Daily Devotions
2 Corinthians
"The love of Christ compels us..."
Text: 2 Corinthians 5:14
THE STRONGEST MOTIVATION
What caused Paul to live and serve as he did? What enabled him to have such strength of focus for life and ministry?
“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus:
that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all,
that those who live should live no longer for themselves,
but for Him who died for them and rose again.”
2 Corinthians 5:14-15
1. “For the love of Christ”
a) The love that Christ has for us.
b) The love that we have for Christ as an appropriate response.
2. “Compels us”
a) This love is real and surrounds us.
b) It becomes a powerful source to motivate us (“compel”).
3. “Because we judge thus”
a) This is not just an emotional response.
b) Paul reasoned why he chose to live the way he did.
4. “If One died for all, then all died”
a) Christ was obviously in Paul’s mind.
b) That Christ would die for mankind was never taken for granted.
c) He argued that all who understand this truth must respond appropriately.
d) They too must die with Christ!
5. “Those who live should live no longer for themselves”
a) This was how Paul reasoned and then demonstrated in his life.
b) He did not live for himself.
c) No believer should live for himself but for the One who died for the world.
IDENTIFICATION WITH CHRIST
Paul sought to teach people how to go beyond merely declaring faith in Christ Jesus.