Rachel Workman: 16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin,[e] so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
I love how Paul says this is a gift from God. When you give someone a gift it's because you want them to have it. It's not because they have earned it or even deserve it. Our reconciliation with God is a precious gift and not a reward. We will get rewards but our salvation is not one of them. It's an expensive and elaborate gift given through love and sacrifice. The best of best.
____________________________________________________________________________________
John Burnett: 16 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. 17 Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The
old has gone, the new is here!18 All this is from
God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the
ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was
reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against
them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 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. 21 God
made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for
us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. The old is gone, the new is
here is my favorite part of this verse. I am no longer a slave to my sin
and because I have the Holy Spirit to help me, I don’t see the old me near as
often as I used to. Usually, the one who does the wrong to another has to
do something to reconcile themselves to the wronged. This is backwards in
this case. We have wronged/sinned against a Holy God which buys us the
death sentence but because there is nothing we can do to reconcile ourselves,
Jesus Christ in his unconditional love for us, died so that we could be
reconciled to God the Father. It is an amazing message that we are
supposed to share.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Tomorrow's reading for 2 Corinthians 6:1-13
6 As
God’s partners,[a] we beg you not to accept
this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. 2 For
God says,“At just the right time, I heard you.
On the day of salvation, I helped you.”[b]
Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.
3 We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. 4 In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. 5 We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. 6 We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us,[c] and by our sincere love. 7 We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. 8 We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. 9 We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. 10 Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.
11 Oh, dear Corinthian friends! We have spoken honestly with you, and our hearts are open to you. 12 There is no lack of love on our part, but you have withheld your love from us. 13 I am asking you to respond as if you were my own children. Open your hearts to us!
No comments:
Post a Comment