5:11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.
Paul lives by faith (
v. 7). With confidence he would prefer to be with God than here (
v. 8). His goal is to please God (
v.9). And he knows that someday he’ll appear before the judgment seat and his motives will be exposed (
v. 10).
Because of those things (“Therefore” in v.11) he tries to persuade men.
Barnabas was known as “the “encourager” (
Acts 4:36). Paul must have been known as “the persuader.” Take a look at this quick list:
- Luke records Paul “reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks” (Acts 18:4)
- Agrippa told Paul “in a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28).
- Luke also tells us that Paul “was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening” (Acts 28:23).
Paul also says in this verse that “
what we are is known to God.” These things are what he means when he says “fears the Lord.”
Trusting God, being confident in his standing with God, aiming to please God, remaining aware that God will someday review his earthly deeds and their motives. That’s fearing God.
And those things motivated Paul to be faithful in the work he was called to do – persuading men.
5:12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.
These verses seem to suggest that Paul’s critics were saying he was crazy – out of his mind – for not allowing himself to be held up in high esteem for his dedication, accomplishments, and position. I imagine the accusations of Paul’s critics to the congregation went something like this: “
You all keep following the teachings of that guy Paul. What has he done? What does he have to show for his work? If he is so great, don’t you think he’d have a church named after him or some sort of honors bestowed upon him? Don’t you figure someone that important would have far more stuff than he does? Instead, the dude makes tents, for crying out loud! When he comes in town his clothes are old and tattered, he relies on you to feed and house him, and he delivers a very sub-par sermon (1 Cor 2:4). Can’t you see he’s a nobody?”
But as Paul wrote elsewhere, “
If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ” (
Gal 1:10).
Paul’s answer is simply that he continues to do what God has called him to do. He’s not worried about earthy glory. His conscience is clear. He’s not
living for the bell. There’s way too much to get done to focus on that.
5:14 For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
HEADS UP: BRIEF GREEK TRANSLATION COMMENTS IN THIS PARAGRAPH
I quoted this from the NIV here on purpose. The verse should say that the love of Christ “determines what we do.” The NIV really botched it when they translated this word “compels” in v.14. “Compel” means to force someone to do something. That is very different from the meaning here. The Greek word is sunechō (συνέχω). The KJV and many other translations translate it “constrain.” Several other translations use the word “control.” These are much more accurate than “compel.” The word plainly means to set the boundaries around something or to set the limits. Christ’s love determines what we do and what we don’t do. That’s the sentiment here.
Because we are convinced that Jesus died, and there for all have died, we do nothing that doesn’t serve the purpose He has called us to. We can be motivated by fear of what God could do to us. But how far can that really go? Fear is a low form of motivation: “I will not sin because God could destroy me for it.” That doesn’t help us know what to do, only what not to do. It can immobilize us. But being motivated by the fact that God loves us despite our sin! There is nothing greater in our Christian lives than that! That tells us exactly how to live, exactly what we must do! If He loves me that much, I want to please Him and serve Him – not to just avoid displeasing Him!
Q: What does Paul mean when he reasons that Christ died, therefore all died?
V. 15, Imagine you are dying of a curable disease, but the cure costs millions of dollars that you don’t have. I offer to personally pay for it on the condition that you will live the rest of your life as my servant. You might accept my terms, but I would look pretty selfish, wouldn’t I? To some, this act of love by Jesus seems that way. The verse essentially says that Christ died for His own benefit – He died so we would live for Him.
In the previous chapter Paul said something similar – that God will raise us from the dead for our benefit so that more people will thank God - which sounds like it is more for His own benefit than ours (
4:14-15). If the subject had been anyone but Jesus, the criticism would be true. But here’s what makes this different: Jesus doesn’t need us to serve Him. Our service to Him provides Him nothing that He doesn’t already have (see
Acts 17:25;
Mark 10:45). Jesus is “
the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (
Hebrews 1:3). For us to live for Him is the greatest privilege we could possibly have, and it frees us from the detestable things of this life forever. So Jesus died for our sake (so we can live for Him) AND for His own sake (so we can live for Him).
But without God we are nothing.
Without us God is the same as He is with us – He is the I Am.
Our living for Him does everything for us and nothing for God. “
God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases him” (
Php 2:13, NCV).
Enabling us to live for Him is the supreme act of love.
5:16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
V. 16, So now we are no longer impressed with people. We don’t look at them from a human point of view.
V. 17, Instead, we look at people from the standpoint of the new creation. If they are new creations, what they were no longer matters – only what God re-created them to be.
Vv. 18-21, If they are new creations, we know they didn’t do it themselves. God did it for them. So the “constraint” or boundary (remember v.14) that God places around our actions is a ministry of ambassadorship. That is, God uses us to make His appeal to others In reconciling us, He calls us to reconcile others to Him – to “persuade men” (
V. 11) to die so they might live for Him as well.
Q: How should recognizing ourselves as God’s ambassadors affect our personal ministries?
