2 Corinthians 5:21 The one who did not know sin became sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Paul next further explains how reconciliation happens. Jesus was without sin (see Hebrews 4:15). He was the perfect sacrifice for sins because of his obedience to the Father. A sinless sacrifice was needed to make atonement for the sins of the whole world. He took our sins upon himself and became sin for us. This is a challenging thought that has a lot of Scripture behind it. God’s holiness and justice demand that sin be accounted for. If we account for our sins, we would need to pay with our lives. In the Old Testament, God allowed Israel to substitute the life of an animal to make atonement. In the New Testament, Jesus became the perfect sacrifice once and for all. This is a key theme in the book of Hebrews.
The result of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice is that we do not need to die for our sins. Our sins are not accounted to us anymore, which is what justification means. Reconciliation results in justification. The word “righteousness” in this verse shares the same root as “justification,” which is the process of being made righteous. Paul believes that our justification is not simply a selfish thing that gets us a ticket to heaven. Rather, “we become the righteousness of God.” The very purpose of our reconciliation is that we might be made truly righteous in order to be in the presence of the Almighty God. We partake in the very nature of God (2 Peter 1:4). His righteousness becomes our righteousness because we are transformed into his image as new creations. We are not simply considered righteous in God’s ledger book but we truly become righteous in our nature. This is not an overnight or instant experience but is a growth process. This begins because of God’s grace and as the response of our faith.
This is the powerful promise about which Paul has been writing in this letter. It would significant change everything for the Corinthians: their relationships, endurance through persecution, and how they treat leaders like Paul. He will move on to this need for faith in the next chapters. Faith and obedience are always in the background of all of Paul’s theological statements.
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