2nd Corinthians 5:12-17 | The Love of God Constraineth Us
We are going through 2nd Corinthians on Wednesday nights. There are so many good themes in this chapter that we have preached many sermons through here. Last week we looked at 3 themes in regard to the Judgment Seat of Christ. We will basically be looking at verses 11 through 18 here today. Verses 11-14 are a little complicated. Paul is a bit of an intellectual and sometimes he explains things where you really have to break down the statements. I don’t want to rush through it because there is a wonderful truth in there.
We looked at verse 11 last week but let’s start there again. Verse 11 “11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.”. Paul says we are manifest. Manifest means to be seen or displayed or revealed. We talked about that last week. Here he’s referring to the fact that “knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto God”. Just quicky by way of introduction, go to Proverbs 15.
Proverbs 15:3 “3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”. That’s a good verse for all of us to know. It’s good a verse to teach our children. Even if mom or dad’s eyes don’t see you, the Lord sees everything. Even if your spouse or your boss isn’t watching, God sees everything. Your primary motivation should not be whether or not others are watching. If you understand that God is always watching and that God is always paying attention, then that can motivate you.
Hebrews 4:13 “13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”. I’ve never really understood why people act one way in Church and differently outside of Church. People dress one way in Church and another way outside of Church. God is not confined to the walls of this building. Out of respect for God, you should act and dress appropriately outside of Church also. The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight. Paul says we are made manifest unto God. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.
2nd Corinthians 5:11 “11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.”. The idea is that we are not just made manifest before God but also before other people. Others are watching us. Others are looking at us. People can see us, and we are revealed to them. Verse 12 “12 For we commend…”. Commend means to present suitable or acceptable. It’s the same root where we get the word recommend.
“12 For we commend not ourselves again unto you,…”. I’m breaking this down really slowly because I want you to understand what the Apostle Paul is saying. Paul said that we are made manifest unto other people, but he also says that he is not trying to impress other people. It’s not that we live in a certain way to get approval from man. That goes to the idea of Christianity not being about dressing in a certain way because it is what the Pastor or Pastor’s wife wants. If that is the way you feel, then you have a very cheap Christianity. You have a very shallow Christianity. Paul said that he wasn’t trying to impress others. However, he makes it clear that not only are our lives manifest before God but also before man.
Notice what he says. 2nd Corinthians 5:12 “but give you occasion to glory on our behalf,”. The word occasion means opportunity. He says that when we live our lives with the understanding that God is watching and others are watching, then we live right not just for God but also for man. It’s not that we are trying to impress them. He is saying that they are giving them an occasion or opportunity to glory. The word glory is used synonymously with boasting.
What Paul is saying is that when he lives his life in such a way that others are able to see it, he is not doing it to impress them. Our Christian life is not about trying to impress each other. “but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.”. We aren’t living our lives trying to impress each other. We understand as saved people that we aren’t saved by works. We aren’t trying to impress each other with our actions. However, we are living in such a way that we have an answer for those people.
What does that mean? I think it can be applied in a lot of different ways but let me just give you a major application of it. If he’s referring to the world or specifically to your unsaved family members, isn’t it interesting that when you show up to Thanksgiving family dinner and you get so angry that a cuss word comes out (By the way, I’m not defending this because you are a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ). What is interesting though is that people who don’t care about God at all in their heart will say something like “I thought you weren’t supposed to talk like that. I thought you weren’t supposed to dress like that.”. Paul is saying that we are living with the understanding that we are not just manifest unto God but also unto man. Why? Because the reality is that the unsaved world will look at you and say, “show me your faith by your works.”. Whether you like it or not, they are looking at you and judging you. People have an opinion about what Christianity should look like and they will judge you based on appearance whether you like it or not.
In 2nd Samuel 12 we have Nathan rebuking David for the sin of adultery with Bathsheba. 2nd Samuel 12:14 “14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.”. We should be living our lives in a way where our enemies can’t find reasons to condemn us but now the enemies of God will say “Look at that guy who is supposed to be a leader of spirituality.”. This was a man after God’s own heart who by his actions hurt the cause of Christ.
Philippians 2:15 “15 That ye may be blameless and harmless,…”. Blameless doesn’t mean perfect or without sin but it means to live your life in such a way that your life is without reproach, and no one can accuse or blame you of something. He also says harmless. Why connect blameless and harmless? Here’s why. When your life is blameless, it will be harmless. When your life is not blameless, it’ll bring great harm to the cause of Christ. Nathan said that by David’s deeds he has given great occasion for the enemy to blaspheme God. Your testimony matters. How you live your life matters.
2nd Corinthians 5:13 “13 For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.”. That phrase “beside ourselves” means crazy. When the Bible says someone is beside themselves, that is the equivalent of saying they are crazy. For those of us that got saved and started serving God, this makes sense. People that know you such as friends and family will accuse you of being in a cult or brainwashed or crazy. Here is what Paul is explaining and leading up to. This is all building up to this idea we will see in verse 14. We need to understand that we are made manifest unto God but also other people. We aren’t trying to impress them but there are people out there judging our lives. They don’t love God, but they will judge you based solely on appearance. Therefore, we must live a blameless life. If our life is not blameless then it will be harmful to the cause of Christ. People will call us hypocrites and look down on Christians. “I thought Christians don’t go there. I thought Christians don’t make those decisions.”.
With that understanding, Paul kind of builds up to verse 14. 2nd Corinthians 5:14 “14 For the love of Christ constraineth us;…”. I love that phrase. Paul gives this whole idea and context about the fact that we are seen by God, and we are seen by others. We don’t live to impress others, but we do want to live in such a way where unbelievers would be impressed. We want them to respect the fact that we are authentic even if they think we are overboard.
“For the love of Christ constraineth us…”. That word constrain means to live within bounds. The word constrained means bounds. It means limits. It means restraints. Here Paul says the love of Christ constraineth us. When he is saying we are being constrained or something is constraining us, this is what he means. Since the world is watching us and judging by appearance, we should live a life that is constrained or within bounds. See, the Christian life must be a life of limits. Now we don’t like to hear that but that is what the Bible says. Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”. Now we don’t like to hear that but that is what the Bible says. If you are going to be a follower of Christ and disciple of Christ, you must live a life of denial. We aren’t talking about salvation. You must restrain yourself and limit yourself. You must decide that there are certain places and things that you aren’t going to do or partake in. Why? Because you live a constrained life.
Here is the issue you have with many Christians and even some in our Church. We are a Church that is striving to be the type of Church that Jesus Christ would want. I’m not saying this in a negative way about our Church, but I will say this. In this type of Church, you may get to the point where you have this idea that the Christian life is a life of rules of women wearing dresses, men wearing pants, women having long hair, men having short hair, men being the providers, ladies staying home and raising the kids, etc…
These are all things taught in the Bible and all those things are true. However, we get to the place where people think it is all rules. The Apostle Paul teaches us something about spiritual maturity and true Christianity and about people that actually love the Lord. When you live the Christian life for the right motives, the answer to why you dress a certain way and why you don’t go to certain places and why you’re not going to drink at the family gathering and why you no longer smoke or do drugs or whatever, the answer is not because the Church has this rule. The answer is not because Pastor has this rule. It’s not because it’s required in order to be an usher. The answer is “the love of Christ constraineth us.”.
What do I mean by that? There are certain things I don’t do because I love Jesus. There are certain standards I have because I love the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the love of Christ that constrains us or at least it should be the love of Christ that constrains you. Here is what any truly saved person understands. If you are actually saved, if you actually understand that salvation is by grace through faith and not of works, if you understand it is a gift meaning you don’t have to earn it or work for it, if you actually understand eternal security which teaches that salvation can never be lost and it can never be taken away no matter what, then you understand that you don’t have to follow the Christian life. You can choose to live for the world or live for God. A lot of people choose to live for themselves instead of serving God.
1st Corinthians 6:12 “12 All things are lawful unto me,…”. What does that mean? It means that we are allowed to do whatever we want and still be saved. Why? Salvation is not based off the things you do. “12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient:…”. Just because you can do whatever you want doesn’t mean that you should do whatever you want. It doesn’t mean it is the best thing for you even if you are allowed to do it. “12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”. Paul said that though he could do whatever, he wouldn’t be brought under the power of any.
1st Corinthians 10:23 “23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.”. Here is the point we are making. If you are actually saved, you understand that you don’t have to do anything. However, what the Apostle Paul is teaching is that you should live for Christ. You should live a constrained and disciplined life with limits.
Ladies in your life there ought to be certain clothing you don’t wear. Why? Because your husband tells you? Now you should listen if your husband asks you but honestly it should be because the love of Christ constraineth you. Paul said that he did the things he did because he loved Jesus. He wasn’t doing things because he was forced to do it. By the way parents, this should be our goal in parenting. When they are little, we raise them. They do what we tell them to do because they have to. If they don’t do what we say, then they will get punished. Our goal is that we raise them in a way that they do what is right but not because they are forced to but because “the love of Christ constraineth us”. When you become an adult, no one is forcing you to go to Church or go soulwinning. True Christianity is not when you have to be forced or begged but because you love Christ.
Why am I preaching this? Number 1 – It is in the text. Number 2 – What I’ve found in ministry is that when you gather a group of people that actually love Jesus, it is fun to serve God. We don’t have to force people to go soulwinning who actually love Jesus. You don’t have to force them to show up for Church or force them to tithe or force them to volunteer. Why is that? The love of Christ constraineth them. It’s a love for Christ and the love of God in their hearts that causes them to want to live the Christian life. If you love Christ, then you should want to live for Christ. I’m not saying that you aren’t saved if you don’t feel this way. Maybe your heart has grown so cold to the things of God.
Then he explains in verse 14 where this love comes from. 2nd Corinthians 5:14 “14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:”. What does that mean? What it means is if somebody had to die for us then we were all in trouble. Everyone must have been condemned. Everyone must have had the wrath on them. Verse 15 “15 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.”.
Here’s a question. Who are you living for? Only 2 choices. Live for Christ or live for self? When you think about and meditate about what Christ did for us, you’re thankful. Galatians 2:20 “20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”. See, Christ didn’t just die for the world, but he died for me. He died for you. If I was the only one in need of salvation, then he would have died for me. The Bible says, “8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”. See, the truth is that when you love God, you don’t have to have rules. By the way, we love God because he first loved us.
In John 14:15, Jesus doesn’t take for granted that people love him. He questions our love. He puts it to the test. John 14:15 “15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.”. How can we determine if we love God? Do you keep his commandments? Do you do what the Bible tells you to do? We have people that show up to Church and are saved but are worldly. There is this new man inside of them that loves God, but the old man still loves self and still loves sin and still loves the world. As a result, you ask questions like “Well how short does my hair need to be? How short can the skirt be? The Bible says it is good for me not to touch a woman but how much am I allowed if I am not married to them?”.
If you love Christ, you wouldn’t ask where the cutoff point is for the rule. You wouldn’t ask how close you could get without it being sin. Why? Because the love of Christ constraineth you. When you walk in the Spirit and have the fruit of the Spirit, there is no law. See, some Christians don’t need laws and rules and requirements. They don’t need to be told to love Jesus. They just do right out of a love for Jesus. They don’t have to be given standards. I’m not against standards. I’m all for standards. However, if you love Jesus then you just live your life in a way that brings glory to the one who died for you. We won’t have to worry about you getting too close to the boundary. Why? It is the love of Christ and not man that constraineth you. It is the love of Christ that keeps you within bounds.
We understand this in a physical relationship like a marriage. I don’t think any woman here wants to be married to a man who says that the only reason he doesn’t commit adultery is because his wife will divorce him and take money from him. I hope the reason you don’t commit adultery is because you love your wife. It’s sad to me that there are grown men in this society who are told that they have to send money to their kids each month to help raise them. The Government actually comes in and removes money out of their paycheck without their consent. If you love your kids, then you will provide for them. I don’t provide for my kids because of fear that my wife will leave me. I provide for my kids because I love them. That’s why I provide for my wife. That’s why I protect my wife.
This should be the relationship you have with God. Nobody is making you obey God. It is the love of Christ that constraineth you. People start asking questions like “How many services do I have to go to in order to be considered faithful? How long do I have to go soulwinning?”. If you love God, nobody has to force you to go to Church. People ask dumb questions like “What about soulwinning every other week or once a month or every 5th week.”. You are thinking about it too hard. What I’ve learned is that when someone loves Jesus, nobody has to force you to go to Church.
Before my wife and I were in the ministry, nobody made us go to Church. You know why we went to Church on Sunday night? Because we loved the word of God. We loved the preaching of God’s word. There was no other place that my heart wanted to be other than in the house of God. That’s why I did it. I tithe on a regular basis because I love Jesus. I read the Bible every day because I love Jesus. I pray because I love Jesus. I try to live the Christian life because the love of Christ constraineth me. For some of you, maybe this is an understanding of the struggle you’re having in the Christian life. It’s such a burden to you. It’s so difficult for you because maybe you don’t love Jesus. How do you motivate people to go soulwinning? I don’t. They love Jesus and that’s why they go.
2nd Corinthians 5:16 “16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.”. What he is saying is that in the 1st century there was actually a physical Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh talking and preaching to the disciples and saying, “Follow me.”. However, after the ascension of Christ, we don’t have that. Jesus is no longer physically here. “17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”. See, people do things that are wrong that they wouldn’t do if Jesus was physically here. Realize though that even though he is not physically here, Christ is in you if you are saved. People say rude things to their spouse, yell at their kids, do sinful things but if you’re saved, Christ is in you.
2nd Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”. Again, this is talking about and teaching the new creature. Not too long ago I preached a sermon on the doctrine of the new creature. Sometimes people like to take this verse out of context to teach sinless perfection when you get saved. That’s not true. We know this verse is not about the outward change because we know that all things did not become new when we got saved. This is referring to the fact that when you got saved, you were quickened. There was a spiritual man, a new man, a new creature placed inside of you.
2nd Peter 1:4 “4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”. When it says that we became partaker of the divine nature, that means a new man or spiritual man came inside of us. The new man doesn’t sin. The new man loves the Lord.
Have you ever wondered about what we do around here? You come to a Church like this, and I preach really hard sermons and often they step on your toes. You have someone yelling at you for all of the things you are doing wrong. Yet you like that. Who likes that? The spiritual man inside of you. This is why we can’t bring unsaved people that don’t have a spirit and just yell at them. They want like it. You also wouldn’t have liked it before you got saved. However, when you got saved, there was a spiritual man born inside of you. See, even if a worldly Christian who does have the Spirit of God walks in here and I start yelling, there is a spirit inside of them that likes it. The new spirit that connects with the spirit of God in the word of God. We’re partakers of a divine nature. However, it is that new man. It is that new man that allows us the ability to live for Christ. Let me just show you one more passage in Romans 6.
When you got saved, you partook of the divine nature. Because of that new man, you aren’t guaranteed an outward change, but you now have the possibility of an outward change. What does that mean? Romans 6:12 “12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.”. Reign means to be in dominion or in charge. Romans 6:13 “13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”. Let me say this, you are never free to serve nothing. You are only free to choose what you will serve. If you decide to quit Church to have freedom, you won’t be free. You will submit to the world. It will enslave you. You will either serve sin or the Savior. You won’t just go out and do whatever you want. You will serve something.
Romans 6:14 “14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.”. The idea is that there is nothing you need to do to keep your salvation. However, just because salvation can’t be lost doesn’t mean you should serve sin. Romans 6:16 “16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”. People say they don’t want to go to Church because they don’t want the Pastor to tell them what to do. If you decide to drink, then that sin will be your new boss.
Romans 6:17 “17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.”. That is the gospel. Verse 18 “18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”. Here is what you need to understand. Unsaved people have no choice. They have to walk in the flesh. That’s all they’ve got. They have no choice but to live for the world and the Devil and themselves and sin. However, when you got saved, Paul would say “17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”. You now have a 2nd choice. You can continue to walk in the flesh because you still have the flesh. You won’t get rid of that until the rapture or until you die. But now you can choose to walk in the Spirit.
Paul said that if you walk in the Spirit then you should not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The Bible says if you walk in the spirit, you’re going to have the fruit of the spirit. You will have love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. He says against such there is no law. See, a spirit-filled Christian doesn’t have to be told to do anything. They just do it because they love Jesus. Romans 6:4 “4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”. When you got saved, that doesn’t mean that you’re going to walk in newness of life. However, you should. You can walk in newness of life.
What should be our motivation to do that? 2nd Corinthians 5:14 “14 For the love of Christ constraineth us;…”. That little phrase should be the answer. We are manifest unto God and unto others. People are going to judge you based off of appearance. You can say that it isn’t fair and that they don’t even love Jesus, but it is reality. If you struggle with smoking and the worldly people or unsaved people see it, they are judging all of Christians based on what they see you do. If you start serving God and making changes but you slip up and drink alcohol, all of the worldly people will say “I thought Christians weren’t supposed to drink?”. I’m not saying it is fair, but it is reality.
The reality of the Christian life is that you will be judged by a bunch of worldly people who don’t love Jesus, don’t read the Bible, don’t go to Church and are complete hypocrites. Look, I am all for the standards and rules. I am all for telling kids don’t do this and don’t do that and don’t go there. However, there comes a point when we have to make this the reality of our Christianity. “For the love of Christ constraineth us.”. When you do that, when we get there, then nobody has to force you. No one has to pressure you. No one has to be worried about you. Why? Because we do it for no one other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let’s pray.