«　WEEK 8　DAY 2　»

　　2 Cor. 5:9 Therefore also we are determined, whether at home or abroad, to gain the honor of being well pleasing to Him.

　　14-15 For the love of Christ constrains us because we have judged this, that One died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all that those who live may no longer live to themselves but to Him who died for them and has been raised.

　　Why in 2 Corinthians 5:15 does Paul speak of living to the Lord and not living by Him, for Him, or with Him? To answer this question, it will be helpful to read Galatians 2:19: “For I through law have died to law that I might live to God.” Although the phrase live to God is difficult to define, it is rich in its implications….To live to the law means that we are under the law, directed by the law, governed by the law, and have the responsibility to fulfill the law. To live to God, or to the Lord, means that we are under the Lord’s direction and control and that we want to fulfill His requirements, satisfy His desires, and complete what He intends.

　　Worldly people live to themselves. But the love of Christ constrains us to live to Him and not to ourselves. To live to ourselves means that we are under our own control, direction, and governing and that we care for our own aims and goals. This is to live not only for ourselves; it is to live to ourselves. But the apostles, who were ripe and ready for rapture, had the single ambition of pleasing the Lord by living to Him. They were absolutely under the Lord. They were under His direction, control, and governing. Everything they did was to fulfill the Lord’s purpose and desire. As such persons, they did not live to the law, to themselves, or to anything other than the Lord. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, p. 117)

　　Paul did not live to himself or to anything other than his Master, Christ. He was always exercised to do what would please the Lord. He was very different from the rabbis who lived to the law and did everything with a view to the law. As one who was mature, ripe, and ready for the rapture, Paul’s only aim was to please his Master, the very One whose coming he was awaiting. Paul sought to please the Lord not by doing a work, but by living to Him in every aspect of his daily life. Likewise, we today should not seek to please ourselves, but seek to please the Lord by living to Him. All that we do must be to Him. This is the vital matter in this portion of 2 Corinthians 5.

　　In verse 14 Paul explains, “For the love of Christ constrains us because we have judged this, that One died for all, therefore all died.” The love of Christ toward us was made manifest on the cross through His death for us (Gal. 2:20). This love constrains us. Literally, it presses on us from all sides, holding us to one end, forcibly limits, confines us to one object within certain bounds, shuts us up to one line and purpose, as in a narrow, walled road…. In such a way the apostles were constrained by the love of Christ to live to Him. The phrase beause we have judged this means having concluded this, probably at the time of conversion. Paul concluded that because One died for all, therefore all died. Christ’s loving death was the motivating factor of the apostles’ being constrained to live a loving life for Him. Since Christ died as our substitute, suffering the sentence of death on behalf of us all, in the eyes of God we all died. Hence, we do not need to die in the way it is reserved for men to die and face judgment (Heb. 9:27).

　　Christ died on behalf of all so that we may no longer live to ourselves but to Him. Christ’s death not only saves us from death so that we do not need to die, but it also causes us, through His resurrection, to live no longer to ourselves, but to Him. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 118, 120)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1967, vol. 2, “An Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit,” ch. 6; CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 1, “The Central Line of the Divine Revelation,” ch. 1