Paul now sees others according to their standing with Christ (see Rom 14:8–12) and concedes that all his previous judgments of others were wrong. God’s verdict on our sin condemns us all and destroys any illusions of superiority or inferiority. Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female are all on the same level before God. All share a kinship with one another because of sin but also share kinship with one another because Christ died for all to redeem all. When we see that we are all sinners dead in our sins and needing reconciliation from God, and when we accept Christ’s shameful death on the cross as our death, then all previous canons we used to appraise others must be scrapped

Christians see the world in a new way and become new when they are joined to Christ

To judge others according to worldly standards, or from a sinful point of view, only furthers division and discord rather than fostering reconciliation

Paul is not primarily concerned to set forth his doctrine of atonement but to establish the basis of his ministry of reconciliation. Everything begins with God’s initiative

When Paul says “all this” (lit. “all these things) is from God, he makes clear that the new creation (5:17) is exclusively God’s work. He continues in this mode by asserting that humans have done nothing to reconcile God; God has instead acted to reconcile them. Reconciliation therefore begins with God, who acts unilaterally.

This unit contains three key assertions. (1) God is the driving force behind the redemption of humankind. Reconciliation comes solely at God’s initiative. (2) God acted through Christ’s death, and Christ alone is the means of reconciliation. (3) God continues to act through those who have been reconciled. They have the privilege and responsibility to share in this great divine enterprise and are to call others to be reconciled to God

The ministry of reconciliation therefore involves more than simply explaining to others what God has done in Christ. It requires that one become an active reconciler oneself. Like Christ, a minister of reconciliation plunges into the midst of human tumult to bring harmony out of chaos, reconciliation out of estrangement, and love in the place of hate

Reconciliation assumes ruptured relationships, alienation, and disaffection. The problem, however, is not with God, as if God were some cruel taskmaster from whom humans rebelled. Human sinfulness created the problem, and this sinful condition had to be dealt with before there could be any reconciliation. Sin incurs God’s holy wrath, so it could not be treated lightly or swept under the rug. God can never be reconciled to sin, but God does not turn away from sinners in disgust and leave them to their just desserts. Instead, while humans were still in open revolt, God acted in love (Rom 5:8) to bring the hostility to an end and to bring about peace (see Rom 5:1; see Isa 32:17). This peace is not simply a cessation of hostilities or an uneasy truce. It refers to the mending of the broken relationship that results from God justifying us (making us right) through faith and changing us from enemies to friends

He is Christ’s spokesman. He does not act on his own authority but under the commission of a greater power and authority who sent him. Paul therefore understands himself to be divinely authorized to announce to the world God’s terms for peace

we can see a notable contrast between God and the emperor Augustus. An all-powerful God does not wait for humanity to make their appeals to him but sends out ambassadors to make appeals to humanity

Paul is not interested in the abstract doctrine of reconciliation but in the concrete task of reconciliation. The church not only is to preserve sound doctrine but is called by God to be, as apostles were, a reconciling force. That means it must adopt the status of a servant and must be active in a ministry of helping and healing