¹¹Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. ¹²We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. ¹³For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. ¹⁴For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; ¹⁵and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Being a new creature in Christ, redeemed and forgiven, with no worry about our eternal destiny, does not mean fear plays no role. Paul clearly puts the “Bema” seat judgment before the Corinthians (and us) as a motivation to live for Christ. It is entirely too easy for us humans (even though redeemed) to live carefree in a mistaken understanding of grace. God is still God and has expectations for us, even now that we are believers. The “fear of the Lord” is a universal requirement for all people, for we are all made in His image. As believers we cannot have a cavalier attitude as though we may now waltz through life with our salvation in our back pocket like an insurance document. Paul “persuade(s) men” strenuously. His two letters to the Corinthian believers demonstrate his earnestness about this.

In all this, Paul hopes what he is teaching them will speak deeply to them (“in your consciences”) and not just be subject to human logic and debate. This is not a personal thing between Paul and his detractors—he doesn’t need their commendation. But he does want the kind of relationship with them that is defined not by their pushing against him, but by their pride in what he and Timothy are doing. As Christians we are so used to pride being a negative thing that we can easily miss the apostle’s point. Our pride must be in the right thing. We can rightfully be proud of one another when we walk in the “manifestation” of God in our lives. But pride should not be in external, superficial things, like one’s “appearance”—by this we think Paul means worldly ways of judging.

For Paul’s part, he and Timothy have deeply sacrificed themselves to reach out to the Corinthians, motivated by “the love of Christ.” How else can they or we live today, knowing that Christ died for us? This is the apostle’s motive for ministry: to imitate the One who died and rose again for the Corinthians, “the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). His desire was to love them the way Christ loved them: sacrificially. That is God’s goal for all believers.

Lord, help me imitate the love of Christ by loving other Christians sacrificially.