Thoughts From
2 Corinthians 5:16-19
By Jonathan Mitchell
16. so that we, from the present time (or: from now) [on], have seen and thus know (or: perceive; or: are acquainted [with]) no one on the level of flesh (= in the sphere of the estranged human nature; = in correspondence to the self that is enslaved to the System; = according to the old covenant), if even we have intimately, by experience, known Christ ([the] Anointed One) on the level of flesh (or: = in the sphere of estranged humanity; or: = in correspondence to a self that is oriented to the System; or: = according to the old covenant), nevertheless we now (in the present moment) no longer continue [thus] knowing [Him or anyone].
This verse continues his thought that was presented, beginning in vs. 14b, "all people died," together with the result of that death of the One, together with everyone else, along with the thought (vs. 15): that those living can no longer live for themselves (to themselves; in themselves; by themselves), but rather for (or: in; by; to; with) the One dying and then being awakened and raised up. It is for this reason that from that present time (the generation of the Resurrection) "we have seen and thus know (or: perceive; or: are acquainted [with]) no one on the level of flesh!" This shift in perspective and perception signals the change of the ages: the inauguration of Age of the Messiah, together with its new arrangement (or: covenant) and its "new creation" (vs. 17, below).
Not only that, even Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah,
"we now (in the present moment) no longer continue [thus] knowing on the level of flesh" - or, "according to the old covenant,"
with its Law that pertained to the life in the flesh and all the codes and ordinances. We no longer know Christ in relation to the prophecies of the OT, for within the Christ event - which we suggest extended from His crucifixion and resurrection on through that generation until the end of Second Temple Judaism in AD 70 - it was, "to have fulfilled all the things having been written (or: for all that is written to be fulfilled)!" (Lu. 21:22).
So we no longer know Christ in relation to Second Temple Judaism, or the Law. We no longer know other physical races according to their blood lines or genetic heritage. There is no more separate classifications of "Jew/Gentile." Paul made this clear in Gal. 3:28,
"Within [Him; us], there is not (there does not exist) Jew nor Greek (or: Hellenist); within, there is not (does not exist) slave nor freeman; within, there is not (does not exist) 'male and female'; for it follows that, you folks all exist being one within Christ Jesus (or: for you see, all you people are one person, centered in, and in union with, an Anointing from Jesus)."
We might take note that in this new existence where there is not the separation of "male and female," he is speaking of a new creation (Christ; the realm of spirit) that has no gender and no separation into "Adam and Eve." It is the sphere of Christ joined to humanity (the Bride) to now be One Spirit (1 Cor. 6:17).
He said it this way in Col. 3:
9. Do not keep on (or: Stop) lying unto one another! [Be] folks at once stripping off from yourselves (undressing yourselves from; or: go out and away from) the OLD HUMANITY (the old human; = the old Adam), together with its practices,
10. and then [be] suddenly CLOTHING yourselves with (or: entering within) the NEW one (the fresh one which existed only recently), the one being continuously (or: repeatedly; habitually; progressively) renewed (made back up new again, in kind and character) into full, accurate, added, intimate and experiential knowledge and insight which is down from and corresponds to the image (an exactly formed visible likeness) of its Creator (of the One framing and founding it from a state of wildness and disorder),
11. wherein (or: in which place [i.e., within the New Humanity]) there is no Greek [figure of the multitudes who are non-Jews, and of those who are cultured and civilized] and Jew [figure of a covenant people of God], circumcision and uncircumcision [figure for religious in-groups and out-groups; there is no longer a covenant people versus non-covenant people], barbarian [foreigner who speaks a different language], Scythian [figure or example of wild, uncivilized groups], slave, freeman, but to the contrary, Christ [is] all, and within all (or: Christ [is] all humanity, and within all mankind; or: Christ [is] everything or all things, and within everything and all things; [note: the Greek is plural, and is either masculine, signifying "mankind," or neuter, signifying all creation, in these phrases]).
17. Consequently, since someone [is] within Christ (or: So that if anyone [is] in union with [the] Anointed One; or: And as since a Certain One [was] in Christ), [there is] a new creation (or: [it is] a framing and founding of a different kind; [he or she is] an act of creation having a fresh character and a new quality): the original things (the beginning [situations]; the archaic and primitive [arrangements]) passed by (or: went to the side). Consider! New things have come into existence (have occurred and been birthed; or: It has become different, new things; or: He has been birthed and now exists being ones of a different kind, character and quality). [cf Rev. 21:1-5]
This opening word, "Consequently (or: So that)," refers back to all that Paul has just been saying, and now presents us with a concluding result: since someone (or: if anyone) [is] within Christ (or: in union with [the] Anointed One), [there is] a new creation." As you can observe from the inserted brackets, there are ellipses in Paul's Greek: there are no verbs in these clauses. This is common in ancient Greek, but in English we must insert a verb, and that is normally some form of the verb "to be; to exist." In the first clause, "[is]" is the normal copula that is used. But in the second clause, translators have chosen different forms. Following the sense of the first clause, most all translators choose a third person singular of the copula, "is."
But with the second clause, a subject needs to be inserted, along with the verb - and for a third person singular verb we have the choices: he, she, it or there. So how are we to choose? The KJV used italics, instead of brackets, to indicate that the subject and the verb are missing, and has: he is. Now this fits with the subject of the first clause: someone; anyone (KJV gave us: any man). But the antecedent of "a new creation" need not be "someone" or "anyone." I, and other translators, have read Paul as referencing what preceded his opening word, "Consequently (or: So that)," i.e., vss.14b-16, and "someone/anyone" is merely a marker that indicates that those things have already occurred, and that a new situation now exists. And so...
Looking at the explanation that follows "a new creation," we find that "the original things (the beginning [situations]; the archaic and primitive [arrangements])" - note the plural subject - "passed by (or: went to the side). Consider! New things have come into existence." We suggest that Paul is speaking about the new age, the new arrangement (or: covenant) and the new sphere of existence (Christ; the Spirit; the atmosphere/heaven) that HAVE COME, and it is that the old age, the old arrangement, the old sphere of existence (the Law; the flesh; the earth realm) is what passed by." This is why
"from the present moment (or: from now) [on], have seen and thus know (or: perceive; or: are acquainted [with]) no one on the level of flesh"
and therefore no longer participate in the temple cultus and codes of the Law, nor the divisions between circumcision and uncircumcision or Jew and Gentile. The One New Humanity (Eph. 2:15) has come into existence that corresponds to the new Age of the Messiah.
It is not that the choice to render the subject/noun of this second clause, "he/she," is grammatically wrong, it is that it is missing the larger picture if the corporate, the new covenant and the new age. It brings the focus on the individual, instead of on the corporate Christ, the Second Humanity of Paul's eschatology.
Before moving on, let us take a moment to focus on the alternative renderings of the last clause:
a) New things have occurred and been birthed;
b) He has been birthed and now exists being ones of a different kind, character and quality;
In other words, we are His corporate body and He, being the Head, was birthed in resurrection as the New Being (Tillich) -- no longer separate, but joined to us so that now we are (corporately) Him. "A body you have prepared for Me" (Heb. 10:5b).
c) It has become different, new things.
These last two renderings offer two potential subject (He; It) for the third person which could be referring to either Christ (He), or the new age, etc. (It). A very literal rendering could be,
"Look! He has come into existence: [there are] new things (or: situations; etc.)!"
Now we find the same ambiguity in the rendering of panta (all humanity, or, all things) in Rev. 21, which we suggest is speaking of the same thing as Paul is speaking of here, in 1 Cor. 5:17. Rev. 21:5,
"Consider this! I am presently making all things new (or: habitually creating everything [to be] new and fresh; progressively forming [the] whole anew; or, reading panta as masculine: I am periodically making all humanity new, and progressively, one after another, producing and creating every person anew, while constantly constructing all people fresh and new, i.e., continuously renewing everyone)!" [Isa. 43:19; 65:17-25]
Seeing that panta functions as a corporate masculine, singular, or as a neuter plural, both the corporate and the individual are included in Rev. 21:5, and so both readings of vs. 17, here, can be seen. The greater includes the lesser. The first Person to be "in Christ," was Jesus: "the Firstborn among, within the center of, and in union with many brothers (= a vast family from the same womb; Gal. 4:26)!" (Rom. 8:29b).
We see the idea of the terms, "a new creation," and the whole of the rest of this verse, said differently in Rev. 21:1,
"Then I saw 'a new (new in nature; different from the usual; better than the old; superior in value and attraction; new in quality) atmosphere (or: sky; or: heaven) and a new Land (or: earth)' [Isa. 66:22], for you see, actually, the first (former; preceding; earlier) atmosphere (or: heaven) and the first (former, preceding) Land (or: earth; soil; ground) went away (or: moved off, and passed away)..."
18. Yet further, all things [are] (or: the Whole [is]; = all the things that exist [are]) forth from out of the midst of God - the One transforming us to be completely other [than we were] (or: bringing us into another place or state of being; changing us to correspond with other [perceptions and conceptions]; altering us to be conformed to another [person]; changing us from enmity to friendship; reconciling us) in Himself (or: with Himself; by Himself; to Himself; for Himself), through Christ, and giving to us the attending service of, and the dispensing from, the complete transformation [for folks] to be other [than before] (or: the change into another [position]; the changing to correspond with other [situations; perceptions]; the alteration to be another [person]; the change from enmity to friendship; the reconciliation), [cf Rom. 8:19-21]
The first clause could not be a more inclusive statement. Paul is restating what he said in Rom. 11:36,
"Because, forth from out of the midst of Him, then through the midst of Him (or: through means of Him), and [finally] into the midst of Him, [is; will be] the whole (everything; [are] all things)."
This leaves nothing out; it also leaves no one out. The final destiny of all humanity is clearly stated in both these witnesses.
But now Paul goes on to tell us what God (i.e., humanity's final destination) is like, and what He does:
"the One transforming US to be completely OTHER [than we were]."
Because this is a work of God, Paul uses the verb tense that can be seen as either timeless, or without reference to process or duration. This is simply what God does... and in this He remains the same. God transforms people. The extent of this work, its scope, is clearly stated in the next verse: [the] aggregate of humanity (etc.).
What I have rendered as "transforming... to be completely other" is commonly rendered "reconciling." Now the idea of reconciliation is contained in the extended semantic range of the participle, but it falls far short of the explicit meanings of the elements of the compound verb katallasso. The root, allasso, means: to make other than it is; to change; to alter; (by extension) to exchange something for something else. In this verse, the addition of the prefix, kata-, can be understood as an intensifier, thus my rendering, "completely other," with the participle, and "complete transformation," with the noun that follows.
Now the preposition kata has a semantic range, and so in rendering these compound words, the meanings of this prefix can enter into the resultant meaning of the verb and of the noun. So let us consider these other optional renderings:
a) bringing us into another place or state of being; -- God's reign and sovereign activities/the heavens;
b) changing us to correspond with other [perceptions and conceptions]; - i.e., the new arrangement;
c) altering us to be conformed to another [person]; -- i.e., conformed to Christ;
d) changing us from enmity to friendship; -- with God and with one another; and thus...
e) reconciling us.
Next we observe that God does this "in Himself." Pause, and think about what this can imply... Well, we do exist within the midst of Him (Acts. 17:28). But wait, there's more... This phrase can also read, "with Himself, by Himself, to Himself, or/and for Himself." Each of these options is a thought worth contemplating.
Then, we see that this all happens "through Christ." This is laid out more fully, in Eph. 2:8,
"For you see, by (or: to; in; for; with) the grace and joyous favor you are (you continuously exist being) folks having been delivered (rescued; kept safe; saved; made whole; restored to your original state and condition) so as to now be enjoying salvation through [some MSS add: the] faithfulness (or: loyalty; trust; faith; confidence), and even this not forth from out of you folks, [it is] the gift of and from God (or: the gift which is God; or: the gift pertains to God)."
But now the baton is passed on to US, for Paul continues, "and giving to us the attending service of, and the dispensing from, the complete transformation [for folks] to be other [than before]." Here, again, we have some optional renderings:
a) the change into another [position]; -- from "earth" to "the atmosphere of the spirit;"
b) the changing to correspond with other [situations; perceptions];
c) the alteration to be another [person];
d) the change from enmity to friendship; -- the Peace of the Joining (Eph. 2:15);
e) the reconciliation; -- between heaven and earth.
This third rendering, c, that means that we are to be "another person," suggests the idea of being born back from above - which also is completely the work of our Father.
This "attending service of" and "the dispensing from," is what the sent-forth representatives (Paul and his associates; Peter; etc.) were doing by birthing (Gal. 4:26 - they became a part of the Jerusalem which is above) the called-out communities, and then by caring for them - as through the very letter that we are presently reading. This service has continued ever since it began.
19. as that God was existing within Christ (God was and continued being centered in, and in union with [the] Anointed One) progressively and completely transforming [the] aggregate of humanity (or: world) to be other [than it is] (or: progressively bringing [the] ordered System into another level or state; repeatedly changing [the] universe to correspond with other [conditions; perceptions]; progressively altering [the] ordered arrangement of culture, religions, economy and government to be in line with another one; habitually and progressively changing [the] secular realm [of humanity] from enmity to friendship; reconciling [the] world [of mankind]) in Himself, to Himself, for Himself, by Himself, and with Himself, not accounting to them (not putting to their account; not logically considering for them; not reasoning in them) the results and effects of their falls to the side (their trespasses and offenses), even placing within us the Word (the Idea; the Reason; the message; the pattern-forming information) of the corresponding transformation to otherness (or: the full alteration; the change from enmity to friendship; the conciliation).
And so Paul goes on to expand the message of Goodness, Ease and Well-being, which he had just told them was this complete transformation. He points out that it was God that was existing within Christ. Rendered differently, "God was, and continued being" - here the verb is in the imperfect tense: a state of being that was begun in the past (either in the Incarnation, or at Jesus' immersion by John in the Jordan River, and the Anointing by the Spirit) and continued in existence, on into the present. God was CENTERED in, and IN UNION with [the] Anointed One."
Christ's work on the cross was NOT to appease an offended god; Oh NO! God was WITHIN Him experiencing the beating and the death, on the cross. God and Jesus were together in this Act of giving Their Life to humanity. The mystery of this cannot really be explained, other than it was an Act of Love that completely covered humanity's pain and death, and in Their resurrection (remember Jesus and His Father were/are One) They brought Humanity into Resurrection Life - each one to experience this in their own time and re-birth (1 Cor. 15:23).
"God was... progressively and completely transforming [the] aggregate of humanity to be other [than it is]." The participle in this clause is in the present tense. As you observe, we have alternate renderings on offer:
a) progressively bringing [the] ordered System into another level or state; -- the term rendered "aggregate of humanity" and "ordered System" is the Greek kosmos. This is the same word used by John in Jn. 3:16, "For thus God loves the aggregate of humanity (ordered System)..." God loves everything that He made (Gen. 1:31), and He cares for all of it;
b) repeatedly changing [the] universe to correspond with other [conditions; perceptions]; -- this may seem to be an extreme rendering, but it is legitimate;
c) progressively altering [the] ordered arrangement of culture, religions, economy and government to be in line with another one; -- God repeatedly invades history and makes changes;
d) habitually and progressively changing [the] secular realm [of humanity] from enmity to friendship; -- as we see in the last clause, He has us participate in this;
e) reconciling [the] world [of mankind]; -- this is completely inclusive. Now He did, and continues doing this: in Himself, to Himself, for Himself, by Himself and with Himself. Regarding the last phrase, "with Himself," let us call to mind Paul's words in Gal. 2:20a,"I was crucified together with Christ [= the Messiah], and thus it remains (or: I have been jointly put on the execution stake in [the] Anointed One, and continue in this state)... yet I continue living! [It is] no longer I, but it is Christ continuously living and alive within me!"
Putting Himself within in us is what changes us - completely transforms US!
The next statement flies in the face of the old covenant arrangement (the old kosmos). This new covenant swallowed up the old, and now - to our great joy we find that God is "NOT accounting to them (not putting to their account; not logically considering for them; not reasoning in them) the results and effects of their falls to the side (their trespasses and offenses)." What grace; what mercy! Unfortunately, most of Christianity did not get the memo - they have completely overlooked this. They not only (unlike God) hold people's trespasses against them, they threaten folks with their imaginary "endless torment" if they don't comply with religion's demands. But in contrast to this, Paul instructs us that God was "even placing within us the Word (the Idea; the Reason; the message; the pattern-forming information) of the corresponding transformation to otherness (or: the full alteration; the change from enmity to friendship; the conciliation)." What an honor; what a privilege.
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