2 Corinthians 5:14

For not the fear of things to come only, he saith, but also those which have already happened allow us not to be slothful nor to slumber; but stir us up and impel us to these our labors on your behalf. And what are those things which have already happened? "That if one died for all, then all died." Surely then it was because all were lost, saith he. For except all were dead, He had not died for all. For here the opportunities of salvation exist; but there are found no longer. Therefore, he says, "The love of God constraineth us," and allows us not to be at rest. For it cometh of extreme wretchedness and is worse than hell itself, that when He hath set forth an act so mighty, any should be found after so great an instance of His provident care reaping no benefit. For great was the excess of that love, both to die for a world of such extent, and dying for it when in such a state.

Then when he says, For the love of Christ, the Apostle indicates the cause of his solicitude, namely, the love of Christ. In regard to this he does two things. First, he shows that he is pressed by the charity of Christ to procure the …

The love of God, which He manifested in us, encompasses us and compels us to undergo dangers for Him, when we deliberate well within ourselves the following. Since He died for all, it is evident that we were all perishing, and that He died for …

For the love of Christ constraineth us,.... Or "containeth us"; holds and keeps us in our station and duty, as soldiers are held and kept together under a banner, or ensign displayed; to which the church refers, when she says, "his banner over me was love", Son 2:

While we thus judge, that if Christ died for all, then are all, even the best of men, naturally dead - In a state of spiritual death, and liable to death eternal. For had any man been otherwise, Christ had not needed to have died for him.

Note, This was the deplorable condition of all those for whom Christ died: they were lost and undone, dead and ruined, and must have remained thus miserable for ever if Christ had not died for them. (2.) What such should do, for whom Christ died; namely, that they should live to him.

They were under the sweetest and strongest constraints to do what they did. Love has a constraining virtue to excite ministers and private Christians in their duty. Our love to Christ will have this virtue; and Christ's love to us, which was manifested in this great instance of his dying for us, will have this effect upon us, if it be duly considered and rightly judged of.

The Greek implies to compress forcibly the energies into one channel. Love is jealous of any rival object engrossing the soul (2Co 11:1-3). because we thus judge--literally, "(as) having judged thus"; implying a judgment formed at conversion, and ever since regarded as a settled truth. that if--that is, that since.

THE Apostle and his brethren were unselfish in all that they did. He could say of himself and of his brethren that when they varied their modes of action they always had the same objective in view—they lived only to promote the cause of Christ and to bless the souls of men. He says, "Whether we are beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we are sober, it is for your cause." Some may have said that Paul was too excitable and expressed himself too strongly. "Well," he said, "if it is so, it is to God." Others may have noticed the reasoning faculty to be exceedingly strong in Paul and may, perhaps, have thought him to be too coolly argumentative. "But," said Paul, "if we are sober, it is for your cause." Viewed from some points the Apostle and his co-laborers must have appeared to be raving fanatics, engaged upon a Quixotic enterprise and almost, if not quite, out of their minds. One who had heard the Apostle tell the story of his conversion exclaimed, "Paul, you are beside yourself; much learning does make you mad," and no doubt many who saw the singular change in his conduct and knew what he had given up and what he endured for his new faith had come to the same conclusion. Paul would not be at all offended by this judgment, for he would remember that his Lord and Master had been charged with madness and that even our Lord's relatives had said, "He is beside Himself." To Festus he had replied, "I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness." And to Corinthian objectors he gave a still fuller reply.

THE Apostle and his brethren were unselfish in all that they did. He could say of himself and of his brethren that when they varied their modes of action they always had the same objective in view—they lived only to promote the cause of Christ and to bless the souls of men. He says, "Whether we are beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we are sober, it is for your cause." Some may have said that Paul was too excitable and expressed himself too strongly. "Well," he said, "if it is so, it is to God."

For the love of Christ constraineth us - We have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, and this causes us to love God intensely, and to love and labor for the salvation of men.

For the love of Christ - In this verse, Paul brings into view the principle which actuated him; the reason of his extraordinary and disinterested zeal. That was, that he was influenced by the love which Christ had shown in dying for all people, and by the argument which was furnished by that death respecting the actual character and condition of man (in this verse); and of the obligation of those who professed to be his true friends 2Co 5:15. The phrase “the love of Christ” (ἀγάπη τοῦ Χριστοῦ agapē tou Christou) may denote either the love which Christ bears toward us, and which he has manifested, or our love toward him. In the former sense the phrase “the love of God” is used in Rom 5:8; 2Co 13:13, and the phrase “love of Christ” in Eph 3:14. The phrase is used in the latter sense in Joh 15:9-10, and Rom 8:35. It is impossible to determine the sense with certainty, and it is only by the view which shall be taken of the connection and of the argument which will in any way determine the meaning. Expositors differ in regard to it. It seems to me that the phrase here means the love which Christ had toward us. Paul speaks of his dying for all as the reason why he was urged on to the course of self-denial which he evinced. Christ died for all. All were dead. Christ evinced his great love for us, and for all, by giving himself to die; and it was this love which Christ had shown that impelled Paul to his own acts of love and self-denial. He gave himself to his great work impelled by that love which Christ had shown; by the view of the ruined condition of man which that work furnished; and by a desire to emulate the Redeemer, and to possess the same spirit which he evinced. Constraineth us - (συνέχει sunechei). This word (συνέχω sunechō) properly means, to hold together, to press together, to shut up; then to press on, urge, impel, or excite. […]