d. Responsibility and reconciliation (5:11-6:2)

This resurrrection hope (4:16b-5:10) accounts for Paul’s “therefore” (nrsv) in 5:11. He does not take lightly his appointment before the judgment seat of Christ (5:10). He knows what it is to fear the Lord (v.11a); his future reward or punishment is based on the faithful performance of his ministry of persuading people to become and remain believers. Effective ministry demands transparent integrity; he stands open for inspection by God and the Corinthians (v.11b). The appeals in 5:20 and 6:1 reflect Paul’s concern to be persuasive.

As he does in previous (2:14-4:1; 4:2-16a) and subsequent (6:3-7:4) sections, Paul commends himself in 5:11b-12a. His goal is not to gloat in his accomplishments but to give the Corinthians suitable grounds for assessing his ministry and for answering those whose basis for assessment is style rather than substance (5:12). This is what he proceeds to do in the balance of this section, explicating the motives and nature of his ministry.

Paul refuses to make his private religious experiences, whatever they may be, a basis for public inspection; they are between him and God (5:13a; see 1Co 14:1, 19). Christ’s love for him and his love for Christ compel him to minister to those for whom Christ died. Christ’s self-giving, other-directed love motivates, preoccupies, and dominates Paul’s life and ministry (vv.13-15). His pre-Christian, merely “human” (nrsv), worldly (niv) evaluation of Christ, based on outward appearances (v.12), is no longer viable. In the same way Christ enables him to see other people from an entirely new perspective (v.16). Living for Christ and as Christ lived has revolutionized his world—there is, as it were, a new creation. This radical change is not only his experience as an apostle, but that of anyone [who] is in Christ (v.17; see Gal 6:15). This is Paul’s answer [for] those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart (v.12).

Paul insists that all this newness comes from God. He is the one who reconciled Paul to himself through the death of Christ and who gave Paul the ministry of reconciliation. That is, by making Paul his friend, God gave Paul the opportunity to serve him and people by also making them his friends (5:18). Here the apostle uses the language of diplomacy to explicate the nature of salvation (see Ro 5:10). In 5:21 Paul appeals to the more traditional Septuagint language of sacrifice to do the same. God made the sinless Christ (Jn 7:18; 8:46; Heb 4:15; 7:26; 1Pe 2:22; 1Jn 3:5) to be a sin offering for us sinners so that we might be made right with God through Christ. Clearly Paul insists that Christ’s death is the divine means of salvation for the world (5:18, through Christ; 5:19, in Christ). Interpreters are divided on precisely how Christ’s death provides salvation (translations and commentaries tend to defend particular theories of the Atonement).

According to 5:19, in the Christevent God accomplished three things: (1) he provided the means by which all people might be reconciled to himself; (2) he demonstrated his decision not to hold the sins of humanity against them; and (3) he entrusted to reconciled people the task of sharing this reconciling message. As an ambassador on behalf of Christ, Paul represents God’s interests, appealing for peace on his behalf (5:20).