One Has Died for All
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.
From this assertion Paul draws the inference that “all die.”754 What is the reasoning behind this conclusion? How is it that “all” die? We might expect Paul to have written instead, “One died; therefore all were saved from death.”755 Paul’s statement is written in a kind of theological shorthand. Its full meaning is expressed well by Tasker: “Christ’s death was the death of all in the sense that they should have died; the penalty of their sins was borne by him (1 Cor 15:3; 2 Cor 5:20); He died in their place.”756 Paul’s purpose in this section is not to expound on the death of Christ but to argue from it. Consequently, he leaves out some basic premises about the theological reasons for Christ’s death which the Corinthians already knew, namely, that all were liable to death because of their sin and that God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to deal with sin and to restore sinners (Rom 8:3). The syllogism consists of these omitted premises:
[All humanity was condemned to death because of sin]
[Christ identified with all sinful humanity and died.]
Therefore all died.
The conclusion “Christ died, therefore all died” only makes sense if Christ died as the proxy or substitute for all humanity. But humans did not select Christ to die for us; God did. Christ’s submission to God’s will was a supreme act of self-giving love.
Garland, David E. 2 Corinthians. Vol. 29. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999. Print. The New American Commentary.
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