2 Corinthians 5:11–21

Friendship with God through Christ

¹¹We know what it means to fear the Lord, and so we try to persuade others. God knows us completely, and I hope that in your hearts you know me as well. ¹²We are not trying again to recommend ourselves to you; rather, we are trying to give you a good reason to be proud of us, so that you will be able to answer those who boast about people’s appearance and not about their character. ¹³Are we really insane? It is for God’s sake. Or are we sane? Then it is for your sake. ¹⁴We are ruled by the love of Christ, now that we recognize that one man died for everyone, which means that all share in his death. ¹⁵He died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but only for him who died and was raised to life for their sake.

¹⁶No longer, then, do we judge anyone by human standards. Even if at one time we judged Christ according to human standards, we no longer do so. ¹⁷Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. ¹⁸All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also. ¹⁹Our message is that God was making the whole human race his friends through Christ.^d God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends.

²⁰Here we are, then, speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends! ²¹Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God.