Second Corinthians 5:19-20 indicates that there are two steps in the believers’ reconciliation to God. The first step is to reconcile sinners to God from sin (v. 19). For this purpose, Christ died for our sins that we might be forgiven by God (1 Cor. 15:3). This is the objective aspect of Christ’s death. In this aspect, He bore our sins on the cross, dying for our sins. The second step is to reconcile believers living in the natural life to God from the flesh (2 Cor. 5:20). For this purpose, Christ died for us—the persons—that we might live to Him in the resurrection life (vv. 14-15). This is the subjective aspect of Christ’s death. In this aspect He was made sin for us to be judged and done away with by God that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (v. 21). By these two aspects of His death, He has fully reconciled God’s chosen people to God.
These two steps of reconciliation are clearly portrayed by the two veils of the tabernacle in the Old Testament. The first veil is called “the screen” (Exo. 26:36-37). A sinner who was brought to God through the reconciliation of the propitiating blood entered into the Holy Place by passing through this screen. This typifies the first step of reconciliation. The second veil still separated the sinner from God in the Holy of Holies (vv. 31-35; Heb. 9:3). This veil needed to be rent so that the sinner might be brought to God in the Holy of Holies. This is the second step of reconciliation. In the progressing stage in God’s full salvation, the believers need this second step of reconciliation to God.
Many genuine Christians, who have been saved and reconciled to God in the first step, still live according to the flesh (2 Cor. 5:16a); that is, they still live in the flesh, in their soul, in their natural life. The veil of the flesh, the natural man, still separates them from God. Therefore, they need the second step of reconciliation. In this step, the flesh, as the separating veil, is crucified, allowing them to enter into the Holy of Holies. This is the full reconciliation which frees the believers not only from sin but also from the flesh, the natural man, and the natural being so that they may be brought back to God to be one with Him.
The second step of reconciliation is deeper than the first step because this does not take place in the outer court, outside the tabernacle, but in the Holy Place, inside the tabernacle. This kind of reconciliation is not once for all; rather, it is continuous. No matter how long we have been a seeking Christian, we are still separated from God, not yet completely one with God, not fully in harmony with Him, because of the natural life, the old man, and the self. Therefore, we need the second step of reconciliation; we need to condemn our natural being, apply the subjective death of Christ to our situation, and crucify our natural life so that the veil which separates us from the inward presence of God might be rent in order that we may live in the presence of God.
The second step of reconciling the believers to God is not through Christ’s death for the believers’ sins; rather, it is through Christ’s dying for the believers themselves. The New Testament reveals that Christ died for our sins and also for us. Christ’s dying for our sins is objective, but Christ’s dying for us is subjective. In 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 Paul did not say that Christ died for our sins. Rather, he said that Christ died for us; that is, He died for what we are: “The love of Christ constrains us because we have judged this, that One died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all that those who live may no longer live to themselves but to Him who died for them and has been raised.” Christ, in dying for the believers, was made sin for us (v. 21a). When Christ died for our sins, He bore our sins; in addition, when Christ died for us, He was made sin for us.