In his assured hope of immortal glory, and in expectance of it, and of the general judgment, the Apostle laboureth to keep a good conscience; not that he may herein boast of himself, but as one that, having received life from Christ, endeavoureth to live as a new creature to Christ only, and by his ministry of reconciliation to reconcile others also in Christ to God.
Anno Domini 58.
TO shew what the things were which the Apostles aimed at, and by the hope of which their inward man was daily recruited, St. Paul mentions in this chapter that eternal habitation in heaven which the faithful are to obtain after death, because there all the objects of their desires will be found, and be enjoyed by them in their utmost perfection, 2 Corinthians 5:1.—And knowing that their heavenly habitation will be infinitely preferable to their earthly dwelling, they earnestly desire to be introduced into it, 2 Corinthians 5:2.—And being a happiness which they were sure of obtaining, if they continued perseveringly to cleave to Christ, they were certain that, although they were deprived of their earthly habitation by their persecutors, they would not be found destitute of a habitation after death, 2 Corinthians 5:3. Their strong desire, however, to be introduced into their heavenly habitation, did not proceed from discontentment with their present suffering state, but from the hope of having their mortality then changed into immortality, 2 Corinthians 5:4. Now, said the Apostle, he who hath wrought in us this strong desire and hope, is God himself, who hath bestowed on us the gifts of the Spirit, as an earnest of what we hope for, 2 Corinthians 5:5.—They were therefore at all times bold in preaching the gospel, both knowing that while they were at home on earth in the body, they were from home from the Lord, and being well pleased to go out of the body, and be with the Lord, 2 Corinthians 5:8.—For which reason, whether they remained on earth, or were to be removed by death, they earnestly endeavoured to behave in such a manner as to please Christ, before whose tribunal all men must appear, to receive in their body according to the deeds which they have done, 2 Corinthians 5:9-10.—The Apostle, therefore, knowing the terribleness of Christ's displeasure, was at the greater pains in persuading men to believe the future judgment; and by his earnestness in preaching that judgment, was approved of God, and he hoped also of the Corinthians, to whom he had made known that interesting event, 2 Corinthians 5:11.
But that what he had said, in commendation of his own faithfulness in the ministry of the gospel, might not be imputed to vanity, he told the Corinthians that he had mentioned these things to afford them a solid ground of rejoicing in him, though and in submission to divine grace as an Apostle, and to enable them to answer those who boasted in the false teacher, on account of merely external, and not on account of real qualities, 2 Corinthians 5:12.—Farther, because the faction represented the Apostle as a madman, for preaching the gospel at the hazard of his life, without reaping any worldly advantage from it, he assured theCorinthians, that whether in so doing he acted in the opinion of the faction as a madman, it was for the glory of God; or whether he acted, in the opinion of the sincere part of the church, as one in his right mind, by shunning persecution, it was for the sake of his disciples, that he might be continued the longer with them, 2 Corinthians 5:13.—and in either case he was moved by a strong sense of the love of Christ, in dying for all, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15.—Therefore, as an Apostle of Christ, he knew no distinction between Jew and Gentile; nor in preaching the gospel did he make any distinction between them, but offered the same terms of salvation to all, 2 Corinthians 5:16.—Declaring that if any man believeth in Christ, whether he be a Jew or a Gentile, he is a new creature, 2 Corinthians 5:17.—created by God, who hath reconciled him to himself through Jesus Christ, and who hath given to the Apostles the ministry of the reconciliation, 2 Corinthians 5:18.—which consists in publishing that God is by Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting to them their trespasses, 2 Corinthians 5:19.—The Apostles, therefore, in Christ's stead, earnestly besought men to be reconciled to God, 2 Corinthians 5:20.—and to persuade them to be reconciled, they represented to them that him, who knew no sin, God had made a sin-offering for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, 2 Corinthians 5:21.—Now, of all the arguments which the ministers of the gospel can propose, to persuade sinners to be reconciled to God, this instance of God's love to them is by far the greatest and most affecting; and therefore ought to be much insisted on by them in their discourses to the people.