By Bob Hayes
I love being with fellow believers. That joy super expands when I visit family members serving abroad. There, fellowship is a divine commodity seldom wasted. But, whether here or there, fellowship can suffer when we behave sinfully. Paul deals with this reality in 2 Corinthians 5:16–21.
A new perspective
First, Paul tells us to regard fellow believers as more than their current behavior—in light of their standing in Christ, not their temporal failures: “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.” (v. 16)
Disappointment with other believers can hit hard. While believers’ sinful choices may grieve us, we can shift our perspective to see them as the products of the change that comes with conversion. With Christ in us, our immaterial part is the biggest part of who we are, and that reality ought to weigh heavily on our considerations.
Note Paul’s reasoning in this verse. While we know about Christ’s earthly life, we now know Him as the risen, glorified Christ at the Father’s right hand. “[Paul] stops not at the manger or the cross,” writes A. W. Tozer in The Warfare of the Spirit, “but constantly sweeps our thoughts on to the resurrection and upward to the ascension and the throne.”1 We praise God for Jesus’s birth, sinless life, suffering, and death, but Christ is no longer a baby, nor is He the despised, bleeding Servant. He is no longer in the grave. We know Him no longer “according to the flesh.”
Living 20 hours from my parents, I did not participate in my father’s care while he was dying. My mother and three siblings did. They probably still regard my dad in light of that terrible experience. But I don’t. I regard him as I last saw him: a vibrant, fun, talkative guy.
Paul reminds us that as we do not consider Christ only according to His earthly sojourn, we must stop recognizing one another in view of present struggles. Why do we still say “Simon the Sorcerer” instead of just “Simon”? Believers are more than sinning children of God.
From death unto life
Paul furthers his admonition by affirming believers’ new state before God. We are new creations in Christ: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (v. 17)
The “old things” are probably our pre-conversion guilt before God, not our post-conversion sins. We trust that our sinful behavior has grown dimmer since conversion, but this verse emphasizes our state over our behaviors. Even though we still sin, our inner corruption and our sins are forgiven. So acknowledge fellow believers’ new state before God.
The restored relationship
Additionally, we have a new life source: “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (vv. 18–19)
Reconciliation is not synonymous with justification. It means “not imputing their trespasses to them.” God is the reconciler; believers are the messengers; the world is the scope. Christ’s death satisfies God’s demands related to Adam’s sin, whereas the unbelievers’ judgment is for personal sins (see the great white throne). In reconciliation, Christ’s death makes people “savable” because Christ took on the penalty for the imputed sin of Adam—He became “sin for us.” (v. 21) Therefore, we can rightly tell anyone, “Christ died for you.” His death addressed the world’s guilt in Adam’s sin but did not forgive its personal sins. Believers, however, received forgiveness for their sins at salvation, so their relationship with God has been restored.
Conclusion? Meaningful Christian fellowship can be difficult because we, as humans, are difficult. But, considering this passage, let’s give each other the highest consideration. Recognize believers as new creations in Christ that have new value to the Lord and us. When disappointed, address the sin but value the new creation. This will encourage those struggling and brighten our perspective.
Bob Hayes is a commended worker based in New Jersey.
Originally published in Missions magazine, June 2024. For more content, sign up for a free subscription (US) to Missions at CMML.us/magazine/subscribe
