A. First of all, the Apostles are the “we” in the passage and context. God was in Christ reconciling; this was during His service on earth. Then He was rejected and crucified, man proving himself hostile to the fullness of His grace in Jesus. Then Christ’s ambassadors are sent with the word of reconciliation. Their credentials were that He had sent them — their power the Holy Spirit, who was sent down to witness to the glorification of Christ, and to the completeness of redemption in Him. Still while the Apostle had this ministry committed to him in a special manner, the principle goes on, and Christ sends those who can say as He, “We also believe, and therefore speak” (2 Cor. 4:1313We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; (2 Corinthians 4:13)). This is ever the credentials of His ambassadors, their power the Holy Spirit, who speaks in and by them.
I believe, while there may arise a nice and delicate question as to the translation of verse 20, that it would be too familiar to say that God was the beseecher: it would be wanting in reverence to Him. Still, as done on His behalf by the ambassadors He sends, it amounted to its being done by Himself. Still, the Apostle would not say so formally, but softens it by the “as” (ὠς). The thought is conveyed tolerably in the authorized version (KJV) of the Bible: God was in Christ; then they were Christ’s ambassadors; He was as beseeching by them. This is the evident and lovely thought. I do not think the sense would warrant “considering that,” etc.
Beholding as in a Glass
A. The context, as the truth of the passage generally, seems to be best rendered by Liddell and Scott as “rejecting the glory.” I have used “mirroring the glory,” but it has been thought too poetical, while “reflecting” conveys the idea in a less poetical word. Contemplating the glory by faith, we become a reflection of it, we reflect it here, and are changed, etc. “Beholding” is scarcely adequate to convey the whole thought.
The passage is, I believe, one of acknowledged difficultly as to translation: but the sense of it is simple.
Words of Truth 7:118-120.