Paul had just finished a discussion on the love of Christ shown by His death on the Cross, and he now turns his attention to look at the consequences  of that singular event.  The Apostle considers what our perspective on the death of Christ should be.  As believers, we need to see Christ in regard to our redemption because we have been transformed into “new creations.”  In Christ, a new community has been born, made up of members who have been reconciled to God and to one another.

1.  Christ’s Work, 5:16-19

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Since his conversion (“from now on”), Paul stopped making superficial judgments of people based on external appearances.  It was now his practice to see people in terms of spiritual status, not on nationality (Jew or Gentile).  The division between Jews and Gentiles no longer mattered to Paul; what mattered most was a person’s spiritual condition, where they believers or unbelievers.  So complete was Paul’s redemption, that both people and events were seen in light of the new creation.

As an example of his new way of thinking, Paul says that at one time he viewed Christ in an erroneous way; as a misguided, delusional messianic pretender whose demented followers needed to be harshly dealt with.  Since his conversion, though, Paul has come to see Jesus as the one true Messiah whose death brought life.  Indeed, Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus brought about this two-fold change in attitude: Jesus was the Messiah and Lord; Gentile believers were now his brothers “in Christ” while his unbelieving compatriots were “without Christ.”

With verse 17, Paul states the second result of the death and resurrection of Christ.  The word “Therefore” indicates that this verse summarizes what Paul had been saying earlier about the unity believers have with Christ.  When a person becomes part of the body of Christ by faith, they are reckoned to be “in Christ” and there is a new act of creation on God’s part taking place.  The phrase “in Christ” is a favorite of Paul’s, and it occurs over 25 times in his writings; it signifies the intimate fellowship believers have with their Savior.  This new intimacy with Christ is made possible because of the creative power of God.  The old set of conditions or relationships that made this relationship impossible has passed out of existence; and another set has come to take its place.  Knowledge from a “worldly point of view” has given way to new spiritual knowledge in light of the Cross.

All this has been made possible because of what God did for us (verse 18).  Paul makes it very clear that this transformation is completely an act of God, that man played no part in it.  The phrase who reconciled us to himself through Christ is arguably one of the most grandiose statements in all of Scripture.   Here we see God’s boundless love.  We, who were sinners, offended God by breaking His laws and sinning against Him.  Therefore, logically, it should follow that the initiative for reconciliation come from us, the offending party.  But thank God He doesn’t follow human logic, for we read that it was God, the offended party, who reached out in love to us to achieve forgiveness.  God took the initiative and completed the work of reconciliation before we, as sinners, could even think about responding to God’s gracious invitation to be reconciled to Him (Romans 5:10-11).  God did the work; His holy displeasure against sinful man was appeased and the enmity (hatred) between God and man was removed and man was restored to proper relations with God because of the steps God.

The doctrine of reconciliation is a thing of beauty, because, as one commentator has noted–
Reconciliation is not some polite ignoring or reduction of hostility, but rather its total and objective removal.

Verses 18 and 19 make it very clear that God is the reconciler; that He reconciled man to Himself.  This marvelous ministry of God on our behalf has been given to us.  Note the final phrase of verse 18: and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.  God Himself has commissioned Paul and his to coworkers to do just that, but the work doesn’t stop with him.  Indeed, it is the privilege of all believers to be engaged in the work of reconciliation by preaching, teaching and living the gospel.

2.  God’s Ambassadors, 5:20

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

These final two verses form a powerful conclusion to the matter of reconciliation.  When Paul considers what God, through Christ has done for sinners, he is stresses the seriousness of the commission when he says: as though God were making his appeal through us.

The word “ambassador” is rich in meaning, and in the Greek is actually a verb, which in itself is suggestive.  The word implies that an older person in a group was appointed as a spokesman to represent a king or ruler or community.  In Judaism, such a person was known as a saliah, one who could speak and act for and had the authority of the sender.  If the saliah ever uttered his own opinion, he would lose his post.

So we can see the awesome responsibility that rests on all who are called to the ministry of reconciliation.

The phrases as though God were making his appeal through us is all the more powerful in the Greek, where the participle “making” is in the present tense, which indicates that God’s Word is ever active and living; it is not merely frozen in time and history.  Through His servants, God is communicating to sinners today the message of reconciliation in the present tense.

Finally, the appeal is made: be reconciled to God.  Though God had done all the work in Christ long ago, sinners must by faith appropriate the benefits of this finished work.  The command is to do something once and for all.  God has initiated reconciliation through Christ, now all man has to do is respond to it.

3.  God’s Righteous People, 5:21

This final verse of the chapter defies a simple exegesis; the 15 Greek words are powerful, almost lyrical, yet hard to explain simply because they deal with the very heart of the atonement.

There are three ways to look at the first part of the verse: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us.

First, Christ was treated as if He were a sinner; He became the object of God’s wrath and bore the penalty and guilt of sin. Second, when Christ in His Incarnation assumed human nature, God made Him to be “sin.”  Third, in becoming a sacrifice for sin, Christ was made to be sin.

It is likely that Paul had in mind the notion of both substitution and identification.  That is, He took our place on the Cross, bore the punishment that was rightfully ours, and assumed our guilt even though He Himself remained innocent.  Christ did not sin, yet incurred the punishment for sin.

Just as “the righteousness of God” is extrinsic to us, so the sin with which Christ completely identified with was extrinsic to Him.  H was without even the slightest taint of sin, both inside and out He was and remains impeccable.

This is the gloriousness of this verse: the purpose of God making Christ “to be sin” was that believers should “become the righteousness of God” in Christ.  This is the essence of justification.  Not only does the believer receive from God a right standing before Him on the basis of faith in Jesus, but here Paul says that “in Christ” the believer actually shares in the righteousness that characterizes God Himself.