2 Corinthians 5:11 ESV
“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.”
What does it mean to fear the Lord? It certainly means to be
in awe of him, to show him respect and honor, to value him, to believe in him,
to die with him to sin and to live to him and to his righteousness, and to obey
him. But it also means to see him as he really is and to take him seriously,
and to take his word to heart and to do what it says. And it means to take his
warnings seriously, too, and thus to walk in holiness and righteousness.
And what did Paul and the other apostles persuade others to
believe or to do? They definitely persuaded (or attempted to persuade) them to
forsake their lives of habitual and deliberate sin and to now walk in holiness
and in righteousness, in obedience to the Lord and to his commands (New
Covenant). And they persuaded them to put their trust solely in the Lord and
not in other humans and to let God/Jesus be their only God and Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 ESV
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”
This passage of Scripture is a little confusing and so here
we have to compare this to the rest of the teachings on death to sin. First
off, when Jesus died on that cross he who knew no sin became sin for us so that
when he died our sins died with him. He took our place on that cross to put our
sins to death with him in order that we might become the righteousness of God
(see v. 21) but also that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to
his righteousness (1 Pet 2:24; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 8:1-14).
So, it isn’t as though we don’t have to die to sin. We do. But
we can only die with Christ to sin because he already put our sins to death
with him. So our faith in him is us participating with him in his death to sin,
and then in his resurrection to new life in him, which is what our water
baptism symbolizes. And we don’t die just once to sin, but daily we are to be
putting the deeds of the flesh to death and walking in obedience to our Lord. And
we are to no longer walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin but in righteousness.
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11;
Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-32; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21;
Tit 2:11-14; Rom 12:1-2; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb
10:26-27; Rom 2:6-8; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 3:5-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9;
1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ESV
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Now, we don’t become new creations in Christ Jesus merely by
acknowledging who Jesus is and/or what he did for us on that cross, nor by merely
making a statement of acceptance of his grace and forgiveness of our sins. We are
not saved by lip service only. Words are just words unless they are backed up
with action. For to be in Christ means that we no longer walk according to the
flesh but now according to the Spirit (Rom 8:1-14).
Being in Christ means we no longer walk in sin, making sin
our practice, but now we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. It
doesn’t mean we are absolutely perfect, but it also doesn’t mean we can use
lack of perfection as an excuse for continued and deliberate and habitual sin.
It means we no longer live in sin. Sin no longer has dominion over our lives.
Righteousness and obedience to the Lord are now what we practice.
[See the verses referenced above]
And this is why it says that if we are in Christ that we are
a new creation. Our old lives of living in sin and for self are now put behind
us and now we walk in newness of life in Christ in righteousness and holiness
and in obedience to our Lord. Jesus is now our Lord (Master) and sin is no
longer our master. Again, we are not talking about sinless perfection here but
what we practice. If sin is what we practice, we do not have new life in
Christ.
All this is from God! Yes, it is! But this doesn’t mean we
do nothing and that our Lord does it all. Yes, we can’t even come to faith in
Jesus Christ unless God the Father persuades us as to his holiness and
righteousness and of our sinfulness and of our need to repent of our sins and to
follow the Lord in obedience. And even the faith to believe in Jesus is God’s
gift to us, and it is not of ourselves, of our own doing, so we can’t determine
for ourselves what that faith should look like. For Jesus is the author and perfecter
of our faith.
[Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Acts
5:32]
Okay, so since Jesus is the author and the perfecter of our
faith, and our faith is gifted to us by God, and God must persuade us to put
our trust in Jesus, and that faith is not of our own doing, then that faith is
going to align with God’s will and purpose for our lives. So that faith is
going to embrace and embody holiness, righteousness, godliness, moral purity,
honesty, faithfulness, uprightness, integrity, repentance, submission, and
obedience.
Also, while it is true that we are saved by God’s grace, and
this not of ourselves, not of our own works lest we should boast, our faith is
not absent of works. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should WALK IN THEM (Eph
2:10). And we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, and we
are always to be abounding in the work of the Lord, etc.
So, when Paul said, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be
reconciled to God,” he is not saying for you to give a thumbs up to having your
sins forgiven so when you die you can go to heaven. He is imploring you to change,
to leave your lives of sin behind you and to now follow the Lord Jesus in
obedience to his ways, i.e. to change to his ways, and to change from being his
enemy to now living according to the Spirit of God.
But if you refuse, because you think it is not required of
you or for whatever other reason, please know that the Scriptures teach that we
are all going to be judged by our works. If we walk according to the flesh, we
will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God. But if we walk
according to the Spirit, in obedience to our Lord in walks of holiness and
righteousness, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. So please take
this to heart.
Happiness is the Lord
By Ira F. Stanphill
Happiness is to know the Savior
Living a life within His favor
Having a change in my behavior
Happiness is the Lord!
Happiness is a new creation
Jesus and me in close relation
Having a part in His salvation
Happiness is the Lord!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_NSVqUJirE
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