AP

2 Corinthians 5:14-15   For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  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.

There are two things I find a bit tricky about what the Apostle Paul is saying here.

Firstly, when he says that ‘[Christ] died for all’, how does this fit in with the 3rd of the ‘Five points of Calvinism’ which holds (as I do) that Jesus died specifically for the elect?  (I hold to this because I think that the only reason I won’t suffer for my sins in eternal hell is because Jesus died in my place;  therefore, if Jesus died for everyone without exception, a just God must not send anyone to hell!).  It seems, therefore that Paul uses ‘all’ in two different senses: either ‘all-without-exception’, or, as here in these verses, ‘all-without-distinction’ – i.e. for the elect of every nation, colour, and social standing.

This is the only way we can understand the two ‘all’s of 1 Corinthians 15:22 – “For as in Adam all (without exception) die, so in Christ all (without distinction) will be made alive.”, because there are many other Scriptures that warn us that not everyone will be saved (for instance Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount: “Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

Secondly, how must I understand Paul’s statement, “therefore all died”.  Before I was confronted with the rightful claims of the Lord Jesus Christ on me, I was very happy to live  my life on my own terms:  As a healthy, having-it-together teenager I was happy to decide for myself what direction my adult life would take: what career I would pursue, whom I would marry, where I would live, etc, etc.

But when I realised what Jesus had done for me out of his deep, abiding love for me, and not because of anything I deserved, being in control of my life was no longer an option for me – “I” had to ‘die’.  Jesus identified with me, taking on himself all my sin and shame, and therefore he died in my place.  This identification meant that my old ‘self’ died on the cross with him.

As Paul wrote to the Galatians: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

This amazing, unmerited love of Christ for Paul was such that he now saw himself as being completely hemmed in (‘compelled’ and ‘constrained’) by it – or, as the Apostle John says, “We love (implying we can’t do anything else but love) because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).  Once this line of thinking has taken hold of us, and we find ourselves in its grip, we can “no longer live for [our]selves but for him who died for [us] and was raised again.”, or, like Paul, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21), and this applies to all of God’s elect. 

– Bruce Christian