2 Corinthians 5:11

11. Terror of the Lord Rather, not terror of the Lord, but our fear of him.

Therefore In view of the scenes of the judgment.

We persuade men Of what? the question is asked. We should suppose there could be but one reply. If it was from fear of the Lord he persuaded men, he certainly persuaded them to act as the fear of the Lord would impel; namely, to act just as Paul did under that motive, 2 Corinthians 5:9, namely, to labour, whether present or absent, to be accepted of him. To what would the fear of a future judgment persuade men other than to secure the favour of the Judge? And what motive more likely to persuade men to such course than fear of the judgment? This is essentially the view of Beza, Grotius, and others. But Chrysostom, Meyer, Alford, and others, interpret it, We persuade men of our own integrity.

Manifest The antithesis is, Under conscious fear of Christ’s judgment, we persuade men to be acceptable to him, and are ourselves unconcealed and manifest before God. He has said, 2 Corinthians 5:10, that we must be manifest before the bar of Christ; in view of that he ever holds himself now manifest to God, and he hopes he is no less made manifest to the judgment of his brethren, the Corinthians. The meaning, then, is, that from fear of our final Judge we persuade men, and have kept ourselves transparent to the eye of God.

Manifest in your consciences Paul’s trust is, that he has maintained the same unconcealed purity patent to the consciences of the Corinthians that he has maintained to God. And it is to that transparent character, both of himself and the gospel he preaches, that he looks for his vindication from the imputations of his Judaic-Christian assailants.