Either way, Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
His love compels us and controls us—what a powerful description of the Christian life. We are compelled by Jesus’ love. The church is to be compelled by Jesus love. The word for control here means that we are “wholly owned by”—this picture of having given completely over to a controlling force and letting go of all control in order to be owned.
You can do the work of God for a lot of reasons—the praise of people, to please someone else, for public recognition, to protect your staff, or to serve out of loyalty to those around you. The only thing that keeps us in the game long term is the love of Christ. Paul was compelled by love. That’s the right reason—the first reason, the primary reason. This was the reason that God first took action for us. He was compelled by his love for us—God’s love took action.
