Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Corinthians 5:16

"Wherefore we henceforth know no man after the flesh: even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know [him so] no more." — 2 Corinthians 5:16 (ASV)

Paul now introduces the first of two consequences of Christ’s death and his own living for Christ. Since his conversion (“from now on”), when he gained the twofold conviction about his own death (v.14) and life (v.15), Paul had ceased to make superficial personal judgments based on external appearances (v.12). It was now his custom to view others, not in terms of nationality but in terms of spiritual status. The Jew-Gentile division was less important for him than the Christian-unbeliever distinction (Romans 2:28–29; 1 Corinthians 5:12–13; Galatians 3:28; Galatians 6:10; et al.); Gentile believers were his brothers “in Christ” while his unbelieving compatriots were “without Christ.” Similarly, his sincere yet superficial preconversion estimate of Jesus as a misguided messianic pretender whose followers must be extirpated (Acts 9:1–2; Acts 26:9–11) he now repudiated as being totally erroneous, for he had come to recognize him as the divinely appointed Messiah whose death had brought life (vv.14–15).