2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER
5:18-6:2, “Be Reconciled To God”
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study, we looked again at Paul defending himself
against this group of ‘super-apostles’ who had come to the church in
1.1.1. Paul pointed out to them
that he and those with him had given their lives for the preaching of the
gospel so that the lost could come to salvation, inferring that the
‘super-apostles’ were not preaching the gospel nor giving up their lives for
the souls of men
1.1.2. Paul told the Corinthians
that he and those with him were controlled by the love of Christ in all that
they did
1.1.3. Paul told the Corinthians
that Jesus gave His life for us so that we in turn might yield our lives back
up to Him
1.1.4. Paul spoke to them about the
fact that he was serving a living and risen Lord whereas the ‘super-apostles’
were serving a Jesus who was merely according to the flesh
1.1.5. Paul told the Corinthians
that if a person comes to know Christ that God makes him an entire new
creation, and thus they recognized no man according to the flesh
1.1.5.1.The scriptures make it clear
that the Christian receives a new heart, mind, will, and a renewed spirit when
he is saved
1.2.
In our study today, Paul continues defending himself to the Corinthians
as he begins to implore them that they needed to be reconciled to God for they
were in danger of falling completely away
1.2.1. Paul tells the Corinthians
that he and those with him were ambassadors of Christ, and thus as he was
speaking on Christ’s behalf the Corinthians had the responsibility of
responding to Paul and heeding his exhortation for them to get right with the
Lord
1.2.2. What was at the heart of the
Corinthian’s being reconciled to God was for them to again recognize Paul as
their apostle, accept his authority over them, and give the boot to these
‘super apostles’ who were leading them astray from the truth
1.2.3. We will look at the fact
that each of us is called to proclaim the ‘word of reconciliation’ and to
reconcile men to God through the finished work of Christ wherein God has
reconciled Himself to mankind
1.2.4. We will look at:
1.2.4.1.Who needs to be reconciled
to God
1.2.4.2.Why men need to be reconciled
to God
1.2.4.3.What is that ‘word of
reconciliation’
2.
VS 5:18-19 - “18 Now
all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and
gave us the ministry of reconciliation,19 namely, that God was in Christ
reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them,
and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” - Paul tells the Corinthians that he has been
given the ministry of reconciliation
2.1.
‘Reconciliation’ is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as, “to
restore to friendship or harmony.”
2.2.
Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following entry for the word ‘katalasso’ which
is defined as ‘reconciled:’
2.2.1. 1)to change, exchange, as coins for others of
equivalent value
2.2.1.1.to reconcile (those who are at variance)
2.2.1.2.return to favour with, be reconciled to one
2.2.1.3.to receive one into favour
2.3.
In his New Testament letters, Paul has revealed to us the fact that
after the fall of man in the garden of Eden that mankind thereafter was
separated from a holy and righteous God because of their sin, but through
the blood of the cross of Jesus the Father has made peace and the means for us
to be reconciled to God:
2.3.1. In Isaiah 59:2, the
Lord reveals what it is that separates men and women from Him, it is our sins, “2
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And
your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.”
2.3.2. You might ask, but what is
sin?
2.3.2.1.In I John 3:4, the
apostle John writes that sin is the transgression of God’s laws, “4 Whosoever
committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the
law.”
2.3.2.2.In Rom. 14:23 we read
that whatever is not of faith in our lives is sin, “23 But he who doubts
is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not
from faith is sin.”
2.3.2.3.In James 2:14, James
wrote that if we know to do right and don’t do it that it is sin, “17 Therefore,
to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
2.3.3. In Rom. 3:23, we read
that all have fallen short of the glory of God because of their sin, “23 for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Because we have already fallen short of
the glory of God we have no means of being acceptable to God or establishing a
righteousness before God based upon our own innate goodness or our good deeds.
2.3.3.1.So, this is where mankind
stood, separated from God because of the offense of their sins. Thus, God and mankind were at enmity or
hostilities with each other.
2.3.4. In Col. 1:19-23, we
read about how that God provided us the means of being reconciled to Him
through Jesus and His death upon the cross and resurrection from the dead, “19
For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in
Him,20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace
through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or
things in heaven.21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in
mind, engaged in evil deeds,22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly
body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and
beyond reproach—23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and
steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard,
which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was
made a minister.”
2.3.4.1.Whereas there previously was
hostility between us and God, that hostility was removed by the cross and a
peace treaty signed in the blood of Jesus.
Now, men and women can come into fellowship with God and receive
salvation through faith in Christ and His work upon the cross.
2.3.5. In Col. 2:14, Paul
goes on to say that our debt of sins which we owed to God was nailed to Jesus’
cross, “14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of
decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the
way, having nailed it to the cross.”
2.3.6. Peter wrote in 1 Peter
3:18 about how Christ died, the just of the unjust, “18 For Christ
also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He
might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in
the spirit.”
2.3.6.1.Notice that Jesus’ sacrifice
for sins was made ‘once for all,’ which means that He paid for all sins that mankind
will ever commit, even those we commit after coming to know Him as our Lord and
Savior.
2.4.
Paul writes here that God has given to us the ‘word of
reconciliation.’ This is the gospel
message itself that tells us that the means for every person to be reconciled
to God has been provided by the Lord, for He sent His son to the world and
removed what stood in the way, our sin.
God is fully satisfied by the sacrifice of His Son for our sins, and
therefore we can be reconciled to God.
2.5.
Paul writes to the Corinthians that his ministry was a ministry of
reconciliation. God had called him
to go and to preach the gospel to men and women, tell them that through
responding to the gospel challenge that they can be reconciled to God, or come
into friendly terms and relations with Him.
2.6.
Not only was Paul called, each of us as Christians has been called also
to be God’s agents of reconciliation in this world. This is just part of responding to Jesus’
Great Commission for us His church as found in Matt. 28:18-19, “18 And
Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in
heaven and on earth.19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
2.6.1. I received an email this
week from a missions organization and it had the following story about an
English man named William Carey and the apathetic response that he
received from his denomination when he shared with them his conviction that the
church needs to get busy preaching the gospel to the whole world, “In
the late 1700's a young cobbler had placed a map of the world above his work
table. Day after day as he was repairing shoes, God was breaking his heart with
a compassion for the lost of the world. At a meeting of British churchmen, he
was given an opportunity to speak. However, in the middle of his impassioned
appeal for the Church to rise up to the challenge of world evangelization, he
was cut short with the words, “Young man, sit down! If God wants to save the
heathen, He’ll do it without your help or ours.”” Carey finally left his denomination and then
went on to serve as a Baptist missionary to
2.6.1.1.Though we as Christians may
be critical of churches or mission organizations with the attitude of this
apathetic denomination who didn’t care if people died and went to hell, we ought
to ask ourselves if this isn’t the very attitude that we have towards reaching
our own neighbors and the people of our city with the gospel!
2.6.1.1.1.Do you have the attitude
that if God wants to reach the people in your city He is going to do it without
your help?
2.6.1.1.2.Or, are you willing and
ready to try to reach the lost in your city?
3.
VS 5:20 - “20 Therefore,
we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg
you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” - Paul entreats the Corinthians to be
reconciled to God
3.1.
The ‘super-apostles’ who had come into the church in Corinth were
Judaisers who were telling the people that in order to be saved that in
addition to having faith in Christ they also needed to keep the law of Moses.
3.2.
The super-apostles’ teaching was undermining the faith of the
church. The scriptures are very clear
that we must not trust our works or good deeds to make us righteous or
acceptable before God, but that it is only by trusting completely in Christ and
His work that we can be made righteous in God’s sight.
3.2.1. In Rom. 3:19-20, Paul
wrote about how by the works of the law that there will be no flesh justified
before God, “19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to
those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world
may become accountable to God;20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will
be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”
3.2.2. There is a righteousness
that could be obtained through the keeping of the law of Moses, however in
order to be righteous through the law one would have to keep the law
perfectly. One sin would disqualify a
person from being righteous before God.
Thus, none of us will ever be righteous before God based our works and
good deeds.
3.2.3. Let me give an illustration
as to why a person could not be made righteous before God based upon the
law. Let’s imagine that a man had
committed some serious crime such as murder.
He had gotten very angry and in cold blood intentionally murdered a
man. That is an offense against our
laws, and one which the justice system of a nation would require
punishment. However, on the day that the
man’s trial went to court here is what the man says in his defense, as a reason
that he should be acquitted of his crime.
He testifies on his own behalf before the judge and jury and he tells
them that they should let him off from this charge for three reasons: 1) in many other situations he has not
murdered anyone when he got angry, 2) he has not murdered people
many times when he had gotten angry at them for something that they had done to
him, and finally because 3) he promises that he won’t murder
anyone again. These points of
defense would be irrelevant in a court of law you see because justice must be
served against every offense against the law.
Everyone has broken God’s laws many many times, and so the result
becomes even more obvious. Since a
person can break any of the Ten Commandments by thoughts (as Jesus taught when
He said that if you look upon a woman to lust after her you have committed
adultery with her, or when He said that if you become angry with your brother
or call him a fool that you have committed murder) or your actions, and by sins
of omission as well as commission, then all of us have broken God’s laws
numerous times. Let’s imagine that a
person decided that he would try to be as good as he could and that doing so he
only broke God’s laws by thought or deed three times a day. If he died at the age of 70, he would have
broken God’s laws 76,650 times (70 * 365 * 3 = 76,650). Now what judge would let a man off who came
before his bench at trial if he had committed this many offenses? The only hope for every man or woman to be
acquitted of his wrong doings is to trust in the completed work of Christ upon
the cross for his sins in order to be accepted by the Lord.
3.2.4. In Gal. 2:21, Paul
wrote that if a person could become righteous before God based upon the law
then it was unnecessary for Christ to come and to die upon the cross of Calvary
for us, “21 “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness
comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.””
3.3.
One thing that is always becoming more and more apparent in the world
each day is that there is something wrong with mankind. Why do people have the problems they
have? Why does society have the problems
it has? Why does crime exist to the
extent that it exists? Why is there so
much hate? Why so many wars? Why so many divorces and broken homes? Why do kids take guns to school and kill
everyone in sight? Why do so many people
get involved in substance abuse and get into addictions of every kind
imaginable? I have seen people do so
many heinous things in my lifetime that when I was younger I never thought that
anyone would ever commit. What is wrong
with mankind? I want to emphasize here
that what is wrong with mankind is simple that we are fallen into ‘sin.’ We are a fallen race, with fallen sinful
natures, and our natural desires are not to always to do good, but rather we
all have an impulse to do things that are wrong both in man’s eyes as well as
God’s. Today, we are living in an age of
greater education than at any time in history, however our great education has
not produced a better man, rather the entire human race is as corrupt as ever,
or possibly more so. From the poor man
to the rich man, from the educated man to the uneducated and primitive man, all
have one thing in common, we are all sinners and part of a sinful fallen race. Sin is destroying every one of our lives, for
we have all sinned many times. Our sin
has separated each and every one of us from a holy and righteous God. We have sinful desires, commit sinful acts,
and are in rebellion against a holy, righteous, and just God. We all deserve eternal hell as punishment for
our sins. We in the church need to
realize that there is one message that brings life to all people of all strata
of life and society, it is the message that Christ paid for all of our sins and
paved the way so that we might be born again, made new creations in Christ, and
regenerated to new life through Christ.
Christ is the only hope for every man or woman, rich or poor, educated
or uneducated. Christ brings the hope of
salvation for one who realizes that he is a desperate sinner, and who is
willing to be a repentant sinner, and receive pardon and new life through the
blood of the cross of Jesus Christ.
3.3.1. In Luke 18:9-14,
Jesus told the story of two men in the temple, one who was a self-righteous
Pharisee and the other a publican (or tax gatherer), and how that the publican
(not the Pharisee) was justified before God because he was the one who truly
saw and admitted his sin before God, “9 And He also told this parable to
certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed
others with contempt:10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a
Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer.11 “The Pharisee stood and was praying
thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers,
unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer.12 ‘I fast twice a week; I
pay tithes of all that I get.’13 “But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance
away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his
breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’14 “I tell you, this man
went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts
himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.””
3.4.
An ‘ambassador’ for a country is a man who is given the authority to
speak and act on behalf of his country. He is able
to make promises and obligations acting on behalf of his country because of his
position as an ‘ambassador.’ What he
says in behalf of his country he says as its representative and he voices his
country’s wishes and the commitments his country is prepared to make. An ‘ambassador’ must never act on his own
behalf or misrepresent his country in any way or it would be considered an act
of treason. Paul was sent and
commissioned by Christ, he was Christ’s ambassador. The gospel message that he preached and
taught he had received personally from Christ.
He was personally trained and instructed of Jesus. Thus, what Paul taught and wrote is
considered by the church to be ‘inspired of God’ on the level of the scriptures
themselves.
3.5.
Notice that Paul is not saying that he sought to reconcile God to us. That work was complete when Christ died upon
the cross. The Lord stands with a peace
treaty in hand and ready to forgive men and women who will come to Christ for
salvation. Paul is saying that we are
to reconcile men to God, for God is already reconciled having already paved
the way to reconciliation through
3.6.
One thing that I want you to notice also in this verse is that the
‘we’ that is spoken of here in reference to ambassadors refers to Paul and
those with him. The ‘we’ then refers
to the apostolic call that Paul had. By
studying through this letter verse by verse, we see by the context that Paul
has been speaking of himself and those with him in defending himself to the
Corinthians. Many people read this verse
and say that it teaches that all of us as Christians are ambassadors for
Christ, however according to the context it must only refer to Paul and those
with him. However, in a derivative or
secondary sense can we say from scripture that all of us as Christians are
called as ambassadors of Christ to reconcile men to God.
3.7.
Paul, speaking as Christ’s ambassador and with all of that derivative
authority, tells the Corinthians that they must be reconciled to God. They had gone astray in their beliefs having
entertained these newcomers who were in the Christian cult of the Judaisers,
and they needed to repent of turning away from the very things that Paul had
taught them in the scripture concerning salvation, get rid of these
‘super-apostles’ and again embrace Paul as their apostle. If they refused this offer from Paul, then
they would be cut off completely from Christ and given over to their own lusts. This was a life or death decision which they
must make.
3.8.
Going further than giving the Corinthians an ultimatum, he begs them
to be reconciled to God.
3.8.1. The gospel message that we
Christians share with people must be shared with passion if we truly understand
the love of God and how God has provided such an incredible opportunity for all
men to be saved simply through placing their faith in Christ’s completed work
on Calvary as they yield up their lives to God!
3.8.2. When we Christians think of
what awful eternal punishment the word of God promises that there will be for
those who reject Christ and His offer of reconciliation, then it behooves us
also to implore and even to beg people to be reconciled to God before it is too
late!
3.8.2.1.The scriptures tells us in Rev.
14:11 that for the rebellious in this world that, “…The smoke of their torment goeth up for ever and ever…”
3.9.
Paul loved the Corinthians, especially since he was their spiritual
father in the faith, and therefore he cannot bare the thought of them turning
away from Christ by being sucked into this heretical teaching straight from the
pit of hell.
4.
VS 5:21 - “21 He made
Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.” - Paul tells
the Corinthians that Christ was made sin so that we might become the righteousness
of God in Him
4.1.
The ‘super-apostles’ had believed in Christ, albeit a Christ only
according to the flesh not the risen and exalted Christ, however they were now
trying to create a righteousness of their own through their keeping of the law. However, as we have seen men are poor law and
rule keepers, and they would have had to keep the law perfectly in the first
place in order to be accepted before God based upon their own works and
righteousness.
4.2.
God made provision for mankind to be reconciled to Himself however, as
we have already talked about. Jesus is
completely righteous and acceptable to the Lord, and when we become Christians
the Lord looks at us through the righteousness of Jesus, and we are acceptable
to Him.
4.2.1. When I was a young Christian
and first began to understand the imputed righteousness of Christ for us it
occurred to me that God looks at me through a filter and thus I am perfect and
righteous in His sight, and that filter is the perfect and righteous One, Jesus
Christ God’s only begotten Son.
4.3.
There is an Old Testament picture of righteousness being imputed to
us. Remember the story of Abraham and
how that he when he was called by God that he believed God and then because of
his faith he went out to the place that the Lord was calling him to go? Well, in James 2:22-23, we read that
when Abraham took God’s word by faith and thus in obedience went out to the
place where he was being called, that Abraham’s faith was imputed or reckoned
to him as righteousness, “22 You see that faith was working with his
works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;23 and the Scripture
was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him
as righteousness,” and he was called the
friend of God.”
4.3.1. In the same way that Abraham
was not establishing a righteousness before God based upon his own innate
righteousness nor his works but rather by his faith in God’s word and calling
of him, we Christians place our faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice upon
the cross of Calvary and we are made righteous in God’s sight through Christ.
4.4.
The result of Christ becoming sin that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him is that we are no longer under condemnation, as
Paul wrote about in Rom. 8:1-4, “1 There is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.3 For what the Law
could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in
the flesh,4 in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us,
who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
4.5.
I want you to know that if you are a Christian that as a child of God,
He never gets angry with you because He always sees you through the
righteousness of Christ. Though the Lord
may discipline us from time to time as He is working growth and character into
our lives, He never does so out of anger towards us.
5.
VS 6:1-2 - “1 And
working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in
vain—2 for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day
of salvation I helped you” ;behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation” —” - Paul urges the Corinthians not to receive the
grace of God in vain, for now is the day of salvation
5.1.
Paul tells the Corinthians that he and those with him are working
together ‘with’ God, and working with God he is imploring and begging them
to be reconciled to God. I just want to
point out that many more people are willing to work ‘for’ God than
are willing to work ‘with’ God.
Working ‘with’ God means that you need to concentrate upon listening and
heeding the Lord, following His plan and not trying to get God to follow your
plan.
5.1.1. People who work ‘for’ God
tend to pray and many times even memorize prayers so that that can manipulate
God to work, as if prayer is some type of incantation or spell that causes
things to happen. This is really the
basis for the ‘faith movement in the church today.
5.1.2. However, when we are working
‘with’ God our primary focus is to seek and even to worship the Lord, and the
heart attitude that follows is one that is trying to do all in order to please
the Lord and not offend or grieve Him in any way. Ian Thomas once wrote a great saying
that touches very closely to the importance that we work ‘with’ God in our
lives, “He who does God’s will God’s way will never lack God’s blessing.”
5.1.2.1.The Old Testament is full of
the stories those who were God’s leaders who tried to do God’s will but did it
their own way, and God never blessed
them. I think of King Saul as being a
primary example of a man doing things for God but not doing them God’s way and
thus not being blessed by God. In fact,
he was tormented by a demon. Samson was
another, he was a judge or deliverer of God’s people (from the book of Judges)
whom God worked through but yet a man that was not very spiritual, not a
worshipper, and his life came to a tragic end.
Jeptha was another judge who was not a very spiritual man, and we can
see this because he vowed that if God gave him victory in battle to deliver the
Israelites that he would sacrifice the first thing that came out of his tent
when he returned, not realizing that it would be his most beloved daughter who
came to celebrate his victory.
5.1.2.2.The Old Testament also
includes examples of men who were blessed greatly of God and went in his
favor. King David was called a man after
God’s heart. He did God’s will and did
it God’s way and thus was blessed.
Daniel (who wrote the book of Daniel) who was a eunuch serving the Lord
faithfully in Babylonian captivity is another.
Joseph in the book of Genesis is another man who always gained the favor
of the Egyptians because he first had won the favor of God.
5.2.
From the context of Paul’s arguments in this letter, we see that what
Paul is actually referring to her by not receiving the ‘grace of God in vain’
is to simply not respond to the offer of salvation. The grace of God had been freely extended to
them, for they were implored and even begged to be reconciled to God through
Christ, however if they rejected this incredible offer of pardon and mercy then
they were receiving it ‘in vain.’
5.3.
Today is the day of salvation.
There is only a window of opportunity available to men to repent and be
reconciled to the Lord. We saw in our
Tuesday evening study in Isaiah 55:6 that during the dispensation where
men may be reconciled to God, and while they still have their life and are able
to do so, the call goes out to come to the Lord and receive His pardon while
that window of opportunity remains open, for one day it will be shut and it
will be too late to do so, “6 Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.”
6.
CONCLUSION:
6.1.
Have you heeded the word of reconciliation from the word of God? If
not:
6.1.1. God has been reconciled to
you and offers you peace and forgiveness by having paid an incalculable price,
the blood of His son. Today is the day
of salvation, for you aren’t promised tomorrow.
6.1.2. Repent and turn away from
your life of sin and repent towards God being willing to do His will in your
life, and place your complete trust in the righteousness of Jesus alone to be
your righteousness, and His blood to be the full covering and forgiveness for
your sins. If you will do so, you will
be reconciled and brought into friendly and wonderful relations with God as you
are born again of His Spirit and as a new creation in Christ given a new heart,
a new will, and a new mind, and, eternal life to spend with the Lord Himself
6.2.
Christian, God has called you and me to the ministry of
reconciliation. We need to go to men and
women and as God’s ambassadors passionately implore them to be reconciled to
God, and if they won’t here us then beg them to be reconciled to God. God has called us to the ministry of
reconciliation.