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Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.--- 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NLTEverything that Paul and his companions did was to honor God. Not only did fear of God motivate them (5:11), but Christ’s love controlled their actions. The word for “controls” means “to hold fast.” In other words, the love of Christ was constraining them to certain courses of action. They knew that Jesus, out of his great love, had given up his life for their sakes. He had not acted out of his own self-interest, selfishly holding on to the glory of heaven that he already possessed (Philippians 2:6). Instead, Jesus had willingly “died for everyone.” Because Christ died for us, we also are dead to our old life. Like Paul, we should no longer live to please ourselves; we should spend our life pleasing Christ.--- Life Application Study Bible notes