2 Corinthians 5:1-6:2: Ministry of Reconciliation

Author: Paul the apostle
When/Where: Macedonia (2Cor 2:13,7:5), about AD 55, probably within a year of 1 Corinthians (1 Cor. 16:5-8).
Audience/occasion: To the Corinthian church and believers in Greece, because of the infiltration of false teachers into the church and their attack on Paul's integrity and apostolic authority.

Questions

Read 5:1-6:2, picking out repeated words to start getting a handle on the subject of the passage.

v1-8: What event do Christians look forward to? What will happen then? Why is it so good? Why can we be confident about it?
v9-10: We will all appear before God to be judged. For what purpose, and what is the outcome (c.f. 1Cor 3:11-15)? Knowing this, how should we live?
v11-14: Why does Paul preach? Whose needs is he focusing on? Who is he trying to please?
v13-17: Paul cared for the Corinthians. But how did some Corinthians see Paul? God has a different perspective than we do. How does God see us?
v14-17, 21. What does Christ's death mean for us? What is the significance of being dead (v14) and recreated (v17)? What does it mean that "in him we might become the righteousness of God?" What is the source of a life that is pleasing to God?
v18-20,6:1-2: What is the ministry of reconciliation? Is this our job, and why? How can we be confident in doing it? When should we start?

If you have accepted Christ, are you living every day in the faith that he loves and accepts you because of Christ, not because of your performance? Are you working hard in your own strength to be good, or are you trusting in God's power? Approach God boldly with thanks and ask Him to motivate and transform you.!
If you have not accepted Jesus you are still separated from God. Consider trusting Jesus to take your guilt away and reconcile you to God, so that he will plant his own divine life inside you.
What motivations drive your long-term direction and day-to-day decisions? What do you take pride in? To what extent are you driven by needs of self-acceptance or acceptance by others instead of relying on God's approval which Jesus has already obtained for you? Fix your eyes on Jesus!
Do you have confidence to undertake ministry in spite of your failings and weaknesses? Are you trusting God has given you spiritual gifts, and that he will empower you to use them by the resurrection life of Christ in you? Are you taking steps to equip yourself? Say yes to what the Spirit whispers to you, without delay!