if . App-118 . any man . Greek. tis. App-123 . he is. Supply the ellipsis by there is. a new creature = a new creation. new. Greek. kainos . See Matthew 9:17 . old = the ancient. behold. App-133 . all things . Texts read "they". read more
Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold they are become new.IN CHRISTIn Christ ... A phenomenal blindness is the only thing that could account for the total absence from the writings of so many scholars of any reference whatever to this little prepositional phrase which is nothing if not THE VERY EYE OF CHRISTIANITY. Paul used this expression, or its equivalent, 169 times![29] Failure to appreciate what Paul means by this is to... read more
2 Corinthians 5:17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, &c.— Gal 6:14-15 may give some light to this place. To connect this and the preceding verse with St. Paul's discourse here, they must be understood in reference to the false apostle, against whom St. Paul is here justifying himself;making it a grand point, in this as well as his former epistle, to shew that what the false Apostle gloried in was no just cause of boasting. Pursuant to this just design of sinking the authority and credit... read more
17. Therefore—connected with the words in 2 Corinthians 5:16, "We know Christ no more after the flesh." As Christ has entered on His new heavenly life by His resurrection and ascension, so all who are "in Christ" (that is, united to Him by faith as the branch is In the vine) are new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:16- :). "New" in the Greek implies a new nature quite different from anything previously existing, not merely recent, which is expressed by a different Greek word (2 Corinthians 5:16- :).... read more
The new creation 5:16-17Paul now illustrated how Christ’s love had changed his viewpoint. read more
Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection (2 Corinthians 5:14-15) had had another effect besides altering Paul’s viewpoint (2 Corinthians 5:16). 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 each begin with the same Greek word, hoste: "therefore" or "so." Whenever a person experiences conversion, as Paul did, he or she really becomes a new person. It is not just his or her viewpoint that should change and can change, but many other things also change. Certain old conditions and relationships no longer exist (Gr.... read more
The subject of 2 Corinthians 4 is continued. St. Paul has been pointing out that amid bodily weakness and decay he is encouraged by the thought that the temporal is transient, while the spiritual is eternal. He now goes on to speak more particularly of the great prospect that sustains him—the replacement of the earthly material body by an eternal heavenly one. He hopes to survive till Christ’s coming, and receive the heavenly body without passing through the experience of death: but, if it... read more
(17) Therefore if any man be in Christ.—To be in Christ, in St. Paul’s language, is for a man to be united with him by faith and by baptism (Romans 6:3-4), to claim personally what had been secured to him as a member of the race for whom Christ died. In such a case the man is born again (Titus 3:5)—there is a new creation; the man, as the result of that work, is a new creature. The old things of his life, Jewish expectations of a Jewish kingdom, chiliastic dreams, heathen philosophies, lower... read more
2 Corinthians 5:10 Carts go along the streets; full of stript human corpses, thrown pell-mell; limbs sticking up: seest thou that cold Hand sticking up, through the heaped embrace of brother corpses, in its yellow paleness, in its cold rigour; the palm opened towards Heaven, as if in dumb prayer, in expostulation de profundis , take pity on the Sons of men! Mercier saw it, as he walked down 'the Rue Saint-Jacques from Mont-rouge, on the morrow of the Massacres': but not a Hand; it was a Foot,... read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 5:11-21
The power of love (5:11-6:13)Because Paul knows that he is accountable to Christ, he knows what it means to fear the Lord, and this makes him more diligent in his service. God knows that his motives are pure and he trusts that the Corinthians know also (11).In making these statements, Paul is not trying to write a recommendation for himself. He is trying to give his supporters reason to be bold in defending him against those who criticize him (12). They may have seen him display his feelings in... read more