Disclaimer: This will be a long one…
2 Corinthians 5:20-21:
“20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”
To start off this page, series, topic, I don’t know, I wanted to touch on a familiar scripture, but not necessarily the first that comes to mind when thinking of the Gospel: 2 Corinthians 5:20-21. But why these two verses? Well, they speak not only on what God did for us, what Christ did for us, what they did to us, but what we must also do for each other moving forward.
Or if you want to get a lil fancy you can say “this verse gives us the doctrinal foundation for our reconciliation. How has God made reconciliation possible? How can He receive guilty sinners who come to Him in repentance and faith? The answer is that the Lord Jesus has effectively dealt with the whole problem of our sins, so now we can be reconciled to God.” (William MacDonald)
So cool, let’s start, at the start, with the “ambassadors”. While Paul is referring to himself, and his associates, it is clear this “job description” applies to all believers. Yes, that includes you. The truth is that God has already reconciled sinners to Himself through the sacrifice of His Son. The problem now is that sinners are not yet reconciled to Him. We the believers however, as the reconciled, must walk in our duty to speak to others on God’s behalf.
But what does it truly mean to be reconciled?
Be reconciled (katallasso from katá = an intensifier + allásso = to change or exchange) means to exchange one thing for another and was used for example to describe the exchange of coins for others of equal value.
Did that help? Not really? Attempt #2. The Greeks spoke of people in opposition to each other as being “reconciled” or being made friends again. When people change from being at odds with each other to being at peace, they are said to be reconciled.
Now theologically, reconciliation refers to the change of relationship between God and man. We are all born children of Adam (1Co 15:22, Ro 5:12) and as such are naturally children of wrath (Ep 2:3) and at odds with God (Ep 2:11-15), so we needed to be reconciled.
So where does that leave man?
“Man has so become God’s enemy that he will not be reconciled to him. God would make him his friend, and spends the blood of his dear Son to cement that friendship, but man will not have it” – Spurgeon
Picking back up from ambassadors, He has committed to us “the ministry of reconciliation” and “the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18,19), to urge the world to accept His Son and His great work of salvation. This is what you may call the Great Commission.
We must remember that an ambassador is more than a messenger and Guzik puts it well stating: “There is so much in the idea of ambassadors! An ambassador does not speak to please his audience, but the King who sent him. An ambassador does not speak on his own authority; his own opinions or demands mean little. He simply says what he has been commissioned to say.”
Before moving on to the second verse, there is something which must be highlighted regarding our reconciliation.
The implication of this command “be reconciled” is that while God has provided the way for reconciliation and is thus the Reconciler, this reconciliation cannot take place apart from a sinner laying their life down to God to be saved by grace through faith. In other words, reconciliation is available for all (though some would argue this point) but is effectual only for those who receive it by faith.
Though, we must be careful not to allow this to distort our viewpoint on the part we play in salvation or reconciliation. We (speaking of unsaved sinners) are not commanded to, nor able to, do the work of reconciliation between us and God. It’s too late. He has done the work. The most we can do is merely embrace and receive it. So yes, sinners must believe but ultimately salvation is God’s master plan, not ours.
Henry Alford writes that in giving the command to be reconciled Paul is saying that “God was the Reconciler—let this reconciliation have effect on you—enter into it by faith”.
“It is not so much “reconcile yourselves” as ‘be reconciled.’ Yield yourselves to him who round you now the bands of a man would cast, drawing you with cords of love because he was given for you…Submit yourselves. Yield to the grasp of those hands which were nailed to the cross for you.” – Spurgeon
With that said, we can now approach the method of reconciliation: For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Let’s really imagine this: A perfect Saviour stands in the room of guilty sinners. A saviour with a spotless record, yet God lays upon the spotless Saviour the sin of the guilty, so that he becomes, in the expressive language of the text, sin. But it does not end there. No. He takes off from the innocent Saviour His righteousness and puts that to the account of the once-guilty sinners. Now the sinners have become righteousness, but we will get back to this.
Guzik notes that “the idea that any man could be sinless was foreign to Jewish thinking (Ecclesiastes 8:5). But when Jesus claimed to be sinless, no one challenged Him (John 8:46). Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul carefully chooses his words. He does not say Jesus was made to be a sinner. Jesus never became a sinner, but He did become sin for us. Even His becoming sin was a righteous act of love, not an act of sin. Jesus was not a sinner, even on the cross. But on the cross, the Father treated Him as if He were a sinner. Yet all the while, sin was “outside” of Jesus, not “inside” Him, and a part of His nature (as it is with us).”
It must be emphasised, regarding Jesus being made to be sin, Christ was not guilty, and could not be made guilty; but He was treated as if he were guilty. Why? Because out of His love He desired to stand in the place of the guilty. He was not only treated as a sinner, but He was treated as if He had been sin itself in the abstract.
The writer of Hebrews emphasized the spotless character of Jesus: “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)
John further testified: “And you know that He (Jesus) appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no (absolute negation = absolutely no) sin.” (1Jn 3:5)
Even Judas Iscariot admitted that “I have betrayed innocent (athoos = free from guilt) blood” (Matthew 27:4)
I think this is how 2 Corinthians 5:21 articulates the gospel in such a simple and beautiful manner. The sinless one was made to be sin. In dying on the cross Christ didn’t become evil like we are, and I would not go as far as to say we become inherently as holy as He is. However, if I had to articulate it, God credits believers’ sin to Christ’s account, and His righteousness to theirs.
2 Corinthians 5:21 presents this gospel truth and as stated in this quote, “If our Lord’s bearing our sin for us is not the gospel, I have no gospel to preach.”
Before we wrap up, we should touch on the righteousness of God.
“Now, here I beg you to notice, that it does not simply say that we might be made righteous but “that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him;” as if righteousness, that lovely, glorious, God-honoring; God-delighting thing — as if we were actually made that. God looks on his people as being abstract righteousness, not only righteous, but righteousness. To be righteous, is as if a man should have a box covered with gold, the box would then be golden; but to be righteousness is to have a box of solid gold. To be a righteous man is to have righteousness cast over me; but to be made righteousness, that is to be made solid essential righteousness in the sight of God. Well now, this is a glorious fact and a most wonderful privilege, that we poor sinners are made “the righteousness of God in him.” – Spurgeon
I’m sorry, I know this one’s quite long, but let’s really deep it.
Not just righteous, but righteousness itself. Not just righteousness, but the righteousness of God, because Christ is God, and what He is we are (1Jn 4:17), and He is “made of God unto us righteousness.” You see, as our sin is passed over to Him, so His righteousness to us. Remember Jesus fulfilled all the righteousness of the law for us all, as our representative as per Jer 23:6; 1Co 1:30.
I don’t know how to end this…so here’s a poem I found online:
No righteousness of mine
Can stand before the Throne,
But Christ’s own perfect works are now my very own!
In Christ I’m free!
The Cross of Christ made peace with God for even me! (No Righteousness of Mine)
My Sunday Skl 