Constrained. Hemmed in. The word speaks of a limitation on our choices. We recall that in Romans 6 he goes so far as to call this a slavery to righteousness.
Suffice it to say that I do not feel like a slave to righteousness. But the way that Paul addresses this issue has nothing to do with how one feels. It has to do with our understanding. When he wants to explain why it is that he is constrained by the love of Christ, he goes directly to this level of understanding. "Because I have come to this conclusion . . . "
if One died for all, then all died. And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised.Although he is speaking of a great mystery (the exchange of Christ's righteousness for our guilt), he says, since I have come to this conclusion, that such an exchange has taken place, I find myself constrained by the very love that such an exchange so strongly implies. That's the only point I want to make this morning. Paul does not draw his conclusions from how he feels, but from what he knows. His assumption is that our behavior, our lives and loves, flow from our understanding. It is to the mind that Paul often appeals in this way, and not to the heart.
In this same manner he says in Romans, "Reckon yourself dead to sin." Reckon up the price God paid in Christ to redeem your sin, and in the final tally you will have to conclude, no matter how often your behavior attests to a different reckoning (a different understanding, a different cost/benefit analysis), that you really are dead to sin.
All this is very strange, and I confess it is difficult for me. If I look at myself, I cannot conclude that I am dead to sin, or that I am constrained by the love of Christ. But if I look to Christ Himself, I wonder how it can ever be otherwise!
That's all for now. Have a fine weekend and a truly restful Sabbath.
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