II Corinthians 5:19
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that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
God was in Christ, reconciling--that is, God was BY Christ (in virtue of Christ's intervention) reconciling," &c. Was reconciling" implies the time when the act of reconciliation was being carried into effect (Co2 5:21), namely, when "God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us." The compound of "was" and the participle "reconciling," instead of the imperfect (Greek), may also imply the continuous purpose of God, from before the foundation of the world, to reconcile man to Himself, whose fall was foreseen. The expression " IN Christ" for "by Christ" may be used to imply additionally that God was IN Christ (Joh 10:38; Joh 14:10), and so by Christ (the God-man) was reconciling . . . The Greek for "by" or "through" Christ (the best manuscripts omit "Jesus"), Co2 5:18, is different. "In" must mean here in the person of Christ. The Greek Katallasson implies "changing" or altering the judicial status from one of condemnation to one of justification. The atonement (at-one-ment), or reconciliation, is the removal of the bar to peace and acceptance with a holy God, which His righteousness interposed against our sin. The first step towards restoring peace between us and God was on God's side (Joh 3:16). The change therefore now to be effected must be on the part of offending man, God the offended One being already reconciled. It is man, not God, who now needs to be reconciled, and to lay aside his enmity against God (Rom 5:10-11). ("We have received the atonement" [Greek, reconciliation], cannot mean "We have received the laying aside of our own enmity"). Compare Rom 3:24-25. the world--all men (Col 1:20; Jo1 2:2). The manner of the reconciling is by His "not imputing to men their trespasses," but imputing them to Christ the Sin-bearer. There is no incongruity that a father…
Open source ↗The apostle proceeds in showing the reasons why they did not faint under their afflictions, namely, their expectation, desire, and assurance of happiness after death (Co2 5:1-5), and deduces an inference for the comfort of believers in their present state (Co2 5:6-8), and another to quicken them in their duty (Co2 5:9-11). Then he makes an apology for seeming to commend himself, and gives a good reason for his zeal and diligence (Co2 5:12-15), and mentions two things that are necessary in order to our living to Christ, regeneration and reconciliation (Co2 5:16 to the end).
Open source ↗Cross-references
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I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.
I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me.
“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.
For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?