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 love of Christ is a love which centers in moral
preference and has to do with what God prefers. And what God prefers is what is
holy, righteous, godly, morally pure, honest, trustworthy, faithful and loving
and kind. And this love which sent Jesus Christ to that cross to die for our
sins, so that we might die with him to sin, controls (or compresses) us to no
longer live for ourselves but for our Lord who for our sake died and was
raised.
So, the whole point of Jesus Christ dying on that cross was
that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness (1
Peter 2:24), and so that we might honor God with our lives (1 Corinthians
6:19-20), and so that we might live for him and not for ourselves, and so that our
old self would be crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be
brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin (Romans 6:6).
For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him that he
must deny self, take up his cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and
follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for
self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of the name of Jesus
we are crucified with him in death to sin and raised to walk in newness of life
in him, so we are now walking in obedience to him, then we have eternal life with
God (see Luke 9:23-26; cf. Romans 6:1-23; Ephesians 4:17-24).
2 Corinthians 5:16-19 ESV
“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 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.”
If God, through Christ, reconciled us to himself, what
should that look like? Well the word “reconcile” means to decisively change, to
change from being God’s enemy to now being in partnership (a cooperative
effort) with him. It is about exchanging our old lives of sin for the new lives
we have in Christ Jesus which are to be lived for his glory in obedience to his
commands. And this involves us dying with Christ to sin and being raised to
walk in newness of life in him and then walking in the ways of the Lord in his
power.
So, if we are truly “in Christ,” and not just professing
that we are, we are to be new creations. We are not to be the same people we
were before. Now we should have humbled ourselves before our Lord in true
repentance (turning from our sins) to now walk humbly before our God in
holiness and in righteousness, in obedience to our Lord. He should now be our
desire. We should live to please him, and we should follow him in all that we
do.
All this is from God. Amen! And even our faith comes from
God. It is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, and it is gifted to us by
God, and it is not of our own doing. And we can’t even come to faith in Jesus
Christ unless God the Father first draws (persuades) us to Christ. And since this
faith comes from God it is God who persuades us. And God persuades us as to his
holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to repent of
our sins and to follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands.
[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 6:44; Luke 9:23-26]
2 Corinthians 5:20-21 ESV
“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.”
So, if I am imploring you to be reconciled to God, then I am
going to invite you to humble yourself before God in true godly repentance, in
turning away from your sins to now surrender your lives to Jesus Christ to be
his forever, to walk in his ways, and to live holy and godly lives in obedience
to his commands, as your life practice. And I am going to implore you to walk
in that faith and obedience to the Lord until the very end of your life.
And I will also warn you that if you don’t, but if you
continue making sin your practice, and not righteousness and obedience to God,
that you will not inherit eternal life with God no matter what your lips have
professed. For Jesus didn’t give his life up for us on that cross just to free
us from hell and so we can go to heaven when we die. He died that we might die
with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, so this is what we
must do.
Give
Me Jesus
Oh,
What Gladness!
An
Original Work / December 2, 2013
Give me Jesus. He’s my Savior.
I’ll walk with Him in His favor.
I’ll abide in His love always;
Follow His ways to the end.
Jesus is the Son of God.
He died upon a cruel cross.
He’s forgiven all my failures
By His mercy and His love.
Give me Jesus – His compassion,
And His mercy; loving kindness.
Let Him teach me how to love Him,
And to please Him. He’s my friend.
Jesus died for all our sin
So we could have eternal life.
He will free you from your bondage
If you trust Him with your life.
Give me Jesus. Let me trust Him.
May I listen to His teachings.
May I follow where He leads me
In His service. He’s my Lord.
Jesus Christ will come again
To take His bride to be with Him.
Oh, what gladness; free from sadness
When I meet Him in the air.
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