“For Christ’s love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: If One died for all, then all died. And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised.” (2 corinthians 5:14-15)

This is an extraordinary passage of scripture in which God, through the Apostle Paul, teaches us what it means, and looks like, to be a true Christian.  As Christians, many of us chose to continue living a selfish, self-serving life which is contrary to the way God says He wants us to live.  Today’s passage proves that.  What is God really telling us?  Let’s take a deeper look.

VERSE 14

1. “For Christ’s love” – Christ’s love that, as Christians, now lives in us.  If we are Christians, we have accepted Christ’s love, the forgiveness of our sins through His death on a cross and eternal life through His resurrection.
2. “compels us,” – Christ’s love is so powerful that it compels us to love Him back, to want to stick to Him, to be with Him all the time.
3. “since we have reached this conclusion:” – the following is what we now know by Christ’s revelation.
4. “If One died for all,” – This is what we now know, that Christ, compelled by His love for his Father, and for us, died on a cross for all the people of the world, excluding no one (Romans 5:8; John 3:16-7).  He did it publicly, on hill, so that the entire world would know.
5. “then all died.” – that those who chose to believe in, and accept Christ’s gift, are compelled, through conviction, to die to their selfish, self-serving lives, to begin a new, righteous life through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).  Galatians 2:20 explains it this way:

 ^“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20 NKJV).” 

VERSE 15

1. “And he died for all so that those who live” – those who live, are those who now have eternal life because they have believed and accepted Christ’s free gift of salvation.  Christians.
2. “should no longer live for themselves,” – as Christians we are to stop living a selfish, self-serving life.  We are to kill our desire to live to fulfill our fleshly wants and desires.
3. “but for the One who died for them and was raised.” – we are to give up our selfish, self-serving lives to live in service to Christ.

Friends, this is what God expects from all of us who claim to be His – Christians.  If we are not compelled, or convicted, by the love He has demonstrated to us, to love Him back, and to serve Him, something is wrong.  We must be serving Him with our lives.  Service is a verb, it’s action, and it demands that we not sit around waiting for him to come back for us.  God, through the Apostle Paul explains it this way:

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself (James 2:14-17).”

While we wait for Christ to come back for us (John 14:1-3), we are to serve Christ by serving others.  This is proof positive that we are true Christians.  We are to live for the benefit of others, not of ourselves.  Jesus said:

“Then He said to them all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me (Luke 9:23).””

So then,

• how will we obey today’s Scriptures?
• With whom will we share today’s Scriptures?
• With whom will we share the story of our salvation and the story of what Jesus had done for us?

In Christ’s love,

Phil