2 Corinthians 5:16 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, the apostle points to two things that are needed if we are to live for Christ. Both come from Christ’s death for us: new birth and reconciliation.

First, there is new birth, and it has two parts. One part is being weaned from the world, that is, no longer living for earthly things. “From now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view” (2 Corinthians 5:16). We do not hold on to people or things in this world for selfish gain. God’s grace helps us rise above the world and live for what lasts. The love of Christ fills our hearts, and the world loses its grip on us.

True Christians should enjoy the comforts of this life and their earthly relationships with holy freedom, not with deep attachment. Paul says, “Even if we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer” (2 Corinthians 5:16). It is not certain whether Paul had actually seen Christ in the flesh. The other apostles had, and some of the people he wrote to may have as well. Still, Paul does not want anyone to boast in that. Even Christ’s bodily presence is not something his followers should chase after or cling to.

We must live on his spiritual presence and the comfort it gives. Those who make images of Christ and use them in worship are not following God’s way of strengthening faith or stirring love. God’s will is that we should not know Christ in a merely outward, fleshly way.

The second part of new birth is a full change of heart. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Some read this as a call: “Let him be a new creation.” Either way, every person who claims to be a Christian should aim to be this. It is not enough to have a new name or wear a new badge. We must have a new heart and a new nature.

God’s grace makes such a great change in the soul that old things pass away. Old thoughts, old beliefs, and old ways of living must go. Everything becomes new. New birth creates a new world inside the soul. The renewed person acts from new principles, follows new rules, seeks new goals, and keeps new company.

Second, there is reconciliation, which is described here in two ways. It is first a great privilege. Reconciliation means there was a break in friendship, and sin caused that break between God and man. The sinner’s heart is full of hostility toward God, and God is rightly offended by sin. Yet reconciliation is possible. The offended Majesty of heaven is willing to be made friends with us again.

God has appointed the Mediator, the one who brings peace between God and sinners. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:18). God must be honored from start to finish in this work. Everything connected with our peace with God through Jesus Christ comes from God. Through Christ’s mediation, God has reconciled the world to himself and can now receive offenders without harming his justice or holiness. He does not count their trespasses against them. He sets aside the strict demands of the first covenant, which was broken, and does not press the full penalty we deserved. Instead, he is willing to enter a new covenant of grace, freely forgive sins, and freely justify, that is, declare righteous, all who believe.

God has also appointed the ministry of reconciliation. The Scriptures, written by God’s Spirit, are the word of reconciliation. They tell us that peace was made by the blood of the cross, that reconciliation has been achieved, and how we may share in it. God has also appointed the work of ministers, who serve as ambassadors of reconciliation. They are to open up the terms of mercy and peace to sinners and urge them to accept them.

Reconciliation is also spoken of here as our necessary duty. Since God is willing to be reconciled to us, we must be reconciled to him. This is one main goal of the gospel, the word of reconciliation, to turn sinners from their hostility toward God. Faithful ministers are Christ’s ambassadors. They come in God’s name, with his earnest appeal, and act in Christ’s place. They do what Christ did on earth, and what he still desires to be done now that he is in heaven. This is wonderful kindness from God, because he gains nothing from the quarrel and loses nothing by peace. Yet through his ministers he pleads with sinners to lay aside their hostility and accept his offer, to be reconciled to him, to all his attributes, to all his laws, and to all his dealings with them.

They are to believe in the Mediator, accept the atonement, and submit to the gospel in all its parts and in its whole purpose. To strengthen our confidence, Paul adds what we should know and think about carefully: “God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Christ was pure, and knew no sin. He was made sin for us, not a sinner, but a sin offering, a sacrifice for sin. The purpose was that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, that is, justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

As Christ, who knew no sin of his own, was made sin for us, so we, who have no righteousness of our own, are made the righteousness of God in him. Our peace with God comes only through Jesus Christ and for the sake of his merit. So we must rely on him and mention his righteousness, and only his.