The Fear of the Lord - Ministry of Reconciliation
This past Sunday we were in our 7th week of our Matthew Series, and Nick preached over Matthew 5:13-16. Jesus is calling His followers to be Salt & Light, to stand out and be useful, to be ambassadors for the Kingdom. Nick referenced 2 Corinthians 5:20 for this, which reminded me of the sermons I preached this summer over the call all believers have to be a part of the Ministry of Reconciliation found in 2 Corinthians 5 and 6.
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
The last two weeks of July, I had the opportunity to preach the Gospel, specifically on a topic I’ve been wanting to dive more into, reconciliation. There are several passages in the New Testament that draw out this aspect of the Gospel, but one in particular that stands out to me is in 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2, where Paul lays out what he calls the Ministry of Reconciliation. In the coming weeks I’ll share my writing from my studying on this topic that I used in my sermons.
In this first post I will share how I laid out the phrases of the passage selection and highlighted patterns. Doing this allows you to find the main points and repeated themes or words of importance. This first post will also take a step back into 2 Cor. 5:10 as the setup for the rest of the section, as well as looking at a brief overview of the Gospel doctrine of reconciliation, which will be covered much more in depth in a future post.
I’ve been wanting to go over a passage in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians where he makes a plea to them to disregard the things of the flesh and be reconciled to God and made new in Christ. Reconciliation is the big Gospel theme takeaway that we will look at, though it isn’t directly mentioned in the first sections we’ll be covering.
In short, reconciliation is only properly applied to relationships that are not right with one another, and there is an enmity or hostility that needs to be done away with. In Gospel terms, it is us who are at odds with our Creator, and even actively enemies towards Him, though it is our sin that God vigorously opposes and not us directly. That fact is shown in many places, such as
Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Even while we were still actively in sin and in enmity toward God, Jesus died for us, the unrighteous, and gave us His righteousness. [EDB, NBD]
This message of reconciliation is what I feel compelled to dig into and share, because it is what those who have faith in Christ have been given, both as a gift, and as a charge to spread. These first sections we will see the setup for why Paul is adamant about the Gospel message and the calling believers have to spread it through the ministry of reconciliation.
Before we dive into the first half of the ministry of reconciliation, let’s look at why Paul, a first century Christ-following Jew preaching to Gentiles, takes his part in this so seriously [TESB]. 2 Cor. 5:10-11a -
“10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.”
Though Paul knew that his salvation and eternal destiny were obtained by faith in Christ (Eph. 2:8–9), the thought of one day standing before his Savior (2 Cor. 5:10) awed him [BKC], and so his wise response is to then take part in God’s ministry of reconciliation. But why is that the wise response, and what is the “fear of the Lord”? The “fear of Yahweh” is an important OT concept overall, especially in the Wisdom Literature (Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs) [FSB]. A general understanding of it shows a reverent attitude toward Yahweh, acknowledging His full power, holiness, and awesome unknowable otherness, and invoking a response of obedience to Him and a submission to His will. Let's look at some examples from the wisdom literature books:
Eccl 3:14 - I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.
Prov. 9:10 - The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
When I was a kid my Dad had a very specific relationship with my friends. He was fun and could play around with us, but they were all scared of him to a healthy degree. My mom was frustrated that he’d be hard on them sometimes and that they were scared of him, but he’d say that’s how he liked it. A little fear of a fatherly authority figure is a good thing, and I think I’ve taken on the mantle with my kids and their peers. Just like my friends enjoyed being around my family, they knew who was boss, and when we might have gotten into some trouble and my dad came down on us, they would snap into shape (often faster than I would). Likewise, Paul knew God and that He was a good Father, but He was also righteous and just as the judge and sovereign ruler of all creation.
God will do what He wants and no one can add or take away from that, and the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom and the key to knowing Him more. What Paul is communicating here is that wisdom of the OT, to fear the Lord, knowing that God is sovereign and all things bend to His authority, not Paul's authority or any of the others who were creating disunity in Corinth that Paul was addressing. So because it is God's will that through Christ we are new creations with new identities, the "fear of the Lord" is what compels Paul to preach of this new identity and to persuade others to see it and to submit their lives to His kingdom agenda.
So as believers, with knowledge of Yahweh, our wise response out of fear and obedience to His will, we join Him in His mission to proclaim the Good News of reconciliation with the God of the universe through the redeeming payment of Christ crucified on our behalf.
That’s what Paul is getting into here, we persuade others, not in or of our own doing or power or rhetorical ability, but in and through Christ.
Take a look over the verse phrasing. We will be looking at it more closely in the coming posts: 2 Corinthians 5:11-17
Resource List:
BKC - Lowery, David K. “2 Corinthians.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.
EDB - Myers, Allen C. The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987.
FSB - Barry, John D., Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Michael S. Heiser, Miles Custis, Elliot Ritzema, Matthew M. Whitehead, Michael R. Grigoni, and David Bomar. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016.
NBD - Morris, L. L. “Reconciliation.” Edited by D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, and D. J. Wiseman. New Bible Dictionary. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996.
TESB - Evans, Tony. The Tony Evans Study Bible. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible, 2019.