Chapter 5
The apostle's strong hope of eternal glory, and
earnest longings after that state of blessedness,
1-4. The assurance that he had of it from the Holy Spirit,
and his carefulness to be always found pleasing to the
Lord, 5-9. All must appear before the judgment seat of
Christ, 10. Knowing that this awful event must take
place, he laboured to convince men of the necessity of
being prepared to meet the Lord, being influenced to
this work by his love of Christ, 11-13. Jesus Christ
having died for all, is a proof that all were dead,
14. Those for whom he died should live to him, 15.
We should know no man after the flesh, 16. They who
are in Christ are new creatures, 17. The glorious
ministry of reconciliation, 18-21.
Notes on Chapter 5
Verse 1. If our earthly house of
this tabernacle
By earthly house, the
apostle most evidently means the body in which the
soul is represented as dwelling or sojourning for a
time, and from which it is to be liberated at death; for as
death dissolves the tabernacle, it can then be
no habitation for the soul. The apostle also alludes here to
the ancient Jewish tabernacle, which, on all removals
of the congregation, was dissolved and taken in
pieces; and the ark of the covenant, covered with its
own curtains, was carried by itself; and when they came to the
place of rest, then the dissolved parts of the tabernacle were
put together as before. When we consider this
simile in connection with the doctrine of the resurrection,
which the apostle has treated so much at large in these
epistles, and which he keeps constantly in view, then we shall
see that he intends to convey the following meaning: that as
the tabernacle was taken down in order to be again
put together, so the body is to be
dissolved, in order to be re-edified; that as
the ark of the covenant subsisted by itself, while the
tabernacle was down, so can the soul when
separated from the body; that as the ark had then its own veil
for its covering, Exodus
40:21, the soul is to have some vehicle in which it shall
subsist till it receives its body at the resurrection.
A building of God
Some think this refers to a certain celestial
vehicle with which God invests holy souls on their
dismissal from the body; others suppose it relates to the
resurrection body; and some imagine that it relates
merely to the state of blessedness which the saints
shall possess in the kingdom of glory. See the following note.
Verse 2. For in this we
groan
While in this state, and in
this body, we are encompassed with many infirmities,
and exposed to many trials, so that life is a state of
discipline and affliction, and every thing within and around
us says, "Arise and depart, for this is not your rest!" Those
who apply these words to what they call the apostle's sense
of indwelling sin, abuse the passage. There is nothing of
the kind either mentioned or intended.
Desiring to be clothed upon with
our house
This and the following verses
are, in themselves, exceedingly obscure, and can be only
interpreted by considering that the expressions used by the
apostle are all Jewish, and should be interpreted
according to their use of them. Schoettgen has entered
largely into the argument here employed by the apostle, and
brought forth much useful information.
He observes, 1. That the Hebrew word labash, which
answers to the apostle's ενδυσασθαι, to be clothed,
signifies to be surrounded, covered, or invested
with any thing. So, to be clothed with the
uncircumcision, signifies to be uncircumcised.
Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 163.
On the words, Exodus
24:18, Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat
him up into the mount, Sohar Exod., fol. 77, has
these words, He went into the midst of the cloud, as
if one put on a garment; so he was CLOTHED with the
CLOUD. Sohar Levit., fol. 29: "The righteous are in the
terrestrial paradise, where their souls are clothed with
the lucid crown;" i.e. they are surrounded,
encompassed with light,
2. The word beith, HOUSE, in Hebrew often denotes a
cover, case, or clothing. So, in the
Targum of Onkelos, beith appei, the HOUSE
or the FACE, is a veil; and so beith etsbaim,
the HOUSE of the FINGERS, and beith yad, the HOUSE of
the HAND, signify gloves; beith regalim, the
HOUSE of the FEET, shoes. Therefore,
οικητηριονεπενδυσασθαι, to be clothed on with a house,
may signify any particular qualities of the soul; what
we, following the very same form of speech, call a
habit, i.e. a coat or vestment. So we say
the man has got a habit of vice, a habit of
virtue, a habit of swearing, of humility,
3. The Jews attribute garments to the soul, both in
this and the other world; and as they hold that all human
souls pre-exist, they say that, previously to their being
appointed to bodies, they have a covering which answers
the same end to them before they come into life as
their bodies do afterwards. And they state that the
design of God in sending souls into the world is, that they
may get themselves a garment by the study of the law
and good works. See several proofs in Schoettgen.
4. It is plain, also, that by this garment or
covering of the soul they mean simply what we
understand by acquiring the image of God-being
made holy. This image they assert "Adam lost by his fall, and
they represent man in a sinful state as being naked."
So they represent the Israelites before their making the
molten calf, as having received holy garments from
Mount Sinai; but afterwards, having worshipped the calf, they
were stripped of these, and left naked.
5. But notwithstanding they speak of this clothing as
implying righteous and holy dispositions, and
heavenly qualities, yet they all agree in assigning
certain vehicles to separate spirits, in which they
act; but of these vehicles they have strange notions;
yet they acknowledge that without them, whether they be of
light, fire, contemplate the Supreme Wisdom. In
Synopsis Sohar, page 137, we have these words: "When
the time draws near in which a man is to depart from this
world, the angel of death takes off his mortal
garment and clothes him with one from paradise,
in which he may see and contemplate the Supreme Wisdom; and
therefore the angel of death is said to be very kind to man,
because he takes off from him the garment of this
world, and clothes him with a much more precious one
prepared in paradise."
When the apostle says that they earnestly desired to be
clothed upon with our house which is from heaven,
he certainly means that the great concern of all the genuine
followers of God was to be fully prepared to enjoy the
beatific vision of their Maker and Redeemer.
Verse 3. If so be that being
clothed
That is, fully prepared in
this life for the glory of God;
We shall not be found
naked.
Destitute in that future state of
that Divine image which shall render us capable of enjoying an
endless glory.
Verse 4. For we that are in this
tabernacle
We who are in this
state of trial and difficulty do groan, being
burdened; as if he had said: The whole of human life is a
state of suffering, and especially our lot; who are
troubled on every side, perplexed, persecuted, cast
down, bearing about in the body the dying of our Lord
Jesus, and being always delivered unto death on the
account of Jesus, 2 Corinthians
4:8-11. These were sufficient burdens, and
sufficient causes of groaning.
Not for that we would be
unclothed
We do not desire death,
nor to die, even with the full prospect of eternal glory
before our eyes, an hour before that time which God in his
wisdom has assigned.
But clothed upon
To have the fullest preparation for eternal glory. We wish
not to die, whatever tribulation we may be called to pass
through, till the whole will of God is accomplished in
us and by us.
That mortality might be swallowed
up of life.
Being fully prepared for the
eternal state we shall scarcely be said to die, all that is
mortal being absorbed and annihilated by immortality and
glory. See the notes on 1 Corinthians
15:51-56. From the use of these expressions among the
Jews, this seems to be the general meaning of the apostle.
Verse 5. Now he that hath wrought us
for the selfsame thing
God has given us our
being and our body for this very purpose, that
both might be made immortal, and both be glorified together.
Or, God himself has given us this insatiable hungering
and thirsting after righteousness and
immortality. Mr. Addison has made a beautiful paraphrase of
the sense of the apostle, whether he had his words in view or
not:-
"---Whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, This
longing after immortality? Or whence this
secret dread and inward horror Of falling into
nought? Why shrinks the soul Back on herself, and startles at
destruction? 'Tis the Divinity that stirs
within us; 'Tis Heaven itself that points out an
hereafter, And intimates eternity to man.--- The
soul, secured in her existence, smiles At the drawn dagger,
and defies its point. The stars shall fade away, the sun
himself Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years; But thou
shalt flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the war
of elements, The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds."
The earnest of the
Spirit.
See Clarke on 2 Corinthians
1:22.
Verse 6. We are always
confident
θαρρουντεςουνπαντοτε. We are
always full of courage; we never despond; we know where
our help lies; and, having the earnest of the Spirit,
we have the full assurance of hope.
Whilst we are at home in the body, this sentence are
very emphatic: ενδημειν signifies to dwell among
one's own people; εκδημειν, to be a sojourner
among a strange people. Heaven is the
home of every genuine Christian, and is claimed by them
as such; see Philippians
1:23. Yet, while here below, the body is the proper
home of the soul; but as the soul is made for
eternal glory, that glory is its country; and
therefore it is considered as being from its proper
home while below in the body. As all human souls are made
for this glory, therefore all are considered, while here, to
be absent from their own country. And it is not merely heaven
that they have in view, but the Lord; without whom, to
an immortal spirit possessed of infinite desires,
heaven would neither be a home nor a place of
rest. We see plainly that the apostle gives no intimation
of an intermediate state between being at home in the
body and being present with the Lord.
There is not the slightest intimation here that the soul
sleeps, or rather, that there is no soul; and, when the
body is decomposed, that there is no more of the man till the
resurrection: I mean, according to the sentiments of those who
do condescend to allow us a resurrection, though they
deny us a soul. But this is a philosophy in which St.
Paul got no lessons, either from Gamaliel, Jesus Christ, the
Holy Ghost, or in the third heaven, where he heard even
unutterable things.
Verse 7. For we walk by
faith
While we are in the present state
faith supplies the place of direct vision. In
the future world we shall have sight-the utmost
evidence of spiritual and eternal things; as we shall
be present with them, and live in them. Here we
have the testimony of God, and believe in their
reality, because we cannot doubt his word. And to make this
more convincing he gives us the earnest of his Spirit,
which is a foretaste of glory.
Verse 8. We are
confident
We are of good courage,
notwithstanding our many difficulties; because we have this
earnest of the Spirit, and the unfailing testimony of God. And
notwithstanding this, we are willing rather to be absent
from the body-we certainly prefer a state of glory
to a state of suffering, and the enjoyment of the beatific
vision to even the anticipation of it by faith and hope; but,
as Christians, we cannot desire to die before our time.
Verse 9. Wherefore we
labour
φιλοτιμουμεθα. from φιλος,
loving, and τιμη, honour; we act at all times on
the principles of honour; we are, in the proper
sense of the word, ambitious to do and say every thing
consistently with our high vocation: and, as we claim kindred
to the inhabitants of heaven, to act as they do.
We may be accepted of
him.
ευαρεστοιαυτωειναι To be
pleasing to him. Through the love we have to God, we
study and labour to please him. This is and will
be our heaven, to study to love, please, and serve him
from whom we have received both our being and its
blessings.
Verse 10. For we must all appear
before the judgment seat
We labour to walk
so as to please him, because we know that we shall have to
give a solemn account of ourselves before the judgment seat of
Christ; where he, whose religion we profess, will judge us
according to its precepts, and according to the light and
grace which it affords.
That every one may receive the
things
κομισηταιεκαστος. That each may
receive to himself, into his own hand, his own reward and
his own wages.
The things done in his
body
That is, while he was in this lower
state; for in this sense the term body is taken
often in this epistle. We may observe also that the soul is
the grand agent, the body is but its instrument.
And it shall receive according to what it has done in the
body.
Verse 11. Knowing therefore the
terror of the Lord
This, I think, is too
harsh a translation of ειδοτεςουντονφοβοντου κυριου, which
should be rendered, knowing therefore the fear of
the Lord; which, strange as it may at first appear,
often signifies the worship of the Lord, or that
religious reverence which we owe to him; Acts
9:31; ; Romans
3:18;; 13:7;
1 Peter
1:17;; 2:18;;
3:2.
As we know therefore what God requires of man, because
we are favoured with his own revelation, we persuade
men to become Christians, and to labour to be
acceptable to him, because they must all stand before
the judgment seat; and if they receive not the grace of
the Gospel here, they must there give up their
accounts with sorrow and not with joy. In short,
a man who is not saved from his sin in this life, will
be separated from God and the glory of his power in the
world to come. This is a powerful motive to
persuade men to accept the salvation provided for them
by Christ Jesus. The fear of God is the beginning of
wisdom; the terror of God confounds and overpowers
the soul. We lead men to God through his fear and
love, and with the fear of God the love
of God is ever consistent; but where the terror of the
Lord reigns there can neither be fear, faith, nor
love; nay, nor hope either. Men who vindicate
their constant declamations on hell and perdition by
quoting this text, know little of its meaning; and, what is
worse, seem to know but little of the nature of man, and
perhaps less of the spirit of the Gospel of Christ. Let them
go and learn a lesson from Christ, sweeping over Jerusalem: "O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered you
together, as a hen would her brood under her wings!" And
another from his last words on the cross, "Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do!"
But we are made manifest unto
God
God, who searches the heart, knows that
we are upright in our endeavours to please him; and because we
are fully persuaded of the reality of eternal
things, therefore we are fully in earnest to get
sinners converted to him.
Manifest in your
consciences.
We have reason to believe that
you have had such proof of our integrity and
disinterestedness, that your consciences must acquit us of
every unworthy motive, and of every sinister view.
Verse 12. For we commend not
ourselves?
I do not say these things to
bespeak your good opinion, to procure your praise; but to
give you an occasion to glory-to exult on our behalf; and
to furnish you with an answer to all those who either malign
us or our ministry, and who only glory in
appearance-have no solid ground of
exultation, and whose heart is dishonest and impure. St. Paul
probably speaks here concerning the false apostle, who had
been dividing the Church and endeavouring to raise a party to
himself, by vilifying both the apostle and his doctrine.
Verse 13. Beside
ourselves
Probably he was reputed by some
to be deranged. Festus thought so: Paul, thou art
beside thyself; too much learning hath made thee
mad. And his enemies at Corinth might insinuate not only
that he was deranged, but attribute his derangement to
a less worthy cause than intense study and deep learning.
It is to God
If
we do appear, in speaking of the glories of the eternal world,
to be transported beyond ourselves, it is through the good
hand of our God upon us, and we do it to promote his honour.
Whether we be sober
Speak of Divine things in a more cool and
dispassionate manner, it is that we may the better
instruct and encourage you.
Verse 14. For the love of Christ
constraineth us
We have the love of God
shed abroad in our hearts, and this causes us to love God
intensely, and to love and labour for the salvation of men.
And it is the effect produced by this love which συνεχειημας,
bears us away with itself, which causes us to love
after the similitude of that love by which we are influenced;
and as God so loved the world as to give his Son for it, and
aa Christ so loved the world as to pour out his life for it,
so we, influenced by the very same love, desire to spend and
be spent for the glory of God, and the salvation of immortal
souls. By the fear of God the apostles endeavoured to
persuade and convince men, and the love of Christ
constrained them so to act.
If one died for all, then were all
dead
The first position the apostle
takes for granted; viz. that Jesus Christ died
for ALL mankind. This no apostolic man nor
primitive Christian ever did doubt or could doubt.
The second position he infers from the first, and
justly too; for if all had not been guilty, and
consigned to eternal death because of their sins there
could have been no need of his death. Therefore, as he most
certainly died for ALL, then all were dead, and needed his
sacrifice, and the quickening power of his Spirit.
Verse 15.
And that he died for all, that they which live, This
third position he draws from the preceding: If all
were dead, and in danger of endless perdition; and if
he died for all, to save them from that perdition; then
it justly follows that they are not their own, that
they are bought by his blood; and should not live
unto themselves, for this is the way to final ruin;
but unto him who died for them, and thus made an
atonement for their sins, and rose again for their
justification.
Verse 16. Know we no man after the
flesh
As we know that all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God; and as we know that all are
alienated from God, and are dead in trespasses and sins;
therefore we esteem no man on account of his family
relations, or the stock whence he proceeded,
because we see all are shut up in unbelief, and all are
children of wrath.
Yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh
We cannot esteem a man who
is a sinner, were he even allied to the blood royal of
David, and were he of the same family with the man
Christ himself; nor can we prize a man because he has seen
Christ in the flesh; for many have seen him in the flesh to
whom he will say; Depart from me, for I never knew you.
So we: nothing weighs with us, nor in the sight of God, but
redemption from this death, and living to him who died
for them.
We know that the Jews valued themselves much in having
Abraham for their father; and some of the Judaizing teachers
at Corinth might value themselves in having seen Christ in
the flesh, which certainly St. Paul did not; hence he
takes occasion to say here that this kind of privilege availed
nothing; for the old creature, however noble, or
well descended in the sight of men, is under the
curse; and the new creature only is such as God
can approve.
Verse 17. If any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature
It is
vain for a man to profess affinity to Christ according to the
flesh, while he is unchanged in his heart and life, and
dead in trespasses and sins; for he that is in Christ,
that is, a genuine Christian, having Christ dwelling in his
heart by faith, is a new creature; his old
state is changed: he was a child of Satan, he is
now a child of God; he was a slave of sin, and
his works were death; he is now made free from sin, and
has his fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. He
was before full of pride and wrath; he is now
meek and humble. He formerly had his
portion in this life, and lived for this world
alone; he now hath GOD for his portion, and he looks
not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are
eternal. Therefore, old things are passed away.
Behold, all things are become
new.
The man is not only mended, but
he is new made; he is a new creature,
καινηκτισις a new creation, a little world in
himself; formerly, all was in chaotic disorder; now,
there is a new creation, which God himself owns as his
workmanship, and which he can look on and pronounce very
good. The conversion of a man from idolatry and wickedness
was among the Jews denominated a new creation. He
who converts a man to the true religion is the
same, says R. Eliezer, as if he had created
him.
Verse 18. And all things are
of God
As the thorough conversion of the
soul is compared to a new creation, and creation
is the proper work of an all-wise, almighty Being; then
this total change of heart, soul, and life, which takes place
under the preaching of the Gospel, is effected by the
power and grace of God: this is
salvation, and salvation must ever be of the Lord; and
therefore men should apply to him, who alone can work this
wondrous change.
Who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ
Having given Jesus Christ
to die for sinners, they have through him access unto God; for
his sake and on his account God can receive them; and it is
only by the grace and Spirit of Christ that the
proud, fierce, and diabolic nature of men can be changed and
reconciled to God, and by and through this
sacrifice God can be propitious to them. There is an
enmity in the heart of man against sacred things; the
grace of Christ alone can remove this enmity.
The ministry of
reconciliation
διακονιαντηκαταλλαγης. The
OFFICE or function of this reconciliation called, 2 Corinthians
5:19, the word; τονλογοντηςκαταλλαγης. the DOCTRINE
of this reconciliation. καταλλαγη,
reconciliation, comes from καταλλασσω, to change
thoroughly; and the grand object of the Gospel is to make
a complete change in men's minds and manners;
but the first object is the removal of enmity from the heart
of man, that he may be disposed to accept of the salvation God
has provided for him, on the terms which God has promised. The
enmity in the heart of man is the grand hinderance to
his salvation.
Verse 19. That God was in
Christ
This is the doctrine which this
ministry of reconciliation holds out, and the doctrine which
it uses to bring about the reconciliation itself.
God was in Christ: 1. Christ is the same as
Messiah, the Anointed One, who was to be
prophet, priest, and king, to the human race;
not to the Jews only, but also to the Gentiles.
There had been prophets, priests, and kings, among the Jews
and their ancestors; and some who had been priest and
prophet, king and priest, and king
and prophet; but none have ever sustained in his own
person the threefold office except Christ; for none
have ever ministered in reference to the whole world
but he. The functions of all the others were restrained
to the ancient people of God alone. 2. Now all the
others were appointed of God in reference to this Christ; and
as his types, or representatives, till the fulness of the time
should come. 3. And that this Christ might be adequate to the
great work of reconciling the whole human race to God, by
making atonement for their sins, God was in him. The
man Jesus was the temple and shrine of the
eternal Divinity; for in him dwelt all the fulness
of the Godhead bodily, Colossians
2:9; and he made peace by the blood of his cross.
4. Christ, by his offering upon the cross, made atonement for
the sins of the world; and therefore one important branch of
the doctrine of this reconciliation was to show that God would
not impute or account their trespasses to them,
so as to exact the penalty, because this Jesus had died
in their stead.
The whole of this important doctrine was short,
simple, and plain. Let us consider it in all its
connections: 1. You believe there is a God. 2. You know he has
made you. 3. He requires you to love and serve him. 4. To show
you how to do this he has given a revelation of himself, which
is contained in his law, You have broken this law, and
incurred the penalty, which is death. 6. Far from being able
to undo your offences, or make reparation to the offended
majesty of God, your hearts, through the deceitfulness and
influence of sin, are blinded, hardened, and filled with
enmity, against your Father and your Judge. 7. To
redeem you out of this most wretched and accursed state, God;
in his endless love, has given his Son for you; who has
assumed your nature, and died in your stead. 8. In consequence
of this he has commanded repentance towards God, and remission
of sins, to be published in his name in all the earth. 9. All
who repent, and believe in Christ as having died for them as a
sin-offering, 5:21,)
shall receive remission of sins. 10. And if they abide in him
they shall have an eternal inheritance among them that are
sanctified.
Verse 20. We are ambassadors for
Christ
υπερ χριστουπρεσβευομεν. We execute
the function of ambassadors in Christ's stead. He came from
the Father to mankind on this important embassy. He has left
the world, and appointed us in his place.
Ambassador is a person sent from one sovereign power
to another; and is supposed to represent the person of the
sovereign by whom he is deputed. Christ while on earth
represented the person of the Sovereign of the world; his
apostles and their successors represent the person of
Christ. Christ declared the will of the Father to mankind;
apostles, Christ to the world. We are ambassadors for
Christ.
As though God did beseech you
by us
What we say to you we say on the
authority of God; our entreaties are his entreaties; our warm
love to you, a faint reflection of his infinite love; we pray
you to return to God, it is his will that you should do so; we
promise you remission of sins, we are authorized to do so by
God himself. In Christ's stead we pray you to lay aside your
enmity and be reconciled to God; i.e. accept pardon,
peace, holiness, and heaven; which are all procured for you by
his blood, and offered to you on his own authority.
"What unparalleled condescension and divinely tender
mercies are displayed in this verse! Did the judge ever
beseech a condemned criminal to accept of pardon? Does
the creditor ever beseech a ruined debtor to receive an
acquittance in full? Yet our almighty Lord, and our eternal
Judge, not only vouchsafes to offer these blessings, but
invites us, entreats us, and with the most tender importunity
solicits us not to reject them." The Rev. J. Wesley's notes in
loc.
This sentiment is farther expressed in the following
beautiful poetic version of this place, by the Rev. Charles
Wesley:-
"God, the offended God most high, Ambassadors to
rebels sends; His messengers his place supply, And
Jesus begs us to be friends. Us, in the stead
of Christ, they pray, Us, in the stead of Christ,
entreat, To cast our arms, our sins, away, And find
forgiveness at his feet. Our God, in Christ, thine
embassy And proffer'd mercy we embrace; And, gladly
reconciled to thee, Thy condescending mercy praise.
Poor debtors, by our Lord's request A full
acquittance we receive; And criminals, with
pardon blest, We, at our Judge's instance, live."
Verse 21. For he hath made him to be
sin for us
τονμη
γνοντααμαρτιανυπερημωναμαρτιανεποιησεν. He made him who
knew no sin, (who was innocent,) a sin-offering for
us. The word αμαρτια occurs here twice: in the
first place it means sin, i.e. transgression and
guilt; and of Christ it is said, He knew no sin,
i.e. was innocent; for not to know sin is the
same as to be conscious of innocence; so, nil
conscire sibi, to be conscious of nothing against one's
self, is the same as nulla pallescere culpa, to
be unimpeachable.
In the second place, it signifies a sin-offering, or
sacrifice for sin, and answers to the
chattaah and chattath of the Hebrew text; which
signifies both sin and sin-offering in a great
variety of places in the Pentateuch. The Septuagint
translate the Hebrew word by αμαρτια in ninety-four places in
Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, where a
sin-offering is meant; and where our version translates
the word not sin, but an offering for sin. Had
our translators attended to their own method of translating
the word in other places where it means the same as
here, they would not have given this false view of a passage
which has been made the foundation of a most blasphemous
doctrine; viz. that our sins were imputed to Christ,
and that he was a proper object of the indignation
of Divine justice, because he was blackened with
imputed sin; and some have proceeded so far in this
blasphemous career as to say, that Christ may be
considered as the greatest of sinners, because all the sins
of mankind, or of the elect, as they say,
were imputed to him, and reckoned as his own.
One of these writers translates the passage thus: Deus
Christum pro maximo peccatore habuit, ut nos essemus
maxime justi, God accounted Christ the greatest of
sinners, that we might be supremely righteous. Thus they have
confounded sin with the punishment due to sin.
Christ suffered in our stead; died for us; bore our
sins, (the punishment due to them,) in his
own body upon the tree, for the Lord laid upon him
the iniquities of us all; that is, the
punishment due to them; explained by making his
soul-his life, an offering for sin; and healing
us by his stripes.
But that it may be plainly seen that sin-offering,
not sin, is the meaning of the word in this verse, I
shall set down the places from the Septuagint where the
word occurs; and where it answers to the Hebrew words already
quoted; and where our translators have rendered correctly what
they render here incorrectly. In EXODUS, Exodus
29:14,36: LEVITICUS, Leviticus
4:3,8,20,21, 24,25, 29,32-34 ; Leviticus
5:6,7,8,9, 11,12 ; ; 6:17,25,30
; ; 7:7,37;
Leviticus
8:2,14; ; 9:2,3,7,8,
10,15, 22 ; ; 10:16,17,19
; Leviticus
12:6,8; ; 14:13,19,22,31
; ; 15:15,30;
Leviticus
16:3,5,6,9, 11,15, 25,27 ; ; 23:19:
NUMBERS, Numbers
6:11,14,16 ; Numbers
7:16,22,28,34, 40,46, 52,58, 70,76, 82,87 ; ; 8:8,12;
Numbers
15:24,25,27 ; ; 18:9;
; 28:15,22;
Numbers
29:5,11,16,22, 25,28, 31,34, 38.
Besides the above places, it occurs in the same
signification, and is properly translated in our version, in
the following places:-
2 CHRONICLES, 2 Chronicles
29:21,23,24 : EZRA, ; Ezra
6:17; ; 8:35:
NEHEMIAH, Nehemiah
10:33: JOB, ; Job
1:5: EZEKIEL, ; Ezekiel
43:19,22,25 ; Ezekiel
44:27,29; ; 45:17,19,22,23,
25. In all, one hundred and eight places, which, in the course
of my own reading in the Septuagint, I have marked.
That we might be made the
righteousness of God in him.
The
righteousness of God signifies here the
salvation of God, as comprehending justification
through the blood of Christ, and sanctification through
his Spirit or, as the mountains of God, the hail of
God, the wind of God, mean exceeding high
mountains, extraordinary hail, and most
tempestuous wind; so, here, the righteousness of God may
mean a thorough righteousness, complete
justification, complete sanctification; such as none
but God can give, such as the sinful nature and
guilty conscience of man require, and such as is
worthy of God to impart. And all this righteousness,
justification, and holiness, we receive in,
by, for, and through HIM, as the grand,
sacrificial, procuring, and meritorious cause of these, and
every other blessing. Some render the passage: We are
justified through him; before God; or, We are
justified, according to God's plan of justification,
through him.
IN many respects, this is a most important and instructive
chapter.
1. The terms house, building, tabernacle, and others
connected with them, have already been explained from the
Jewish writings. But it has been thought by some that the
apostle mentions these as readily offering themselves to him
from his own avocation, that of a tentmaker; and it is
supposed that he borrows these terms from his own trade
in order to illustrate his doctrine; This supposition would be
natural enough if we had not full evidence that these terms
were used in the Jewish theology precisely in the sense
in which the apostle uses them here. Therefore, it is more
likely that he borrowed them from that theology, than
from his own trade.
2. In the terms tabernacle, building of God, also to
the tabernacle in the wilderness, which was a building
of God, and a house of God, and as God dwelt
in that building, so he will dwell in the souls of those who
believe in, love, and obey him. And this
will be his transitory temple till mortality is
swallowed up of life, and we have a glorified body and soul to
be his eternal residence.
3. The doctrines of the resurrection of the same body; the
witness of the Spirit; the immateriality of the soul; the fall
and miserable condition of all mankind; the death of Jesus, as
an atonement for the sins of the whole world; the necessity of
obedience to the Divine will, and of the total change of the
human heart, are all introduced here: and although only a few
words are spoken on each, yet these are so plain
and so forcible as to set those important doctrines in
the most clear and striking point of view.
4. The chapter concludes with such a view of the mercy and
goodness of God in the ministry of reconciliation, as
is no where else to be found. He has here set forth the Divine
mercy in all its heightenings; and who can take this view of
it without having his heart melted down with love and
gratitude to God, who has called him to such a state of
salvation.
5. It is exceedingly remarkable that, through the whole of
this chapter, the apostle speaks of himself in the first
person plural; and though he may intend other apostles,
and the Christians in general, yet it is very evident that he
uses this form when only himself can be meant, as in verses 12
and 13, 2 Corinthians
5:12,13as well as in several places of the following
chapter. This may be esteemed rather more curious than
important.
