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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2Co_5:20-21
20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2Co_5:20 "we are ambassadors for Christ" To whom does the "we" and "you" in this verse refer? Is Paul speaking to the church? If so the "we" is Paul and his missionary team and the "you," believers at Corinth. These people did not need to be saved, but they did need to be brought back into unity.
Notice that Paul does not say believers should be ambassadors, but that they are ambassadors. This is similar to Jesus' statements in Mat_5:13-16. Believers are salt and light. The question is what kind of salt and light. This is the question here. Believers are Christ's representatives, but what kind of ambassadors are they: factious, heretical, unloving, etc.?
▣ "beg" See full note at 2Co_1:4-11.
▣ "be reconciled to God" This is a present passive imperative. Is this a command to lost people or to saved people? The larger context is mandating an appropriate lifestyle on the part of believers. Jesus saved us from sin and strife; we are saved to serve! We are called to Christlike ministry, not personal agendas.
This context has a message to a lost, needy world-Christ died for you (positional righteousness). This context has a message for a factious, unloving church-Christ died for you (progressive righteousness).
The passive voice could be translated "let God reconcile you to Himself"; "allow yourselves to be reconciled" (cf. The Jerome Biblical Commentary, p. 281); or "let God change you from enemies into his friends" (cf. TEV). Believers proclaim the truth, the Spirit convicts the lost, the Son provides the means, and the Father accomplishes His will through covenant response.
2Co_5:21 This text has several great truths.
1. God sent Jesus to die for us (cf. Joh_3:16). Jesus came to die for us (cf. Mar_10:45).
2. Jesus knew no sin (cf. Joh_8:46; Heb_4:15; Heb_7:26; 1Pe_1:19; 1Pe_2:22; 1Jn_3:5).
3. The goal is personal righteousness, serving Christlikeness (cf. Rom_8:28-29; 2Co_3:18; Gal_4:19; Eph_1:4; 1Th_3:13; 1Th_4:3; 1Pe_1:15). However, there is a note of contingency (subjunctive mood). All believers do not fully realize God's complete purpose in salvation. It is a call to service, a call to self denial, a call to holiness. Christianity only begins when one trusts Christ. Belief is only the first step of a long journey.
NASB "to be sin on our behalf"
NKJV "to be sin for us"
NRSV "to be sin"
TEV "share our sin"
NJB "a victor for sin"
How did God make Jesus become sin? This may be an OT allusion to a sin offering (cf. Isaiah 53; Rom_8:3). God offered Jesus as the sinless lamb (cf. Joh_1:29; Joh_1:36).
I think Jesus' words from the cross, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me" (cf. Mar_15:34), which is a quote from Psalms 22, reflects the spiritual reality of the Father turning away from the Son (i.e., symbolized by the darkness, cf. Mar_15:33), as He bore the sin of the world. This is theologically parallel to Gal_3:13, "having become a curse for us"!
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