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INNER CIRCLE: All Raised. All Reconciled.

INNER CIRCLE: All Raised. All Reconciled.

Last updated on: July 31, 2026 at 7:37 pm by Keith Giles

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INNER CIRCLE: All Raised. All Reconciled. 2026-07-31T19:37:43+00:00 Keith Giles

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IMAGE: Keith Giles

2 Corinthians 5:14-19

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

“So, from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

There is so much to unpack in this passage that it will be necessary to take it one section at a time to fully understand what the Apostle is trying to say.

First, Paul begins with the love of Christ, which compels us to live for one another rather than for ourselves. The self-giving love of Christ, which flows in and through all things, leads us to give ourselves away for the sake of others. That is, it does whenever we are aligned with the frequency of Christ’s love. Whenever we become attuned to Christ, we begin to resonate with that same frequency, and that frequency is love. Not merely the feeling of love, but the action of love which is about pouring oneself out for one another.

Anyone who becomes aware of their own inseparable connection to the ever-flowing river of God’s boundless love cannot help but be swept away by that love’s power.

In his expression of this love’s compelling power, Paul, once again, reminds us that whatever is true of Christ is true of us all. Because Christ “died for all,” it is also true that “therefore, all died.” This death leads to an unspoken resurrection when Paul says that “those who live should no longer live for themselves.”

In other words, even though Christ “died for all,” we know that he also rose again, and, therefore, we, who have died with Christ, must also experience the resurrection.

So, those who died are the same as “those who live,” and those who have died with Christ, and who now live with/as Christ, cannot help but to live for the sake of one another.

This is a beautiful paradox. Those who die are full of life. Those who pour themselves out are filled to overflowing.

What is the result of this transformation we have experienced, from death to life? Simply this: “We no longer regard anyone from a worldly point of view.”

What is a “worldly point of view”? The view that everyone is separated by sex, gender, race, religion, political ideology, or any other man-made label. We once even “regarded Christ in this way”, as separate from ourselves, but now, “we do so no longer.”

Therefore, Paul argues, everyone is in Christ, and this means we have all become new creatures who are being transformed into who we have always been. As the illusion of separation begins to fade away, our eyes begin to see reality, and we realize that “the old has gone, and the new is here!”

Halleluiah! God has “reconciled us (everyone)…through Christ, and given us the ministry of reconciliation.” We have been awakened to the joyous reality of shared Humanity and shared Divinity, and now we are compelled to reflect the beauty of this audacious Oneness in our everyday lives.

The “message of reconciliation” is exactly this: God is not counting anyone’s sins against them! God has made us all One together in Christ! You are reconciled to God! We are reconciled with one another!

What could be more beautiful than this?

My new book, The Quantum Gospel of Philip and the Valentinian Christ is now available on Amazon in Print and Kindle. Audiobook coming soon.

Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, Coast To Coast with George Noory, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.” He co-hosts the Heretic Happy Hour Podcast.

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