“For the love of Christ compels us,” said Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:14 (NKJV). The word “compel” is translated “constraineth” in the King James and “controls” in the RSV. It comes from the Greek sunecho, indicating the idea of holding something together lest it fall apart or be broken into pieces (Vine). It is used with a curious variety of connotations, including the crowds pressing Jesus (Luke 8:45), Jerusalem being surrounded by armies (Luke 19:43) and the affliction of the sick with various diseases (Matthew 4:24). Is Paul saying, “The love of Christ holds us together”?
A familiar verse bears even another nuance. In Philippians 1:23 Paul expresses his plight of being “hard-pressed” between two options – staying and working with brethren on earth or going on to be with the Lord. Perhaps the best reflection of the 2 Corinthians contextual meaning is found in Acts 18:5, where “Paul was compelled by the Spirit,” and so “testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.” The Spirit pressed Paul to do the necessary work of evangelism. The Spirit held him together as he engaged in a most difficult task that often invoked the disdain of the listeners.
That seems to be the meaning in 2 Corinthians 5:14. Earlier in the chapter, the apostle had cited the coming judgment and “terror of the Lord” as a motivation for persuading men of their need to turn to the Savior (vs. 9-11). Fear of an afterlife of torment is still and shall always be – in spite of naysayers – an appropriate motivation for the preaching of and obedience to the Gospel. Nevertheless, the later verses of the chapter turn toward the positive view of salvation from such a plight. (Note: The positive deserves an exalted place in preaching. The message of Christ is positive. Yet, as pleasure is the counter to suffering, who would know the meaning of the positive without the offsetting homiletic exposure of the negative?)
That positive view is that the love of Christ holds the messenger together and motivates him to the proclamation of the message of reconciliation to God in Christ (vs. 15-21). Separation, particularly from Creator and Savior God, is the negative. It is caused by selfish living and the resultant sin. Reconciliation (“to change from enmity to friendship, to reconcile” [Vine]) is the positive. Disjoined elements (in this case, God and man) are brought back together. “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, blameless, and above reproach in His sight” (Colossians 1:21-22). The “word” and “ministry” of reconciliation had been committed to Paul and the apostles (2 Corinthians 5:18-19), so that their function as “ambassadors of Christ” was not only to persuade out of terror (2 Corinthians 5:11) but also to plead from the compelling nature of the love of Christ (vs. 20, 14). After all, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (5:21).
Separation from God is terrifying. Salvation is ever-so-pleasantly reconciling. Both ought to compel all men to live and preach the saving Gospel of the Christ.
Works Cited
Vine, W. E., Merrill F. Unger and William White. Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville: Nelson, 1996.
