2 Corinthians 5:14

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died.

Love of Christ constraineth us ... Did Paul here refer to his own love of Christ, or to Christ's love of him? "It matters little whether this be interpreted as a subjective genitive, `Christ's love to men,' or as an objective genitive, `our love to Christ'; the two suppose and interfuse each other."[23]

One died for all ... Here is the same "all" encountered in 2 Corinthians 5:10, and it includes all who ever lived. "He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world" (1 John 2:2). The atonement established in Christ's death was no piecemeal affair, but was big enough to cover all the people and all the sins of all times and places.

Therefore all died ... Carver's discerning comment is:

In view of Christ's death, ALL MEN ARE DEAD in respect to any spiritual self-sufficiency. The simplest interpretation is that the fact that Christ died for all proves that all were dead.[24]

From this it appears that those who are not converted, and by means of the new birth "raised with Christ," shall inevitably continue in a state of death throughout eternity. The death of Christ proved that every man deserves death; and, in the spiritual sense, all died and continue in death, until they shall be "raised to walk in newness of life" IN CHRIST.

[23] F. W. Farrar, op. cit., p. 121.

[24] Frank G. Carver, Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press, 1968), Vol. 8, p. 551.