The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 136

I. Tm,; NATURE OF THIB OONBTRAINT, Men are lnftucnced. by many and varloua motives, some lower a.nd some higher. 'l'hcir natural instincts and Impulses, their interests, t.heir re~ard for public opinion and their ambition, the laws of the land -thci!o are among the admitted and powerful inducements to human conduct. But thes~ are not the highest motives, and are unworthy of the nature and possibilities of tnan unless in conjunct.ion with something better. Even the sacred obligation of duty is !~sufficient. But Christ's love in his redemptive work, revealed to us in the gospel, is a moral nnd spiritual force of vast power. It awakens gratitu<le, love, devotion, obedience. It is the universal Christian motive. He who does not feel it, however correct his creed and conduct, is not in the proper sense of the term a Christian. Happy thoy who live undor its sweet and consta.nt constraint I II. THE DIRECTION OF THIS OONSTRAINT. Physical power is of two kinds-it is either energy or resistance; e.g. the ocean and the dyke, the powder and the cannon, the st~am and the boiler. As with physical, so with moral power. 1. Christ's love acts by way of restraint. It ~thholds ~hose who experience it from self-indulgence, from worldliness, and from other sins to which men are naturally prone, and from which only a Divine power can deliver. 2. It acts by way of impulse, inducing to the imitation of Jesus in character and conduct ; to obedience such as he enjoins when he says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments;" to consecration such as .Paul exemplified when he said," We live unto the Lord." III. THE EFFICACY OF THIS OONBTRAINT. This depends upon a just interpretation of the passage. Were it our love to Christ which is imputed, this would be a feeble and vacillating motive; but it is something far greater and better, viz. Christ's love to us, The power of this motive may be seen in the life of every faithful friend of Jesus; e.g. in the apostles, as Paul, Peter, John; in the confessors and martyrs and reformers; in the missionaries and philanthropists, etc. It may be seen in the dangers braved, the opposition encountered, the persecutions suffered, the efforts undertaken and persevered in. What of noble and beautiful and beneficent conduct has not this Divine motive proved able to inspire! Greater deeds and more heroic sufferings than the love of Christ has accounted for, the annals of mankind do not record. It is to this motive that we must look for all that in the future shall bless our common humanity. What nothing inferior can effect the love of Christ will certainly prove powerful to accomplish..-T. Ver. 18.-" The ministry of reccnci1iation." Every good man is a peacemaker. Both unconsciously by his character and disposition, and conscioUBly and actively by his efforts, he composes differences and promotes concord and amity among his fellow- men. The Christian minister, however, goes deeper when he aims at secudng harmony between God and man. And he purposes to effect this reconciliation, not by the UBe of ordinary persuasion, but by the presentation of the gospel of Christ. L Tim CHRISTIAN lllNISTBY PBEBUJilES THE NEED OF BEOONOILIATION. 1. There is a moral Ruler and a moral law, righteous and authoritative. 2. Against this Ruler men have rebelled, they have broken the law, and thus introduced enmity and conflict, a. Divine displeasure has thUB been incurred, and Divine penalties, by which just dis- pleasure is expressed. II. THE CH&BTIAN JIINIBTBY IB AUTHORIZED BY HIM WHO ALONE CAN INTRODU0B BECONCILLATION. God is the greater, and not only so, he is the wronged, offended party. If any overtures for reconciliation a.re to be made, they must proceed from him. He must provide the basis of peace and he must commission the heralds of peace. III. THE CHRISTIAN MINlBTBY PBOCLAIMB THE MEDIATOR OF RECONClLIATl0N. The Lord Jesus has every qualification which can be desired in an efficient Mediator. He partakes the nature of God and of man; he is appointed and accepted by the Divine Sovereign· he has effected by his sacrifice a work of atonement or reconciliation; his Spirit is a' Spirit of peace. And in fa.et he has "made peace," removing all obstacles on God's side and providing for the removal of all on man's. IV. THE CHBIBTIAN JIUNIBTBY OONBISTB IN THE OFFER OF BECONCILIATION, It is a ,ooral, and not a sacerdotal ministry; it is experimental, being entrusted to those who ace themselves reco1Jcil,;d; it is a ministry accompanied with supernatural power, even the energy of the Spirit of God; it is an auehoritr1,ti11e ministry, which men are not at  nn m. v. 1-21.] 'l'HE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, l ""'