“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus:

that if One died for all, then all died;

and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves,

but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

Chapter 5 begins with the words: “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Verse 10 speaks about judgment: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” At the end of the chapter, the Apostle calls for reconciliation with God: “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (in Christ).” (v. 20-21)

In this Lenten time, we will repeat the following words of verses 14-15: “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died…” These verses speak about the mystery of Christ’s death which is connected with our baptism and our faith in this mystery. We are still physically alive. When Jesus, the Only-Begotten Son of God, became man out of love for us and died for us, we also died in His death to evil and sin.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing,

yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction,

which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding

and eternal weight of glory.”

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

Saint Paul the Apostle tells both the Corinthians and us, using the example of the Apostles themselves, that if we love the Lord Jesus and strive to serve Him with all our strength, we must also reckon with the cross of physical exhaustion. Spiritual battle, involving prayers, sleeplessness, fastings and toil, exhausts our body and soul. Nevertheless, our spirit is renewed like the strength of the eagle. The inward man, born again of the Holy Spirit, is full of the inward power of God, a childlike joy and the love of God and people. Our spirit “rejoices in God our Saviour” and as if contrary to natural laws we come to see that as we grow older, we are more and more vigorous, filled with God’s strength, in our service to God. If not, we must repent because something is wrong with us and we are wasting our life. We are not even afraid of death because we know that God will raise us from the dead and give us a new transformed body and eternal glory in heaven. Our inward relationship and love to Christ fills us with the desire to serve God to the point of utter exhaustion and to help Him save souls.

What precedes these verses? Verses 8-9: “We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…” Verses 10 and 11, which we are going to repeat for two weeks as the Word of life, speak about the death and the life of Jesus. We read: “We are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake.” How are we to understand these words and how to put them into practice? The word “always” means that something is repeated again and again. It does not mean second by second, but in certain moments the same thing happens – we are delivered to the death of Christ. The word “always” further reveals that this statement of the Apostle Paul does not refer so much to physical martyrdom, because this happens only once, but to an inner dying for Jesus’ sake, which we can repeat every day.

“…always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,

that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake,

that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

“And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living soul.”

The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

In this regard, the Apostle Paul speaks about the resurrection of our body, beginning with verse 35 which asks: How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? The Apostle answers by comparing it to a seed sown in the ground which brings forth wheat or another plant. Verses 42-44 read: “So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory… It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” And it is followed by verse 45: “And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living soul.’” It is written in the Book of Genesis: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen 2:7) Why is it not written that he became a living body but rather that he became a living soul? The essence of spiritual, i.e. human life is the human soul which has reason, memory and will. As long as the soul is in the body, the body lives. The body without the soul is dead.

1) Repentance

(we kneel, hands down by our side)

a) I am self-willed. A self-willed person does not seek the will of God in crucial situations, does not rely on God and breaks the laws of God. Think of a particular case of your self-will and repeat in silence: “I am self-willed, I am self-willed…”

b) Hedonism may be physical – indulgence in eating, drinking, impure feelings, alcohol, drug abuse. Mental hedonism – addiction to television, rock music, internet, human praise… Think of at least one concrete manifestation of your hedonism and repeat in silence: “I am a hedonist, I am a hedonist…”

c) Criticism: Think of a particular situation when you rebelled against God or criticized your neighbors in thoughts or by words, when you regarded yourself higher than all. Repeat in silence: “I am a critic…”

“The wages of sin is death.” Jesus died for me and my sins.

[Explanation: The name of Jesus comes from the Hebrew name Yehoshua*, which means: The Lord is salvation. This is the name of God, a holy name, and the Word of God says that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom 10:13). In this name the sick were healed and demons cast out (Mk 16:17; Acts 3:16; Acts 4:10). In this prayer of “unity and power”, pronounce slowly and quietly “Ye-ho-shu-” and then breathe out the lengthened vowel “aaa” three times. This helps to abide in God and His Word at the present moment (cf. Joh 15:7)]

“But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.

He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.”

“But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.

He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.”

At the beginning of chapter 14, it is said that we should pursue love but desire earnestly spiritual gifts, especially that we may prophesy. The Apostle Paul compares the gift of prophecy with the gift of prayer in a tongue. He explains that if someone prays in an unknown tongue, other people are not edified because it is the Spirit of God who prays to God the Father from the depths of the soul and no one understands it. He who prays edifies himself but not the community. It is different with the gift of prophecy. The gift of prophecy is no fortune-telling, although it is true that sometimes God reveals future things through prophecy. But this is not the purpose of prophesying. Verse 3 says what the purpose is: 1) edification, 2) exhortation, 3) comfort. Those who pray in a tongue certainly have the experience that the Spirit of God prompts them in this prayer to realize the urgent need to pray with their whole being for a particular thing and to abide either in the promise of God or in the faith in God’s word.

“No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God.

I do not want you to be participants with demons.

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.

You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.”

The word “No” refers to the preceding verse which asks: “Is an idol anything?” So a wooden idol as such is nothing; it just symbolizes a demon.

As for sacrifices offered to these idols made of wood, metal or other material, the Scripture says that food or whatever else that is offered to them is by no means offered to God but to demons. The Word of God testifies that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God.

It is good to read carefully chapter 10, verses 1-21. It recounts how God through Moses led the Israelites in a miraculous way across the Red Sea from slavery in Egypt. It says that they were all spiritually united to Moses, and it also points out the mystery of their unity with the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. Christ had not yet come in the flesh as the Saviour, but being the Second Divine Person, He is in the same Godhead with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,

whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body

and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

This verse is preceded by verse 18 which says: “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.” A fight against sexual immorality requires heroism, especially with a young person. We can call it literally bloodless martyrdom. The saints recommended several principles. For example, in fuga salus – salvation in flight. Another motto was: principiis obsta – resist the beginnings. Jesus says concerning this: If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off; if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye or one hand than having two eyes or hands, to be cast into the everlasting fire.

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,

nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,

nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”