The Nature of Our Ministry
By Jonathan Mitchell
As Christ's ministers of the new covenant, just what is the nature of our ministry? Paul instructs us about this in the final verses of 2 Cor. 5 (vss. 18-21) and in the first couple verses of 2 Cor. 6. So let us read this short passage, and then explore what Paul meant, in these verses:
18. Yet further, all things [are] (or: the Whole [is]; = all the things that exist [are]; [cf Rom. 11:36]) 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]
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; cf Jn. 3:16]) in Himself, to Himself, for Himself, by Himself and with Himself, not accounting to them (not putting to their account or assessing to them; 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 Logos; this transfer and conveyance of a Meaning-bearing Communication; the Idea; the Reason; the Message; the flow of Pattern-forming Information; the Blueprint) of the corresponding transformation to otherness (or: this full alteration; the change from enmity to friendship; the conciliation).
20. Over [the situation] in regard to Christ, then (or: Therefore, on behalf of Christ), we are elders of God, performing as ambassadors from God, as [Him] continually calling alongside to give comfort and relief (performing as a Paraclete) through us. We are constantly begging and urgently asking, on behalf of Christ (or: for Christ's sake): "Be fully transformed in, be correspondingly altered by, be changed from an enemy to be a friend with, be reconciled to, and be altered to be another [person] in, by, and with, God!" [cf 6:1, below] (or: "You folks be completely exchanged with God; or: Be conciliated to, and for, God!"),
21. for you see, He made (or: formed) the One not at any point knowing failure (sin; error; mistake) by intimate experience [to take the place of; to be] failure over us and our [situation and condition] (or: He produced a sin [offering] representing us: this Person not having an experiential knowledge of missing the target or making a mistake), to the end that WE may be birthed God's just and rightwising act of eschatological deliverance (or: would come to exist in righted, rectified and liberated relationships of equitable fairness from God; or: would become God's justice, which is the Way pointed out; or: could become participants in the new covenant from God: expressions of well-ordered living of the way it should be, which are God), within Him and in union with Him,
1. and so WE - habitually (or: continuously) working synergistically together and cooperating with [Him] - are also constantly performing as co-paracletes: calling you folks alongside to aid, comfort,> direct, urge and encourage you not to accept or receive God's grace into a void (or: an empty or vain [situation; way of life]),
2. for He continues saying,"At an acceptable season (or: In an appropriate situation; For an agreeable kairos) I fully hear and respond in regard to you, and within a day of deliverance (on a day of health, rescue, restoration and salvation), at your cry for help, I run to give aid to you (I run with help for you)." [Isa. 49:8] Consider (Look)! [It is] now (at this moment) an especially acceptable season (a fitting situation well-directed toward acceptance; a fertile moment of ease and face-to-face reception)! Consider (Look)! [It is] now (at this moment) a day of deliverance (of health, rescue, safety, salvation and restoration to the wholeness of the original state and condition!
In this translation, the term commonly rendered, "ministry," is rendered as, "attending service of, and dispensing from," which offers a better understanding of the Greek word, diakonia. In 5:18, on offer is the following explanation:
"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]
What I have rendered, "the complete transformation to be other," or "the change into another," or, "the changing to correspond with other," or, "the alteration to be another," or, "the change from enmity to friendship" (an extended meaning), and finally, "the reconciliation" (a common rendering), all come from the compound noun, katallage, which in turn stems from the verb, katallasso, which has the basic meaning, "to change." But this compound verb is composed of the prefix, kata-, added to the verb allasso, which, in turn, has the basic meaning, "to make other than it is; to alter; to take a new position; to exchange [one thing, or situation] for another." By extension, we have the meaning, "to reconcile."
Now while the extended meaning, "to reconcile," can be seen as a peripheral blessing of this "attending service and dispensing," we surmise that the more central meanings of allasso give a more complete, and central, picture of how Paul is describing what is involved in God's work (vs. 18a), in Christ. We understand Paul's use of the prefix, kata-, as being that of an intensifier, and thus render the noun "the COMPLETE transformation to be other," and the participle describing God's action as,
"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."
With these renderings which are based upon the root idea of "other" in mind, the common renderings "to reconcile," or, "reconciliation," seem pale and shallow, by comparison. Add to this the picture on offer in 2 Cor. 3:18, where Paul uses a synonym to describe the work of God within, and upon, us:
"we are presently being continuously and progressively transformed into the very same image and form, away from a glory and appearance, into the midst of a glory and manifestation which calls forth praise (or: from glory unto glory) - corresponding essentially to, exactly as, precisely to the degree of, and following the very Pattern, from [the] Lord, Who is Breath-effect."
The idea of "being made other than we were" also corresponds with the idea of being made holy (other than what is considered to be "common" or "profane") and to be set-apart, so as to be,
"as living stones, continuously being erected (or: progressively constructed and built up) into a spiritual house (a building with its source being the Spirit, with the characteristics of a Breath-effect): [built] into a set-apart priesthood (or: a holy, sacred, and different from the ordinary, effect of a body officiating as priests)" (1 Pet. 2:5).
Verse 19, above, is a restatement of vs. 18, telling us 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]."
This expands the scope of the work of Christ, from His work in the individual to His work within and upon the whole world, or, "the aggregate of humanity," and it reminds us of how God, in this way, Loves the world, or, "the aggregate of humanity" (Jn. 3:16).
Verse 19 goes on to assure us that for this aggregate, God is
"not accounting to them (not putting to their account or assessing to them; not logically considering for them; not reasoning in them) the results and effects of their falls to the side (their trespasses and offenses),"
and then explains the logistics of our "ministry," that it is by,
"placing within us the Word (the Logos; this transfer and conveyance of a Meaning-bearing Communication; the Idea; the Reason; the Message; the flow of Pattern-forming Information; the Blueprint) of the corresponding transformation to otherness (or: this full alteration; the change from enmity to friendship; the conciliation)."
We are transformed, and then the Logos is placed within us so that we can transfer it to others, filling them with Light and Love. Next, vs. 20 informs us that,
"we are elders of God, performing as ambassadors from God, as [Him] continually calling alongside to give comfort and relief (performing as a Paraclete) through us."
This is now further explained:
"We are constantly begging and urgently asking, on behalf of Christ (or: for Christ's sake): 'Be fully transformed in, be correspondingly altered by, be changed from an enemy to be a friend with, be reconciled to, and be altered to be another [person] in, by, and with, God!' (or: 'You folks be completely exchanged with God; or: Be conciliated to, and for, God!')."
If we are speaking that which has been placed within us - that is, the Logos - will not the imperative that we are to say to them (as stated in vs. 20b) be a "creative Word" that goes into them? Will this not, in God's time and in their place in order (1 Cor. 15:23), bring the Seed to Life within them? Eph. 4:15 offers us another picture of our ministry:
"But continuously being real and true (living in accord with reality and the facts; holding to, speaking, pursuing and walking in Truth; truthing it) within, and in union with, Love (or: centered in unambiguous acceptance; a full giving of ourselves with an urge toward union), we can grow up (enlarge; increase) into Him - the ALL which is the Head: Christ."
Verse 21b makes a startling statement which sheds further Light upon the nature of our ministry:
"to the end that WE may be birthed God's just and rightwising act of eschatological deliverance (or: would come to exist in righted, rectified and liberated relationships of equitable fairness from God; or: would become God's justice, which is the Way pointed out; or: could become participants in the new covenant from God: expressions of well-ordered living of the way it should be, which are God), within Him and in union with Him,"
This is utterly amazing: we actually participate in doing the works that Christ did (Jn. 14:12). There should not be a break, here, to begin chapter 6; rather, 6:1 carries on the thoughts of vs. 21,
"and so WE - habitually (or: continuously) working synergistically together and cooperating with [Him] - are also constantly performing as co-paracletes: calling you folks alongside to aid, comfort, direct, urge and encourage you not to accept or receive God's grace into a void (or: an empty or vain [situation; way of life])."
This is a restatement of the first clause of vs. 20. This describes the nature of our ministry! Paul then wraps up the thoughts of this passage in the words of vs. 6:2,
Here, we also have an echo of Isa. 61, which Jesus read, and then an echo of what He stated in the synagogue (Lu. 4:18-21).
Jonathan
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