You Aren't Just Forgiven (2Cor 5:10-21) Intro: "God will forgive me; that's his job!" R.Niebuhr: "A God w/o wrath brought men w/o sin into a kingdom w/o judgment thru the ministrations of Christ w/o a cross."
Exposition 1. We must all appear before the Lord's judgment seat, where all our deeds will be judged (v10-11) "... He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living & the dead" (Acts 10:42). "... He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:31, see Rom 2:16, Gen 18:25, Ps 9:8, Pr 17:15, Ecc 12:14, Ex 23:7, etc.)
2. God can not & does not simply forgive your sins (v18-21a) The gospel is not that God hasn't imputed men's trspasses. That's just, as one man put it, only the vestibule to the gospel that Paul preached. The gospel Paul preached is that God has not imputed their trespasses _to them_. But rather he has imputed men's sins to _Christ_.
3. God can not & will not simply reward you as righteous (21b) Thru Him we have "an inheritance incorruptible & undefiled & that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you" (1Pe 1:4). Because of him, we'll hear, "Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities" (Lk 19:17).
Application: The Lord's Supper He gives us his cup of blessins, but he takes our cup as well: Lk 22:42
Conclusion Are you such as ambassador as the Apostle Paul? Do you know the terror of the Lord, & therefore persuade men? Have you made it your aim to please Christ? Have you made your motivation for life the love of Christ? Are you such an ambassador?
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