10) For we must all appear before the judgment
seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body,
according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
11) Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we
persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made
manifest in your consciences.
12) For we commend not ourselves again unto you,
but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to
answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.
13) For whether we be
beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.
14) For the love of Christ constraineth
us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
15) And that he died for all, that they which
live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for
them, and rose again.
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he
Word of God is clear that when we attain truth, we must give up any “rights”
that we have been led to believe that we have. When we embrace and accept the
fact that our flesh and its desires are unimportant, we will avoid the
difficulty of trying to serve two masters.
Even
though the Lord knows what He wants us to accomplish, we have our own idea.
Generally, the two differ, for we find it difficult to believe that anyone
could know best about us or for us, but us. Which, of course,
makes this issue one of trust.
Let’s
look at something: if such a great price was paid for our salvation, the Lord
obviously had a reason—a great purpose—in redeeming us. It is really so
unreasonable that He would ask us to live unto Him? Living unto Him means
following His footsteps, therefore, to accomplish His purpose we must learn to
follow Him.
Through
the Holy Spirit, we are given the power to stand in victory. If we are “living
unto Jesus,” we will be, indeed, already are victorious in all situations. If
we find that we are not successful in what we are trying to accomplish, we need
to look at the object of our efforts. No doubt, we will find that object to be
ourselves.
By
now, there should be no questioning of the fact that we are to be living to
glorifying God. By now, the fact that this requires the casting off of self
should be no revelation. By now, with all that we know and understand, we should
be beyond where we are.
Much
of that with which we struggle could be eliminated by understanding one thing:
All must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Anyone who has ever lived
will have to make account of all things done in the body. This should be more
of a reality to the redeemed than to anyone else.
We
must always be aware of the fact that, out of all others, the Lord knows that
we are in a different “place” with Him than where we believe. As successful aw
we might be in deceiving others and ourselves, He keeps accurate records and we
will have to answer to Him for that which we actually do, rather than what we
think we have done.
With
the mind-set that exists in the world, today, some people are satisfied with
the thought of just making it to heaven. But what must become a part of our
very being is a desire to accomplish something for the Lord: to please Him, as
opposed to simply “getting by.”
Our
scripture text, speaks of the “terror of the Lord” (meaning judgment). What we
need to understand is that there is a price to be paid for disobedience to God.
By dedicating ourselves to others), we can be instrumental in sparing others
that “terror.” We would all be helped by learning to read scripture strictly as
what God said, rather than as what can be read into it.
Too
many, upon meeting opposition for standing on the Word, begin preaching the
“nobody’s perfect, so just do the best that you can” doctrine. Let’s face it:
this things correctly requires one to make sacrifices.
One cannot be saved trying to please himself. The only
way for one who is saved to be happy is to work toward pleasing Jesus.
The
living that we do should be so that the world might come to the knowledge of
salvation. Each of us know our responsibility to “live
unto Jesus,” but too many try to do that and live unto themselves,
simultaneously. This never works and cannot be done.
The
power with which we have been invested through the Holy Ghost goes before us.
His purpose is to conquer the ordinary “day-to-day” hassles of this life that
we might concentrate on the extraordinary work of winning souls.
We
have been given the means to live for Christ to be glorified. We have been
given the power to live so that others might be won. As we know, this
frequently involves trials and tests. Trials and tests which we attempt to
avoid at all costs. The question is, since trials and tests “mold” and “make”
us, and since we have no idea what He intends to make us, why not relax and be
surprised at the end?
It
is a foregone conclusion that nothing can stop or hinder us when we “live unto
Jesus.” Perhaps if we understood God’s “intentions” toward us, we would be
helped. You see, He wants it never to be far from our minds that He wants us to
need Him. Man’s point is to prove that he needs no one. Obviously, the two
cannot coexist. Salvation is about the complete loss of oneself to the Lord.
So, one who will be a part of Him, of necessity, must become one with Him! God
cannot and will not abide one who lives for Himself, for there can be only one
Lord and He must be the only one Lord and He must be the who
leads.
The
admonishment to “live unto Jesus” cannot be ignored. Man is trying to “occupy”
salvation in various “degrees” and by various methods, but one thing that
remains constant is truth. And the truth is that without the total absorption
of self by Jesus, there is no salvation.