The Urgency of Reconciliation in Second Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5:17--21 unfolds the present ministry of reconciliation. God, in Christ, has reconciled the world to Himself and is "not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2 Corinthians 5:19). On the basis of that accomplished work, He has entrusted to us the word of reconciliation, and we act as ambassadors for Christ, pleading, "be ye reconciled to God."

The question is whether this thought flows directly into 2 Corinthians 6:1--2 and whether these verses should be held together when we think about the urgency of the gospel. 2 Corinthians 6:1--2 reads:

"We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

The chapter division can obscure the continuity. Paul has just spoken of God making Christ to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Immediately he says, "We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain." The ambassadors of chapter 5 become the "workers together with him" in chapter 6.

To "receive not the grace of God in vain" here is best understood, not as receiving it and then losing it, but as being presented with this grace in the preached word and letting it come to nothing—hearing of reconciliation and walking away unchanged. The offer stands; God has reconciled in Christ; do not let that grace prove empty with respect to you.

Paul then cites an Old Testament text about an accepted time and a day of salvation and applies it: "behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." The illustration is drawn from Israel's Scriptures, but he uses it to press home the present urgency of responding to the message of reconciliation.

Given the flow of thought, I would absolutely read 2 Corinthians 5:17--21 and 6:1--2 together. The former explains what God has done—reconciling the world, not imputing trespasses, making Christ to be sin for us. The latter turns that truth into an urgent appeal: do not let this grace be in vain; now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.

Furthermore, the present arrangement in which trespasses are not being imputed will not last forever. This is a dispensation, a defined administration. There will come a time when this specific offer and its terms are no longer in force. That reality adds weight to Paul's "now." The reconciliation is accomplished, but it must be received; the day of salvation is open, but it is not endless.

So, yes, 2 Corinthians 6:1--2 belongs with 5:17--21 as part of a single argument: God has reconciled in Christ, is not imputing trespasses, and now urgently calls people, through His ambassadors, to receive that reconciliation before the day of opportunity closes.

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