Paul's ministry didn't photograph well, and he knew it. In 2 Corinthians 5:11–6:2, he explains why he lives exposed before an audience of two: God and the conscience of the people he serves. The answer isn't discipline. It's a love that got hold of him and wouldn't let go. One died for all, so the old self-directed life is over, the old ways of sorting people are over, and anyone in Christ is a new creation. Then Paul takes us to the summit of the whole letter: God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting our trespasses, and he now makes his appeal through ordinary people. The sinless one was made sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. That leaves one question, and it isn't whether. It's when. Paul answers it twice: now is the favorable time, now is the day of salvation.
