Obedience in Light of Judgment

Introduction:

Paul has explained to the Corinthians why has not fainted, or stated positively, we he has not yet grown exhausted.

Paul, like the rest of us, had to face undesirable situations while in the flesh.

So, despite not living under the conditions he would prefer, he must keep something else in mind.

Let us be reminded what Paul associated withe fainting from 2 Cor. 4:1-3.

Pleasing God, Our Real Purpose

Paul’s discussion of the present and future states, and his personal desire, have brought him to make a key point to the Corinthians.

He expresses to them his aspiration, the honor he most lives and desires to be reality.

He wants for himself and those writing with him to be “pleasing ones to him.”

Paul’s apostleship, and therefore his life, is oriented toward pleasing God.

Any life lived properly has pleasing God as its chief aim.

This contradicts a modern view of Christianity that God’s chief goal is to enable us to do what pleases ourselves.

The Judgment Seat, the Lynch Pin

Paul explains the importance of the judgment.

He wanted to please Christ because he understood that he would stand before Christ and account for his life.

Notice the emphasis on the physical body, “through the body.”

Judgment, then, will not be merely an assessment of ones beliefs but of how one lived out those beliefs in the world.

This means, harping back to 2 Cor. 4, and perhaps digging at his opponents, it is not merely claims that matter. The life manifests the reality of the claims. Paul wanted his life to be unimpeachable by Christ or by mankind.

This judgment kept an important level of fear for Paul.

Notice how 2 Cor. 5:11-12 now turns this argument outward.

Paul wasn’t motivated by the fear of the Lord for his own judgment.

Neither was he preaching a message to which he saw himself unattached.

This was real for him and for all.

His life was lived open for all, including God, to see and to know.