Yesterday’s post featured verses 6 through 10 of this Epistle for the Third Sunday after Trinity in Year B, 2024.

Today’s post concludes with verses 11 through 17.

The Epistle is as follows, emphases mine:

2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17

5:6 So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord —

5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.

5:8 Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

5:9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

5:10 For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.

5:11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are well known to God, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences.

5:12 We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart.

5:13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.

5:14 For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.

5:15 And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.

5:16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way.

5:17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

Commentary comes from Matthew Henry and John MacArthur (as specified below).

My first post ended with John MacArthur’s explanation of what happens with regard to receiving heavenly rewards from Christ.

The next three verses — 11 through 13 — pertain to Paul’s battle against the false teachers in Corinth who infiltrated the congregation after he left. They sowed division among the congregation, corrupted the services and denigrated Paul in an attempt to discredit him.

Before I begin, this is a reminder that Paul uses ‘we’ to refer to himself, rather than ‘I’.

Paul says, ‘Therefore’ — with that in mind — knowing the fear of the Lord, he (‘we’) tries to persuade others; he is well known to God and he hopes to the consciences of the Corinthian Christians (verse 11).

In Matthew Henry’s version, the verse reads as follows:

11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

Henry ties this back to Christ’s judgement:

The apostle calls this awful judgment the terror of the Lord (v. 11), and, by the consideration thereof, was excited to persuade men to repent, and live a holy life, that, when Christ shall appear terribly, they may appear before him comfortably. And, concerning his fidelity and diligence, he comfortably appeals unto God, and the consciences of those he wrote to: We are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

John MacArthur looks at ‘persuade’ first then at Paul’s defence of his character:

The key phrase here – and this is where we have to start – is in verse 11. It’s a verb, as often in interpreting Scripture we find the main verb yields the key to the interpretation, so it is here. And the main verb is this little phrase “we persuade men.” That unlocks the door to the purpose of this passage. We persuade men. Again, we is editorial, Paul uses we instead of I, though he’s referring to himself, because we is a more humble way to refer to himself. He does it all through this epistle. When he says “persuade men,” he uses the verb peithō. Peithō is an interesting verb. It does mean to persuade.

But it is translated in Galatians 1:10 in a very helpful way, under somewhat similar usage. In Galatians 1:10, Paul says, “For am I now seeking the favor of men or of God?” And there the verb peithō is translated “seeking favor,” seeking favor.” And that is a good translation for it here. We are seeking your favor. What do you mean? We’re seeking that you would look on us as a man of integrity. I want you to render a favorable judgment on me. It is important to me that you trust me, that you believe in my sincerity and my devotion to God and my honesty and my genuineness. Now in Galatians, he would not seek the favor of men by compromising the gospel. But here, he will seek their favor by speaking the truth about himself.

Now, “we persuade men” some commentators have felt refers to gospel preaching. And it is true that the verb “persuade” is so used. For example, in Acts 18 in verse 4 it is used in that very way. What it says is, “And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.” And over in the last chapter of Acts, verse 23, it says that he was trying to persuade them concerning Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets from morning till evening. There persuading in the sense of bringing them to salvation, making them believe the gospel, persuading them about the truth of the gospel.

Here it is not the gospel that is at issue. This epistle is not evangelistic. He is not concerned to persuade men at Corinth about the gospel, he is concerned to persuade them about his integrity. That is the issue. He wants them to know that he is genuine. The following phrases make this very clear. Go back to verse 11. He says, “We persuade men but we are made known to God,” or made manifest to God. The point he’s making here is simply this. God knows me, I am manifest to Him. He knows me, He knows my heart, He knows my integrity. That’s the point. What I’m concerned about is that you know it as God knows it.

We are revealed to God. Our true spiritual condition God knows and He knows perfectly. It’s very clear to Him, Paul says, and I would like it to be clear to you. God, he says, knows me. We’re made manifest to God. God knows my sincerity, He knows my honesty, He knows my genuineness. He knows whether I have integrity or not. And although Paul has been so relentlessly and brutally maligned, misunderstood, defamed and misjudged, God knows his heart …

And he knew some day he’d stand before the judgment seat. That’s why “therefore” is there in verse 10. And he would stand before that judgment seat and he would be rewarded for that service that he rendered to his Lord. If his reputation was ruined, so was his usefulness. If his usefulness was ruined, so was his opportunity. If his opportunity was ruined so was his fruitfulness. If his fruitfulness was ruined, he had no reason to live. He only wanted to honor God with a life of service. So, you see, he’s defending himself, but not for his sake. For God’s sake because God is worthy of worship.

Paul voices his hope for the Corinthians in defending his reputation.

He says that he is not commending himself to them again but giving them a chance to boast about him — his credibility, his integrity — so that they might answer those who boast in outward appearance but not in the heart (verse 12), a clear reference to the false teachers.

Henry explains:

… if the people can say that the word has been manifested to their consciences, and been effectual to their conversion and edification, this is the best defence they can make for the ministry of the word, when they are vilified and reproached.

MacArthur has more:

He was concerned about the church. And that’s why he starts out the verse by saying, “We are not again commending ourselves to you.” You say, “Why does he say again?” Because he had been accused of doing this. Back in chapter 3 verse 1, “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again?” You see, what had happened was, as soon as Paul tried to defend himself, the false teachers said, “Oh yeah, there he goes, blowing his own horn, building up his own ego, commending himself again.”

He had been accused of that. And he had to walk a very fine line so he didn’t fall victim to that accusation …

Every time he responded to an accusation they said, “See, he’s building himself up, he’s commending himself again.” And so, he has to give this disclaimer. We’re not again commending ourselves to you. This is not the point. And by the way, the time at which he was probably accused of this was during what we call – and you learned about it earlier – the sorrowful visit, a brief visit to Corinth which broke his heart because he saw what the false teachers had been able to effect. So he’s saying I will not write a testimonial to myself. I realize the grave danger of serious division in the church, the stunting of spiritual growth and the hindering of effective evangelism. I realize all of that but I will not commend myself. I’m not going to go to these false teachers, he’s saying. I’m not going to go to them face to face and build a case for myself.

Here’s what I’m doing – back to verse 12. “But we are giving you an occasion to be proud of us that you may have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart.” What he is saying is, I’m not trying to commend myself to my enemies, I’m trying to arm my friends to defend me. That is a wise, wise approach. I am giving you an occasion. I’m giving you an opportunity. What I’m saying is not for the enemies.

You’re much better off to go to your friends and let your friends be your defenders. Your enemies know they have nothing personally to gain and they are more objective, your enemies will assume. This is so sound. You cannot effectively argue with your enemies who are bent on your ruin. You’re much wiser to arm your friends to be your defense, much more effective.

So he says, we’re not going to commend ourselves, that’s not the point, but we’re giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, proud in the right sense. We think of the word proud always as related to sin but it isn’t. To literally boast on our behalf in the good sense. To boast in the good sense or to be proud in the good sense means to speak the truth about someone, the truth that does exalt that person, that does emphasize their honesty and their integrity. And he’s saying, “I want you to take up my cause. I want you to answer my detractors.”

Paul knows the false teachers were accusing him of being insane. He says that if he is beside himself — having taken leave of his senses — then it is for God; if he is in his right mind, it is for the Corinthians (verse 13).

Have you ever heard someone who has gone through a trauma be referred to as having ‘been beside himself’? It’s not as commonly used as it was when I was growing up, but it means being somewhat out of one’s mind.

Henry tells us:

Some of Paul’s adversaries had, it is likely, reproached him for his zeal and fervour, as if he had been a madman, or, in the language of our days, a fanatic; they imputed all to enthusiasm, as the Roman governor told him, Much learning has made thee mad, Acts 26 24.

MacArthur says:

… he defended himself out of reverence for the Lord, concern for the church, and thirdly, devotion to the truth, devotion to the truth. One thing about Paul, he lived for the truth. He preached it, taught it, defended it, fought for it. The man passionately existed for the truth. Notice how he expresses this motive in verse 13. This is very interesting. “For if we are beside ourselves it is for God, if we’re of sound mind it is for you.”

Now you can understand from that verse what the debate was like in the Corinthian church. There were the friends of Paul, those who had been influenced by his life, those who had come to Christ under his preaching, those who had grown in their sanctification under his teaching, those who loved him and believed in him. And they viewed him as having a sound mind. But then there were the false teachers who came in and stirred up everybody and they – they – they were able to win over converts.

They started a full-scale rebellion led by the one who was influenced by Satan and who was orchestrating this whole rebellion. They had gotten people to join in, and their criticism of Paul was he’s beside himself. So you had the people who were Paul’s friends saying he’s of sound mind. You had the false teachers and those who chimed in with them – them saying he – he’s really beside himself.

MacArthur looks at the Greek:

Now what does he mean by this? Well “beside ourselves,” existēmi, means to be out of one’s mind, to be out of your mind. It’s used of insanity. They were accusing him of being insane, mad. In fact, they were accusing him of being a fool, bereft of a sound and sober mind.

… What were they – what were they assaulting? His passion, his zeal. He seemed like a man out of balance. He was fanatical. And this term “beside ourselves” does not refer to some clinical, mental derangement, insanity in some technical term, but refers to a man who has sort of lost control. He’s just so passionate, so zealous, he’s so devoted. And it refers to something else, dogmatism. You see, the world thinks people that are dogmatic are crazy. 

In fact, Paul was more dogmatic than anybody because he was giving direct revelation. But this isn’t anything new. This is how the world always receives that kind of passion, that kind of zeal and that kind of absolute truth …

And here’s exactly what you have in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. If we are out of our minds it is for God. What do you mean? It is because it is the Word of God, it is divine truth. And if I am passionate and if I am zealous and if I am dogmatic, it is for God, it is to honor His Word which He has exalted to the level of His own name. Indeed the apostle was bold. He was fanatical zealous. He was dogmatic. It is for God, he says. It is the truth of God I’m dealing with. It is a stewardship. And so there was passion in the delivery of it.

I understand that. And I mean I don’t know anybody can dispense the truth of God without zeal and passion and conviction, and in a – in a measure of appropriate dogmatism. It honors God. God is honored when His Word is proclaimed. Paul told the Ephesians to pray for him that the Word would go forth. He told the Thessalonians to pray for him that the Word would go forth. That was his passion, preach the Word. he said to Timothy, having studied it to show yourself approved. And so, Paul says, “Look, if I – I acted like an insane man it’s because I’m dealing with divine truth. It’s for God because God has put this truth in me to proclaim.”

MacArthur reminds us that the same thing happened to John the Baptist and, later, to Jesus:

Listen to Matthew chapter 11 verses 18 and 19. Jesus speaking, He says this, “For John came and they say he has a demon.” Here came John the Baptist. You say, “Was he a zealous man?” Absolutely, absolutely. “Was he a passionate man?” Yes. “Was he a firm and dogmatic man?” I think so. He looked right at the Pharisees when they came down to where he was preaching and said, “You snakes, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Oh, they said he’s demon possessed, he’s bereft of his mind. His mind is controlled by a spirit. He’s – he’s out of his senses. Another – another being is in control of this guy.

And then in the next verse, the Son of Man came and they say He’s a drunkard. That’s what they said about Jesus. “Oh, He’s out of his mind. Alcohol has gotten Him out of His mind, He’s lost His senses.” You know how a person who is drunk is. They’re – they’re crazy, they’ve lost balance, they’ve lost touch with reality, they don’t know what’s going on. They said of John the Baptist, “He’s controlled by a spirit.” They said of Jesus, “He’s controlled by alcohol.” That was how they explained away the zeal, the passion, the truth. In Matthew chapter 12 in verse 24, they said about Jesus, “This man casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” They said this man is filled with Satan. That’s how they explained Jesus. They said He’s mad because He’s filled with Satan.

MacArthur examines the second half of the verse, dealing with his right mind — being in control of his senses — to comfort individuals in their quest for faith in Christ:

… he says, “If we’re of sound mind it’s for you.” What does he mean? Sōphroneō, be of sound mind, means to be sober minded, to be in complete control, to be moderate. This is cool communication as opposed to hot communication. If we are calm, cool, collected, meek, humble, dispassionate, restrained, it’s for you.

What do you mean by that? When I am restrained and humble and selfless, it’s to come down to your level and be patient and kind and gentle in moving you along the path …

There’s a – there’s a place for the hot communication, there’s a place for the cool communication. And I think Paul is just taking both sides. He’s saying, “Look, if I – if I appear to be a man insane, do you understand that I am dealing with a stewardship from God? And if you see me as a cool and calm and patient and gentle man, it’s because I’m trying to deal with you. But in the end, the matter that is at stake here is the truth. So, I’ll defend myself because I – I want to be able to continue to propagate the truth.”

Paul then moves on to matters theological and doctrinal.

He says that the love of Christ urges him on, because he is convinced that Christ has died for all; therefore, all have died (verse 14).

Henry says that Paul means that if Christ had not sacrificed Himself on the cross for our sins, God would judge us all under the law, which no man can possibly keep:

What we were before, and must have continued to be, had not Christ died for us: We were dead, v. 14. If one died for all, then were all dead; dead in law, under sentence of death; dead in sins and trespasses, spiritually dead. Note, This was the deplorable condition of all those for whom Christ died: they were lost and undone, dead and ruined, and must have remained thus miserable for ever if Christ had not died for them.

MacArthur explains substitutionary atonement, Christ’s dying for our sins so that we may be saved:

… over and over and over the Scripture indicates this substitutionary aspect of the death of Christ. And by the way, I’m going to say something that you must understand, that sums it up. The only way – I’ll say it again – the only way that the death of Christ could benefit the sinner was by substitution. If He didn’t die in our place, then we have to die for our sins and that spells eternal death. The death of Christ is therefore meaningless apart from its substitutionary definition. He dies in our place. That’s what we believe. That’s what we preach.

… Paul says, I am literally pressed, pressured, driven, compelled by this love that Christ has for me because I have concluded, I have a settled conviction that One died for all. That is to say that He died for me. Me, Paul, blasphemer, injurious, murderer, Christian killer, persecutor, Pharisee, egotist, religionist, legalist, I was the worst of all of it, he says to Timothy in 1 Timothy, the chief of sinners. And One, namely Christ, died for all. He offered Himself for that all that includes me.

The question is, who are the all? And somebody would immediately say, “He died for the world.” The all means the world, all the people who have ever lived. And as I have pointed out many times in recent studies, there is an unlimited element through the death of Christ …

… he doesn’t say that One died for all because all were dead. What that would mean would be something very different because all sinners who have ever lived are dead in trespasses and sins, right? So if he said He died for all, therefore, or because all were dead, we would say, well, fine. The – the whole world is dead in trespasses and sin and He died for all of them. That’s not what it says. What it says is One died for all. Therefore all died. It’s not talking about a condition, it’s not talking about a state, He’s talking about an event. He’s saying that He died for the all who died when He died.

What do you mean by that? What Paul means by that is He died for the all who died in Him. That’s the only way you can interpret it. Anything else is exegetically untenable. He died for the all. Who are the all? They’re the all who died. That’s exactly what he says. He died for the all, therefore all died. It can’t be the whole human race because the whole human race didn’t die in Christ, did they? If the whole human race died in Christ, then the whole human race is what? Saved. So you can’t have the whole human race dying in Christ or the whole human race is saved. He’s getting very specific here. He died for the all who therefore died.

What is Paul saying? Paul’s saying here’s what I’m overwhelmed about. I’m overwhelmed that Christ loved me so much that the One Christ died for all and I was part of the all who died in Him. What – what is overwhelming to Paul is that while he was still a sinner, Christ was bearing his sins on the cross. That’s what’s astounding to him. He is not saying that Christ provided a possible salvation and I was smart enough to cash in on it. He is not saying that – that Christ threw it out there and I grabbed it and, therefore, part of the credit goes to me. He is saying is what is absolutely compelling to me is that while I was yet a sinner, He died, and when He died He was dying for my sins.

This is what he’s saying. This is Romans 6, isn’t it? We have been united with Christ in His death and in His resurrection, Paul says in Romans 6. The believer is joined to Christ in His death and resurrection. When you come to Jesus Christ, God accepts you because you repent and you believe. That’s – that’s what’s required. But there’s something required before that and that is that a sufficient atonement had been made for your sins. And Christ died as your substitute and He bore your sins on the cross, therefore, you died with Him there.

This is a limiting aspect of the death of Christ. It necessarily limits the application of the atonement. The atonement – listen carefully – can only be a real substitution for those who died in Christ. I’ll say that again. The atonement can only be a real substitution for those who died in Christ, on the basis of those statements in that verse. The all is everyone who died in Christ, everyone for whom Christ was the substitute. That is the sense of the atonement which is limited.

Let me say it. Christ is the Savior of the whole world. I don’t argue that, I believe that with all my heart. He is the Savior of the whole world. His work is abundantly sufficient to secure the salvation of all who put their faith in Him. There is a sweeping sense, therefore, in which all sinners can be called to repentance and all sinners can be held culpable if they refuse to repent. And they can be judged by that. But Christ, not only in His atonement expressed an unlimited feature, but a limited one in that in a special sense He procured on the cross for those who were in Him, not a possible salvation but a real salvation. The atonement has its unlimited aspects. We’ve talked about that.

You see benefiting from the atonement in unlimited ways the human race through temporal deliverance, He’s the Savior of all men in a temporal sense. That is He doesn’t destroy them all immediately upon their sin. You see providence, God’s care. In a very general sense He lets the rain fall on the just and the unjust. Divine goodness. And then you see gospel invitations given to every man, and every man held culpable for the rejection of that invitation to be punished eternally because he will not believe. All of those indicate to us that there is an unlimited aspect of Christ’s work on the cross.

But when you talk about substitution, you now are talking about the limited aspect of it. It is limited to those who died in Christ. Now you have to ask the question; who are those who died in Christ? To answer that, look at Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter 3. In Romans chapter 3 – this is very important – verse 25. Well, verse 24 talks about the gift of – of God’s grace which is the salvation or redemption in Christ. In verse 25 God displayed publicly as a propitiation, a satisfaction, a covering, appeasing the wrath of God, He displayed Christ as that. So He’s talking about Christ’s redeeming work, His justifying work, His work of salvation.

And then in verse 26 we get right down to it. The middle of the verse, “All this that Jesus Christ and that God whose purpose it is “might be just and the justifier of the one who” — What? – “has faith in Jesus.” There’s the qualifier. Who are those who died in Christ? Those who have faith in Jesus. It is in that sense that we can say Christ died for His own. He died for the church. In the substitutionary sense He died only for those who died in Him. Those who die in Him of whom He is the justifier are those who put faith in Jesus. Or it could be translated, is of the faith of Jesus. That would be who believed the gospel about Jesus Christ. So He is the substitute only for those who believe. That’s the point.

Otherwise you’ve got a major problem because you’ve got Christ dying as a substitute for the whole world. That means He was bearing the sins of the whole world in a substitutionary sense. And if, in fact, He was carrying Himself to the cross as a substitute for the sins of every person who ever lived, He would therefore have done away with the wrath of God and procured for them eternal life, and we’d all be universalists. So there has to be a limiting feature. And I think that’s what Paul is – is speaking of here when he narrows this down that One died for all, therefore all died. The One who died, died for the all who died in Him. The all who died in Him are those who believe.

Look at Ephesians 5:25 for a moment. And I know this is theological but it’s important. It’s the foundation of our faith. “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church” – and here you have this narrowness again – “and gave Himself up for her.” Here again you see Christ substituting for the church, to sanctify her, to set her apart from sin, to cleanse her, to present her to Himself without spot or wrinkle or blemish and that she should be holy and blameless. So here you have Him clearly dying to bring the church to Himself.

Paul goes further, addressing bodily resurrection, saying that Christ died for all (all believers) so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for them (verse 15).

MacArthur explains:

Christ not only died for us, as he says in verse 15, and we died in Him, but He also rose again for us and we rose in Him. Look at verse 15. “And He died for all that they who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”

Now, let me just help you to see the tremendous truth that’s in this verse. He died for all. That is “He died for all who died in Him” – as we saw in verse 14 – “that they who live” – now, what does that presuppose? That death was not permanent. If you died in Him, you would also rise in Him because He rose. So he says He died for all that they who having died in Him and now live should no longer live for themselves but for Him, the One who died and rose again on their behalf, or as their substitute.

This takes you immediately back to Romans 6 again where Paul goes through this with such clarity. “Do you not know” – verse 3 – “that all of us who have been immersed into Christ Jesus have been immersed into his death. Therefore we have been buried with Him into death” – in order that, verse 4 – “as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection” …

You died in Him, you rose in Him, you’ll be glorified. That’s the simple truth here. Our dying in Christ was not only a dying to sin, but it was a resurrection – here’s the key – to righteousness. Because now that we’re alive in Christ and we have a new nature and a new life and the Spirit dwells in us, we live not for ourselves. He says they no longer live for themselves but for Him who died and rose again as their substitute on their behalf. It is a tremendous thing to realize that when you died in Christ, you rose to live a righteous life. We no longer live for ourselves.

Paul leads into his next thought — ‘therefore’ — he no longer looks at anyone from a human point of view; even though he once knew Christ from a human point of view, he no longer knows Him in that way (verse 16).

Paul refers there first to his days as the zealous Pharisee Saul who considered Christ a blasphemer whose followers should be put to death and secondly to his transformation as Paul the Apostle after his Damascene conversion.

MacArthur explains:

You know how I used to see them? I used to see them like I saw myself, circumcised the eighth day, of the nation Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, zealous for the Law, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, right? All that external stuff. And he says when I came to Christ, I saw all that as dung, Philippians 3, manure, filth, garbage, rubbish. I don’t see people that way anymore.

Now, that had tremendous implications. In fact, as he looked out over the world of his own day, he saw things differently as every believer did. First of all, he would no longer – no longer resent Gentiles the way Jews historically did. The ancient order of prejudice and hate was out of his heart. In its place there came a new love for men of whatever race. In Christ Jesus, there was neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free, male nor female.

The middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile was broken down by the cross of Christ and Paul felt himself a debtor both to the Jew and the Greek, to the Greek and the barbarian. It was the crowning glory of his ministry that he was a Jew who went to the synagogue in order that he might gain a group of Jews for Christ that could evangelize the Gentiles and make of the two one body. This is a complete revolution in Paul’s world. Jews and Samaritans hated each other. Greeks despised those barbarous outsiders. The proud Romans scorned those whom they conquered. There were all kinds of social barriers. But those all disappeared and Paul just saw eternal souls.

Furthermore, he could no longer judge by external features. He looked at the heart to discern its spiritual condition. Even among believers he couldn’t be content with some superficiality. That’s why he wrote these passionate letters. It wasn’t enough for the Corinthians to be converted. He wanted them fully sanctified. And when he writes to the Colossians, he says that he is so devoted to that that he will continue to admonish every man and teach every man with all wisdom in order to present every man complete in Christ. He has a whole new perspective, completely transformed. He is deeply burdened for souls now…

Now, in further discussion of his argument here, look what he says in verse 16, “Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.” And that’s what changed everything. You see, once he had a human acquaintance with Jesus, does that mean that he met Him personally? No. It just means that he made a human assessment of him. He had come to a conclusion about Jesus as a man. We have known Christ according to the flesh.

All he knew was there was this Jewish man named Jesus who created a tremendous amount of furor among the Jews because He contradicted the Law and the prophets. At least they thought He did. He intruded into their temple activities, even overturning the tables and throwing out the money changers several times. He was an insurrectionist and a rebel and a heretic, according to Paul.

He simply judged the human Jesus. He judged Him as a man worthy of death. And not only was He worthy of death but so was everybody who followed Him. Paul from the human viewpoint concluded that Jesus was a false Messiah, that this man was not the true Messiah. He never overthrew the yoke of Rome, He never led an insurrection or a rebellion against Rome, He led one against the Jews religiously. He was a blasphemer, He was a dangerous teacher of heresy and everybody who followed Him was worthy of death …

It may well have started, by the way, with the stoning of Stephen because they laid their garments at the feet of this very man, Paul, when they were stoning Stephen; took their cloaks off so they could throw the rocks with more freedom. “I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme and being furiously enraged at them I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities.” Amazing, isn’t it, how passionate he was? All of this, you see, because he made an assessment of Christ that was purely human. So, he says we have known Christ according to the flesh.

But the assessment of Saul the Pharisee was quite different than the assessment of Paul the apostle. Yet he says at the end of verse 16, “Now we know Him thus no longer.” We don’t have that view anymore of Jesus, no longer do I view Jesus as a Galilean Jew who was the enemy of Judaism, who deserved to die as did all of His followers. No longer since becoming a believer. Now he says He is God incarnate, the Savior, the Lord of heaven and He is the only one who can deliver men from sin and I see men as sinners and thus comes the compulsion for ministry.

This new knowledge of Jesus Christ then which he gained on the Damascus Road, remember? And what happened? When he was blinded by Jesus and fell into the dirt he said, “Lord, what will You have me to do?” And, all of a sudden, the One who had been designated as a heretic was designated as Lord. And when his assessment of Jesus changed, his assessment of everybody else changed too. Now, he realizes what is really at stake. Eternal souls.

Paul ends on a joyous note, saying that if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation (verse 17); everything old has passed away. ‘See, everything has become new!’

MacArthur gives us this analysis:

… verse 17, a very familiar, very popular verse committed to memory by many, “Therefore,” – and the therefore tells us the sequence is coming just one after another, “Therefore,” in verse 16, “Therefore” in verse 17. So it goes back to verse 15 where Christ died and we died with Him, where He rose and we rose in Him, and that new life causes us never to see anybody else the same. And it also causes us to realize, in verse 17, “If any man is in Christ he is a new creature, the old things passed away, behold, new things have come.”

What is this? This is just the most obvious response, the most obvious conclusion from verse 15. Listen carefully. If the death and resurrection of Christ had such a profound change, produced such a profound change in Paul’s life, therefore, he concludes if any man is in Christ, he’ll have the same kind of profound change. Old things will pass away and new things come. What’s he saying? He’s saying I realized at the very beginning that what had happened in me could happen in any man who was in Christ. You see that? That what had happened to me could happen to any man in Christ and would, no matter who she is or who he is, no matter how wicked.

And God delights in – in taking the chief of sinners, blasphemers, the worst, prostitutes, drunkards, tax collectors. Here is the wideness of God’s mercy that gave Paul his evangelistic commission, I concluded that if any man is in Christ he also will be a new creature, just like I was. And that’s how he began to view everyone. Either they were or they weren’t in Christ. What Paul had experienced, any man in Christ could experience. This new knowledge, this new perception, this new wisdom. Now, you – you had spiritual insight. You didn’t live for temporal things, you didn’t live for earthly things, you didn’t evaluate people on the – on the surface.

You – you lived for the Kingdom, you lived for Christ and you saw people at the heart and you saw them in their relationship to God, not in their relationship to each other. This new life is for any man who is in Christ. That’s the key. That’s the key, being in Christ. Being united to Christ, as Romans 3:26 says, that He is the justifier of those who have faith in Jesus. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ you are in Christ, His substitutionary death is your death and His resurrection life is your life, and now you live a new life. And in that new life, he says as clearly as possible, you are a new creature, you’re a new creature.

The expression “in Christ” sums up briefly and as profoundly as possible the inexhaustible significance of man’s redemption. It speaks of our security in Him who has Himself borne in His own body the judgment of God against our sin. It speaks of acceptance in Him with whom alone God is well pleased. It speaks of assurance for the future in Him who is the resurrection and the life and the guarantee of our inheritance. It speaks of the inheritance of glory in Him who is the only begotten Son, is the sole heir and, therefore, we inherit only in Him.

It speaks of participations in – participation in the divine nature in Him who is the everlasting Word. “In Christ.” And when you’re in Christ, you’re a new kainos, new in quality. Not just new in sequence, new in quality, new in creation, at a new level of excellence. “New creation” is a term Paul loves. He used in it Galatians 6:15, “Neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision but a new creation, that’s everything.” A new creation. That’s what God wants to do, recreate you in Christ. In fact, in Ephesians 4:24 he calls it “putting on the new self.”

MacArthur tells us that the Old Testament rabbis also used the term ‘new creature’:

The rabbis, by the way, in the Old Testament era, and even in more modern times used this term “new creature” to describe someone whose sins were forgiven. Paul may have used it with that in mind because it does encompass the forgiveness of sins since they were paid for in the death of Christ as our substitute. So dying and living with Christ has made Paul new. It has made him new. It has given him new knowledge. He will never view Christ the same and he will never view people the same, and anyone in Christ will have the same newness. The whole world changes, doesn’t it? Everything changes. In fact, he says it as simply as he can, “The old things passed away, new things have come.”

MacArthur says that the next stage is sanctification, which he describes as follows:

Now this newness, by the way, is a reality but it’s a process. And the ever-increasing understanding of this newness and expression of this newness is what we call “sanctification.” And it goes on until glorification when the fullness of that newness becomes reality. But look at the little phrases with which he closes verse 17, “old things passed away.” Now you don’t need to get too particular here, too specific. What he means is when spiritual issues became real, when spiritual sight became clear, when we who used to be dead were now alive to the spiritual realm, when we saw Christ for who He really was and we see people for who they really are, old ideas and old values and old plans and old loves and old passions and old desires and old principles and old beliefs are gone. They’re gone.

It doesn’t mean no more evil or no more sin. It just means that God has planted new desires and new loves and new inclinations and new appetites and new truths and new values, and they are nourished and developed and they triumph over the remaining flesh as we continue to be transformed into the image of Christ. You know, you need to keep that in mind.

All mature believers go through sanctification. Some aspects of it are marvellous, although other aspects might involve trials. Whatever they are, they are part of God’s glorious plan for each of us. Paul, even when enduring persecution and denigration, rejoiced always. That was his sanctification process as he realised that the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit continued to work through him, making him an ever stronger Apostle for God’s glory.