Living For Christ, Driven By Love

10 For we must all be exposed before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive back for his deeds according to what he has done in the body, whether good or bad.  11 Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord we persuade men but to God we are exposed and I hope that we are exposed also in your conscience.  12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but we are giving you an occasion to boast about us, so that you may have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart.  13 For if we seem to make no sense, it is for God, if we are of sound mind, it is for you.  14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died on behalf of all, as a result, all died.  15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised up.

Big Idea: Our awareness of Christ's love and the reality of divine judgment motivates us to live righteously and share the gospel passionately.

Fear of The Lord Motivates 10 For we must all be exposed before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive back for his deeds according to what he has done in the body, whether good or bad.  11 Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord we persuade men but to God we are exposed and I hope that we are exposed also in your conscience.

“Knowing the fear of the Lord”

· Fear of the Lord means having a deep respect and reverence for God, not in terror but in love and honor. 

· Fear of the Lord should shape how we live and how seriously we take our calling as children of God.

· Having a proper fear of the Lord means not living casually in your faith.  Choices in relationships, media, school, and habits should reflect God’s holiness.

Persuade men

· πείθω – to cause someone to come to a particular point of view.

· This can also include persuasion in an unfavorable sense – through cajoling or misleading someone.

· We seek to persuade others by speaking the truth in love knowing that one day, they also will stand in judgement before God.

· Hebrews 10:31 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God”

· Hebrews 12:29 Our God is a consuming fire.

Exposed to God

· Same word used in verse 10 – “we must all be exposed to the judgment seat of Christ”

· Something is exposed when it is brought into the light.  God is light and in Him there is no darkness (1 John 1:5).  He sees into our heart and understands our thoughts and motives. 

· Human pride, arrogance, and boosting vanish away before Him.

· Paul’s life and work was an open book before God.  Our goal in life should be like Paul’s – to live every day in a way that is pleasing to the Lord (v 5:9).

Exposed into your conscience

· 2 Corinthians 1:12–13 (ESV) 12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 13 For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand.

· This is an honorable boast – to be able to say to others that before God your conscience is clean and that you have conducted yourself with simplicity and sincerity by the grace of God (not your own doing, but his work in your life).

· Several accusations were thrown at Paul by some in Corinth:

o  He was accused of being unreliable and fickle in his decisions (1 Cor 1:15-24). 

o He was called a peddler of God’s Word (v2:17), someone who sold the gospel message to others for profit and personal gain. 

o It was said that he did not have the proper credentials that would give him the authority to preach and teach as he does (vv. 3:1-3).  Presumably, these credentials would need to come from those who were big shots in the church.  Paul’s credential was direct from the Lord on the Damascus Road.

o He was slandered as someone who wronged, corrupted, or exploited the Corinthians (v. 7:2).

God Sees The Heart 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but we are giving you an occasion to boast about us, so that you may have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart.

· God sees within the heart.  He doesn’t look at outward appearances.  If we live with hypocrisy or deceit in our heart, God knows.  If we are insincere in our faith, God knows.

· Paul challenges the Corinthians to look honestly at his life and work and they will see that what he says about himself is true.  He is but a slave, a servant of Christ who wakes every day with the goal of being pleasing to the Lord.

· Those who take pride in appearances are people who put value on outward show – on appearing spiritual and godly.  But true godliness is based on love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith (1 Timothy 1:5).

· Paul wants the Corinthians to defend him before those who slander and accuse him of having bad motives and desires.  Those who take pride in outward appearance are serving their flesh and not God.

· Trying to appear spiritual before others is exalting yourself and is not living with honesty before others

Putting On a Show Or Putting Others First 13 For if we seem to make no sense, it is for God, if we are of sound mind, it is for you.

Out of our mind – refers to being in ecstasy.

Christ’s Love Controls Us 14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died on behalf of all, as a result, all died

Jesus came to represent all of mankind before God.  Since he represents all of humanity, his death, (he died even though he lived a sinless life) leads to the conclusion that all people have died as well.  Grechen Machen put it this way,

“The death that he died on the cross was in itself the death of all…  Since Christ was the representative of all, therefore all may have been said to have died there on the cross outside Jerusalem when Christ died” (God Trancendant, p.145)

Christ’s love controls and impels us to action.  What Jesus did on the cross has an impact for everyone.  For those who believe in Jesus, the gift of God that flows from God’s love is eternal life.  God’s love compels us to share his beauty and love with others.  The one who died for all as a representative brought benefits to all to all those who should die because of their sin.  The benefits of eternal life are for all who believe.  The doctrine of limited atonement taught by some waters down the love of God for the whole world (all humanity) and puts limits on the universal outreach of the Gospel.

Living For Him Instead Of For Self 15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised up.

Jesus’ death for those who believe calls for a new way of living.  He laid down His life for us and asks us to lay down our self-centered ways and live for Him.  He died to himself for our sake.  We can have a new life in Christ, but to have it, we must become like Him and die to self as well.  We are no longer to allow our selfish desires to corrupt the way we regard and treat others.  Jesus died to save us, but not so that we can continue to pursue a life in opposition with God’s plan and desires for you.  We are not to continue living selfishly but to live for the one who gave everything to us.

The Holy Spirit will show you areas in your life where you are living for your self – for your comfort, for your popularity, for your goals.   Listening to the Spirit and following His leading transforms us into the image of Christ.  This gives our life meaning and eternal impact.