2 Corinthians 5:14-21

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

Believers are New Creations in Christ; The Ministry of Reconciliation

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. Believers are new creations in Christ.

  2. Believers have the ministry of reconciliation.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Let’s be good ambassadors for Christ.

  2. Don’t determine your doctrine from biblical illustrations.

QUESTIONS

  1. When will Christians receive their resurrected bodies?

  2. What is the love of Christ, which compels us?

  3. What does this passage teach regarding “position”?

  4. What does it mean to know Christ “according to the flesh” (verse 16)?

  5. What is the meaning of “reconciliation”?

ANSWERS

  1. At the time of the Rapture, when believers who have died in Christ are resurrected and those who are living will meet Christ in the air.

  2. It is most likely Christ’s love for us. When we realize how much Christ loves us, we are motivated to be more faithful and committed to serving the Lord without shame.

  3. All people are either “in Christ” (believers) or “outside of Christ” (unbelievers). There is no middle position.

  4. Many people only know about Jesus, as a good man, but now as believers we know Christ as the Lord of glory.

  5. Reconciliation means to restore to a state of friendship and harmony.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. Could you categorize the people you know as either “in Christ” or “outside of Christ”? Would thinking about them in this way, rather than according to other categorizations, affect your efforts in evangelism?

  2. Discuss the wonderful truth taught in 2 Corinthians 5:21. God now sees us as righteous because the righteousness of Christ has been transferred to us, just as our sin was transferred to Him.

CHALLENGE

  1. Good ambassadors represent their home country properly. As Christians we are ambassadors for the kingdom of God. Our official message? “Be reconciled to God.”

KEY VERSES

  • “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

  • “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:19

  • “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

2 Corinthians, New Testament, TalksDeb Harms2 Corinthians 5:14-21