2 Cor. 5:12. We do not again commend ourselves to you, but give you an occasion to boast on our behalf,
Immediately he removes the suspicion of supposed vainglory and says that by these words we do not praise ourselves, that is, exalt ourselves, extol ourselves with praises, but we give you an occasion to boast and take pride in us before the false apostles who slander us.
2 Cor. 5:12. so that you may have something to say to those who boast in appearance and not in heart.
So that you may have something to say and something to boast about concerning us before the false apostles, who boast "in appearance," that is, they do everything for show, for outward display, for they were such: they wore a mask of piety, but in their heart had nothing good. He commands them to boast not always, but only when the false apostles exalt themselves.
2 Cor. 5:13. For whether we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or whether we are sober-minded, it is for you.
If we say something lofty (this is what the apostle calls "being beside ourselves," or, in other places, "madness"), we do this for God, so that you, considering us weak, may not become proud and perish; but if we say something humbly and with self-abasement, we do this for you, so that you may learn to be humble-minded. Or alternatively: if anyone suspects that we are mad, then we hope to receive a reward from God, for Whose sake we are subjected to such suspicion; and if anyone considers us humble-minded, let him also benefit from our humility of mind. Or yet another way: if we are mad, we are mad in this way for God, so as to bring you to Him. And Paul's madness was the madness of love: loving God and living, like one in love, by Him alone, that is, the Beloved, he went outside himself and clung wholly to God, living not his own life but the life of the Beloved, as supremely loved or cherished. So then, if we, he says, "are beside ourselves, it is for God."
2 Cor. 5:14. For the love of Christ constrains us, having judged thus: that if one died for all, then all died.
2 Cor. 5:15. And Christ died for all, so that the living would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
The love of God, which He manifested in us, encompasses us and compels us to undergo dangers for Him, when we deliberate well within ourselves the following. Since He died for all, it is evident that we were all perishing, and that He died for the perishing and the dead in order to bring us to life. Therefore, since He brought us to life, we ought no longer to live "for ourselves," but for Him by whom we live, who not only died for us but also rose again, having taken up to heaven our firstfruits, that is, His body, so that He might wholly take us up as well. For what need was there for Him to ascend, if the same were not to happen to us also? Therefore, since He died for us, since He brought us to life, and since He gave us the pledge of incorruption, we ought to live for Him, and not for our own lusts.
2 Cor. 5:16. Therefore henceforth we know no man according to the flesh.
Since all who were put to death by sin have been made alive by Christ through baptism, he rightly says: we know no one among the believers living in the flesh, that is, according to the old and carnal life. For all who have been reborn by the Spirit lead a new and spiritual life.
2 Cor. 5:16. If we have even known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him no longer.
He shows that in not living according to the flesh we have Christ as our leader, and says: although Christ too was once according to the flesh, yet now He is not according to the flesh. What then? Did He lay aside the flesh? No. For as He came, so also shall He come, and He came in the flesh and with the flesh. So then, what does the apostle say? That we are called living according to the flesh when we are in sins, and living not according to the flesh when we do not sin. Christ, however, is called living according to the flesh when He partook of the natural and blameless infirmities in life, such as: hunger, thirst, sleep, weariness. But now He is not "according to the flesh," that is, He has been freed even from the natural and blameless infirmities, having flesh that is free from suffering and immortal, so that, he says, He might completely and abundantly teach us to no longer live according to the flesh and sinfully, but according to the spirit.
2 Cor. 5:17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,
Whoever believed in Christ became another creation and became a new creature. Therefore, we must not live in the old way.
2 Cor. 5:17. The old has passed away; now all things are new.
What is the ancient? The sinful and the Judaic. For the ancient sin has ended and we have gained a new soul and a new body, and in place of everything Judaic we have all things new: in place of the law – the Gospel, in place of Jerusalem – heaven, in place of the temple – "the inner place behind the veil" (Heb. 6:19), where the Trinity dwells, in place of circumcision – baptism, in place of manna – the Body of God, in place of water – the Blood of the Master, in place of the rod of Moses or Aaron – the Cross, in place of the lamb – the Son of God, and so on.
2 Cor. 5:18. All things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ
All of this has been given to us by God, Who reconciled us to Himself through the mediation of His Son. For we did not run to Him ourselves, but He called us through the death of His Son.
2 Cor. 5:18. and having given us the ministry of reconciliation,
O the depth of His love for mankind! For the Father, who sent the Son, when He saw Him slain by those who were in need of reconciliation, not only did not reject mankind, but gave, he says, to us, the apostles, "the ministry of reconciliation," so that, going about everywhere, we might be ambassadors to those who had fallen away from God and bring them back to Him.
2 Cor. 5:19. Because God in Christ reconciled the world to Himself, not imputing to people their transgressions,
He stated that the Father reconciled us to Himself. Lest anyone should say: but He sent the Son? – he now says that although He sent the Son, nevertheless, it is not the Son alone who calls, but also the Father, who reconciles the world to Himself through Christ – for this is what "in Christ" means – and who showed such goodness to people that He not only did not punish them, but also reconciled them to Himself, and not only forgave them, but did not even impute their sins to them. For if He had wished to demand an account, all would have perished.
2 Cor. 5:19. and gave us the word of reconciliation.
We therefore have a commandment from God not to lay anything burdensome upon you, but to reconcile you with Him. Since they did not believe Me, God says, do not cease exhorting them until you persuade them.