Thursday, November 18, 2021
“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15 KJV).
How can the truths of today’s Scripture lead us to have better biographies?
When the Apostle Paul writes, “For the love of Christ constraineth us,” he is describing the process by which the Christian life operates. It is not we struggling to keep a series of rules and regulations, performing to get blessings from God (and receiving curses when we fail). Yea, rather, it is an intense working of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Him laboring to bring into the reality of our lives the Words of Grace: “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
The idea of “constraineth” is a compelling or urging toward a particular course of action. We are tightly bound together, driven to a specific end, the goal in today’s Scripture: “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” To “judge” here means to exercise the mind, to evaluate or examine evidence in order to reach a verdict.
Christ died for all (1 Timothy 2:5,6), since all were dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1); but He is “specially [the Saviour] of those that believe” (1 Timothy 4:10); and, if He is the Saviour of Christians, Christians should live in light of that reality, conducting themselves not in accordance with their own selfish desires but for the glory of the God-Man who died for them and resurrected! After all, as He died, so they died to sin; as He rose again, so they arose to walk in newness of life (Romans chapter 6).
Let us summarize and conclude this devotionals arc….
Our two latest Bible Q&As: “What does ‘gainsaying’ mean?” and “Can you explain ‘penury?’”
333 Words of Grace 