Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Corinthians 5:18

"But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation;" — 2 Corinthians 5:18 (ASV)

“All this is from God” looks back to the new attitudes of v.16 and the new creation of v.17. God is as surely the author of the second creation as he was of the first (cf. 4:6).

At this point Paul passes from the subjective to the objective aspects of the atonement as he talks about “reconciliation” (GK 2903). Elsewhere he shows that reconciliation is the divine act by which, on the basis of the death of Christ, God’s holy displeasure against sinners was appeased, the enmity between God and humankind was removed, and human beings were restored to proper relations with God (Romans 5:10–11; Colossians 1:20–22). Reconciliation is a total and objective removal of hostility.

Here Paul makes it clear that God was the reconciler, that humankind was what God reconciled to himself (but cf. Colossians 1:20), that Christ was God’s agent in effecting reconciliation, that the reconciliation has been accomplished, and that reconciliation involved the nonimputation of trespasses (i.e., forgiveness and the accompanying imputation of righteousness; see comment on Ro 3:24). Those to whom God has committed the ministry of reconciliation (cf. 4:7) are primarily Paul and his fellow ambassadors. Nevertheless, a reference to all believers cannot be excluded (cf. v,18a, “God... reconciled us,” including the Corinthians).