Home
Friendship with God through Jesus
2 Corinthians 5.6-17
Good News Translation (GNT)
*************************
6 So we are always full of courage. We know
that as long as we are at home in the body
we are away from the Lord's home.
7 For our life is a matter of faith, not of sight.
8 We are full of courage and would much prefer
to leave our home in the body and be at home
with the Lord.
9 More than anything else, however, we want to
please him, whether in our home here
or there.
10 For all of us must appear before Christ, to be
judged by him. We will each receive what we
deserve, according to everything we have
done, good or bad, in our bodily life.
11 We know what it means to fear the Lord, and
so we try to persuade others. God knows us
completely, and I hope that in your hearts you
know me as well.
12 We are not trying again to recommend
ourselves to you; rather, we are trying to give
you a good reason to be proud of us, so that
you will be able to answer those who boast
about people's appearance and not about
their character.
13 Are we really insane? It is for God's sake.
Or are we sane? Then it is for your sake.
14 We are ruled by the love of Christ, now that
we recognise that one man died for everyone,
which means that they all share in his death.
15 He died for all, so that those who live should
no longer live for themselves, but only for him
who died and was raised to life for their sake.
16 No longer, then, do we judge anyone by
human standards. Even if at one time we
judged Christ according to human standards,
we no longer do so.
17 Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being;
the old is gone, the new has come.
*************************
Commentary taken from
'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
(Kingsway)
Friendship with God through Jesus
2 Corinthians 5.6-17
As long as we live in this world
we are at home in our earthly body.
After we die,
we shall receive our heavenly eternal body.
Jesus is now in heaven, but we are on earth.
Now we walk by faith; we cannot see him with our eyes.
But in heaven we shall see Him face to face
and our chief goal is to please him.
On the day of judgment God and Jesus together
will render two kinds of judgment.
The first kind of judgment is for those who
have not believed in Jesus
who stand condemned already.
The Christian is not condemned;
he has been delivered from the judgment.
The judgment which non-believers will receive
is the sentence of eternal death.
The second kind of judgment is for
believers in Jesus.
Christians, too, must all appear before
the judgment seat of Jesus.
It is not we ourselves who will be judged;
rather, it is our work that will be judged.
This judgment is for giving rewards
Paul says only this:
At that time each will receive his praise from God.
A Christian must seek all the more to honour
and to serve God with his whole heart.
Jesus said: This is to my Father's glory,
that you bear much fruit.
Paul says of some members of the church
in Corinth were opposed him,
that they take pride in what is seen.
They take into account only those things
that are outward, and do not pay
attention to what is in the heart.
Paul doesn't commend or defend himself for
his own sake but for the church's sake.
His opponents said that he was "out of his mind."
Perhaps they said he was too religious,
that he was a fanatic.
Jesus didn't only give up His life for Paul;
He gave His life for all men.
That is, He died in the place of all men,
because all men were condemned to die.
When we put faith in Jesus,
our old sinful self dies with him,
and we receive new spiritual life.
What should we do for a man
who gives up His life for us?
We should live no longer for ourselves
but for Him who died for us.
We should no longer evaluate anyone
according to worldly standards,
according to the flesh; rather, we should
evaluate people according to spiritual standards.
At first Paul had regarded Jesus from
a worldly point of view.
But now we have met the risen,
living Christ Himself;
we now regard Him (know Him),
according to the truth.
It is not enough merely to obtain
knowledge about Jesus;
we must know Him personally - spiritually.
It does no good for a sick person
to merely identify the right medicine;
he must take it!
Verse 17 contains one of the greatest
statements in the entire New Testament.
To be in Christ means to have faith in Him,
to obey Him, to love Him, to know Him personally,
and to make Him the Lord of one's life.
Looking at ourselves,
can we indeed say that we are a new creation?
Other versions are available here
Return to the Home Page
Contact the Rector
The Revd.
Nic.Edwards
The Rectory,
Church Lane,
BUGBROOKE,
Northampton,
NN7 3PB
Land Line: 01604 - 815496
(Can be accessed from the mobile device)
Mobile: .....
E-mail:
thebeneficeofbhkandr at gmail dot com
Contact the Benefice Office
Sunday School Rooms, Church Lane,
BUGBROOKE, Northampton, NN7 3PB
Land Line: 01604 830373
E-mail:
thebeneficeofbhkandr at gmail dot com
Mon., Tues., Wed,, Thur., Fri.
9:00am to 11:30am
For Baptism bookings (Christenings)
to arrange an appointment please contact
the Benefice Office.
For Wedding bookings:
please contact the Benefice Office to arrange
an appointment.
Who Made This?
Seeing as you asked, if you can give helpful
advice or report factual corrections and
'deliberate mistakes',email:-
regparker3 at gmail dot com
Email addresses shown using words in an
attempt to avoid 'spam',
Type the email address replacing 'at' with '@',
and 'dot' with '.'
|