2 CORINTHIANS 5 [†]For we know that if k the tent that is l our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, m a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2[†]For in this tent n we groan, longing to o put on our heavenly dwelling, 3if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal p may be swallowed up by life. 5[†]He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, q who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6[†]So we are always of good courage. We know that r while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7[†]for s we walk by faith, not t by sight. 8[†]Yes, we are of good courage, and we u would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9[†]So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to v please him. 10[†]For w we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, x so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
11[†]Therefore, knowing y the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But z what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12[†] a We are not commending ourselves to you again but b giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13[†]For if we c are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14[†]For the love of Christ d controls us, because we have concluded this: that e one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15and he died for all, f that those who live might no longer live for themselves but g for him who for their sake died and was raised.
16[†]From now on, therefore, h we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17[†]Therefore, if anyone is i in Christ, he is j a new creation. k The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18[†]All this is from God, l who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us m the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, n not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us m the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore, o we are ambassadors for Christ, p God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21[†] q For our sake he made him to be sin r who knew no sin, so that in him we might become s the righteousness of God.
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 5:2–4 Paul groans for the resurrection (i.e., being further clothed; cf. v. 1) in order to not be found naked or unclothed, which likely refers to the intermediate state in which believers’ spirits are with God but they do not yet enjoy their resurrected bodies.
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 5:1 The tent that is our earthly home refers to present human bodies that will die. Have refers to the future resurrection, and the building from God … eternal in the heavens refers to the resurrection body believers will receive on the last day (cf. 1 Thess. 4:13–18; Rev. 21:1–22:5). The tent analogy was quite apt since Paul made tents while living in Corinth (Acts 18:3), and the Corinthians likely sold tents to sailors or used them for housing visitors attending the Isthmian Games.
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 5:13 if we are beside ourselves … if we are in our right mind. This possibly responds to Corinthian mockery of Paul as crazy; certainly it draws a contrast between Paul’s own, private experiences in worship and prayer (see 12:1–4) and his being sober (Gk. sōphroneō, “being in a right mind”) while also being passionate in his ministry. Since Paul’s motivation is to please Christ (5:9), his priority in public is to persuade others (v. 11b), not to seek or urge others to seek exotic religious experiences.
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 5:9 we make it our aim to please him. Paul lives his entire life in light of a hope that his actions will bring delight to God day by day. It is possible for Christians to please or displease God in their daily actions (cf. Eph. 5:10; Phil. 4:18; Col. 3:20; Heb. 13:21; by contrast, Paul fears displeasing God; see 2 Cor. 5:11; also Eph. 4:30).
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 5:8 Away from the body and at home with the Lord refers to the “intermediate state” between a Christian’s death and the resurrection of all believers’ bodies on the day Christ returns. Paul means that when he dies, though his physical body will be buried here on earth, he expects that he (as a “spirit” or “soul” without a body) will go immediately into the presence of Christ, and will be present with Christ in that condition until the day of resurrection (cf. Luke 23:43; Phil. 1:23; Heb. 12:23).
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 5:17 new creation. The redemption of a people who now live for Christ by living for others, effected by the power of the Spirit (3:3, 6, 18) and the death of Christ (5:14–15), is the beginning of the new creation that was destined to come amid this evil age (see Isa. 43:18–19; 65:17–23; 66:22–23). This new creation is also the beginning of Israel’s final restoration from God’s judgment in the exile (see the context of Isa. 43:1–21; 65:17–25).
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 5:18–20 reconciliation. An expression of the significance of God’s saving activity in Christ that is unique to Paul (see Rom. 5:10–11; 11:15; Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20, 22). These verses outline (1) the basis of Paul’s apostolic ministry of the new covenant (Paul’s own reconciliation to God through Christ); (2) its consequence (his ministry and message of reconciliation to the world for Christ); (3) its essential content (the forgiveness of sins by virtue of Christ’s death); and (4) its call (on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God). ambassadors for Christ. Paul is sent as God’s prophetic minister of the new covenant (2 Cor. 3:4–6) to announce God’s “peace treaty” (cf. Isa. 53:5) with those who will trust in Christ to free them from the penalty and power of sin (2 Cor. 5:14–15; see Isa. 52:6–10; Rom. 10:15). “Be reconciled to God” is a summary of the gospel message Paul proclaims to unbelievers; it is a call to receive the reconciliation that God has wrought (Rom. 5:11).
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 5:1–10 The New Covenant Motivation for the Life of Faith. In spite of the fact that Paul longs to be “at home” with the Lord, he does not lose heart while he is away from the Lord (vv. 6, 8). His confidence in the future resurrection and in the reality of the judgment to come keeps him faithful in the present as he pursues his goal of pleasing Christ.
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 5:14–15 one has died for all, therefore all have died. By Christ’s death, the death penalty for sin (see Gen. 2:17) has been paid for all those who trust in him (see Rom. 3:21–26; 5:6–8; 1 Cor. 15:3; Gal. 3:13), and God counts their old life as ended, thus freeing them from any future penal claims. he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him. As a consequence of Christ’s death, the power of sin in one’s life (see Gen. 3:1–7) has also been broken for all those who trust in Christ (cf. Rom. 6:1–14). Christ’s cross therefore frees the believer for a new way of life, exemplified by Paul himself as one that the love of Christ controls (see Titus 2:11–14).
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 5:7 by faith, not by sight. This is not a reference to believing the unbelievable but to living all of one’s life based on confident trust in God’s promises for the future, even when one cannot yet see the fullness of the coming glory (4:18–5:1).
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 5:12 On Paul’s commending himself, see note on 4:2. Paul writes so that the Corinthians will be able to respond to false teachers who do not operate on the basis of a new covenant ministry.
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 5:21 This verse is one of the most important in all of Scripture for understanding the meaning of the atonement and justification. Here we see that the one who knew no sin is Jesus Christ (v. 20) and that he (God) made him (Christ) to be sin (Gk. hamartia, “sin”). This means that God the Father made Christ to be regarded and treated as “sin” even though Christ himself never sinned (Heb. 4:15; cf. Gal. 3:13). Further, we see that God did this for our sake—that is, God regarded and treated “our” sin (the sin of all who would believe in Christ) as if our sin belonged not to us but to Christ himself. Thus Christ “died for all” (2 Cor. 5:14) and, as Peter wrote, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24). In becoming sin “for our sake,” Christ became our substitute—that is, Christ took our sin upon himself and, as our substitute, thereby bore the wrath of God (the punishment that we deserve) in our place (“for our sake”). Thus the technical term for this foundational doctrine of the Christian faith is the substitutionary atonement—that Christ has provided the atoning sacrifice as “our” substitute, for the sins of all who believe (cf. Rom. 3:23–25). The background for this is Isaiah 53 from the Greek (Septuagint) translation of the Hebrew OT, which includes the most lengthy and detailed OT prophecy of Christ’s death and which contains numerous parallels to 2 Cor. 5:21. Isaiah’s prophecy specifically uses the Greek word for “sin” (Gk. hamartia) five times (as indicated below in italics) with reference to the coming Savior (the suffering servant) in just a few verses—e.g., “surely he has born our griefs” (Isa. 53:4); “He was crushed for our iniquities” (Isa. 53:5); “the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6); “he shall bear their iniquities” (Isa. 53:11); “he bore the sin of many” (Isa. 53:12). In a precise fulfillment of this prophecy, Christ became “sin” for those who believe in him, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. This means that just as God imputed our sin and guilt to Christ (“he made him to be sin”) so God also imputes the righteousness of Christ—a righteousness that is not our own—to all who believe in Christ. Because Christ bore the sins of those who believe, God regards and treats believers as having the legal status of “righteousness” (Gk. dikaiosynē). This righteousness belongs to believers because they are “in him,” that is, “in Christ” (e.g., Rom. 3:22; 5:18; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:17, 19; Phil. 3:9). Therefore “the righteousness of God” (which is imputed to believers) is also the righteousness of Christ—that is, the righteousness and the legal status that belongs to Christ as a result of Christ having lived as one who “knew no sin.” This then is the heart of the doctrine of justification: God regards (or counts) believers as forgiven and God declares and treats them as forgiven, because God the Father has imputed the believer’s sin to Christ and because God the Father likewise imputes Christ’s righteousness to the believer. (See further notes on Rom. 4:6–8; 5:18; 10:3; 10:6–8; see also Isa. 53:11: “the righteous one, my servant, [shall] make many to be accounted righteous”).
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 5:5 the Spirit as a guarantee. The presence of the Spirit in Christians’ lives now is the down payment or guarantee that they will receive resurrection bodies when Jesus returns.
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 5:10 the judgment seat of Christ. The “judgment seat” (Gk. bēma) was the tribunal bench in the Roman courtroom, where the governor sat while rendering judicial verdicts. Remains of such a bēma exist in the Corinthian forum today (see Acts 18:12–17 and Introduction to 1 Corinthians: The Ancient City of Corinth). In the coming age, Christ will judge as God the Father’s representative, ruling the kingdom the Father has given him (see Rom. 14:10–12; etc.). so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done … whether good or evil. This underscores the principle that present-day actions have eternal consequences. All Christians will appear before the eternal judgment seat of Christ, to receive “what is due” to them for the deeds that they have done in their earthly life. It is debated, however, (1) whether the aim of this judgment is to determine the measure of reward that the Christian will receive in the age to come; or (2) whether the aim is to provide demonstrative evidence regarding who is lost and who is saved. Because the context of Paul’s statement refers back to both the believer’s hope for the resurrection (see 2 Cor. 5:1, 4) and to the reward of “glory beyond all comparison” (see 4:16–18), it would seem that both aims are in view. Thus, with regard to the first case, many interpreters hold that the believer’s deeds will provide public evidence to indicate the measure of rewards that the believer will receive, corresponding to the believer’s “obedience of faith” (acts of service, love, and righteousness; cf. Rom. 1:5; 16:26). In the second case, some interpreters hold that the believer’s deeds will also provide public evidence brought forth before the judgment seat of Christ to demonstrate that one’s faith is real—that is, public evidence, not as the basis for salvation, but as a demonstration of the genuineness of one’s faith. Paul therefore makes it his aim to “please” Christ (2 Cor. 5:5–9), because the extent to which one does this corresponds to the measure of rewards that one will receive (see Matt. 6:20; Luke 19:17, 19; 1 Cor. 3:12–15; 1 Tim. 6:19; Rev. 22:12), likewise giving evidence for the genuineness of one’s faith. Paul is confident that genuine believers will pass Christ’s judgment, since the new covenant ministry of reconciliation has brought them under the life-transforming power of the Spirit—based on the forgiveness of their sins through faith in Christ alone, all of which is the result of God’s grace alone (see 2 Cor. 1:12, 22; 3:6, 8–9, 18; 4:4–6, 15; 5:5, 14–15, 16–21; 8:19; 9:8, 14; etc.).