2 Corinthians 6:1-2 Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Paul now makes explicit the human part of the reconciliation process. Experiencing God’s saving grace is dependent upon our faith and trust in God’s message in Christ. The interpretive challenge with v. 1 is what to do with the participle “working together.” Some translations will add the words “in him” or “with God,” meaning that we work with God for our salvation. These words are not part of the original. The key question is, who do we work with so that we do not receive God’s grace in vain? A participle is usually related in form with another word. In this case, the participle is nominative, so it is related in form to the subject of the main verb “we appeal.” So this would mean that we work together with other believers.
This goes well with the idea of being ambassadors of reconciliation. Paul is functioning here as the ambassador of this message by appealing to the Corinthians so that they will accept this message and be reconciled. This appeal becomes even clearer in v. 2 with the clear statement that today is the day each person must make a choice to be reconciled to God. The message has been presented and made clear to the Corinthians and so they must respond to it affirmatively. Paul quotes Isaiah 49:8 to further support the urgency of his appeal. The Corinthians cannot delay. They do not have time to think about this for a while. They must respond now because tomorrow may never come.
Another important thought in these verses is what it means to receive God’s grace in vain. God’s grace is given to all people. No one is without excuse for at least acknowledging that there is a creator (see Romans 1:18-20). Nature itself bears witness to a creator. God’s saving grace in Christ comes through the preaching of the gospel. Ambassadors of Christ are given the mission of sharing this message to all people (Acts 1:8). This is our calling. As the message goes out, people can either accept it or reject it. Rejecting the gospel is how one spurns the grace of God. God’s grace is unconditional is its availability but conditional in its effectiveness based on our response to it. Faith is the key. Our faith will be shown by our trust in this message and our full commitment of ourselves to the lordship of Jesus Christ. This is at the heart of gospel.
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