14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1) According to verse 15, what is the purpose of Christ dying for us?
It’s pretty clear from this verse that the purpose of Christ dying for our salvation was so that we might live for Him.  Those who understand the great love of Christ are controlled by it—and lay aside their preferences to put Christ’s purposes first through the power of His Holy Spirit.

2) What does it mean to “regard no one according to the flesh”?
If we are living for ourselves, we judge others according to worldly standards (according to the flesh), but if we are living for Christ, we regard them according to the value that Christ has placed on them as His beloved creation.  So we no longer look at others for what they can do for us, or judge them by their appearance, or disregard them because of some personality trait that we dislike, but we seek to see them and treat them as Christ would.

3) What is the ministry of reconciliation?
The word “reconcile” means “to bring into agreement or harmony.”  While we were sinners, we were at odds with God.  Although He loved us, we could not be in God’s presence until our sin was dealt with.  But when Jesus died on the cross, the sin that stood between us and God was removed, and we were reconciled to Him.  Now that we have received this reconciliation, we are called to be ministers of this reconciliation to others.  This means that we are to help others find salvation, reconciling them to God.  God is “entrusting to us the message of reconciliation” (v. 19).

4) What does it mean that we “become the righteousness of God”?
Verse 21 contains the Gospel in a verse.  Christ knew no sin, but he became sin for us.  Our sins were imputed (attributed, ascribed) to Christ, so that through His death and resurrection, we could have His righteousness imputed to us.  This is sometimes called the Great Exchange.  Our sins were not simply removed, but they were replaced with Christ’s righteousness.  Now, when God looks at us, He sees the purity and perfection that is the righteousness of Christ.

1) According to verse 15, what is the purpose of Christ dying for us?
The beauty of grace is that it is free – we did absolutely nothing to deserve or earn God’s gift of salvation.  But we have been set free from the power of sin so that we can live for Christ!  So often we fall back into the idea that we are supposed to have an easy life, one where we have everything we want.  But the purpose of our salvation is to live, not for ourselves, but for the One who saved us!  In laying down our lives (our goals, our preferences, our priorities, our ambitions) and submitting them to Christ, we actually find true freedom and satisfaction.  What worldly desire am I holding on to that is keeping me from living for my Savior?

2) What does it mean to “regard no one according to the flesh”?
Every human being on the planet was created in the image of God.  They reflect who He is, no matter their intelligence, their culture, their abilities, their age, their sex, their political party, or the color of their skin.  Every person is valued by God and He longs for us to see them with that same value and love.  Is there anyone, an individual or a group of people, whom I am disregarding because of something about them that I don’t like?  Lord, help me to see this person/people through your eyes, and to deeply desire to relate to them as You would.  Change my heart!

3) What is the ministry of reconciliation?
We who follow Christ have been entrusted with the message that brings reconciliation.  We should be ultimately concerned with reconciling sinners to the God who loves them.  The goal of this reconciliation is not to conform a person to our image so that they end up being a part of our “club,” looking and thinking just like we do.  But we want them to be reconciled to God and be conformed to His image.  As we all look more and more like Christ, we will find that we have more and more in common with other believers—and the things we have in common transcend racial and cultural barriers.  By being reconciled to God, we have the fruit of being reconciled to one another.

4) What does it mean that we “become the righteousness of God”?
Praise God that he has imputed righteousness to us!  Though we still struggle daily against sin, when God looks at us, he sees perfection.  Oh, the freedom of knowing that our status before God does not depend on us, but on the powerful and perfect, unfailing God!

Don’t miss today’s other Journey Study, Courageous Colors!
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We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources.  Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.
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