2 Corinthians 5:11\u201315 (NIV)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11<\/sup><\/em> Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. <\/em>12<\/sup><\/em> We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. <\/em>13<\/sup><\/em> If we are \u201cout of our mind,\u201d as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. <\/em>14<\/sup><\/em> For Christ\u2019s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. <\/em>15<\/sup><\/em> And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.<\/em> After declaring his goal to please God, knowing that someday he will have to account to God for the things he has done, (SEE MY LAST DEVOTION THOUGHT), Paul begins to talk about his motivations for sharing the gospel. 1. Paul\u2019s first motivation is the FEAR<\/strong> of having to give an account to Christ as to whether or not he has given the Lord pleasure by sharing in the Lord\u2019s concern for the lost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 Corinthians 5:11 (NIV). \u201cSince, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others\u2026.\u201d<\/em> We should not only share the gospel of Christ, but we should seek to persuade those with whom we share to receive Christ. The fear of the Lord is not only our motivation to share, but we should let others know that there is reason to fear God. While fearing God is not the highest motivation to come to God, it is one of the motivations. We are not so much speaking of fearing hell or punishment as we are speaking of fearing that we miss out on a relationship with God. Fear of punishment alone leads us to a fire insurance mentality. 2. Paul\u2019s second motivation for sharing the gospel is the power of CHRIST\u2019S LOVE<\/strong>. 2 Corinthians 5:14 (NIV). \u201cFor Christ\u2019s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The love of Christ is a balance to the fear of God. Both Christ\u2019s love for us and our love for him should compel us to share that love with others. 3. Paul\u2019s third motivation for sharing the gospel is in THE HOPE OF A CHANGE OF PURPOSE IN<\/strong> LIFE<\/strong> for those who receive Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:15 (NIV) \u201cAnd he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.\u201d Life for believers is not about us. It is all about Him. We live for the risen Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:11\u201315 (NIV) 11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3355"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3355"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3361,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3355\/revisions\/3361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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