I listed several layers of context.
I did not say the context is a mess. I said the mess in Corinth is the context.
Well, before doing so I believe you should re-read my post again.
Yes, and.....? What reconciliation do the salvifically reconciled in Corinth need? I listed multiple reasons in my op-reply.
That's just dumb.
Paul, as an apostle, was an ambassador from God
for Christ and the gospel
to the Corinthians to whom he was writing but the Corinthians were not the only people to whom Paul was an ambassador. Remember: 1) no one verse in any book defines all that scripture states on a matter and 2) no two verses of the Bible can contradict one another. It is, therefore, incorrect to say Paul was
only an ambassador to the Corinthians. We can say was an ambassador to the Corinthians in that letter. We might say Paul was an ambassador
only to the Corinthians in that letter were it not for the fact the epistles were distributed to cities and towns other than Corinth and the content of any one epistle had application to Christians in all locales. The election of the Corinthians does not preclude the election of those in Ephesus, nor those in Rome.
Furthermore, any number of positions of leadership can be a a "
presbeuó." The title "ambassador," does not have the same meaning in Koine Greek that it does in modernity and it didn't have the same meaning in Greco-Roman culture in all circumstances. A prophet, evangelist, pastor or a teacher could be a
presbeuo. At it's root the word simply means someone older, usually held in esteem and possessing some position of stature. The emissary nature of a modern-day "
ambassador" was not the emphasis of the word. Paul was simply asserting a position of authority, curiously, as an apostle, a messenger of Christ who was also a bondservant. The apostles were leaders but while Paul established sound doctrine in the congregations he visited, he left the direct leadership, and its corresponding authority, to the shepherds and elders of the congregation. They, too, were presbeuo for Christ to their congregants.
As do all those in leadership within the Church.
Red herring. When you can provide evidence of Paul wearing special garb, like a long coat with a fleur de lis on the breast then I'll entertain the notion. Otherwise, it's a baseless product of someone's imagination. Paul was a
messenger, a messenger of Jesus Christ whose job was to equip the saints for the work ministry, build up the body of Christ until it had attained unity of the faith and the knowledge of Christ to the point at which they were mature, and had reached the stature and fullness of Christ. Their stature would equal his own. This was the job of the prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher, as well. They all did it without wearing special uniforms designating any elevated position and special "
dignity" they possessed. It didn't take much dignity to be better than the Corinthians. In the chronology of his letters, Paul moved from introducing himself without a title to calling himself a messenger, and then to calling himself a bondservant. His "
stature" was that of a debtor whose debt had been purchased, and he worked for the purchaser. He shared
that position with every convert to Christ.
Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
That was the position Paul held as an apostle. This was a matter of some initial confusion among the Corinthians because he was bold in his letters but meek in person.
????? Yes, I have read where Paul corrected churches. Paul is correcting congregants, thoughts, false doctrines, and errant practices in all of his epistles. My point was to ask you to empathize with the leader of the synagogue and thereby gain insight into the context of the passage in question (2 Cor. 5:17-21).
Alas, for future reference, I would appreciate it if you would ask, "
Are you confused about...............?" or "
Is there some confusion about.....?" before you go telling people they are confused. Ask; don't presume, don't tell, don't dictate to others what the understand or don't understand.
Ephesians 2:11-22
11Therefore remember that previously you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— 12remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the people of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who previously were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15by abolishing in His flesh the hostility, which is the Law composed of commandments expressed in ordinances, so that in himself he might make the two one new person, in this way establishing peace; 16and that he might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the hostility. 17And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; 18for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, 21in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
Reconcile: to change, exchange, or transform a relationship from enmity to friendship.
I am not confused and the Greek does agree with me.
Why? Because the Corinthian congregations were a mess? Because some guy is having sex with his father's wife and no one in the Corinthian leadership is doing anything about? Is that why they need to be reconciled to God? Or is it that they've begun to factionalize, with one congregant claiming to follow Paul, another to follow Apollos, another to follow Cephas and yet another to follow Jesus. Is that why they needed to be reconciled to God? Or maybe it was because when females from the Aphrodite cult became converts to Christ their previous power and influence proved a challenge to their integration, especially among those who became prophets within the Corinthian body of Christ.
Did I not explicitly state, "
Corinth was a very messy place. They have a guy there having sex with his father's wife and no one is doing anything about. The gifts of the Spirit are being mismanaged and the body is disorganized. Corinth is where factions are beginning to form with some following one apostle and others another."
Their lives were not in order.
ROTFLMBO! Maybe the op is not sufficiently clear.
Telling me what I do and don't understand again? How about you provide me with an example of someone who is saved but not salvifically reconciled by God to God for God?
Yep. That would be consistent with Paul calling them
"the Church," "those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people... who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," and
"brothers and sisters."
Yep. Hence the question, "
Why do I have to be reconciled if I am reconciled? God is reconciling the reconciled 
.
You're confused.
There are no saved people who are not reconciled by God to God for good works he'd planned in advance for them to perform. That does not mean a saved person who has been reconciled by God through the cross does not also need to be reconciled to/with God because of some post-conversion matter
(like having sex with stepmom or preferring Paul over Jesus).
2 Peter 1:3-10 NIV
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election.
Just because the Christian has everything s/he needs to live a godly life and partake in the divine nature and has been cleansed from past sins, does not mean s/he never has anymore reconciling to do.
. Wait. What? I thought you just said we were reconciled. Why do I have to be reconciled if I am reconciled? God is reconciling the reconciled 
.
. Paul learned servant leadership through a different set of trials but the hint of hierarchical me/you runs throughout all his epistles. He becomes indignant when anyone leaves him, often reporting the otherwise private matter publicly in his letters without any acknowledgment God may have called those individuals elsewhere. It is in spite of himself, not (just) beatings and stonings, that he remains faithful. Paul was working on reconciliation a lot. That's the making of a great ambassador 
. 
. I've really taken to heart that thing your pastor said about following the pronouns. I didn't say this in my op-reply, but everything we're directed to say/do culminates in the goals of Ephesians 4:12-16.
