We can extend our illustrations. "The love of Christ constraineth me." By that Paul does not mean his love for Christ; he does not men Christ's love for him; but it is an "of-Christ" love, that is, that some passionate yearning for humanity that Christ had; and by union with Christ he felt that love. That was what constrained Paul; that is what led him on. He had the Christ love, not mere affectionate attachment to his master.

A very important passage is Col. 1:24:

"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church."

This does not mean, as it is usually interpreted, that Christ had not suffered enough afflictions to satisfy the justice of God, so that it was necessary for Paul to complete the tale. No, "of-Christ" is used as the adjective again. Paul is not completing Christ's sufferings. He is carrying out in his body his own Christ sufferings, that is, voluntary sufferings, the experience of which could alone perfect the unity with Christ.

We could continue indefinitely with examples of this kind, but these are perhaps sufficient. I suggest thinking over some of the contrasting phrases.

Paul speaks of "in the flesh" Rom. 7:5, "in sin" I Cor. 15:17, "in the law" Gal 5:18, "in the world" Eph 2:12. That was his original state. Now, he is "in Christ."

The relation which Paul has reference to here must not be conceived of as some mere abstract, mystical relation; it is a very vivid and personal one with Paul. Christ was actually present to him. "The love of Christ constraineth me," he says, II Cor. 5:14, "The Lord is near," Phil. 4:5, he prays that "Christ may dwell in your hearts," Eph. 3:17 "To me to live is Christ," Phil. 1:21. "Christ liveth in me," Gal. 2:20. In Christ he finds consolation, loving comfort, spiritual fellowship, kindness, compassion. Phil. 2:1.

Let me say that this personal character of Paul's religion is the very thing that is typical of Old Testament religion. There God was conceived of as a person, and his relation to the Children of Israel was a personal relation. That relationship, that sense of personality, Paul made even more vivid than it was conceived in Old Testament times. Eventually he transcended it.

While the relationship was personal, it was not with Paul an ordinary friendship, an ordinary attachment; far from it. "The riches of Christ are unsearchable," he says, Eph. 3:8. "His love passeth knowledge," Eph. 3:19. He always sought, as far as possible, by identification and surrender to Christ to draw nearer to that (to him) supreme personality. This was not an abdication of will but a conscious assumption of his function in the universal organism, Paul's chief interest outside of himself was to preach the Gospel, by which he meant merely to instil in others the same sort of experience that he had undergone. "Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel," he says, I Cor. 9:16. In himself, the purpose was "that I may know him and the fellowship of his sufferings," Phil. 3:10. It was in this way, by this constant striving, that Paul attained a relationship probably beyond the range of our experience; but it was not mere emotional ecstacy, it was a real fellowship of His sufferings, it was a union with Him so close that he felt the same yearning that Christ felt.

The relation was always ethical. "Give your mind to things above," he says, Col. 3:1. "We are ambitious to be acceptable to Him." II Cor. 5:9. Again and again he speaks of living "according to Christ"; that is, according to the motivation which ruled Christ's life. Rom. 15:5, Col. 2:8. In fact what Paul wanted most of all was the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ, to die with Christ. This doctrine is called technically the doctrine of Necrosis, and probably it is the most striking characteristic of Paul's doctrines. Very few men in the world have ever had the courage to preach the idea as Paul did; that is, to press it home to themselves. How explicit he was, the following passages will show.

"I have been crucified in Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me." Gal. 2:20.

"I long to know Christ and the power that is in his resurrection, and to share in his sufferings and die even as he died; in the hope that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." Phil. 3:10

"Well then, by our baptism we were burind with him in death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father's glorious power, we should also lead an entirely new life." Rom. 6:4.

"Co-heirs with Christ; if indeed we share Christ's sufferings in order to share also his glory." Romans 8:17.