Persuading Others to Be Reconciled
All humans were under sin and merited the just punishment of death (Rom 3:9–18, Rom 3:23; Rom 3:5:12). We can say that one died as a representative of all and brought benefits to all because that one died instead of all.751 It follows that “If ‘one died for all,’ then such a ‘one’ must be uniquely significant.”752 While belief in God today is almost universal, much of the world stumbles over ascribing anything universally significant about Jesus of Nazareth. They may admire his pithy sayings and lament his tragic martyrdom. The lifeblood of the gospel, however, courses from the central truth that in Christ God became one with the human race, that he died for all, and that his resurrection breaks the stranglehold of death.
How many people are covered by the “all”? Texts such as Col 1:20, which speaks of God reconciling “to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross,” and Rom 8:32 which affirms, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all,” suggest that God intended that the benefits of Christ’s death reach everyone (see also Heb 2:9; 1 John 2:2). The “all” would encompass all humanity. The benefits of Christ’s death are not limited to his fellow Jews but extend beyond accepted boundaries to include male and female, slave and free, Jew and Gentile.753 But those who stubbornly refuse to submit to Christ and rebuff God’s reconciliation choose to remain in condemnation. Consequently, only believers profit from Christ’s death.
Garland, David E. 2 Corinthians. Vol. 29. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999. Print. The New American Commentary.
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