Persuading Others to Be Reconciled

Excerpt

All humans were under sin and merited the just punishment of death (Rom 3:9–18, 23; 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. It follows that “If ‘one died for all,’ then such a ‘one’ must be uniquely significant.” 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. More

Garland, David E. 2 Corinthians. Vol. 29. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999. Print. The New American Commentary.