The ministry of the new covenant, a ministry of the Spirit and of righteousness, will work out a condition of righteousness first in individuals, second in the church, and third in the millennial kingdom. When the kingdom comes, there will be righteousness on earth. Then everything will be satisfactory to God, and God will justify everything. Although the age of the kingdom has not yet come, we can have a foretaste of the righteousness of the kingdom today in the church life and in our family life. Sometimes in a certain local church the condition may be such that everything, everyone, and every matter is justified by God. Such a church is God’s righteousness. This kind of condition may also be present in our family life. In a few cases I have seen that in a family whose members have been thoroughly saved there is a condition where nothing is wrong, but everything is satisfactory to God and justified by Him. Such a family is a family of righteousness. The fruit of the new covenant ministry is to produce this kind of righteousness.
Chapters three, four, and five are all on the new covenant ministry and its ministers. But this section consummates with Paul’s word concerning the righteousness of God.
Many of today’s Christians know only that Christ died for their sins. They do not realize that Christ died for them as the flesh, as the old creation. But in 2 Corinthians Paul does not speak of Christ dying for our sins. Instead, in 5:14 he says, “One died on behalf of all.” This means that Christ died for us. In 1 Corinthians 15:3 Paul tells us that Christ died for our sins. In order that our sins might be forgiven by God, Christ died for our sins. This, however, is simply the initial stage of reconciliation. Christ died on the cross not only for our sins, but He died also for us, for our flesh, our natural being, our outward man. Christ died on the cross so that our outward man, our natural being, may be terminated in order that we may become God’s righteousness. Therefore, Christ died for our sins so that we may be forgiven and justified by God. But Christ died for us so that we may become God’s righteousness.
Becoming the righteousness of God is much deeper than being justified by God. The new covenant ministry brings us back to God to such an extent that we actually become God’s righteousness. Not only are we justified by God, but we even become the righteousness of God.
In verse 21 Paul says that Christ was made sin on our behalf so that we might become God’s righteousness in Him. Sin here is actually synonymous with the flesh. John 1:14 says that Christ as the Word became flesh. Second Corinthians 5:21 says that He was made sin. According to Romans 8:3, God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin. Thus, sin and the flesh are synonyms. Furthermore, since the flesh is our outward man, the outward man is totally sin. We ourselves, our natural being, are nothing but sin. For Christ to be made flesh was equal to His being made sin. When He went to the cross, He brought this flesh with Him. This means that He brought us, our natural being, our outward man, to the cross.
In chapter four Paul speaks of the outward man, and in chapter five he speaks of sin. The outward man is the flesh, and the flesh is sin. Therefore, the outward man, the flesh, and sin are synonymous.
Christ in His incarnation was made flesh; that is, He was made sin. This also means that He was made us. When He was crucified, He brought our natural man, the outward man, the flesh, sin, to the cross and nailed it there. That was the time God condemned sin, the flesh, the outward man. When Christ died on the cross, God condemned our natural man. He condemned you and me. God’s goal in doing this was that we may become in Christ the righteousness of God. The resurrected Christ is righteousness, resurrection, and the life-giving Spirit. In such a One we may become the righteousness of God. This is the issue, the result, the ultimate consummation, of God’s salvation, and this is what the new covenant ministry will produce.
The conclusion of these chapters on the new covenant ministry and its ministers is simply the righteousness of God. Is your family life God’s righteousness? Are you the righteousness of God? Is the church in your locality God’s righteousness? We believe that the new covenant ministry is working toward the goal of making us, our family life, and our church life the righteousness of God. Then when the kingdom age arrives, God’s righteousness will be on earth. The kingdom will bring in the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem. In this new heaven and new earth righteousness will dwell. This is the result and the consummation of the ministry of the new covenant.