2 Corinthians 5:9-11 – We Aim To Please
God’s covenant faithfulness provokes us to obedience. It’s a response that naturally makes sense. Paul’s outlined the miracle of the new birth in Jesus Christ and has detailed all of these wonderful things that God has done for us. We have crossed over from death into life. He has given us the hope of everlasting life. He has assured us that upon our deaths we will pass immediately into glory. So what should our response be? Callous indifference? Paul says here that instead of a callous indifference, we respond in faith, we respond in hope, and added to that we respond in obedience to our Lord. It’s this obedience that grows out of a gratefulness for what God has done for us.
A second aspect of that grateful response refers to the judgment seat of Christ. Paul says that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. If you’re looking at the judgment seat of Christ from the perspective of your needing to be perfect, then it’s a terrifying prospect. God demands perfect righteousness. And so it’s right that God would judge those, who do not trust in Christ, according to their works in this life. But what about Christians? That perfect obedience that God demands is supplied by Jesus Christ. Jesus obeyed for us. And in our place, He suffered the wrath of God for us. He took our punishment on the cross, and He gave to us His inheritance and eternal life. Paul says not only does he look favorably upon us in a judicial sense, He declares us to be righteous, but He also receives our works as pleasing in his sight. So God rewards the wicked according to their wickedness, and He gives a reward to the righteous, those trusting in Christ, based on grace. Out of grateful obedience then, out of gratefulness for his grace, we will look to please the Lord.
Evangelism is a response to God’s grace and faithfulness to us. We aim to please God through the persuading of men. We act in such a way, like Paul did, so that his conscience was clear. His actions were well known to God, he says, and he trusts they were well known before men. And so, too, our behavior in the eyes of the watching world is to promote and to show our grateful obedience for what God has done for us. Out of the overflow of our hearts, we speak of the goodness of God to us, the forgiveness of our sins. Out of the fear of the Lord, out of holy reverence, we seek to persuade men, telling them of the hope of everlasting life.
Question
- What is our response to what Christ has done for us?
Prayer Points
- Pray that you would seek to please God.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.