Living For Self?

 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.

-Second Corinthians 5:14-15 (King James Version)

New life. Changed life. New Creature. All these phrases are used in describing how our life is in Jesus. We have a new life, we have a changed life, we are a new creature. 

Paul writes "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then all were dead: 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." Paul is saying, here, that the love of Jesus urges us to live for Him. We believe that He died for all, your sins and mine, and we believe that we all were dead in our sins. Not physically dead (yet), but spiritually. Sin separates us from God, therefore, we are dead in sins. All of us. Yet, the love of Jesus urges us toward Him and His forgiveness. Verse 15 teaches that He died for all of us. Jesus died for your sins, my sins, and the sins of the whole world. Because of that, because of His death, forgiveness of those sins is available. 

Yet, there is one more thing we must understand. Jesus died for us, and when we give our lives to Him, and receive His forgiveness, we must not live any longer for ourselves. We must not live in the same way as before. His forgiveness doesn't give me permission or the right to live my life my way. If it were that way, then there would be no reason as to why Jesus came, suffered and died. It's because of my sin, and everyone's sin, that Jesus came, suffered and died. Paul is teaching that we no longer live for ourselves, but that we must live unto Jesus. We must live the life that He has called us to. Why? Because Jesus didn't just die, He rose again. Through His resurrection, He defeated death. Sin has no power over us.

The question is, are you living for Jesus, or living for self? Think About It.