# 2 Corinthians 5.19 **Book:** [2 Corinthians](/codex/2-corinthians/) · NASB95 ## Verse > namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:19, NASB95) ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **NASB95** ([NASB95](/codex/nasb95/)) > 17. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, > > **19. namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.** > > 20. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21, NASB95) ## Setting - **Speaker:** Paul, writing to the Corinthian church c. AD 55-56, possibly from Macedonia. - **Audience:** the Corinthian church, but in this section Paul is articulating the *theological* foundation of his apostolic ministry, the message and warrant for which he and his coworkers serve. - **Location:** likely Macedonia (Philippi or thereabouts), shortly after the painful interactions narrated in 2 Cor 1-7. - **Time period:** c. AD 55-56. The letter is the most autobiographically and theologically intense of Paul's correspondence, the apostolic-ministry credentials and the *katallagē* language are tightly linked. ## Theological reading This verse is **one of the most theologically dense single sentences in the Pauline corpus**. It compresses (i) the Christological doctrine of incarnation ("*God was in Christ*"), (ii) the soteriological doctrine of reconciliation, (iii) the forensic doctrine of non-imputation ("*not counting their trespasses against them*"), and (iv) the ecclesiological doctrine of the apostolic / proclamational ministry ("*He has committed to us the word of reconciliation*"), all in one breath. Six theological moves: 1. **Reconciliation as the master atonement-metaphor.** Paul deploys multiple metaphors for what the cross accomplishes, *justification* (legal-courtroom: Romans 3-5), *redemption* (slave-market: 1 Corinthians 6:20), *propitiation* (cultic-temple: Romans 3:25), *adoption* (familial: Galatians 4), *new creation* (cosmological: 2 Corinthians 5:17). *Reconciliation* (*katallagē*) is the *relational* metaphor, the restoration of a broken personal relation between two estranged parties. Some interpreters argue it is Paul's controlling metaphor (Ralph Martin, *Reconciliation*, 1981), the one that gathers up the others. 2. **God is the agent and the offended party, and yet also the reconciler.** "*God* was in Christ reconciling…", note the directionality. It is not that *Christ* reconciles God to humans (as if appeasing an angry God external to the saving initiative); it is that *God*, the offended party whose holiness is what humans have transgressed, *Himself* takes the initiative to reconcile humans to Himself, *in Christ*. The Father is not the obstacle to atonement; the Father is the architect of atonement. This guards against the caricature (often launched against PSA) that the cross sets the Son in opposition to the Father. 3. **"In Christ", the locative formula.** The Greek is *en Christō*, Paul's signature formula for the locus of redemption. God *was in Christ* (*ēn en Christō*), the imperfect tense suggesting the sustained reality of the incarnation throughout Christ's saving life and death. Christ is not the *means* God uses (as one might use a tool); Christ is the *place* in which God Himself is present, accomplishing the reconciliation. The Christological substance, the deity of Christ, the personal union, God's own presence in the saving act, is condensed in this prepositional phrase. 4. **"Not counting their trespasses against them", the forensic non-imputation.** The Greek *mē logizomenos* uses the verb *logizomai*, the same verb Paul uses in Romans 4 (citing Genesis 15:6) for the *imputation* of righteousness to Abraham. Here it is *non-imputation* of trespasses to the world. The doctrinal grammar is: God does not *reckon* (*credit / impute*) trespasses to the account of those reconciled. v. 21 then gives the mechanism, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf", which is the **explicit imputation language** for sin (transferred to Christ) and righteousness (transferred to us). 5:19 names the *outcome* (non-imputation to us); 5:21 names the *means* (imputation to Christ; counter-imputation of His righteousness to us). 5. **"The world", the scope.** *Kosmon*, the world. Paul does not say "the elect" or "the church" or "Israel"; he says God was reconciling *the world* to Himself. The scope-question (definite atonement / particular redemption vs. universal-scope-with-particular-application) is debated: - **Reformed / definite-atonement reading**: "the world" denotes scope of *kind* (every kind of person, Jew and Gentile, all nations) rather than scope of *number* (every individual without exception). The reconciliation actually accomplished is for those who actually receive it (those in Christ). - **Arminian / universal-extent reading**: "the world" is genuinely universal in scope, the cross *objectively* reconciles all, but the reconciliation is *appropriated* only by those who, through faith, "be reconciled to God" (v. 20). - **Hypothetical-universalist / Amyraldian reading**: God's reconciling intent is universal (provision for all), but the salvific application is particular (effective for the elect). The verse is consistent with all three readings; the debate is settled (or not) on broader systematic-theological grounds. 6. **The ministry of reconciliation.** "He has *committed* to us the word of reconciliation", God's reconciling act constitutes the apostolic / proclamational ministry. The objective work of the cross is *announced* by the *kerygma*; the response solicited is "be reconciled to God" (v. 20). Reconciliation is not preached as something for humans to *do* (build up a moral effort to reconcile yourself to God); it is preached as something *done* and now to be *received* by faith. **Where this fits in atonement-theology:** - **Penal substitution** finds its most explicit Pauline articulation in v. 21 (Christ "made to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him"), the great-exchange formula that Luther called *admirabile commercium* ("wonderful exchange"). 5:19's *non-imputation* depends on 5:21's *substitutionary imputation*. - **Reconciliation theology** (Karl Barth, *CD* IV; Eberhard Jüngel; T. F. Torrance) makes 5:18-21 the controlling text for the doctrine of atonement, sometimes in tension with PSA emphases. - **Christus Victor** readings can find purchase in the cosmic scope ("the world") and the new-creation context (v. 17), but the verse itself is more relational-forensic than victory-language. - **Moral-influence** readings struggle most with 5:21's substitutionary-imputation language; the moral-influence option requires reading v. 21 metaphorically rather than theologically. **The "ambassadors" metaphor.** The reconciliation message is delivered by *ambassadors* (*presbeuomen*, v. 20), official representatives of a sovereign, authorized to *speak in His stead*. The seriousness of evangelism is theologically grounded here: when the gospel is preached, God Himself is making appeal through the messenger. **The relation to Romans 5.** Romans 5:10-11 gives the parallel articulation: "while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son…we have now received the *reconciliation* (*katallagē*)." 2 Cor 5:19 is the missiological-apostolic side; Rom 5:10-11 is the soteriological-experiential side; together they are the Pauline doctrine of reconciliation. ## Patristic / scholarly note **Patristic.** John Chrysostom (*Homilies on 2 Corinthians* 11, c. AD 396) extracts the practical force: "He calls Himself an *ambassador*…that we might know the high quality of the office and the gentleness of God's appeal." Chrysostom emphasizes that the offended party is the one initiating the reconciliation, a thing unheard of in human relations, distinctive of the divine character. Augustine (*Tractates on John* 110.6) develops the *en Christō* formula: "God was in Christ, that is, in the human nature He assumed, reconciling, by His own self, the world." Theodoret of Cyrus (*Commentary on 2 Corinthians*, mid-5th c.) treats v. 21 as the substantive grounding of v. 19's reconciliation. **Reformation.** Calvin (*Commentary on 2 Corinthians*, 1546) on 5:19 emphasizes the *non-imputation*: "The grace of justification is inseparable from reconciliation. For when the Lord receives us into favor, he at the same time absolves us from guilt." Calvin reads v. 21 as the controlling explanation of v. 19's reconciliation: the reconciliation works by the *transfer* of sin to Christ and righteousness to us. Luther's reading (*Lectures on Galatians*, on Gal 3:13, drawing parallel material) is similarly substitutionary: Christ is "the greatest sinner ever to walk the earth", not by inherent corruption but by imputation, bearing the world's sin so that the world might receive His righteousness. **Modern scholarship.** Murray J. Harris (*The Second Epistle to the Corinthians*, NIGTC, 2005) is the standard exhaustive commentary, with detailed exegesis of 5:19's *katallagē* language. Paul Barnett (*The Second Epistle to the Corinthians*, NICNT, 1997) and Mark Seifrid (*The Second Letter to the Corinthians*, PNTC, 2014) are evangelical standards. Ralph P. Martin's *2 Corinthians* (WBC, 1986; rev. 2014) and his monograph *Reconciliation: A Study of Paul's Theology* (1981) make reconciliation the central Pauline atonement-category. From a more critical angle, Margaret Thrall's two-volume *2 Corinthians* (ICC, 1994 / 2000) is the standard critical commentary. C. K. Barrett's *Second Epistle to the Corinthians* (BNTC, 1973) remains useful. **On atonement theology generally** as it relates to this text: John Stott's *The Cross of Christ* (1986) and J. I. Packer's "What Did the Cross Achieve?" (1973) treat 2 Cor 5:19-21 as one of the central Pauline articulations of substitutionary reconciliation. Steve Jeffery, Michael Ovey, Andrew Sach (*Pierced for Our Transgressions*, 2007) build the PSA case partly on this passage. From the kaleidoscopic side, Joel Green & Mark Baker (*Recovering the Scandal of the Cross*, 2000) and Scot McKnight (*A Community Called Atonement*, 2007) include 2 Cor 5 in their multiple-models accounts. From the Reformed side, John Murray (*Redemption Accomplished and Applied*, 1955) treats reconciliation as one of the four atonement-aspects (along with sacrifice, propitiation, redemption). N. T. Wright (*The Day the Revolution Began*, 2016) reads 2 Cor 5:19-21 in covenantal-renewal terms, the new-Exodus / new-creation reconciliation that fulfills Israel's covenantal trajectory. ## Connection to other passages - [Isaiah 53.5-6](/codex/isaiah-53-5-6/), the OT substitutionary-atonement bedrock that undergirds 2 Cor 5:19's non-imputation - **Genesis 15:6**, Abraham's faith *reckoned* (*chashab* / LXX *elogisthē*) as righteousness; the inverse-direction precedent for the *non*-reckoning in 2 Cor 5:19 - **Romans 3:21-26**, propitiation (*hilastērion*) and justification; the parallel forensic-atonement articulation - **Romans 4:1-8**, the *non-imputation* of sin to David (citing Psalm 32:1-2); same Pauline grammar as 2 Cor 5:19 - **Romans 5:10-11**, "while we were enemies, we were *reconciled* to God"; the parallel articulation - **Galatians 3:13**, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us"; parallel substitutionary-imputation logic - **Ephesians 2:14-18**, Christ as our peace, reconciling Jew and Gentile in one body, the *horizontal* reconciliation that follows from the *vertical* of 2 Cor 5:19 - **Colossians 1:19-22**, "through Him to reconcile all things to Himself…and although you were formerly alienated…yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death"; parallel cosmic-reconciliation language - [Hebrews 7.11-12](/codex/hebrews-7-11-12/), the Melchizedekian high priest who effects the reconciliation - **1 Peter 3:18**, "Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God"; petrine parallel - **John 3:16-17**, God's love-initiative to save the world; the Johannine parallel to the Pauline *katallagē* doctrine ## Key words - G2644 - katallassō, *katallassō* (reconcile), the verb of vv. 18-20 - G2643 - katallagē, *katallagē* (reconciliation), the noun of vv. 18-19; the master atonement-metaphor of the passage - [G3049 - logizomai](/codex/g3049-logizomai/), *logizomai* (count, reckon, impute), the verb of *non-imputation* in v. 19; same verb as Romans 4 - [G2889 - kosmos](/codex/g2889-kosmos/), *kosmos* (world), the scope of the reconciliation; load-bearing in the definite-atonement debate - G3900 - paraptōma, *paraptōma* (trespass, false step), the term for what is *not counted* - G4243 - presbeuō, *presbeuō* (be an ambassador), the verb of the apostolic-representational ministry in v. 20 - G266 - hamartia, *hamartia* (sin), the term Christ was *made* in v. 21 ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Isaiah 14 Reverse Slavery Prophecy Objection Defeater](/codex/isaiah-14-reverse-slavery-prophecy-objection-defeater/), via [2 Corinthians 5.18-19](/codex/2-corinthians-5-18-19/) - [Jesus is Not a Human Sacrifice (Defeater)](/codex/jesus-is-not-a-human-sacrifice-defeater/) - [OT vs NT God Objection Defeater](/codex/ot-vs-nt-god-objection-defeater/) - [Unitarian Oneness Binitarian Objection Defeater](/codex/unitarian-oneness-binitarian-objection-defeater/) **Concepts:** - [Atheism](/codex/atheism/) - [Atonement Theory Spread](/codex/atonement-theory-spread/) - [Christian Muslim Defender](/codex/christian-muslim-defender/) - [Oneness Pentecostalism](/codex/oneness-pentecostalism/) - [OT vs NT God Objection](/codex/ot-vs-nt-god-objection/) - [Trinity vs Oneness vs Modalism vs Arianism](/codex/trinity-vs-oneness-vs-modalism-vs-arianism/) - [Universalism](/codex/universalism/) **Lexicon:** - [G2889 - kosmos](/codex/g2889-kosmos/) - [G3049 - logizomai](/codex/g3049-logizomai/) **Passages:** - [2 Timothy 3.16](/codex/2-timothy-3-16/) - [Isaiah 53.5-6](/codex/isaiah-53-5-6/) --- _Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_