2 Corinthians 5King James Version
We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God. We walk by faith, not by sight. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. God hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.
Paul catalogs his ministry credentials not in the form of achievements but in the form of hardships endured without complaint. He contrasts his open heart with the Corinthians' narrowed one, then pivots to warn against being yoked with unbelievers. He closes with a chain of Old Testament promises: God will dwell in them, walk among them, be their Father, and receive them as his sons and daughters.
Authentic ministry is proved not by success metrics but by the pattern of a life that absorbs suffering without closing off, and an open heart invites open hearts in return.
"As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." (2 Corinthians 6:10) The triple paradox captures the entire economy of the gospel: everything that looks like loss from the outside is abundance from the inside.
A parent has written to an adult child who has grown distant. The letter lists no accomplishments. It lists every sacrifice made and ends with: my heart is open. Come back. The distance is not in me. That is the tone of 2 Corinthians 6.
Paul, speaking with the directness of a parent addressing children. The Corinthians, whose hearts have narrowed. Belial, named as the opposing spiritual force. God, who speaks as Father to sons and daughters.
Paul's appeal to be reconciled (v.1) is not a theological abstraction but a personal plea from someone whose heart is so wide open he is at risk of being hurt again. The warning about unequal yoking is often read narrowly as about marriage, but in context it is a broader call to refuse spiritual compromise with the values and loyalties that belong to a different kingdom entirely.
Paul says his heart is wide open and the restriction is on the Corinthians' side. There is grief in that. He is more committed to them than they are to him, and he knows it.
1For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
3If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
5Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
6Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
8We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
9Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
11Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
12For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.
13For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.
14For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
15And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
16Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.