2 Corinthians chapter 5

vs 11

Paul's ministry is to try and persuade people of the fact of judgement. Probably not how we'd put a ministry of evangelism. But remember, judgement only holds fear for those who are guilty.

And Paul does this knowing that God knows his heart, and he hopes that what he's doing is also plain to the Corinthians. He tries to do things openly and plainly so people see his intentions, but people can still think that you're doing it for selfish motives. Even today. And why? Mostly because there are people who are doing it for such motives.

vs 12

Paul thinks the Corinthians should know plainly that Paul is serving God gloriously, and he wants them to be able to take a bit of pride in that. Not because "Hey look, we were evangelised by Paul, aren't we cool" but more to defend him from the people who say he is bringing them the gospel with impure motives, which of course then calls into question their faith.

vs 13

Obviously some people are saying Paul's out of his mind. But he assures them that if he seems that way, it's because he's serving God fully. And that includes serving the Corinthians, which surely means he's in his right mind, at least to them.

vs 14

The first bit is interesting because it shows the driving force behind Paul's crazy life. Christ's love has affected him so deeply that he has no choice but to serve him with everything he's got.

The second bit is interesting because, on its own, it is not at all logical. And it doesn't really get expanded from here, either. Nowhere near here does Paul explain the necessity for "all died". It fits well into Romans, but not here.

vs 15

If Christ was God and died for me, then there is no greater gift I can give than to live for him. That's a paraphrase of some missionary. I think the quote comes up occasionally on the AMT website. A life bought is a life owned. And we didn't buy it, so surely we don't own it.

vs 16

Paul doesn't regard anyone from a worldly point of view (that is, with this world's consequences and situation in mind), and especially not Christ! Trying to rationalise Christ's ministry as one of teaching, or helping, or loving, or healing in the worldly sense will never get to the heart of what he was here to do. I mean, did God really come to earth to heal people, only to have them die again? Do me a lemon.

vs 17

Instead of looking at this creation, Paul declares that those in Christ are a new creation! I guess if we could see the future, we'd appreciate more how important it is. But since we've been told the future (fairly generally, but still enough to know what's going to happen to people) it's a pretty darn good way of looking at things. Paul says that those in Christ are already new - the old has already gone, and the new has already come! Whether he's being a bit hyperbolic, or there's a theological truth there, well, it's probably 50/50. we all know that eternal life starts now, but we also know that we're not in heaven with our perfect bodies and sinless nature yet.

vs 18

Paul sees his ministry as an extension of Christ's ministry. Christ came to reconcile people to God, so also Paul comes to reconcile people to Christ. It's perfectly fair to see our own ministries as extensions of Christ's ministry.

vs 19

A bit of a repeat here. God used Christ's ministry to reconcile people to himself, to take sin out of the equation. And so now God uses Paul to bring people into the fruits of that ministry. So Christ had the ministry of reconciliation, and we have the message of reconciliation.

vs 20

Ambassadors don't only carry messages from their king, they also carry the king's authority. It's a two way street, and Paul walks it both ways. He hears God proclaiming his message through him, and even gives us an example here.

vs 21

The first half tells us something explicitly that is only implicit throughout the rest of the New Testament. Jesus, who had no sin, became sin for us. Possibly it means sin offering, but I think the idea of Jesus becoming sin, that is, becoming apart from God, becoming profane, is a powerful image.

The second half tells us that this ministry of Christ also changes us. We become the righteousness of God. Now, the transaction is complicated. We still sin. And Jesus is still righteous. So obviously these are not instant and simplistic transformations here. What does that mean? I don't know really. I'm sure we can learn a lot about the nuts and bolts of sacrificial atonement salvation, but what Paul says here is limited.