Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (18) Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, (19) that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (20) Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. (21) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The second letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. As was typical in the early church, false teachers followed Paul; teaching error, corrupting the gospel and impugning Paul’s authority as an apostle. Our verses today countering distortion of the truth, were addressed to the baby Christians in Corinth telling them they have become new people in Christ; reborn in Christ. Their old value systems and priorities, beliefs, loves and plans are gone. Evil and sin are still present but believers see them differently. The converted have a new spiritual perception – there is an emphatic note of change. The world loses its power to allure , terrify and control. Old things have gone by – we are at peace with God through the atoning death of Christ.

We could not reconcile ourselves to God – man did not seek it and had no way to effect it. All of salvation is the eternal plan of God. The faithful are made righteous through the work of Christ; sinless man who became sin and died in our stead, delivering us from our position as sinners. His death was the price for our forgiveness. In Christ the faithful undergo such a change in feelings and actions to say they are new creatures; Paul is telling his audience that it is NOT that they(we) ought to be new creatures but that we WILL in fact live that way – new purposes and new lives for new ends and all is accomplished by the power of God. ALL is new.

A word of caution for our new state by C.S. Lewis: “Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self conceit and self will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means undergoing a kind of death. In fact it needs a good man to repent. And here’s the catch. Only a bad person needs to repent; only a good person can repent perfectly. The worse you are the more you need it and the less you can do it. The only person who could do it perfectly would be a perfect person – and he would not need it. “

Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea,(2) all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, (3) all ate the same spiritual food, (4)and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. (5) But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. (6) Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. (10) nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. (11) Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. (12) Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

The first letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. He is warning them to watch for false security as to their power to resist temptation resting on an overabundance of self confidence. Paul used the example of the Israelites and their disastrous journey to the promised land through the wilderness. No people ever had more evidence of election as a nation but yet their bodies were left strewn in the desert. They had been highly favored as are we; they were miraculously guarded by a pillar of cloud as they left Egypt, led through the Red Sea, fed by manna from heaven and given water from a rock and yet many perished. It is not enough to be the recipient of extraordinary favors and to begin well – the Christians in Corinth are being warned by Paul to walk in faith to the finish.

Many Israelites failed because of unbelief. It is one thing to profess being a Christian – to participate, to be baptized, to associate outwardly with people of God, BUT quite another to be genuinely perseverant and faithful to the end. In Israel there were two groups – one of true faith and one of a simply outward relationship. All who were/are genuine in profession at any time, any place, were saved. There must be regeneration and personal faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are specifically warned against murmuring/grumbling; complaining in the spirit of rebellion. My favorite author and favorite book, C.S. lewis in ‘The Great Divorce’ writes “Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others……. But you are still distinct from it. You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a day when you can no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it but just the grumble itself going on forever like a machine.”

Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. (18) For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: (19) whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame – who set their mind on earthly things. (20) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, (21) who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. (4:1) Therefore, my beloved and longed for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.

The letter to the Philippians was written by the apostle Paul while he was a prisoner in Rome because of his gospel. Philippi was a Roman colony of Roman culture and customs. Paul uses this political relationship as an analogy between the status of citizens of Rome and citizens of heaven. He is saying Christians should live up to their status – to live as they believe. Paul speaks of those who are not real children of God – they profess Christianity but are not true – the craving of their unbelieving nature leads and governs them; they were religious BUT cling to the world, love the world, which makes them enemies of Christ. It is religious emotion, not Christ. Paul writes of the terrible position of these people whose end is destruction – the lower element of their nature controls them. All that gains for them the admiration from their fellows is inevitably degrading. Our verses plainly show that Paul believed in the possibility of utter ruin.

We are aliens in this world. Rebirth in faith in Christ has made us different in our being and children of God. Our citizenship in heaven is as definite now as it will be then – spiritually we are there already. Time is our training school.

I find the steps of the Big Book – Alcoholics Anonymous – and in particular step 11 – useful for principled holy living. “We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self seeking motives.” Further, “As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day “Thy will be done”. We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self pity, or foolish decisions.”

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is the word of faith which we preach): (9) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (11) For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” (12) For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. (13) For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The towering letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul, Hebrew of Hebrews and zealous for the Law until he met Christ Jesus on the road to Damascus. In chapters 9 and 10 of Romans, Paul writes expressing concern for the Jews who did not accept God’s plan of salvation in the gospel. The Jews felt justification was confined to their nation and thought they could establish their own righteousness. The gospel Paul preached taught we have no righteousness of our own and can only be justified through the right of God imputed to us and received by faith in Christ. The Jews believe in salvation by works and the Christians by faith and available to all. The point is that Righteousness on which we depend is not of ourselves but of God.
The gospel Paul preached proclaimed Jesus is the Lord; faith in Jesus as the Messiah is truth to be believed and acknowledged – we are to renounce all dependence on our own merit. Faith is not a speculative exercise but an act of the mind that includes understanding and affection. A doctrine of Scripture is that he who believes with the heart is justified and he who openly confesses Christ shall be saved. Faith is necessary as a means to an end and confession is a duty. Lack of courage to confession is evidence of the lack of heart to believe.
God is the God of both the Jews and the Gentiles. In God’s eyes there is no difference; all are sinners and will be judged by the same principles. The Jews saw the gospel as a message that clashed with the Old Testament and Paul is citing the Old Testament to show that the message he preached came right out of Jewish Scriptures. All need to be reconciled to God before they die and face judgment – the gospel is that whoever believes in Jesus will be saved. Since the good news is for all it must be proclaimed to all (we are responsible for the effort but not the outcome). Intellectual belief alone without commitment is NOT saving faith. Any mention of good works earning salvation is NOT good news because it depends on sinful people who inevitably fall short. We need a humble sense of our own sinfulness and a willingness to receive eternal life as offered in the gospel. This invitation and assurance extends to all nations and people of all times.