Lesson for August 9, 2023
The Book of II Corinthians
Chapter 5:1-21
Verses 1-10
“For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
Paul lived in light of eternity as we see from his attitude about this life and the next. The Greek word for groan is “stenazo,” which means to grieve or to feel sorrow. The Greek word for burdened is“bareo,” which means to be persecuted or oppressed. Paul grieved because he would rather be in a glorified body than to stay on earth and suffer persecution. Being unclothed is a reference to being in a physical body. Being clothed is a reference to being in a glorified body.
It is the plan of God for all believers to receive a glorified body. The Greek word for pledge is “arrabon,” which means a down payment. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a pledge from God for our salvation and for all spiritual blessings. The Holy Spirit is a seal placed upon a believer at salvation, guaranteeing eternal life and an eternal inheritance.
Therefore, being always of good courage… for we walk by faith. The Greek word for courage is “tharreo,” which means total assurance. Paul understood that this life on earth was temporary and while he was here, he placed his full and complete confidence in God (walk by faith).
Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. The Greek word for ambition is “philotimeomai,” which means to consider it an honor. The whole basis of this verse is to consider it an honor to be well pleasing to God. If you have personal love for God, then you will want to please him. We are to seek to honor God by being ambitious toward pleasing Him. The Judgment Seat of Christ is for believers only and takes place sometime shortly after the Rapture of the Church. It is during our evaluation that we will be rewarded for executing the Christian Way of Life. (John 14:1-3; II Corinthians 5:8-10; Romans 14:11-12)
Verses 5:11-16
“Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore 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. Therefore, from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.”
The Greek word for fear is “phobos,” which means reverence, awe, or respect. Understanding God and His policies causes a believer to respect God and His policies regarding obedience and divine discipline. If a believer understands God’s policies regarding the unbeliever, they will be motivated to try and persuade them to trust Christ as Savoir. We are manifest (made known) to the Lord because doctrine gives us a love for the Lord, and we like to talk about the things we love.
We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. The Greek word for proud is “kauchema,” which means to boast of or to glory in. Paul’s desire was that these believers would understand the motivation of Paul and his team in communicating the Gospel and teaching doctrine. If they truly understood the motivation, they would know that Paul, and his team were operating out of love for God and love for these believers and wanted to be proud of them.
For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. His attitude toward these believers was love, but love tempered with sound doctrine. Toward God, Paul and his team showed emotion based on doctrine, but toward these believers they showed a stabilized mentality, a relaxed mental attitude because that is what would persuade the Corinthians to pursue accurate doctrine.
For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore 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. The Greek word for control is “sunecho,” which means to hold together or to secure. It is a word of motivation from Christ’s love for us and what He accomplished on the Cross for the entire human race (all of whom are born spiritually dead). Jesus Christ went to the Cross to demonstrate His love for mankind. (I Timothy 2:6; 4:10; Titus 2:11; Hebrews 2:9; II Peter 2:1; I John 2:2)
So that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Christ’s love for us was demonstrated on the Cross by his spiritual and physical death. His substitutional spiritual death paid the penalty for mankind’s sin. A life lived for Christ should be the goal of every believer.
Therefore, from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Here we have a contrast between divine viewpoint and human viewpoint. From now on means from the point of salvation and learning the correct view about Christ, we no longer merely form our views from human viewpoint. Since believing in Christ and learning Bible doctrine, our viewpoint about Christ has changed from human to divine.
Verses 5:17-20
“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, 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.Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
These verses are often quoted with regard to being a “new creation” in Christ (but not always understood). The content of II Corinthians 5 shows the result of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the placing of a believer into union with Christ. It is our union with Christ that gives us the potential for a personal sense of destiny. It is in light of this doctrinal truth that Paul tells us in verse 17 that we are new creations in Christ and that old things (referring to spiritual death) have passed away and all things have become new (spiritual life).
“Katallasso” is the word used for reconciliation to God. This means that it is man who is “hostile” towards God and has become rebellious by means of his inherent sin nature. It means that mankind is the enemy of God, and it is man who needs to be reconciled to God. “Katallasso” means to change or to exchange (originally referring to money). It came to mean a change from being one’s enemy to being one’s friend. This is the meaning throughout the New Testament. At salvation, a believer is reconciled to God. This means that a believer is no longer God’s enemy, but that peace has been made as a result of the person’s change of mind towards Christ (the true meaning of repentance). (Romans 5:10)
Reconciliation is accomplished by the removal of a barrier that exists between God and mankind. Once this barrier is removed, the possibility exists for peace between them. The barrier that separates God from mankind is sin. Every person is born with a sin nature, which is passed down genetically from their father. Mankind also possesses Adam’s original sin, which is imputed to them at birth by God. It is Adam’s original sin that condemns the human race.
As ambassadors for Christ, we have the ministry of reconciliation, meaning we represent Christ on earth. We have been given the responsibility and the privilege of sharing the good news of the Gospel with others. Sharing the Gospel of Christ should be natural and easy without pressure from any source.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. This verse explains how a person is reconciled to God. The perfect, sinless Son of God, Jesus Christ, literally became sin on the behalf of the entire human race and paid the penalty for sin on the Cross. God gives us His very own righteousness the moment we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior.