Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 5:9
Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
9. we labour ] The word implies “ una ambitio legitima ” Bengel; a strife in which one’s honour is concerned. See Rom 15:20, where the word is translated strive.
whether present or absent] whether at home or from home, Tyndale. The meaning is either (1) whether at home in the body, or absent from it, as in 2Co 5:6, or (2) at home with God or absent from Him, as in 2Co 5:8. The latter is preferable, as being in more immediate connection with what precedes. Cf. 1Th 5:10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Wherefore – ( Dio). In view of the facts stated above. Since we have the prospect of a resurrection and of future glory; since we have the assurance that there is a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; and since God has given to us this hope, and has granted to us the earnest of the Spirit, we make it our great object so to live as to be accepted by him.
We labor – The word used here ( philotimoumetha, from philos and time, loving honor) means properly to love honor; to be ambitious. This is its usual Classical signification. In the New Testament, it means to be ambitious to do anything; to exert oneself; to strive, as if from a love or sense of honor. As in English, to make it a point of honor to do so and so – Robinson (Lexicon); see Rom 15:20; 1Th 4:1 l. It means here, that Paul made it a point of constant effort; it was his leading and constant aim to live so as to be acceptable to God, and to meet his approbation wherever he was.
Whether present or absent – Whether present with the Lord 2Co 5:8, or absent from him 2Co 5:6; that is, whether in this world or the next; whether we are here, or removed to heaven. Wherever we are, or may be, it is, and will be our main purpose and object so to live as to secure his favor. Paul did not wish to live on earth regardless of his favor or without evidence that he would be accepted by him. He did not make the fact that he was absent from him, and that he did not see him with the physical eye, an excuse for walking in the ways of ambition, or seeking his own purposes and ends. The idea is, that so far as this point was concerned, it made no difference with him whether he lived or died; whether he was on earth or in heaven; whether in the body or out of the body; it was the great fixed principle of his nature so to live as to secure the approbation of the Lord. And this is the true principle on which the Christian should act, and will act. The fact that he is now absent from the Lord will be to him no reason why he should lead a life of sin and self-indulgence, anymore than he would if he were in heaven; and the fact that he is soon to be with him is not the main reason why he seeks to live so as to please him. It is because this has become the fixed principle of the soul; the very purpose of the life; and this principle and this purpose will adhere to him, and control him wherever he may be placed, or in whatever world he may dwell.
We may be accepted of him – The phrase used here euarestoi einai means to be well-pleasing; and then to be acceptable, or approved; Rom 12:1; Rom 14:18; Eph 5:10; Phi 4:18; Tit 2:9. The sense here is, that Paul was earnestly desirous of so living as to please God, and to receive from him the tokens and marks of his favor. And the truth taught in this verse is, that this will be the great purpose of the Christians life, and that it makes no difference as to the existence and operation of this principle whether a man is on earth or in heaven. He will equally desire it, and strive for it; and this is one of the ways in which religion makes a man conscientious and holy, and is a better guard and security for virtue than all human laws, and all the restraints which can be imposed by man.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Co 5:9
Wherefore we labour, that we may be accepted of Him.
Labouring for acceptance
I. What we are to understand by the text.
1. The apostle did not mean that he laboured–
(1) To make any atonement for his sins. That had been high treason against the sovereign authority of Him who by one offering hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified.
(2) To add to the righteousness of Christ; for if he and all the saints of God had attempted to add to it, it had been to defile it.
(3) To be more a child of God than he was; for he had taught that we are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Labour is lost here.
2. Then in what sense did he labour? All things that are spiritual are acceptable to God. He loves a spiritual mind; it is the reflection of Himself. Observe, there is a regular climax, an ascending gradation of expression, in these three passages (Rom 12:1-2; 1Th 4:1-18.; Col 1:9-10). God loves high and holy service, the obedient spirit and the quiet heart, those who follow on to know Him. The apostle did desire these things, and laboured for their attainment. Oh! with what deep self-renunciation did he labour! (1Co 15:10.)
II. Who it is that gives this remarkable declaration. Was he a whir behind the very chiefest of the apostles? The Lord signally owned him. But did his apostleship, his ministry, satisfy him? This is what he says, Wherefore we labour, etc. The apostle had been caught up into the third heaven; he had heard things which it was not lawful for him to utter. Was he satisfied with revelations? He counted them all as nothing, compared with this object of his souls desire. Paul was a man of no small attainment either, yet he said, We labour.
III. The remarkable expression he connects with it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. No one could ever say these words that had not both his feet standing firmly upon the atonement. Conclusion: There is not one but is labouring for something. It may be but the floating bubble in the water. Is it pleasure? friends? intellectual attainment? the grosser or the purer walks of life?–but still without God? Oh! solemn thought I If we saw a man with his house on fire, labouring to save his goods, and then we saw him burning with his goods, no one could look without shuddering at the sight. And yet we see thousands of sinners doing it all around us. (J. H. Evans, M. A.)
The great ambition of a true Christian
I. We must not only do things which are acceptable to God for the matter, but this must be our fixed end and scope.
1. We cannot be sincere unless this is the case. One main difference between the sincere and the hypocrite is in the end and scope. The one seeketh the approbation of men, and the other the approbation of God (2Co 1:12).
2. This makes us serious and watchful, and to keep close to our duty–the fitness of means is judged of by the end. Let a man fix upon a right end, and he will soon understand his way, and will address himself to such means as are fitted to that end, and make straight towards it without any wanderings.
(1) Consider how many impertinencies are cut off if I be true to my end and great scope; e.g., when I remember that my business is to be accepted of God at the last, can I spend my time in ease and idleness, or carnal vanities and recreations? (Ecc 2:2.)
(2) It will cut off all inconsistencies with our great end (Gen 39:9).
3. This gives us comfort under the difficulties of obedience, and the hardships of our pilgrimage. The end sweetens the means. Now, what greater encouragement can there be than to think how God will welcome us with a Well done? (Mat 25:21; Mat 25:23.)
II. This must be our work as well as our scope; and this design must be carried on with the greatest seriousness, as our great care and business. We labour. There is a double notion of great use in the spiritual life: making religion our business, and making religion our recreation. It must be our business in opposition to slightness; it must be our recreation in opposition to wearisomeness. The word in the text hath a special signification. We should with no less earnestness endeavour to please God than they that contend for honour in the world; we should make it our constant employment that God may like us for the present and take us home to Him at length into His blessed presence. What is all the world to this?
III. We must not only take care that we be accepted of God at last, when we go out of the body, but we must strive to be accepted of Him now.
1. How else can we long for the coming of Christ, if before we pass to our judgment we know not whether we shall be accepted, yea or no?
2. Else we cannot comfortably enjoy communion with God for the present. How can we come before Him if we know not whether He will accept an offering at our hands?
3. We cannot have a cheerful fruition of the creature and worldly enjoyments till God accepteth us (Ecc 9:7). Till we are in a reconciled estate, all our comforts are but as stolen waters, and bread eaten in secret, like Damocles banquet, while a sharp sword hung over his head by a slender thread.
4. That which maketh us more lively and active in our course of pleasing God is–
(1) The future judgment (2Co 5:10). Whom should we please, and with whom should we seek to be accepted? A vain world, or frail man, or the God to whom we must strictly give an account?
(2) The hope of our presence with Him, and the beatifical vision and fruition of Him; for in the context he speaketh of presence and sight, and then he saith, Wherefore we labour. Conclusion:
1. Some reasons of the point.
(1) We were made and sent into the world for this end, that by a constant course of obedience we might approve ourselves to God, and finally be accepted of Him, and received into His glory (Joh 6:38).
(2) We were redeemed to this end (Rev 5:9).
(3) Our entering into covenant with God implieth it.
(4) The relations which result from our covenant interest. There is the relation between us and Christ of husband and spouse (Hos 2:19). Now the duty of the wife is to please the husband (1Co 7:34). The relation of children and father (2Co 6:18). Now the duty of children is to please the parents. Masters and servants (Eze 16:8). They that please themselves carry themselves as if they were their own, not Gods.
2. Some study to please men.
(1) How can these comply with the great duty of Christians, which is to please the Lord? (Gal 1:10.)
(2) There is no such necessity of the approbation of men as of God. Please God, and no matter who is your enemy (Pro 16:9).
3. Is this your great scope and end?
(1) Your end will be known by your work.
(2) If this be your end, it will be known by your solace (2Co 1:12).
(3) If Gods glory be your scope, any condition will be tolerable to you, so as you may enjoy His favour. (T. Manton, D. D.)
Labour and motive
I. The sphere of labour to which these words refer. There can be nothing more prejudicial to a truly religious life than the supposition that there is any sphere into which we are not to carry our religion, and where the eye of the Master takes no cognizance of the deeds that are done. Holiness unto the Lord must be written upon the bells of the horses. We must give an account of all the things done in the body. Every province of our life belongs to the kingdom of Christ.
1. The servant or workman has another Master besides the human master that he serves, and all his secular work is done to Christ (Col 3:22). The workman then, as such, is a servant of Christ.
2. The master, too, has a Master as well as the workman, to whom he shall have to render an account of the deeds done in the body (Col 4:1).
3. This sphere of labour also embraces trade and commerce.
4. Kings and subjects, as such, are also to serve Christ.
5. Our sphere of labour also embraces all the relationships of life which we sustain, and the works of benevolence to which we are called. The love of parents for their children and of children for their parents is service rendered to God.
6. I need scarcely add that this sphere embraces what we are accustomed specially to call religious life and work. We are to labour in prayer and self-culture; to keep our hearts with all diligence and our bodies under subjection: this requires self-denial and toil. We are to strive daily to grow in grace.
II. The motive by which we are to re influenced and animated in our work, that we may be accepted of Him. It was this that stimulated the apostles heart and strengthened his hands and fired his zeal.
1. This will make our work pleasant. How much pleasanter the ordinary duties of life would become if we could feel that in doing them we serve Christ!
2. We shall also enjoy the presence and favour of Christ. The man who serves Christ in everything will find Christ in everything.
3. Service done from this motive will at length receive its full reward.
1. Let us learn, then, from this subject that religion enters into every department of human life. There is nothing secular in the sense that it is not also sacred.
2. How diligent and conscientious this should make us in the discharge of every duty! He sees us, He examines us, He rewards us. (A. Clark.)
Pleasing Christ
I. The supreme aim of the Christian life. To be accepted, well-pleasing; not merely that we may be accepted, but that we may bring a smile into Christs face, and some delight in us into His heart. Set that two-fold aim before you, else you will fail to experience the full stimulus of this thought.
1. Now such an aim implies a very wonderful conception of Christs present relations to us. We may minister to His joy. Just as really as you mothers are glad when you hear from a far-off land that your boy is doing well, so Christs heart fills with gladness when He sees you and me walking in the paths in which He would have us go. That we may please Him who pleased not Himself, is surely the grandest motive on which the pursuit of holiness and the imitation of Christ can ever be made to rest. Oh! how much more blessed such a motive is than all the lower reasons for which men are sometimes exhorted to be good! What a difference it is when we say, Do that thing because it is right, or Do that thing because you will be happier if you do, or when we say, Do it because He would like you to do it. Transmute obligation into gratitude, and in front of duty and appeals to self put Christ, and all the difficulty and burden of obedience become easy, and a joy.
2. This one supreme aim can be carried on through all life in every varying form, great or small. A blessed unity is given to our whole being when the little and the big, the easy and the hard things, are all brought under the influence of the one motive and made co-operant to the one end. Drive that one steadfast aim through your lives like a bar of iron, and it will give the lives strength and consistency, not rigidity, because they may still be flexible. Nothing will be too small to be consecrated by that motive; nothing too great to own its power. You can please Him everywhere and always. The only thing that is inconsistent is to sin against Him. If we bear with us this as a conscious motive in every part of our days work, it will give us a quick discernment as to what is evil which nothing else will so surely give.
II. The concentrated effort which this aim requires. The word rendered labour is very seldom employed in Scripture. It means literally, to be fond of honour, or to be actuated by a love of honour; and hence it comes, by a very natural transition, to mean, to strive to gain something for the sake of the honour connected with it. We ought, as Christians–
1. To cultivate this ambition. Men have all got the love of approbation deep in them. God put it there, not that we might shape our lives so as to get others to pat us on the back, and say, Well done! but that, in addition to the other solemn motives for righteousness, we might have this highest ambition to impel us on the road. That will take some cultivation. It is a great deal easier to shape our courses so as to get one anothers praise. A prime condition of all Christ-pleasing life is a wholesome disregard of what anybody says but Himself. The old Lacedaemonians used to stir themselves to heroism by the thought: What will they say of us in Sparta? The governor of some English colony minds very little what the people think about him. He reports to Downing Street, and it is the opinion of the Home Government that influences him. You report to headquarters. Never mind what anybody else thinks of you. Be deaf to the tittle-tattle of your fellow-soldiers in the ranks. It is your Commanders smile that will be your highest reward.
2. To strive with the utmost energy in the accomplishment of it. Pauls notion of acceptable service was service which a man suppressed much to render, and overcame much to bring. Look at his metaphors–a warfare, a race, a struggle, a building up of some great temple structure, and the like–all suggesting the idea of patient, persistent, continuous toil, and most of them suggesting also the idea of struggle with antagonistic forces and difficulties, either within or without. So we must set our shoulders to the wheel, put our backs into our work. But then do not forget that deeper than all effort, and the very spring and life of it, there must be the opening of our hearts for the entrance of His life and spirit by the presence of which only are we well-pleasing to Christ. According to the old illustration, the refiner sat by the furnace until he could see in the molten metal his own face mirrored, and then he knew it was pure. So what pleases Christ in us is the reflection of Himself. And how can we get that except by receiving into our hearts the Spirit that was in Christ Jesus, that will dwell in us, and will produce in us in our measure the same image that it formed in Him? Work out your own salvation, because it is God that worketh in you.
III. The utter insignificance to which this aim reduces all externals.
1. What differences of condition are covered by that parenthetical phrase–present or absent! He talks about it as if it was a very small matter. If the difference between life and death is dwarfed, what else do you suppose will remain? Whether we be rich or poor, solitary or beset by friends, young or old, it matters not. The one aim lifts itself before us, and they in whose eyes shine the light of that great issue are careless of the road along which they pass.
2. Then remember that this same aim and this same result may be equally pursued and attained whether here or yonder. On earth, in death, through eternity, such a life will be homogeneous, and of a piece; and when all other aims are forgotten and out of sight, then still this will be the purpose, and yonder it will be the accomplished purpose of each, to please the Lord Jesus Christ. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. Wherefore we labour] . from , loving, and , honour; we act at all times on the principles of honour; we are, in the proper sense of the word, ambitious to do and say every thing consistently with our high vocation: and, as we claim kindred to the inhabitants of heaven, to act as they do.
We may be accepted of him.] To be pleasing to him. Through the love we have to God, we study and labour to please him. This is and will be our heaven, to study to love, please, and serve him from whom we have received both our being and its blessings.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Having such a hope, yea, not such a hope only, but such an assurance and confidence,
we labour, both actively, doing the will of God, and passively, submitting to the will of God in all afflictive providences; that while we are in the body, and absent from the Lord,
we may be accepted of him; as we know we shall be, when we shall be present with him, in another sense than we now are.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. Whereforewith such a sure”confidence” of being blessed, whether we die before, or befound alive at Christ’s coming.
we labourliterally,”make it our ambition”; the only lawful ambition.
whether present orabsentwhether we be found at His coming present in the body,or absent from it.
acceptedGreek,“well-pleasing.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Wherefore we labour, that whether present or absent,…. This may be understood either of the ministers of the Gospel in particular, who labour in the word and doctrine, are ambitious, as the word here used signifies, and strive to preach the Gospel, not to please men, but their Lord and master; or of saints in general, who are intent upon this, and whose highest ambition is, that whether living or dying they
may be accepted of him; both persons and services: such who are born again, who are believers in Christ, and truly love him, are earnestly desirous of doing those things which are pleasing to him; and do in the strength of Christ endeavour to perform them. Faith is a diligent, industrious, and operative grace, and makes persons like itself. As none ought to be, so none are more careful to perform good works, or more ambitious to excel others in them, and thereby please their Lord, than believers. And these are the only persons that can please him, for without faith it is impossible to please him; for these act from a principle of love to him, and with a view to his glory; and may they be but accepted of him, living and dying, both in this and the other world, they have the highest favour they can wish for and desire.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
We make it our aim (). Old and common verb, present middle, from (, , fond of honour), to act from love of honour, to be ambitious in the good sense (1Thess 4:11; 2Cor 5:9; Rom 15:20). The Latin ambitio has a bad sense from ambire, to go both ways to gain one’s point.
To be well-pleasing to him ( ). Late adjective that shows Paul’s loyalty to Christ, his Captain. Found in several inscriptions in the Koine period (Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 214; Moulton and Milligan’s Vocabulary).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
We labor [] . Used by Paul only, here, Rom 14:20 (note), 1Th 4:11. Labor is a feeble translation, not bringing out the idea of the end contemplated, as the motive of the toil. Rev., we make it our aim.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Wherefore we labour,” (dio’ kai philotimoumetha) “Wherefore we are even ambitious,” we make it our ambition, our goal, Heb 4:11; 2Pe 1:11. We strive to have our labors accepted of Him, 2Jn 1:8.
2) “Whether present or absent,” (eite endemountes eite ekdemountes) “Whether being at home or being away from home (our earthly tent-like-home), this pile of clay, in it or away from it, Php_1:20-25.
3) “We may be accepted of him,” (euarestoi auto einai) “to be well pleasing to him,” whatever state of life we may exist in down here, we may not only be received by Him; as all believers having eternal life shall, but that we may please Him well, hear a “well done,” for faithful, obedient service to Him, be rewarded richly, not for our honor, but for His, Rev 22:12; 1Co 3:8; 1Co 3:13-15; all the saved will reach heaven enter heaven, at last, Joh 10:27-29; Joh 6:37; but only the fruitbearing shall have an “abundant entrance,” into the kingdom, in contrast to those who are saved “as if by fire,” barely dragged out of the fires of hell, 2Pe 1:4-11; 1Co 3:15.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
9. Wherefore we strive. Having shown how magnanimous Christians ought to be in the endurance of afflictions, (531) so that even in dying they may be conquerors over death, and that too, because by afflictions and death they attain to a blessed life, he now from the same source draws also another conclusion — that they must, by all means, make it their main desire to please God. And indeed it cannot but be, that the hope of a resurrection, and thoughtfulness as to the judgment, will awaken in us this desire; as, on the other hand, the true reason why we are so indolent and remiss in duty is, that we seldom, if ever, think of what ought to be constantly kept in remembrance, (532) that we are here but lodgers (533) for a short time, that we may, after finishing our course, return to Christ. Observe, however, what he says — that this is the desire both of the living and of the dead, by which statement the immortality of the soul is again confirmed.
(531) “ Quelle constance et magnanimite doyuent auoir les Chrestiens en leurs afflictions;” — “What constancy and magnanimity Christians ought to have in their afflictions.”
(532) “ Nous deurions auoir incessamment deuant les yeux et en memoire;” — “We ought to have unceasingly before our eyes and in our remembrance.”
(533) “ Nous sommes yci estrangers;” — “We are strangers here.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) Wherefore we labour.Better, we strive earnestly after. The English labour is quite inadequate, the Greek expressing the thought of striving, as after some honour or prize. Our ambition is that . . . we may be accepted would be, perhaps, the best equivalent. For accepted of him read acceptable, or better, well-pleasing to him: the Greek word implying the quality on which acceptance depends, rather than the act itself.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Wherefore In the view of our cheering hope of a future blessedness with and from Christ.
We labour Rather, we are emulous, ambitious.
Present As we hope soon to be.
Absent As we know not how long we shall be.
Be accepted Accepted absent in order that we may be accepted present; that is, accepted now in the body in order that our soul may be accepted when it leaves the body for the land of spirits.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For this reason also we make it our aim (aspire), whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing to him.’
So whether at home in the body, or absent from the body, and present with the Lord, they make it their aim to be well pleasing to God. That is what is central to all life. Being pleasing to God. And their commitment to this while on earth is enhanced by their belief in the resurrection, and their dedication to ‘pleasing Him well’ is strengthened by it.
Alternately ‘at home’ might be thinking of heaven, with our present life as therefore being seen as absent from where we truly belong, as 2Co 5:8 might suggest.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Co 5:9. Wherefore we labour, We make it the height of our ambition, , whether staying in the body, or going out of it: that is, “Whether I am to stay longer here, or suddenly to depart.” The foregoing verse leads us to this sense. From ch. 2Co 4:12 to this place, St. Paul, to convince the Corinthians of his uprightness in his ministry, has been shewing that the hopes and sure expectation which he had of eternal life, kept him steadfast and resolute in an open sincere preaching of the gospel, without any deceitful artifice; in which his argument stands thus: “Knowing that God, who raised up Christ, will raise me up again, I, without any fear or consideration of what it may draw upon me, preach the gospel faithfully; making this account, that the momentary afflictions which I may suffer for it here, and which are but slight indeed, in comparison of the eternal things of another life, will exceedingly increase my happiness in the other world, where I long to be; and therefore death, which brings me home to Christ, is no terror to me. All my care is, that whether I am to stay longer in this body, or quickly leave it, living or dying I may approve myself to Christ in my ministry.” In the next two verses the Apostle has another argument to fix in the Corinthians the same thoughts of him; and that is, the punishment which he shall receive at the day of judgment, if neglecting to preach the gospel faithfully, and not endeavouring sincerely and earnestly to make converts to Christ.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Co 5:9 . Therefore , because we . . ., 2Co 5:8 , we exert ourselves also . Bengel: “ut assequamur quod optamus.”
.] denotes the striving, in which the end aimed at is regarded as a matter of honour . See on Rom 15:20 . Bengel well says: “haec una ambitio legitima.” But there is no hint of a contrast with the “ honour-coveting courage of the heathen in dying ” (Hofmann).
, ] is either connected with . (Calvin and others, including Billroth, Rckert, de Wette, Ewald, Osiander) or with (so Chrysostom and many others, including Castalio, Beza, Estius, Grotius, Bengel, Emmerling, Flatt, Hofmann). The decision must depend upon the explanation . Chrysostom, Calvin, and others, including Flatt and Billroth, supply with .: , and with .: . In that case it must be connected with (Chrysostom: , , ), not with (Calvin: Paul says, “ tam mortuis quam vivis hoc inesse studium ”); for they who are at home with Christ are well-pleasing to Him, and, according to Rom 6:7 , Paul cannot say of them that they strive to be so. The striving refers merely to the earthly life, and one strives to be well-pleasing to the Lord as , not as . For in the case of those who , the continuance of their being well-pleased is a self-evident moral fact. On this account, and because quite an illogical order of the two clauses would be the result ( et tunc et nunc! ), the whole of Chrysostom’s explanation, and even its mode of connection, is erroneous. The right explanation depends on our completing by , and by ; for that is still the idea which continues operative from 2Co 5:6 ; 2Co 5:8 , is shown by in 2Co 5:10 , an expression occasioned by the very reference to the body, which is before the mind in 2Co 5:9 . Further, we must clearly maintain that , in contrast to , does not mean: migrating , i.e. dying, but: peregre absentes, being from home (comp. Soph. Oed. R 114: , a pilgrim from home), just as in 2Co 5:6 was peregre absumus , and in 2Co 5:8 peregre abesse . [219] Hence we must reject all explanations which give the meaning: living or dying (Calovius, Bengel, Ewald, Osiander, who find the totality of life expressed with a bringing into prominence of the last moment of life), or even: “ sive diutius corpori immanendum, sive eo exeundum sit ” (Erasmus, Paraphr. , Emmerling), to which Rckert ultimately comes, introducing Paul’s alleged illness; while de Wette thinks that Paul includes mention of the departure from life only to show that he is prepared for everything. We should rather keep strictly to the meaning of ., peregre absentes ex corpore (comp. Vulgate: absentes ), and explain it: We exert ourselves to be well-pleasing to the Lord, whether we (at His Parousia) are still at-home in the body, or are already from-home out of it, consequently, according to the other figure used before, already , i.e. already dead , so that we come to be judged before Him (more precisely: before His judgment-seat, 2Co 5:10 ), not through the being changed, like the , but through the being raised up. It is thus self-evident that . . . must be attached not to , but to , as was done by Chrysostom, although with an erroneous explanation.
[219] In this case, however, there is not the contrast: et nunc et tunc , in this and in that life, as Beza, Grotius, and others suppose, connecting it with . For with the present well-pleasing the future is obvious of itself . Grotius felt this, and hence, substituting another meaning in the second clause, he explains it: “ nunc vitam nostram ipsi probando, tunc ab ipso praemium accipiendo .” See, against this, Calovius.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
Ver. 9. Wherefore we labour ] Our hope of heaven maketh us active and abundant in God’s service. The doctrine of assurance is not a doctrine of liberty, but the contrary, 1Jn 3:3 . We make it our ambition, , saith the apostle here, to get acceptance in heaven, waiting till our Father shall call us home, and passing the time of our sojourning here in fear, 1Pe 1:17 . The saints have their commoration upon earth, , their conversation in heaven.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
9, 10. ] Wherefore (this being so, our confidence, in event whether of death, or of life till the coming of the Lord, being such) it is also (besides our confidence) our aim, whether present (dwelling in the body) or absent (from the body at the time of His appearing), to be well pleasing to Him, i.e. ‘ whether He find us . or ., to meet with His approval in that day .’ That this is the sense, the next verse seems to me to shew beyond question. For there he renders a reason for the expressions, and fixes the participles as belonging to the time of His coming. But this meaning has not, that I am aware, been seen by the Commentators, and in consequence, the verse has seemed to be beset with difficulties. The ordinary rendering is represented by Chrys., p. 508, , . , , the objection to which of course is, that when there with Him , there will be no striving to be , the acceptance having taken place . Nor is De Wette’s interpretation free from objection ‘ whether we live till His coming, or we die :’ because no sufficient account is given of the present participles.
Of all renderings, Meyer’s is in this place the most absurd, misled as he is by his interpretation of 2Co 5:8 . He would make and . here merely literal , the similitude being dropped: ‘ whether at home, or on travel .’ But, all else aside, can he tell us where Paul’s home was , subsequently to Act 9 ? For this would be necessary, though he shrinks from any ‘ geographische Bestimmung .’
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Co 5:9-10 . WE MUST REMEMBER THE JUDGMENT TO COME.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
2Co 5:9 . . . .: wherefore also we make it our ambition (see reff.), whether at home or away from home, sc. , whether at His coming He finds us “in the body” or “out of the body,” to be well pleasing to Him ; cf. Rom 14:8 , Php 1:20 , 1Th 5:10 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
2 Corinthians
PLEASING CHRIST
2Co 5:9
We do not usually care very much for, or very much trust, a man’s own statement of the motives of his life, especially if in the statement he takes credit for lofty and noble ones. And it would be rather a dangerous experiment for the ordinary run of so-called Christian people to stand up and say what Paul says here, that the supreme design and aim towards which all their lives are directed is to please Jesus Christ. In his case the tree was known by its fruits. Certainly there never was a life of more noble self-abnegation, of more continuous heroism, of loftier aspiration and lowlier service than the life of which we see the very pulse in these words.
But Paul is not only professing his own faith, he is speaking in the name of all his brethren. ‘We,’ ought to include every man and woman who calls himself or herself a Christian. It is this setting of the will of Jesus Christ high up above all other commandments, and proposing to one’s self as the aim that swallows up all other aims, that I may please Him-it is this, and not creeds, forms, opinions, professions, or even a faith that simply trusts in Him for salvation, that makes a true Christian. You are a Christian in the precise measure in which Christ’s will is uppermost and exclusive in your life, and for all your professions and your orthodoxy and your worship and your faith, not one hair’s-breadth further. Here is the signature and the common characteristic of all real Christians, ‘We labour that whether present or absent we may be well-pleasing to Him.’
So then in looking together at these words now, I take three points, the supreme aim of the Christian life; the concentration of effort which that aim demands; and the insignificance to which it reduces all external things.
I. First, then, let me deal with that supreme aim of the Christian life.
Now such an aim as this implies a very wonderful conception of Jesus Christ’s present relations to us. It is a truth that we may minister to His joy. It is a truth that just as really as you mothers are glad when you hear from a far-off land that your boy is doing well, and getting on, so Jesus Christ’s heart fills with gladness when He sees you and me walking in the paths in which He would have us go. We often think about our dear dead that they cannot know of us and our doings here, because the sorrow that would sometimes come from the contemplation of our evil, or of our misfortunes, would trouble them in their serene rest. We know not how that may be, but this at least we do know, that the Man Jesus Christ, who, like those dear ones, ‘was dead, and is alive for evermore,’ in His human nature has knowledge of all His children’s failures, as well as successes, and is affected with some shadow of regret, or with some reality of delight, according as they follow or stray from the paths in which He would have them walk. If it be so with Him it may be so with them; and though it be not so with them it must be so with Him. So this strange, sweet, tender, and powerful thought is a piece of plain prose, that Christ is glad when you and I are good.
Does it need any word to emphasise the force of that motive to a Christian heart that loves the Master? Surely this is the great and blessed peculiarity of all the morality of Christianity that it has all a personal bearing and aspect, and that just as the sum of all our duty is gathered up in the one command, ‘Imitate Christ,’ so the motive for all our duty lies in ‘If you love Me, keep My commandments,’ and the reward which ought to stimulate more than anything besides is the one thought, not, of what I shall get because I am good, but of what I shall give Him by my obedience, a joy in the heart that was stabbed through and through by sorrow for my sake. That we may please Him ‘who pleased not Himself,’ is surely the grandest motive on which the pursuit of holiness, and the imitation of Jesus Christ can ever be made to rest. Oh! how different, and how much more blessed such a motive and aim is than all the lower reasons for which men are sometimes exhorted and encouraged to be good! What a difference it is when we say, ‘Do that thing because it is right,’ and when we say, ‘Do that thing because you will be happier if you do,’ or when we say, ‘Do it because He would like you to do it.’ The one is all cold and abstract. To stand before a man and simply say: ‘Now go and do your duty,’ is a poor way of setting his feet upon a rock and establishing his goings. Duty is not a word that stirs men’s hearts, however it may awe their consciences. It rises up before us like some goddess statuesque and serene, with purity, indeed, in her deep and solemn eyes, but with nothing appealing to our affections in her stern lineaments. But when the thought of ‘You ought’ melts into ‘For my sake,’ and through the dissolving face of the cold marble goddess there shine the beloved lineaments of Him who ‘wears the Godhead’s most benignant grace,’ the smile upon His face becomes a motive that touches all hearts. Transmute obligation into gratitude, and in front of duty and appeals to self put Christ, and all the harshness and difficulty and burden and self-sacrifice of obedience becomes easy and a joy.
Then let me remind you that this one supreme aim of pleasing Jesus Christ can be carried on through all life in every varying form, great or small. A blessed unity is given to our whole being when the little things and the big things, the easy things and the hard things, deeds which are conspicuous and deeds which no eye sees, are all brought under the influence of the one motive and made co-operant to the one end. Drive that one steadfast aim through your lives like a bar of iron, and it will give the lives strength and consistency-not rigidity, because they may still be flexible. Nothing will be too small to be consecrated by that motive; nothing too great to own its power. You can please Him everywhere and always. The only thing that is inconsistent with pleasing Him is the thing which, alas! we do at all times and should do at no time, and that is to sin against Him. If we bear with us this as a conscious motive in every part of our day’s work it will give us a quick discernment as to what is evil, which I believe nothing else will so surely give. If you desire life to be noble, uniform, dignified, great in its minutest acts and solemn in its very trifles, and if you would have some continual test and standard by which you can detect all spurious, apparent virtues, and discover lurking and masked temptations, carry this one aim clear and high above all else, and make it the purpose of the whole life, to be well-pleasing unto Him.
II. Now, in the next place, notice the concentrated effort which this aim requires.
First, let me say that we ought, as Christian people, to cultivate this noble ambition of pleasing Jesus Christ. Men have all got the love of approbation deep in them. God put it there for a good purpose, not that we might shape our lives so as to get others to pat us on the back, and say, ‘Well done!’ but that, in addition to the other solemn and sovereign motives for following the paths of righteousness, we might have this highest ambition to impel us on the road. And it is the duty of all Christians to see to it that they discipline themselves so as, in their own feelings, to put high above all the approbation or censure of their fellows the approbation or censure of Jesus Christ. That will take some cultivation. It is a great deal easier to shape our courses so as to get one another’s praise. I remember a quaint saying in a German book. ‘An old schoolmaster tried to please this one and that one, and it failed. “Well, then,” said he, “I will try to please Christ.” And that succeeded.’
And let me remind you that a second part of the concentration of effort which this aim requires is to strive with the utmost energy in the accomplishment of it. Paul did not believe that anybody could please Jesus Christ without a fight for it. His notion of acceptable service was service which a man suppressed much to render, and overcame much to bring. And I urge upon you this, dear brethren, that with all the mob of faces round about us which shut out Christ’s face, and with all the temptations to follow other aims, and with the weaknesses of our own characters, it never was, is not, nor ever will be, an easy thing, or a thing to be done without a struggle and a dead lift, to live so as to be well-pleasing to Him.
Look at Paul’s metaphors with which he sets forth the Christian life-a warfare, a race, a struggle, a building up of some great temple structure, and the like-all suggesting at the least the idea of patient, persistent, continuous toil, and most of them suggesting also the idea of struggle with antagonistic forces and difficulties, either within or without. So we must set our shoulders to the wheel, put our backs into our work. Do not think that you are going to be carried into the condition of conformity with Jesus Christ in a dream, or that the road to heaven is a primrose path, to be trodden in silver slippers. ‘I will not offer unto the Lord that which doth cost me nothing,’ and if you do, it will be worth exactly what it costs. There must be concentration of effort if we are to be well-pleasing to Him.
But then do not forget, on the other hand, that deeper than all effort, and the very spring and life of it, there must be the opening of our hearts for the entrance of His life and spirit, by the presence of which only are we well-pleasing to Christ. That which pleases Him in you and me is our likeness to Him. According to the old Puritan illustration, the refiner sat by the furnace until he could see in the molten metal his own face mirrored, and then he knew it was pure. So what pleases Christ in us is the reflection of Himself. And how can we get that likeness to Himself except by receiving into our hearts the Spirit that was in Christ Jesus, and will dwell in us, and will produce in us in our measure the same image that it formed in Him? ‘Work out your own salvation,’ because ‘it is God that worketh in you.’ Labour, concentrate effort, and above all open the heart to the entrance of that transforming power.
III. Lastly, let me suggest the utter insignificance to which this aim reduces all externals.
So if we only, by God’s help, which will be given to us if we want it, keep this clear before us as the motive of all our life, then all the possible alternatives of human condition and circumstance will sink into insignificance, and from that lofty summit will ‘show scarce so gross as beetles’ in the air beneath our lofty station.
Whether we be rich or poor, solitary or beset by friends, happy or sad, hopeful or despairing, young or old, wearied or buoyant, learned or foolish, it matters not. The one aim lifts itself before us, and they in whose eyes shine the light of that great issue are careless of the road along which they pass. Do you enlist yourselves in the company that fires at the long range, and all those that take aim at the shorter ones will seem to be very pitifully limiting their powers.
Then remember that this same aim, and this same result may be equally pursued and attained whether here or yonder. It is something to have a course of life which runs straight along, unbent aside, and not cut short off, by the change from earth to Heaven. And this felicity he only has who, amidst things temporal and insignificant, sees and seeks the eternal smile on the face of his unchanging Saviour. On earth, in death, through eternity, such a life will be homogeneous and of a piece; and when all other aims are hull down below the horizon, forgotten and out of sight, then still this will be the purpose, and yonder it will be the accomplished purpose, of each, to please the Lord Jesus Christ.
My dear friend, remember that in its full meaning this aim regards the future, and points onward to that great judgment-seat where you and I will certainly each of us give account of himself. Do you think that you will please Christ then? Do you think that when that day dawns, a smile of welcome will come into His eyes, and a glow of gladness at the meeting into yours? Or have you cause to fear that you will ‘call on the rocks and the hills to cover you from the face of Him that sitteth on the Throne?’
We are all close by one another; our voices are very audible to each other. Do you learn, Christian people, that the first,-or at least a prime-condition of all Christian and Christ-pleasing life, is a wholesome disregard of what anybody says but Himself. The old Lacedmonians used to stir themselves to heroism by the thought: ‘What will they say of us in Sparta?’ The governor of some outlying English colony minds very little what the people that he is set to rule think about him. He reports to Downing Street, and it is the opinion of the Home Government that influences him. You report to headquarters. Never mind what anybody else thinks of you. Your business is to please Christ, and the less you trouble yourselves about pleasing men the more you will succeed in doing it. Be deaf to the tittle tattle of your fellow soldiers in the ranks. It is your Commander’s smile that will be your highest reward.
‘Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil,
But lives and spreads aloft by those pure eyes,
And perfect witness of all-judging Jove;
As he pronounces lastly on each deed,
Of so much fame in heaven expect thy meed.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
labour = are ambitious. See Rom 15:20, Add “also”.
accepted = well pleasing. See Rom 12:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
9, 10.] Wherefore (this being so,-our confidence, in event whether of death, or of life till the coming of the Lord, being such)-it is also (besides our confidence) our aim, whether present (dwelling in the body) or absent (from the body at the time of His appearing), to be well pleasing to Him, i.e. whether He find us . or ., to meet with His approval in that day. That this is the sense, the next verse seems to me to shew beyond question. For there he renders a reason for the expressions, and fixes the participles as belonging to the time of His coming. But this meaning has not, that I am aware, been seen by the Commentators, and in consequence, the verse has seemed to be beset with difficulties. The ordinary rendering is represented by Chrys., p. 508, , . , , -the objection to which of course is, that when there with Him, there will be no striving to be , the acceptance having taken place. Nor is De Wettes interpretation free from objection-whether we live till His coming, or we die: because no sufficient account is given of the present participles.
Of all renderings, Meyers is in this place the most absurd, misled as he is by his interpretation of 2Co 5:8. He would make and . here merely literal, the similitude being dropped:-whether at home, or on travel. But, all else aside, can he tell us where Pauls home was, subsequently to Acts 9? For this would be necessary, though he shrinks from any geographische Bestimmung.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Co 5:9-11. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
The outside world did not understand the preachers of the gospel; they thought them dreamy enthusiasts, earnest about nothing at all. But Paul says that God understood him, and he hoped, too, that the consciences of those to whom he was writing had also understood him. The truly faithful minister of Jesus Christ may know that there are two approvals that he will be sure to get, the approval of his Master, and the approval of mens consciences. Their prejudice may condemn him, his mode of oratory may not suit their fancy, but their conscience must give quite a different verdict; it must approve the faithful preaching of the gospel.
2Co 5:12-13. For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart. For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.
Happy Paul who, as a preacher of the gospel, could write, If you say that we are beside ourselves, that we are really mad upon religious matters, well, it is to God that we are so. It is not every madman who can say that. Or if you tell us that we are too serious and sober, it is your case, your cause, that makes us so. Well may we be sober and solemn when we think of the danger in which mens souls continually are.
2Co 5:14-15. For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
The true-hearted Christian judges himself to have died when Christ died, and, henceforth, he feels that he must not live for any object but the glory of Christ.
2Co 5:16. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
He is gone back to glory, so our object is not to win a kingdom for him anywhere upon earth. Our aim now is spiritual, the proclamation of his truth, the winning of a kingdom for him in the hearts of men.
2Co 5:17-19. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
The work of reconciliation he committed to his Son; the word of reconciliation he has committed to us. It is our high privilege to tell the tidings of the wondrous work by which God is reconciled, so that, without any violation of his justice, he can have mercy upon those who have offended against him.
2Co 5:20. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christs stead, be ye reconciled to God.
As if Christ himself stood here, and pleaded with you, he bids his ministers plead on his behalf. In the name of God, he bids us beseech you to be reconciled to God. Ambassadors do not generally beseech men; they stand on their dignity, they make demands for the honour of their sovereign; but Christs ambassadors know of no dignity which should keep them from pleading with men.
2Co 5:21. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
2Co 5:9. , wherefore also) that we may obtain what we wish.-, we [labour] strive) This is the only , or lawful ambition.-, whether) construed with we may be [accepted] well-pleasing. , being at home) in the body.[27]
[27] Vulg. g and Syr. Versions, Origen Lucif. 151 read . . But most MSS. and f have the order of Rec. Text.-ED.
The margin of both Ed. has settled the reading , inverting the order, as equal to the received reading of the text. But if the critical note (App. Ed. II. p. iv. nro. xiv. p. 896) be compared, the Author seems afterwards to have changed both the order and the meaning of the words, such as the Gnomon shows. For the Crit. Not. has , going home, not being at home; and the Germ. Ver. reads Wir mogen in der Fremde seyn, (i.e. ) oder heimgehen (i.e. .)-E. B.
departing), i.e. out of the body.
-, well pleasing) accepted especially in respect to the ministry.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
2Co 5:9
2Co 5:9
Wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto him.-Because of his anxiety to be present with the Lord, he labored to live according to Gods will so as to be sure of his approval, whether he was absent here in the flesh, or at home with the Lord in heaven.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
labour
(Greek – ).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
we labour: or, we endeavour, Joh 6:27, Rom 15:20, 1Co 9:26, 1Co 9:27, 1Co 15:58, Col 1:29, 1Th 4:11,*Gr: 1Ti 4:10, Heb 4:11, 2Pe 1:10, 2Pe 1:11, 2Pe 3:14
whether: 2Co 5:6, 2Co 5:8, Rom 14:8
accepted: Gen 4:7, Isa 56:7, Act 10:35, Eph 1:6, Heb 12:28
Reciprocal: Mat 6:18 – appear Mat 25:21 – Well 2Co 8:21 – not Gal 1:10 – do I now 1Th 5:12 – labour 2Ti 2:4 – that he 2Ti 2:15 – approved 2Ti 4:1 – who Rev 2:3 – hast laboured
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Co 5:9. Not knowing how nor by what means he would be taken out of the land of the living, the apostle was determined so to live that he would be prepared to stand approved whenever the time came to go into judgment with Him.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
The word signifies, to labour ambitiously, as an ambitious courtier labours for his prince’s favour. We labour, whether present in the body, or absent from the body, whether living or dying, that our persons and our services may be accepted with him whenever we appear before him.
Learn, 1. That to be accepted with the Lord is a very high honour. To have our persons accepted, and our performances acceptable, are high favours; the former is the ground of the latter, and Christ is the foundation of both, Eph 1:6.
Learn, 2. That it is a gracious person’s great ambition and desire, his aim and scope, his design and endeavour, that living and dying he may find acceptance with God, and his actions be such as God may well like and approve of: We ambitiously labour, that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 9 Though he had assurance, he did not grow lazy. Paul wanted to please God while in his physical body (absent) and when he was with the Lord (at home).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
2Co 5:9-10. Wherefore we labour , we are ambitious, (the only ambition which has place in a Christian,) that, whether present in the body, or absent from it, we may be accepted of him , to be well-pleasing to him, or to receive the tokens of his favour and approbation. For we must all Apostles as well as other men, whether now present in the body, or absent from it; appear Openly, without covering; before the judgment-seat of Christ Where all hidden things will be revealed, probably the sins even of the faithful, which were forgiven long before: for many of their good works (their humiliation, contrition, godly sorrow, striving against sin, mortification of it) cannot otherwise appear; but this will be done at their own desire, without grief and shame; that every one may receive the things That is, the due reward of the things; done in his body, whether good or bad In full proportion to his actions, and the secret springs thereof, which will then be all laid open; and according to the principles from which the Searcher of hearts knows his actions to have proceeded. Some read the latter clause, that every one may receive in the body, (namely, in his body raised,) according to what he hath done. That is, as in the body he did either good or evil, so the body being raised, he is recompensed therein accordingly.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto him.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
5:9 Wherefore we {g} labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
(g) And seeing that it is so, we strive to live so, that both in this our pilgrimage here we may please him, and that at length we may be received home to him.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
As we look forward to the realization of these good things our ambition must be to please God come life or death. The prospect of face-to-face fellowship with Jesus Christ should motivate us to please Him out of love (cf. Gal 1:10; Php 1:20; Col 1:10; 1Th 4:1). Paul did not mean that we can perform acts after we die that will please God (cf. 2Co 5:10), though we can. "At home or absent" is a figure of speech (merism) for always. In a merism two parts represent the whole (e.g., heaven and earth means the universe).
"To be well-pleasing to Christ is, indeed, the sum of all ambition which is truly Christian." [Note: Hughes, p. 178.]
". . . one always wishes to please the one he or she loves." [Note: Barnett, p. 273.]