Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Corinthians 5:14

"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died;" — 2 Corinthians 5:14 (ASV)

For the love of Christ. In this verse, Paul brings into view the principle that motivated him; the reason for his extraordinary and unselfish zeal. That was, that he was influenced by the love Christ had shown in dying for all people, and by the argument that was furnished by that death concerning the actual character and condition of humanity (in this verse); and of the obligation of those who professed to be His true friends (2 Corinthians 5:15).

The phrase "the love of Christ" (agapē tou Christou) may denote either the love Christ has for us, and which He has manifested, or our love toward Him. In the former sense, the phrase "the love of God" is used in Romans 5:8 and 2 Corinthians 13:13; and the phrase "love of Christ" in Ephesians 3:17.

The phrase is used in the latter sense in John 15:9-10 and Romans 8:35. It is impossible to determine the sense with certainty, and it is only by the view that is taken of the connection and of the argument that will in any way determine the meaning. Expositors differ in regard to it.

It seems to me that the phrase here means the love Christ had toward us. Paul speaks of His dying for all as the reason why he was urged on to the course of self-denial which he evinced. Christ died for all. All were dead. Christ evinced His great love for us, and for all, by giving Himself to die; and it was this love Christ had shown that impelled Paul to his own acts of love and self-denial. He gave himself to his great work, impelled by that love Christ had shown; by the view of the ruined condition of humanity which that work furnished; and by a desire to emulate the Redeemer, and to possess the same spirit He evinced.

Constraineth us. synechei. This word (synechō) properly means, to hold together, to press together, to shut up; then to press on, urge, impel, or excite. Here it means that the impelling or exciting motive in the labors and self-denials of Paul was the love of Christ—the love He had shown to humankind. Christ so loved the world as to give Himself for it. His love for the world was a demonstration that people were dead in sins. And we, being urged by the same love, are prompted to similar acts of zeal and self-denial to save the world from ruin.

Because we thus judge. Greek, "We judging this;" that is, we thus determine in our own minds, or we thus decide; or this is our firm conviction and belief—we come to this conclusion.

That if one died for all. On the supposition that one died for all; or taking it for granted that one died for all, then it follows that all were dead. The "one" who died for all here is undoubtedly the Lord Jesus. The word "for" (hyper) means in the place of, instead of.

See Philemon 1:13, and 2 Corinthians 5:20 of this chapter. It means that Christ took the place of sinners, and died in their place; that He endured what was an ample equivalent for all the punishment that would be inflicted if they were to suffer the just penalty of the law. He endured so much suffering, and God, by His great substituted sorrows, made such an expression of His hatred of sin, as to achieve the same purpose in expressing His sense of the evil of sin, and in restraining others from transgression, as would have been achieved if the guilty were to suffer the full penalty of the law personally.

If this was done, of course the guilty might be pardoned and saved, since all the purposes that could be accomplished by their destruction have been accomplished by the substituted sufferings of the Lord Jesus. See the comments on Romans 3:25 and Romans 3:26, where this subject is considered at length. The phrase "for all," (hyper pantōn), obviously means for all humankind; for every person.

This is an extremely important expression in regard to the extent of the atonement which the Lord Jesus made. While it proves that His death was vicarious, that is, in the place of others, and for their sakes, it also demonstrates that the atonement was general, and had, considered in itself, no limitation, and no particular reference to any class or condition of people, and no particular applicability to one class more than to another.

There was nothing in the nature of the atonement that limited it to any one class or condition; there was nothing in the design that made it, in itself, any more applicable to one portion of humankind than to another. And whatever may be true in regard to the fact as to its actual applicability, or in regard to the purpose of God to apply it, it is demonstrated by this passage that His death had an original applicability to all, and that the merits of that death were sufficient to save all. The argument in favor of the general atonement, from this passage, consists in the following points:

1. That Paul assumes this as a matter that was well known, indisputable, and universally admitted: that Christ died for all. He did not deem it necessary to enter into the argument to prove it, nor even to state it formally. It was so well known, and so universally admitted, that he made it a first principle—an elementary position—a maxim on which to base another important doctrine—namely, that all were dead. It was a point which he assumed that no one would call in question; a doctrine which might be laid down as the basis of an argument—like one of the first principles or maxims in science.

2. It is the plain and obvious meaning of the expression—the sense which strikes all people, unless they have some theory to support to the contrary. It requires all the ingenuity that people can ever command to make it appear even plausible that this is consistent with the doctrine of a limited atonement—much more to establish that it does not mean all.

   If a person is told that all the human family must die, the obvious interpretation is that it applies to every individual. If told that all the passengers on board a steamboat were drowned, the obvious interpretation is that every individual was meant. If told that a ship was wrecked, and that all the crew perished, the obvious interpretation would be that none escaped.

   If told that all the inmates of a hospital were sick, it would be understood that there was not an individual who was not sick. Such is the view which would be taken by nine hundred and ninety-nine persons out of a thousand, if told that Christ died for all; nor could they conceive how this could be consistent with the statement that He died only for the elect, and that the elect were only a small part of the human family.

3. This interpretation is in accordance with all the explicit declarations on the design of the death of the Redeemer. Hebrews 2:9: That He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. Compare John 3:16: God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 1 Timothy 2:6: Who gave Himself a ransom for all. See Matthew 20:28: The Son of man came to give His life a ransom for many. 1 John 2:2: And He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

4. The fact also, that on the ground of the atonement made by the Redeemer salvation is offered to all people by God, is a proof that He died for all. The apostles were directed to go into all the world, and to preach the gospel to every creature, with the assurance that he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved (Mark 16:16), and everywhere in the Bible the most full and free offers of salvation are made to all humankind. Compare Isaiah 55:1; John 7:37; Revelation 22:17.

   These offers are made on the ground that the Lord Jesus died for people (John 3:16). They are offers of salvation through the gospel, of the pardon of sin, and of eternal life to be made to every creature. But if Christ died only for a part; if there is a large portion of the human family for whom He died in no sense whatever; if there is no provision of any kind made for them, then God must know this, and then the offers cannot be made with sincerity, and God is tantalizing them with the offers of that which does not exist, and which He knows does not exist.

   It is of no use here to say that the preacher does not know who the elect are, and that he is obliged to make the offer to all in order that the elect may be reached. For it is not the preacher only who offers the gospel. It is God who does it, and He knows who the elect are, and yet He offers salvation to all. And if there is no salvation provided for all, and no possibility that all to whom the offer comes should be saved, then God is insincere; and there is no way possible of vindicating His character.

5. If this interpretation is not correct, and if Christ did not die for all, then the argument of Paul here is a non sequitur, and is worthless. The demonstration that all are dead, according to him, is that Christ died for all. But suppose that he meant, or that he knew, that Christ died only for a part—for the elect—then how would the argument stand, and what would be its force?

   "Christ died only for a portion of the human race, therefore ALL are sinners. Medicine is provided only for a part of humankind, therefore all are sick. Pardon is offered to part only, therefore all are guilty." But Paul never reasoned in this way. He believed that Christ died for all humankind, and on the ground of that he inferred at once that all needed such an atonement; that all were sinners, and that all were exposed to the wrath of God. And the argument is in this way, and in this way only, sound. But still it may be asked, what is the force of this argument? How does the fact that Christ died for all prove that all were sinners, or dead in sin? I answer:

   1. In the same way as providing medicine for all proves that all are sick, or liable to be sick; and offering pardon to all who are in a prison proves that all there are guilty. What an insult it is to offer medicine to a person in health, or pardon to a person who has violated no law! And there would be the same insult in offering salvation to a person who was not a sinner, and who did not need forgiveness.

   2. The dignity of the Sufferer, and the extent of His sufferings, prove that all were under a deep and dreadful load of guilt. Such a Being would not have come to die unless the race had been apostate; nor would He have endured such great sorrows unless a deep and dreadful malady had spread over the world.

      The deep anxiety, the tears, the toils, the sufferings, and the groans of the Redeemer, show what was His sense of the condition of humanity, and prove that He regarded them as degraded, fallen, and lost. And if the Son of God, who knows all hearts, regarded them as lost, they are lost.

      He was not mistaken in regard to the character of humanity, and He did not lay down His life under the influence of delusion and error. If, to the view that has been taken of this important passage, it is objected that the work of the atonement must have been to a large extent in vain; that it has been actually applied to but comparatively a small portion of the human family, and that it is unreasonable to suppose that God would suffer such great sorrows to be endured in vain, we may reply:

      1. That it may not have been in vain, though it may have been rejected by a large portion of humankind. There may have been other purposes accomplished by it besides the direct salvation of people. It was doing much when it made it consistent for God to offer salvation to all; it is much that God could be seen to be just, and yet pardoning the sinner; it was much when His determined hatred of sin, and His purpose to honor His law, were evinced. In regard to the benevolence and justice of God to other beings and to other worlds, much, very much was gained, though all the human race had rejected the plan and been lost. In regard to all these objects, the plan was not in vain, and the sufferings of the Redeemer were not in vain.

      2. But it is in accordance with what we see everywhere, when much that God does seems to our eyes, though not to His, to be in vain. How much rain falls on ever-sterile sands or on barren rocks, to our eyes in vain! What floods of light are poured each day on barren wastes, or untraversed oceans, to our eyes in vain!

         How many flowers shed forth their fragrance in the wilderness, and "waste their sweetness on the desert air," to us apparently in vain! How many pearls lie useless in the ocean; how much gold and silver in the earth; how many diamonds amidst rocks to us unknown, and apparently in vain!

         How many lofty trees rear their heads in the untraversed wilderness, and after standing for centuries fall on the earth and decay, to our eyes in vain! And how much medicinal virtue is created by God each year in the vegetable world that is unknown to humanity, and that decays and is lost without removing any disease, and that seems to be created in vain!

         And how long has it been before the most valuable medicines have been discovered, and applied to alleviating pain, or removing disease! Year after year, and age after age, they existed in a suffering world, and people died perhaps within a few yards of the medicine which would have relieved or saved them, but it was unknown, or, if known, disregarded.

         But times were coming when their value would be appreciated, and when they would be applied to benefit the sufferer. So with the plan of salvation. It may be rejected, and the sufferings of the Redeemer may seem to have been in vain. But they will yet be of value to humankind; and when the time shall come for the whole world to embrace the Savior, there will be found no lack of sufficiency in the plan of redemption, and in the merits of the Redeemer, to save all the race.

Then were all dead. All dead in sin; that is, all were sinners. The fact that He died for all proves that all were transgressors. The word "dead" is often used in the Scriptures to denote the condition of sinners. See Ephesians 2:1. It means not that sinners are in all senses and in all respects like a lifeless corpse, for they are not. They are still moral agents, have a conscience, and are capable of thinking, speaking, and acting. It does not mean that they have no more power than one in the grave, for they have more power. But it means that there is a striking similarity, in some respects, between one who is dead and a sinner. That similarity does not extend to everything, but in many respects it is very striking.

1. The sinner is as insensible to the glories of the heavenly world, and the appeals of the gospel, as a corpse is to what is going on around or above it. The body that lies in the grave is insensible to the voice of friendship, the charms of music, the hum of business, and the plans of gain and ambition. So the sinner is insensible to all the glories of the heavenly world, to all the appeals that are made to him, and to all the warnings of God. He lives as if there were no heaven and no hell; no God and no Savior.

2. There is need of the same Divine power to convert a sinner as is necessary to raise up the dead. The same cause does not exist, making the existence of that power necessary; but it is a fact that a sinner will no more be converted by his own power than a dead man will rise from the grave by his own power.

   No person was ever yet converted without direct Divine agency, any more than Lazarus was raised without Divine agency. And there is no more just or sad description that can be given of a person than to say that he is dead in sins. He is insensible to all the appeals that God makes to him; he is insensible to all the sufferings of the Savior, and to all the glories of heaven. He lives as if these did not exist, or as if he had no concern in them. His eyes see no more beauty in them than the sightless eyeballs of the dead do in the material world; his ear is as inattentive to the calls of God and the gospel as the ear of the dead is to the voice of friendship or the charms of melody. And in a world that is full of God, and that might be full of hope, he is living without God and without hope.