bible.com/bible/100/2co.5.17.NASB1995

Notes from John MacArthur Study Bible

5:15 As he defended his integrity to the Corinthians, Paul wanted them to know that his old, self-centered life was finished and that he had an all-out desire to live righteously. For all genuine believers, their death in Christ is not only a death to sin, but a resurrection to a new life of righteousness ( see notes on Ro 6:3 , 4 , 8 , 10 ; cf. Gal 2:19 , 20 ; Col 3:3 ). † 5:16 Since Paul’s conversion, his priority was to meet people’s spiritual needs (cf. Ac 17:16 ; Ro 1:13–16 ; 9:1–3 ; 10:1 ). according to the flesh. Paul no longer evaluated people according to external, human, worldly standards (cf. 10:3 ). we know Him in this way no longer. Paul, as a Christian, also no longer had merely a fallible, human assessment of Jesus Christ (cf. Ac 9:1–6 ; 26:9–23 ).

† 5:17 in Christ. These two words comprise a brief but most profound statement of the inexhaustible significance of the believer’s redemption, which includes the following: 1) the believer’s security in Christ, who bore in His body God’s judgment against sin; 2) the believer’s acceptance in Him with whom God alone is well pleased; 3) the believer’s future assurance in Him who is the resurrection to eternal life and the sole guarantor of the believer’s inheritance in heaven; and 4) the believer’s participation in the divine nature of Christ, the everlasting Word (cf. 2Pe 1:4 ). new creature. This describes something that is created at a qualitatively new level of excellence. It refers to regeneration or the new birth (cf. Jn 3:3 ; Eph 2:1–3 ; Titus 3:5 ; 1Pe 1:23 ; 1Jn 2:29 ; 3:9 ; 5:4 ). This expression encompasses the Christian’s forgiveness of sins paid for in Christ’s substitutionary death (cf. Gal 6:15 ; Eph 4:24 ). old things passed away. After a person is regenerate, old value systems, priorities, beliefs, loves, and plans are gone. Evil and sin are still present, but the believer sees them in a new perspective ( see note on v. 16 ), and they no longer control him. new things have come. The Gr. grammar indicates that this newness is a continuing condition of fact. The believer’s new spiritual perception of everything is a constant reality for him, and he now lives for eternity, not temporal things. James identifies this transformation as the faith that produces works ( see notes on Eph 2:10 ; Jas 2:14–25 ).

† 5:18 all these things are from God. All the aspects related to someone’s conversion and newly transformed life in Christ are accomplished by a sovereign God. Sinners on their own cannot decide to participate in these new realities ( see note on Ro 5:10 ; cf. 1Co 8:6 ; 11:12 ; Eph 2:1 ). ministry of reconciliation. This speaks to the reality that God wills sinful men to be reconciled to Himself (cf. Ro 5:10 ; Eph 4:17–24 ). God has called believers to proclaim the gospel of reconciliation to others (cf. 1Co 1:17 ). The concept of service, such as waiting on tables, derives from the Gr. word for “ministry.” Lit. God wants Christians to accept the privilege of serving unbelievers by proclaiming a desire to be reconciled.