you," he writes in verse 13!  Paul was so passionate and zealous about devotion to truth that some thought he was fanatical to the point of being out of his mind, and unbalanced!  But Paul maintained that the zeal and enthusiasm, and compassion he demonstrated was because he was dealing with critical truths which needed to be heard!  And he didn't seem to care what they thought, as long as the truth was proclaimed!  MacArthur notes that "the world, now as then, often looks unfavorably on people who are so dogmatic and zealous about the truths of the Bible!  As on "Jesus freaks"!
 
"For the love of God controls us," responds Paul (in verses 14-15), "having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf!"  Wow!  What a stunning statement!  
 
The apostle Paul was gratified, and motivated, most notably, by Christ's loving, "atoning, sacrificial death" on the cross!  This truth is the heart of the doctrine of salvation, notes MacArthur!  I John 4:9-10 says, "By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins!"
 
And in II Thessalonians 5:9-10, "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will be together with Him!"
 
And Romans 8:31-39, "What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare HIs own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?  Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the One who justifies; who is the one who condemns?  Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also interacts for us!  Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or sword?  Just as it is written, 'For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered!  But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us!  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor heights, nor depth, nor any created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of Christ our Lord!"  Wow!
 
Verse 11 in our text says, that "He died for all, therefore all died"!  Since He was our substitute!  We were, in effect, "crucified with Him"!  Romans 6:6-7 says, "Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who died is freed from sin!"  And then to verse 11--"Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Jesus Christ!
 
MacArthur sums up or lesson this way: "As the apostle Paul defended his integrity to the Corinthians, he wanted them to know his old, self-centered life was finished and that he had an all-out desire to live righteously. For genuine believers, their death in Christ is not only a death to sin, but a resurrection to a new life of righteousness!"
 
Galatians 2:20 says it well, as well!  "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me!"  Changes the way we live!
 
What hymns or other gospel songs come to mind as we look back on this lesson?
 
How bout "Amazing Grace!"  You know the words!
 
Or, the one that goes: "I am Thine, O Lord!  I have heard Thy voice; and it told Thy love for me.  But I long to rise in the arms of faith, and be closer drawn to Thee!" (And the chorus) "Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died; draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to Thy precious healing side!"  (There are more verses!)
 
Or, this one: "Take my life and let it be; consecrated, Lord, to Thee; take my moments and my days--let them flow in ceaseless praise, let them flow in ceaseless praise...!'
 
And, last but not least--"The love of God is greater far, than tongue of pen can ever tell!  It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell; the guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win; His erring child, He reconciled; and pardoned from his sin!  O love of God, how rich and pure!  How measureless and strong; it shall forever more endure, the saints and angels sing!"
 
Sing to the Lord, men!  And let the love of God control the way you live in the days to come!  Til we meet again!
 
Lowell