Second Corinthians 5:14-15 gives us the divine motivation for our life. “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 no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them, and rose again.”

The love of Christ compels us. Now, theologians, and scholars look at the phrase "the love of Christ." And the question that comes up, does this mean his love for us, or does it mean our love for him? And I really just like to simplify things. John says, “We love Him because He first loved us.” So let's just take it as both. When we respond to his love for us, we respond by increasing and growing in our love for him.

And he says that the love of Christ compels us. The word "compel" is a word that means to drive forward under pressure. It's worth stopping for each of us to ask ourselves the question, “Does it really?” Does the love of Christ move me forward? Is the love of Christ the motivating factor of my life and the things that I'm doing?

He says that the conclusion that brings us to this response is, “... because we judge this, that if One died for all, then all die.” Once again, we can take this two different ways. Christ died for all because all died in Adam. We know that's true. When Adam sinned, he brought the curse of sin and with it death. On the whole human race. Paul says, wherefore, as “by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin. And so death spread to all men,” in Romans 5:12. We all share in the curse of sin. But we could also recognize this as Christ dying for all and all dying in Him. In other words, His death encompassed the whole human race.

When Jesus Christ died on the cross and paid the penalty for sin in the sight of God, every member of the human race shared in that death. In other words, there's no antagonism, no hostility, no act of justice that needs to be done on God's part. It's all been done. He has done everything that He can short of for us to make salvation available to every member of the human race.

He goes on to say in verse 15, “and He died for all” —that is every member of the human race— “so that those who live” — these are the ones who respond to the gospel information, receive Christ by faith, enter eternal life, and they now live with Him. “He died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” Christ should be the motivating factor in the soul of every member of the human race. His death, His burial, His resurrection, and His mission to this world should be a driving force in our lives.

Learn about "The Simplicity of Salvation" here:
https://basictraining.org/simplicity-of-salvation/

This lesson was from this audio lesson here:
https://basictraining.org/all-audio-messages/?enmse=1&enmse_am=1&enmse_mid=2685&enmse_av=1

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#devotional #JesusLovesYou #mission #christ #death #gospel

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If you can't say, “I am filled with the Spirit, I am walking in the Spirit” and you say, “Well, how will I know? Am I going to see lights going off and music playing and and feel, tingle go up my back?” No. You know, that you have been honest with God and confessed any sins in your life. You've been washed clean. And as a vessel that has had the filth removed, it will automatically be filled.

The filling of the Holy Spirit is automatic to the clean soul. The moment your soul is washed, you're going to be filled by the Spirit of God. It's not something you struggle for. It's not something you have to strain for. It's not anything that you have to do anything except make sure the vessel is clean. The vessel that is in you, Paul talks, you remember in 2nd Timothy Chapter two about in a great house there are different kinds of vessels, some of gold and some of the silver. Some have wood and some have clay. Some of them are vessels of honor, some of them are vessels to dishonor. And then he says, a very amazing thing. “If any man cleanses himself ...” from these things, meaning the filth, the defilement, the corruption, “... he will be a vessel of honor.”

You are a vessel and that vessel is intended to be full and your vessel is always full of something. I'm sure you've probably had people tell you that, but from a spiritual point of view, we are either filled with the flesh or filled with the Spirit.

Look at it this way. I like the way Tozer said it many years ago. He said, in every soul there are two things. There's a cross and there's a throne. Whichever one you take, Christ is going to take the other. If you want the throne in your life, if you want to be in the driver's seat, you're putting Him on the cross.

The author of Hebrews, didn't he talking Hebrews about crucifying the Son of God afresh and putting him to an open shame? That's what we do when we try to take the throne of our life. But when we're willing to take the cross, guess who gets the throne? What was it Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow after.”

It's very simple. We have to make sure we're clean. God has made provision because he's told us that, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.” And it it defies explanation. It boggles my mind that so many Christians, if you ask him, “how long has it been since you confess your sins to God?” They can't even remember. For me, it's usually 5 or 10 minutes ago. It's not something you just do once a week. It's something you do whenever you need it. How often do you clean a glass to take a drink? Whenever it needs it.

You can be in a gathering like this. You look across the room, you see somebody who has some characteristic that just strikes you as off and you pass judgment on them. You don't realize you just cut yourself off. You just pulled the plug of your spiritual power.

Learn about "The Simplicity of Salvation" here:
https://basictraining.org/simplicity-of-salvation/

Download or order the free booklet “The Gift” here: https://basictraining.org/the-gift/

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The five circles of faith are described for us in the scriptures.

We begin with the circle of the 500. You remember in 1st Corinthians 15:6, the apostle Paul talks of the 500 who had witnessed the resurrected Christ. Those people were blessed with an exciting experience. It would have been wonderful to be in that circle who saw the resurrected Christ on this earth. We'll call the circle of the 500 the Circle of Witness — the Circle of Witness, because they were able to testify to others that Christ had indeed risen from the dead. So the Circle of Witness 1st Corinthians 15:6.

Then we also see in the Scripture the circle of 70 in Luke 10:1. And these were the 70 that Jesus sent out to the various towns and cities to prepare for His coming. We'll call the Circle of 70, the Circle of Service. It’s one thing to be a witness for Christ; it's a little bit higher level to enter into His service.

Third, we have the circle of the 12. This circle is spoken of in Matthew 10:1-4. When Jesus called His disciples to Him, and He identified 12 of them to be with Him and to work with Him, and we'll call the circle of 12 the Circle of Discipleship. Discipleship refers to discipline, training, and service, so they became known as His disciples.

The fourth circle is the Circle of the three. We find these in Matthew 17:1. They're mentioned in other passages. This is Peter, James, and John. You remember that Peter, James and John were allowed to experience three things with Jesus. None of the other disciples experienced. They were on the Mount of Transfiguration. They were present at the raising of Jairus’ daughter, and they were the only three that He took with Him apart in the Garden of Gethsemane. They experienced exciting things, powerful things, but they also had to experience a sorrow like none they had ever known before. So this is the Circle of the Trusted. They were entrusted with things that the others did not experience.

And then finally we have the circle of the one, the circle of the one who we find in John chapter 20:2. And this is the disciple Jesus who loved, the disciple Jesus loved. This is we could call this the Circle of the Friend. Do you know what made John unique? He mentions how much Jesus loved him and Jesus loved them all. It's not that He loved John more than He loved the others. It’s that that John was more amazed and impressed that Jesus loved him. And I think that made all the difference in the world.

The original series is here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ_xQpA2nSPmppoJirKv-vD6Pu3H5q2Bp

The simplicity of salvation is explained here: https://basictraining.org/simplicity-of-salvation/

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#jesus #friends
#jesuschrist #fellowship #jesuslovesyou #christianity #christ #god #devotional

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