Bible Study 2 Corinthians 5
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2 Corinthians 5 · WEB

The Ministry of Reconciliation

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For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.
2For most certainly in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,
3if indeed being clothed, we will not be found naked.
4For indeed we who are in this tent do groan, being burdened, not that we desire to be unclothed, but that we desire to be clothed, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
5Now he who made us for this very thing is God, who also gave to us the down payment of the Spirit.
6Therefore we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord;
7for we walk by faith, not by sight.
8We are courageous, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
9Therefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well pleasing to him.
10For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
11Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are revealed to God, and I hope that we are revealed also in your consciences.
12For we are not commending ourselves to you again, but speak as giving you occasion of boasting on our behalf, that you may have something to answer those who boast in appearance and not in heart.
13For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God. Or if we are of sober mind, it is for you.
14For the love of Christ constrains us; because we judge thus, that one died for all, therefore all died.
15He died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who for their sakes died and rose again.
16Therefore we know no one after the flesh from now on. Even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more.
17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
18But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
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Summary

Paul contrasts the perishable earthly body (a "tent") with an eternal heavenly dwelling, expressing confident hope grounded in the Spirit as a down payment. Since all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, believers live to please him, walking by faith and not by sight. The love of Christ compels Paul's ministry: those in Christ are a new creation, and God has entrusted his people with the message of reconciliation. The chapter climaxes in the great exchange — the sinless Christ was made sin so that sinners might become the righteousness of God.

Themes

  • Eternal hope beyond the mortal body
  • Walking by faith and not by sight
  • Accountability at the judgment seat of Christ
  • New creation in Christ
  • The ministry and message of reconciliation

Key verses

  • 2 Cor 5:17 — “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.”
  • 2 Cor 5:20 — “We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ... we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
  • 2 Cor 5:21 — “For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
  • 2 Cor 5:7 — “for we walk by faith, not by sight.”

Context & background

Paul wrote 2 Corinthians c. AD 55-57 from Macedonia (modern northern Greece) to the church at Corinth (modern southern Greece, near the Isthmus). Chapter 5 continues Paul's defense of his ministry begun in chapter 4, where he spoke of present afflictions producing eternal glory. The "tent" imagery evokes both the temporary nomadic dwellings of his ancestors and Paul's own trade as a tentmaker. The judgment seat (Greek *bema*) was a familiar Corinthian landmark — the elevated platform where the proconsul Gallio judged Paul in Acts 18, still visible in the ruins of ancient Corinth today.

Cross-references

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    According to verse 7, how does Paul describe the mode of the Christian life in this body?

  2. Observe

    In verse 21, what exchange does Paul describe?

  3. Interpret

    What does it mean that believers are "ambassadors on behalf of Christ" (v. 20)?

  4. Interpret

    Paul says "the love of Christ constrains us" (v. 14). What kind of constraint is this, and how is it connected to the death described in verse 14?

  5. Apply

    Paul says "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation — the old things have passed away, all things have become new" (v. 17). What old patterns of thinking or identity do Christians most need to release in light of this verse?

  6. Apply

    Paul says believers must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ (v. 10). How should this truth shape daily motivation for living?

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