Generous Giving (2 Corinthians 8.1-24)

The collection

Two whole chapters are now dedicated to the collection of money to send to the church in Jerusalem, which was evidently suffering considerable poverty. C. K. Barrett refers to this collection as one of Paul’s “major activities” and we find reference to it also in Romans 15.25-32, 1 Corinthians16.1-4 and perhaps also in Galatians 2.10. We may even feel that it stands as the centre-piece of this whole letter to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians, Paul had been distinctly critical of the church in Corinth, but in this letter he writes very positively. He commends them that they “excel in everything – in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us” (8.7). He also defends himself against any criticism and appeals for the Christians to love and honour him. Was he afraid that they might reject him and therefore refuse to add their contribution to his collection of money for the Jerusalem church?

With the aim of encouraging the Corinth church to give generously, Paul tells them about the sacrificial collection made by the Macedonian churches (8.1-5). The Macedonians had been suffering “severe trial” and “extreme poverty”, but had nevertheless given with “rich generosity”, giving “as much as they were able” and “even beyond their ability”. What a challenge to the Corinthian Christians – and to us today as we too face the desperate needs of mission worldwide and of Christians in situations of fearful poverty and persecution. Let us also join the ranks of those who give generously beyond the narrow borders of our own church.

Was Paul aware that this collection would not only help the Jerusalem church, but also fulfil the prophecy in Isaiah 60.5? If so, it is strange that he doesn’t mention this at all. But as money was collected from largely Gentile churches for the benefit of Christians in Jerusalem, it seems like an exact fulfilment of the prophecy to Israel that “the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations/Gentiles will come”.

As so often in Paul’s writings, “grace” (Greek: charis) predominates in Paul’s thinking about giving. Sometimes translated with words like ‘privilege’ (8.4) and ‘I thank’ (8.16) (or entirely lost in NIV’s translation of 8.19), this concept of totally underserved love stands out.  The churches’ act of generous giving characterises God’s grace and is inspired by God’s grace. We are not surprised that the whole section on giving climaxes with the statement that such heartfelt love issues from “the surpassing grace God has given you” (9.14). Our giving not only contains practical financial considerations, but also relates to clear spiritual questions.

Money corrupts – so, be careful! (8.20/21)

It is commonly noted that church scandals usually lie in the realms of money, sex or power. As Christian churches or other movements, we need therefore to follow Paul in his careful administration of the collection. It is generally dangerous and unwise to allow one person alone to deal with any financial matters. Paul is strongly aware of this and wants “to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift” (8.20). So, he not only sends Titus as a trustworthy fellow-worker, but with him also two other ‘brothers’ who have been chosen by the churches in Corinth and entrusted with this task. In the administration of the gift, Paul takes pains to “do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of other people”. How easily scandal and false accusations can arise in questions of money! And, if an accusation does come, the proverb that ‘there is no smoke without fire’ can easily destroy a Christian’s or a church’s reputation and ministry. Let us be very careful!

Principles of Christian giving

How much? Although Paul commends the Macedonian churches for their wholehearted giving despite their poverty, he carefully stresses to the Corinthians that he only expects them to give “according to your means” (8.11). Their ‘willingness’ is more important than the amount they give – God looks on the heart, not on the financial accounts. Paul doesn’t want the Jerusalem church to abound, while the Corinthians wallow in poverty because of their over-generous giving. Rather, he aims for equality between the churches (8.13). While the church in Corinth enjoys more than adequate resources and can help to relieve the Jerusalem church in their poverty, the reverse may come about in the future (8.14). In writing about equality, Paul looks back to God’s gift of manna in the wilderness. In those days everyone gathered just what they needed without anyone gaining more or less than they needed (8.15). All God’s people should give what they can and receive according to need. Within our own churches this principle is relatively easy, but in our international relations as the one universal body of Christ we face grave problems. Our sisters and brothers in many countries face tremendous needs due to climate change, war and natural disasters. Wealthier churches and individual Christians easily feel the impossibility of bringing about financial equality. Facing the plethora of glossy financial appeals, we also ask ourselves what channels of relief will make the best use of our giving. May the Lord give us wisdom and generous hearts under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit!

How to give? The Macedonian Christians’ attitude to Paul’s collection of money for the Jerusalem church should inspire us all. Spontaneously, without any outside encouragement, they “gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability” (8.3). A vital sense of urgency prevailed – “they urgently pleaded” and felt it was a real “privilege” to be allowed to “share in this service to the saints” (8.4). Their strong desire to give stemmed from first having given themselves to the Lord and then also to Paul (8.5). So, Paul urges his readers that all their other excellent spiritual gifts should be capped by evidence that they also “excel in this grace of giving” (8.7). Financial giving is not just a little extra in our service of Christ; it stands at the heart of our discipleship. Just as God’s love for us is proved in his sacrificial giving of his Son, so also the Corinth church’s giving should be the “proof of your love” (8.24) – true love delights to give. Likewise, this chapter comes to its climax with the further assertion that their giving provides “reason for our pride in you”. Any positive report about the church in Corinth will depend on the generosity of their giving to the Jewish church in Jerusalem. In this, we need also to remember that the Jerusalem church was not only in a distant land which most Corinthian Christians will never have visited. And the church in Corinth consisted largely of Gentile/non-Jewish believers, so the members of the very Jewish church in Jerusalem were also foreigners to them. As we today face the challenge of relating to a global and inter-ethnic world, our patterns of giving will shine a light on our faith. God’s word concerning the coming Messiah in Isaiah 49.6 must also motivate all the Messiah Jesus’ followers. In our giving too we are called not only to a narrowly introspective service for our own people, but also to generous self-giving which shines out to all peoples everywhere and is God’s “salvation to the ends of the earth”. Our giving is in itself of vital importance and it also speaks volumes concerning our faith and our love for Christ.

Jesus’ model.  We have noted how Paul seeks to inspire the church in Corinth through the model of the Macedonians’ giving, but the ultimate model is found in the Messiah Jesus (8.8/9). The Macedonian and Corinthian churches (8.1, 6) may exhibit the ‘grace’ of giving, but ultimate grace is revealed in the self-giving of ‘the Lord Jesus Christ’ – in relating to the glorious concept of grace, only the full title even approaches being adequate. He is Lord! He is Jesus, the Saviour! He is Christ, the Messiah who comes to liberate his people. In the glory of his Father’s presence he enjoyed everything that was good, true and holy. He basked in the love of the Father in company with God’s Holy Spirit. As 8.9 states, he was indeed rich, rich beyond all comprehension! But he willingly sacrificed all these riches ‘for our sakes’, being born into a world of material and spiritual poverty and degradation. He endured all the sacrificial suffering of daily life in 1^st Century Israel. He bore the vicious enmity of Israel’s leaders, climaxing in the horror of the cross.  He did indeed ‘become poor’! And he did it all ‘for our sakes’. Through his sufferings we have “become rich”. Through his sacrifice we have inherited the glory of salvation and eternal life with Jesus in the presence of the Father. Of course, we don’t deserve any such God-given riches. They come to us entirely by God’s loving grace.

Confidence, boasting and joy (2 Corinthians 7.1-16)

Showing the necessary consequences of God’s promises in 6.18, Paul urges the Corinthian Christians to live lives of purity, holiness and reverence of God (7.1). If God is indeed our heavenly Father and we are his children, we dare not persist in sub-standard lives. And yet, Paul’s Corinthian letters seem constantly to show up the sins and weaknesses of the church in Corinth. Such criticism could also easily lead to a cooling of the relationship of love between Paul and his letters’ recipients. So, he again begs them to ‘open their hearts’ to him (6.11-13; 7.2) and he bends over backwards to speak well of them. Titus, one of Paul’s close associates, had evidently just come from Corinth with news of their ‘ardent concern’ for him (7.7). And the chapter concludes with the joyful assertion that he has full confidence in them (7.16). Paul’s relationships of love with other Christians stand as a model for all of us in God’s church today. In our modern world the breakdown of marriage and severe difficulties in inter-personal relationships make it imperative for the church to demonstrate loving fellowship within the body of Christ. Unlike non-Trinitarian monotheistic faiths, we believe in a God of love. The Father loves the Son and the Spirit, the Son loves the Father and the Spirit, and the Spirit loves the Father and the Son. We follow a God of love and unity.

In Chapter 7 various interesting words convey what Paul is feeling and wants to communicate.

Confidence (7.4 Greek: parresia)

This word is commonly used of boldness in preaching the good news of Christ. It signifies such assurance of the truth of one’s message, that you are compelled to communicate it clearly and fearlessly (e.g. Acts 9.27; 1 Thessalonians 2.2). Paul himself earnestly desires to have such assurance. He therefore asks for prayer, that he may boldly (NIV ‘fearlessly’) make the mystery of the Gospel known (Ephesians 6.19). In 2 Corinthians 7.4 Paul encourages his readers, telling them that he has ‘parresia’ in them. Thanks to Titus’ positive report after his visit to Corinth, Paul confidently believes in their repentance and faith. He can therefore write and speak with bold assurance of his love for them and their love for him.

Boast (7.14)

Boasting normally has a negative connotation in Paul’s writings. Although he sometimes feels compelled to write about his ministry and how he has suffered severely because of his missionary service, he feels embarrassed to glorify himself and his own ministry. The temptation to pride in our calling and in ourselves constantly threatens all of us as God’s servants, but all glory belongs to the Lord alone.

However, Paul had evidently boasted to Titus about the testimony of the Corinthian church which he had originally planted. He had feared lest this boasting might have been misplaced. What a relief therefore, when Titus returned with his report of the repentance, faith and spiritual life of the Corinthian Christians! What a source of joy it is when we can boast of the godliness of those we have led to faith in Christ! Such boasting carries only positive connotations!

Comfort (7.6, 7.13 Greek: paraklesis, NIV: ‘comfort’ in 7.6/7 and ‘encouragement’ in 7.13)

We may gather that Paul had been somewhat ‘downcast’ as he thought about the Corinthian church and prayed for them. But then Titus’ report had lifted his spirits (7.6). Did this encouragement come only through Titus’ report? Or did the work of the Holy Spirit lie behind it? In John 14 the Holy Spirit is called ‘the Paraclete’, the one who comes alongside to comfort God’s people. Here, in just two verses (2 Corinthians 7.6 and 7 and twice more in 7.13), forms of the word ‘paraclete’ come four times to highlight the Spirit’s comforting work in bold. And the coming of Titus is called a ‘parousia’ (7.6), the special term used for the second coming of Jesus in glory. Paul sees God’s working behind the apparently human feedback of Titus. How often we miss the spiritual significance of things that appear merely normal human events!

Joy/delight (7.4/7/9/13/16)

In spite of all his sufferings, joy and happy delight never stray far from Paul’s approach. He may be “harassed at every turn” with “conflicts on the outside” and “fears within” (7.5), but God still comforts him (7.6). His life is still characterised by an overwhelming joy. A genuine smile, not a long face, should be the mark of every Christian. So, Paul writes of joy and rejoicing in five verses in this chapter, thus emphasizing this vital characteristic of the Christian life.

Paul’s emphasis on joy does not depend on his own circumstances, but springs from his loving concern for the Christians in Corinth. Their ongoing faith in Christ and their continued affection for him bring a heart-felt joy to Paul. We may note that all the references in this chapter link Paul’s joy and rejoicing to Titus’ good report concerning the Corinthians’ faith. May our life of faith bring joy to those who led us to Christ and discipled us!

Salvation (7.10)

Paul had been concerned that his previous letter, with its rejection of sinful goings-on in the Corinthian church, might have caused hurtful sorrow. He is therefore delighted to hear from Titus that his letter had actually moved them to repentance and salvation (7.10). In the purposes of God, sorrow leads to repentance and salvation, whereas worldly sorrow brings spiritual death as its conclusion. Because all of us fall far short of God’s standards of holiness, repentance of our sin is essential for our salvation, for a living and eternal relationship with the all-holy God.

Repentance (Greek: metanoia) requires a total about-turn of the mind. We are called to turn away from following our worldly desires and develop a new longing for God’s will and purpose for us. No longer do our previous ambitions take first place in our lives.

Repentance brings us into God’s wonderful gift of salvation through the sacrificial death of Jesus and his resurrection to new and eternal life. The word ‘salvation’ covers everything in life, not just the cleansing of our sin. The same Greek word is also used for physical healing and saving from a storm or other dangers. This wide salvation starts when we repent of our sin and turn to Jesus as our saviour. It then grows from year to year throughout our lives on earth, coming to its fullness when we die and enter fully into the all-perfect eternal life. No wonder Paul speaks so much of joy! Let us follow in his footsteps!

As R. Martin points out in the Word Commentary, the Greek adjective ametameleton (7.10; NIV ‘leaves no regret’) may relate to ‘repentance’ or to ‘salvation’. The same word is used in Romans 11.29, declaring that God’s covenantal gifts and calling of Israel are ‘irrevocable’. In Hebrews 7.21 it refers to God making a promise and then not ‘changing his mind’. When God sees our repentance and grants his salvation, we can rejoice that this repentance will proceed throughout our lives and God’s gift of salvation will remain ‘irrevocable’. God will not change his mind. We may rest assured of his salvation. And when our believing loved-ones die, our sorrow should be mixed with joy that they have now entered into the fullness of their salvation. We don’t need ever to pray for them, but just give thanks for their lives, and praise the Lord Jesus as our Saviour and theirs.

No hindrances! (2 Corinthians 6.3-18)

An emphatic double negative at the start of 6.3 sets the tone for the rest of the chapter – ‘no hindrance, to no-one being given’ (6.3). The vital call to be reconciled to God and then the ‘ministry of reconciliation’ must not on any account be brought into disrepute. The use of the Aorist tense for ‘brought into disrepute’ implies one serious false decision or denial of the Lord rather than a continuously inadequate life and ministry. When we face some life-changing choice, let us pray for the Holy Spirit’s moral and spiritual strength! The missionary ministry of reconciliation must have absolute priority.

Commending ourselves (6.4-13)

Paul was evidently concerned that the Corinthians might feel that he himself was bringing the ministry of reconciliation into disrepute. So he launches into a testimony of the experiences which commonly follow the exercise of a ministry of reconciliation. Because this is all true of Paul himself, NIV has no hesitation in adding to the original Greek text the title “Paul’s Hardships” and also adding the personal “we” and “our” in (6.3/4). Actually, however, Paul wants this teaching of suffering to apply more widely and therefore carefully avoids making these verses relate only to himself. He doesn’t use ‘we’ or ‘our’ until 6.9 with its triumphant assertion that despite all trials and sufferings “we live”.

We may note again the emphasis on humble service with the repeated use of ‘ministry/ministers’ (Greek: diakonia/diakonoi – NIV ministry/servants) in these opening verses (6.3/4). Distress and poverty, suffering and persecution, dishonour and weakness should not be considered as hindrances to the ministry of reconciliation. And wealth and power don’t necessarily indicate God’s blessing or the true work of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, Satan may use such prosperity to bring pride, greed and loneliness to the neglect of Christ’s ministry of reconciliation through the cross.

In these verses Paul progresses from a list of sufferings (6.4/5) to the positive spiritual benefits of true service (6.6/7) and the growth of godly life and ministry hand in hand with very real sufferings. Glory and dishonour, bad report and good report together accompany the service of Christ. Although this list of sufferings is less intense than his later description of his own sufferings in 11.23-33, he warns that ministers of the Gospel of Jesus may even be killed and die, enduring what Chrysostom called a “blizzard of troubles”. Only then does he allow himself to apply these verses to his own life and ministry – “dying, and behold we live” (6.9). As we have seen, Paul was aiming to apply these verses not only to himself, but also more generally to other ministers of reconciliation. What a model this passage gives to the Christians in Corinth, as also to all servants of Christ throughout history and throughout the world! And in our churches today, we need such teaching. High-sounding titles (e.g. ‘my Lord Bishop’ or ‘the Very Reverend’), spectacular robes, status symbols or wealth don’t necessarily indicate a true ministry of reconciliation. Rather, Paul’s words challenge us to judge ministry by our willingness to suffer. We are called also to show a deep and fundamental joy when sorrows hit us (6.10), and genuine contentment in the reality that we ‘possess everything’ when we ‘have nothing’ (6.10).

Paul concludes this passage with a very personal appeal to the Christians in Corinth. He has been open with them and given his heart of love to them, but they have not responded. Despite his loving care, they are shutting their hearts to him, withholding their affections from him (6.12). He longs for them to demonstrate the same affection for him that he has for them. In appealing for the Corinthians to open their hearts to him, he says that he is ‘speaking as to children’ (6.13) – NIV has here added ‘my’, but the text only has ‘children’ without the added ‘my’. Was Paul here accusing the Corinthians of reacting like children with spiritual and emotional immaturity? Or was he appealing to them on the basis of them being his spiritual children, the fruit of his church planting mission? The text can be interpreted in either way – or both ways.

Unequally yoked with unbelievers (6.14-18)

Some commentators (e.g. R. Martin’s Word Commentary) find it “difficult to see any transition between 6.13 and 14”. They also note the use of various words which Paul doesn’t use anywhere else in his letters. Consequently they question whether these verses were wrongly added later to the text of 2 Corinthians. As we shall see however, these verses relate well both to the verses immediately before them and also to the whole context of chapter 6.

In 6.11-13 Paul has been appealing for the Corinthian Christians to relate more lovingly to him. Now he warns them against being too close in their ties with unbelievers. Rather, he longs for them to live in intimate relationship with God as their Father and with Christian believers in loving fellowship. If they chose to be yoked to unbelievers and thus to Belial/Satan, how can they possibly have any ministry of reconciliation? Their lives would be an unsurmountable hindrance to any such service of God.

Paul evidently has in mind God’s command to Israel that they should not “plough with an ox and an ass together” (Deuteronomy 22.10). Totally different species cannot easily work together, pulling in the same direction with equal strength. Likewise, believers and unbelievers will have different aims in life and will exhibit disharmony or spiritual compromise. God’s righteous demands will clash with the world’s ‘wickedness’. Light and darkness cannot coexist in close proximity. The believer follows Christ as Lord, while the unbeliever is slave to Satan’s designs. Believers are indeed the very temple of God with God’s Spirit living in them, while unbelievers serve idols, desires and ambitions which replace the living God as the centre of their lives.

Paul is not desiring Christians to be totally separate from the world around them, but he is warning against really close and intimate relationships of mutual dependency with unbelievers. We may wish to apply this to intimate boy/girl relationships and marriage, as also to very close business ties. But if a believer is already married or engaged to an unbeliever, they should not separate. The unbelieving partner and their children are accepted as ‘holy’, set apart in God’s covenant as belonging to God’s church (1 Corinthians 7.14).

It is sometimes said that we are to be ‘in the world, but not of it’. The church must learn to be culturally related in the modern world, but still to retain our spiritual and biblical standards without compromise. With the current emphasis on being inclusive, tolerant and non-judgmental, Christians today come under immense pressure. We so easily establish relationships with unbelievers which pull against any form of Christ’s service demanding reconciliation with God.

On the other hand, some churches so fear biblical compromise that they become like sects, failing to relate Scripture to modern culture and thinking. Their structures, worship and everyday lives ossify, inevitably failing to attract younger new believers.

In all our struggles to become culturally relevant, let us never forget that we are called to live with God as our Father, with all believers as his much-loved people and with Christians together in close fellowship and love as sisters and brothers in Christ. We differ radically from unbelievers and are called to serve as ministers of reconciliation. Let us pray that nothing in us personally or in our church as a fellowship may prove a hindrance to that ministry!

Reconciliation with God (5.18-6.2)

The ministry of reconciliation (5.18-6.2)

Jesus died for us and “was raised again” (5.15). This mention of Jesus’ resurrection reminds Paul of his own encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. He had then become a new man. Previously, he had thought of Jesus as a false messiah, whose death had been the necessary penalty for his blasphemous claims. But now he saw Jesus in a new light (5.16). He now knew that Jesus had reconciled us to God and given us the task of passing on to others the message of Christ’s reconciliation (5.18).

In these verses, Paul is not here speaking of God’s wrath against sin and the necessity of reconciling the all-holy God to us as sinners. He does that in Romans. But here he is emphasizing our need as unbelievers to come into a new relationship with God. All of us desperately need to be reconciled to God with a deep assurance that God made Christ to “be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (5.21). Jesus has taken our sin and given us his righteousness – what a glorious exchange!

This wonderful good news of our reconciliation to God has become our responsibility. When looking at 5.14/15 and Jesus’ death for us, we noted the significance of the original word huper. It means ‘in the place of’. Now in 5.20/21 Paul uses this word three times in quick succession. He not only emphasizes again that Christ was “made sin huper us/in our place” (5.21), but also that ‘we serve as ambassadors huper Christ/in Christ’s place’ and ‘we implore you huper Christ/in Christ’s place : be reconciled to God’ (5.20). Christ’s great task of bringing salvation to the world rests now in our hands.

We act now as God’s representatives to a needy world. The Greek word translated as ‘ambassadors’ (presbeuomen) is the verbal form of the word for an elder. It carries the sense of someone who is older (and therefore wiser?). As in many cultures around the world today, having a younger person as a church leader could cause problems (cf. 1 Timothy 4.12).  It was elders who sat at the town gate to act as counsellors and as judges in minor personal quarrels. The word also came to mean someone who represented the Roman authorities as a legate. In the Christian church the elders/presbyters, as older believers, served as respected leaders. Such service always included the evangelistic ministry of urging people to be reconciled with God through Christ. We may feel quite inadequate for this calling, but our strength lies in the splendour and power of the God we represent. An ambassador is not listened to because of his/her own brilliance, but because of the government and country he/she represents. Thus, the American or Chinese ambassador’s words carry much more weight than those of the ambassador of some much smaller country.

While we may be tempted to concentrate attention on our human role as ambassadors with the ministry of reconciliation, Paul stresses that everything comes from God. It is God who actually achieves our reconciliation (5.18). The word order in the original Greek underlines this – ‘As Christ’s ambassadors we act as elders’, ‘as though God was appealing through us’ (5.20) and ‘be reconciled to God’.

Inevitably, we have to ask who this ‘we/us’ refers to. It seems clear that Paul is thinking of his and his fellow-workers’ ministry for the church in Corinth. The Corinthian church had many strong points as well as some fearful weaknesses, but had they overlooked the fundamental foundation of the Christian faith and life? Had they downplayed their need to be saved through the death and resurrection of Christ? It is so easy for churches so to emphasize other aspects of the Christian life that the call to saving faith gets ignored.

But evidently Paul is not only thinking of ministry in Corinth. He has the wider world in mind (5.19) and he stresses that the saving work of Christ is available to ‘all people’. His understanding of ‘we’ relates not only to himself and his co-workers, but surely also to every Christian everywhere. As members of the universal body of Christ all believers are given the honour and responsibility of being “Christ’s ambassadors” (5.20).

Rather surprisingly and somewhat shockingly, Calvin asserts in his “Institutes of the Christian Religion” that the ministry of reconciliation is restricted to the ordained leaders of the Christian church. In Paul’s letters ordination plays no obvious part. His teaching stresses the whole body of the church and contradicts any such hierarchical structures. Paul’s own authority lies in his fulfilment of God’s calling to church planting among both Jews and Gentiles, including his planting of the church in Corinth.

The call to reconciliation with God comes with great urgency. Strong words like ‘appeal’, ‘implore’ and ‘urge’ underline its vital importance. “Now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation” (6.2). Don’t delay! Don’t offer excuses! NOW is the time for decision. The longer we put off this vital step, the harder it becomes. Even as we read this blog, let us put our faith in the cross and resurrection of Jesus! Let us set out on the new resurrection life, in which we are reconciled with God and have a living relationship with him! And let us commit ourselves to God’s mission, calling people of every background all over the world to faith in Christ!

Heaven awaits us (2 Corinthians 5.1-17)

Groaning for heaven (5.1-5)

We may feel in our life on earth that we “are burdened” and we therefore “groan” (5.2, 4), so we long for our “eternal house in heaven” (5.1). In these verses we find two pictures of life on earth contrasted with our eternal life in heaven. Here we live in an insecure, temporary and uncomfortable “earthly tent”, but we await a secure house which is eternal and wonderfully pleasant. We may wonder whether Paul was thinking of Israel’s forty years in tents in the wilderness, which was followed by her inheritance of the Promised Land. Or was he thinking of Jesus’ promise to prepare a house for us with his Father in heaven (e.g. John 14.2)?

The second picture is of heavenly clothing to cover our present nakedness. In glory we shall be clothed with all the righteousness, purity, truth and holiness of Jesus, entirely covering our sin and inadequacy. When Almighty God looks at us in heaven, he will only see the righteousness of his Son, Jesus. Our spiritual nakedness will be covered.

Paul is so taken up with the beauty of God’s future purposes for us, that he puts the two pictures together somewhat humorously. He says that we shall be “clothed with our heavenly dwelling” (5.2, 4)! The thought of having a solid house as our clothing brings a smile to the face! But let not the humour spoil our wonder at the amazingly glorious future which awaits us. And we already have such a wonderful down-payment to assure us of the reality of our future home in heaven. God has sent his Holy Spirit to us. He lives in us, working the beauties of God’s nature into us from within. What a gift!

Therefore (5.6-10)

At the start of these verses we note the repeated word of ‘confidence’. Knowing by faith (5.7) that God’s promise of heaven is certain and lies ahead of us, as Christians we can indeed look forward to death as the point of entry into being “at home with the Lord” (5.8). For the Christian, death has lost its sting. Just as Paul underlines the absolute assurance of God’s gift of heaven to all believers in Christ, so we too should spread this ‘confidence’ in our churches today. So many Christians still face death without the peace and joy of that confidence.

Consequences should follow naturally from such assurance. The introductory “so” (5.9) introduces the loving determination to be ‘pleasing to him’. The Greek word for ‘make it our goal’ (5.9 Greek: filotimoumetha) includes a sense of love as well as of purpose. In our grateful love for God, we should earnestly desire to please him. What a privilege we have, that we can put a smile of pleasure on the face of Almighty God!

This determination to please God also faces the fact of God’s final judgment. Everyone (not just Christians) will “receive what is due to them” (5.10). Although our salvation comes to us purely on the basis of Jesus’ death for us and his resurrection, the New Testament also tells us that there will be a judgment according to our deeds. Both our good deeds and our sins will receive their just reward. But, in spite of all our sin, this passage strongly declares that we are not to lose our confidence in the grace of God, his totally undeserved love according to his sure promises.

He died for us all (5.11-17)

With the glories of heaven and the prospect of the final judgment bubbling in his heart, Paul goes on to assert that he seeks to persuade people concerning these great truths. He doesn’t want the Christians in Corinth to debate his own ministry. Rather, he testifies that it is all “for God’s sake” and “for you” (5.13). Positively, the basis of his ministry lies in the foundational fact of Christ’s death for us (5.14/15), the reality of God’s love for us (5.14). Christ’s amazing sacrificial love acts as the irresistible motivator for the call to mission.

Considerable study has centred on the little preposition “for” (Greek: huper): Christ died for us. As J. Dunn and others have demonstrated, it signifies that in his death Christ ‘took our place’. Christ died instead of us. We are all sinners and the penalty for sin is death (e.g. Romans 6.23). We deserve eternal death in the judgment of God, but wonderfully Jesus has died in our place and has taken on himself that penalty. Entirely and only through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross can we enter freely into the very presence of the Almighty, Holy God. As soon as we accept Jesus’ death for our sin and commit ourselves to follow him, we gain God’s free gift of eternal life. Whatever our former background, we then become “a new creation” (5.17). We are freed from the shackles of our old life and we set out on the development of a new life (5.17). And heaven awaits us. What fantastic good news! No wonder Paul devoted his life at whatever cost to spreading the good news of salvation and the fullness of new life! Surely we shall also want to follow in his footsteps! Good news has to be passed on!

We may observe in this passage that Christ died not just for his elect, but for all people in all the world. While new life is available therefore to everyone through his death, we still need to avail ourselves of his grace by committing ourselves in faith to Jesus. The fact that Jesus “died for all” (5.15) is highly relevant to our modern globalized world and multi-ethnic societies. International and inter-cultural mission should flow naturally from it. As we shall see in the second half of this chapter, such mission is an essential outworking of the fact that we ‘no longer live for ourselves, but for him who died for us and was raised again’ (5.15).