5:14 constraineth us. It is not our love for Christ that constrains us, for our love is variable at best. But His great love for us, the love that took Him to the cross in our place, is the greatest motivating factor for our love and service for Him.

5:14 were all dead. Literally, this means, “then all died.”

5:17 new creature. The miracle of regeneration—being born again and baptized by the Holy Spirit into the spiritual body of Christ—is a true miracle of special creation (not psychological redirection, or anything of that sort), comparable in quality (not quantity) to the creation of the universe. No natural process can accomplish or explain such a miracle.