"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
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
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