What is the context?
Paul follows the statement about Christ’s judgment seat with his awareness of the fear of the Lord. He therefore seeks to persuade people. God knows what he is, and he hopes the Corinthians recognize his sincerity too.
He is not simply recommending himself again. He wants them to be able to answer people who take pride in appearances rather than the heart. Whether his conduct seems excessive or measured, he describes its purpose in relation to God and the people he serves.
The controlling reason is Christ’s love, made known in His death. One died for all, and Paul sees that death as involving those for whom He died. The stated purpose is a changed life: those who live should live for the one who died for them and was raised.
Persuasion is therefore part of Paul’s work, but personal prestige is not its goal. Reverence for the Lord and the love shown in Christ move him toward service.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians commonly understand Christ’s death and resurrection as the ground of the changed life Paul describes. They differ in their wider accounts of the extent and effect of His saving work.
The Catholic Catechism 605 teaches that Christ died for every person without exception. John Wesley’s note on verse 15 likewise reads His death for all as intended for all to be saved. The Reformed Westminster Confession 3.6 instead describes redemption and its saving application as belonging to those God has chosen to save. That confession gives a wider doctrinal account, rather than a detailed commentary on this particular sentence.
These differences should not obscure Paul’s express aim here: the life given through Christ is to be lived for Him, rather than for ourselves. The paragraph does not say that everyone is automatically saved regardless of their response.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Romans 6:3–11 explicitly connects belonging to Christ with His death and resurrection and with walking in newness of life. Those joined to Him are called to regard themselves as dead to sin and alive to God.
That connection places the changed direction of life within Christ’s saving work. God’s purpose is not simply to pardon people while leaving their allegiance untouched. The one who died and rose becomes the center of the life He gives.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.