2 Corinthians 5:14

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

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: For - accounting for his being 'beside himself' with enthusiasm: the love of Christ toward

The love of Christ signifieth either that love towards the sons of men which was in Christ before the foundation of the world; for even then he was rejoicing in the habitable part of the earth, and his delight was with the sons of men: which love showed itself in time, in his coming and assuming our natures, and dying upon the cross for us; : Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Or else it signifieth that habit of love to Christ, which is in every believer; for it is true of either of these, that they constrain a believer’ s soul. Because (saith the apostle) we thus account, or reason, that if one died for all. All here is interpreted according to the various notions of men, about the extent of the death of Christ. Some by the term understanding all individuals; some, all the elect, or all those that should believe in Christ; others, some of all nations, Jews or Gentiles. Be it as it will, that point is not to be determined by this universal particle, which is as often in Scripture used in a restrained sense, as in a more general sense. The apostle here concludeth, that if one died for all, then were all dead; which is to be understood of a spiritual death, as . And the apostle’ s argument dependeth upon this, that if all, for whom Christ died, had not been dead in sin, there then had been no need of his dying for to expiate their sin, and to redeem them from the guilt and power of it; but be they what they would, for whom Christ died, whether all individuals, or all the elect only, his dying for them was a manifest evidence that they were dead.

14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: Ver. 14. The love of Christ, &c.] As reward hath an attractive, and punishment an impulsive, so love hath a compulsive faculty. This love of Christ had so closed in St Paul, so hemmed him in, and begirt him round, that his adversaries reported him a mad man, as 2 Corinthians 5:13; he erred in love toward his sweet Saviour, and even exhaled has blessed soul in continual sallies, as it were, and expressions of his dear affection to the Lord Jesus. The word συνεχει he here useth, imports that he was even shut up by his love to his dear Lord, as in a pound or pinfold, so that he could not get out. He had meditated so much upon Christ’ s love, donec totus fixus in corde, qui totus fixus in cruce, that his heart was turned into a lump of love. Then were all dead] All the body suffered in and with Christ the head, and so are freed by his death, Hebrews 2:9, as if themselves in person had died.

(14) For the love of Christ constraineth us.—The Greek, like the English, admits of two interpretations—Christ’s love for us, or our love for Christ. St. Paul’s uniform use of this and like phrases, however, elsewhere (Romans 5:5; Romans 8:35; 1 Corinthians 16:24; 2 Corinthians 13:14), is decisive in favour of the former. It was the Apostle’s sense of the love that Christ had shown to him and to all men that was acting as a constraining power, directing every act of every spiritual state to the good of others, restraining him from every self-seeking purpose. Because we thus judge, that if one died for all.—Better, as expressing the force of the Greek tense, Because we formed this judgment. The form of expression implies that the conviction dated from a given time, i.e., probably, from the hour when, in the new birth of his conversion, he first learnt to know the universality of the love of Christ manifested in His death. Many MSS. omit the “if,” but without any real change of meaning. It is obvious that St. Paul assumes the fact, even if it be stated hypothetically. The thought is the same as in the nearly contemporary passage of Rom 5:15-19, and takes its place among St. Paul’s most unqualified assertions of the universality of the atonement effected by Christ’s death. The Greek preposition does not in itself imply more than the fact that the death was on behalf of all; but this runs up—as we see by comparing Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, with Mark 14:24, John 15:13—into the thought that the death was, in some very real sense, vicarious: in the place of the death of all men. The sequence of thought involves that meaning here. Then were all dead.—These strange, mysterious words have received very different interpretations. They cannot be rightly understood without bearing in view what we may call the mystic aspect of one phase of St. Paul’s teaching. We may, perhaps, clear the way by setting aside untenable expositions. (1) They cannot mean, however true the fact may be in itself, that the death of Christ for all showed that all were previously under a sentence of condemnation and of death, for the verb is in the tense which indicates the momentary act of dying, not the state of death. (2) They cannot mean, for the same reason, that all were, before that sacrifice, “dead in trespasses and sins.” (3) They can hardly mean that all men, in and through that death, paid vicariously the penalty of death for their past sins, for the context implies that stress is laid not on the satisfaction of the claims of justice, but on personal union with Christ. The real solution of the problem is found in the line of thought of Rom 5:17-19, 1 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Corinthians 15:22, as to the relation of Christ to every member of the human family, in the teaching of Rom 6:10, as to the meaning of His death—(“He died unto sin once”).

Verse 14. 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 labour for the salvation of men. And it is the effect produced by this love which συνεχειημας, bears us away with itself, which causes us to love after the similitude of that love by which we are influenced; and as God so loved the world as to give his Son for it, and aa Christ so loved the world as to pour out his life for it, so we, influenced by the very same love, desire to spend and be spent for the glory of God, and the salvation of immortal souls. By the fear of God the apostles endeavoured to persuade and convince men, and the love of Christ constrained them so to act. If one died for all, then were all dead] The first position the apostle takes for granted; viz. that Jesus Christ died for ALL mankind. This no apostolic man nor primitive Christian ever did doubt or could doubt. The second position he infers from the first, and justly too; for if all had not been guilty, and consigned to eternal death because of their sins there could have been no need of his death. Therefore, as he most certainly died for ALL, then all were dead, and needed his sacrifice, and the quickening power of his Spirit.

14. For the love of Christ constraineth us] i.e. the love which Christ has not only displayed, but imparted (De Wette). He refers to Romans 8:35; Ephesians 3:19 (which however must be read in the light of 2 Corinthians 5:17-18). The word translated constrain signifies to coop up, keep within narrow bounds. Cf. Luke 12:50, where the same word occurs. It is also used by St Luke of diseases, as in Luke 4:38; Acts 28:8, and of a multitude crowding, as in Luke 8:45. Here it means ‘prevents us from doing anything but serve you for Christ’s sake.’because we thus judge] Not merely equivalent to think, but strictly judge, i.e. form an opinion upon sufficient evidence.that if one died for all, then were all dead] Most modern editors omit the ‘if,’ which is not contained in any of the best MSS. nor versions (except the Vulgate), and render thus, ‘That one died for all: therefore all died, not ‘were dead’ as in the A. V. The meaning of the Apostle would seem to be not that all men were dead in trespasses and sins, and therefore needed one to die for them, but that the death of Christ, Who had taken upon Himself to represent mankind before His Father’s throne, was in a sense a death of all mankind (οἱπάντες—all collectively. Wordsworth). “What Christ did for Humanity was done by Humanity.” Robertson. Cf. Romans 6:6; Romans 6:10; Romans 7:4; Romans 7:6 (margin); Ephesians 2:13; Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 1:20-22; Hebrews 9:28; Hebrews 10:10. Also Galatians 2:19-20,‘I through law died to law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ.’

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.

14. Love of Christ—Christ’s love to us, not ours to him; his love sublimely displayed in his death for us. Ephesians 3:19; Romans 8:35; Romans 8:37.