Constraining and Compelling

[irishman]

“And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” (Lk. 14:23)

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:” (2 Cor. 5:14)

These two verses have one thing in common--they define the true meaning of “compelling” and “constraining”. So many of my friends, soul winners and good men, have confused the meaning, or at least the application of, the word “compel”. I have been with soul winners who take perhaps the most literal meaning of the word, and use it for advantage, and in so doing, they align themselves with the Calvinists who ignore the free will of man. You see, if we physically (or mentally) force someone to come in to the fold, we have taken their right to choose to enter, and made it more of a slavery than a blessing. To “compel” someone is to make the OBject so delectable that they almost cannot resist it! We attempt to do this in the bus ministry often by offering the kids something to excite them to ride our bus. This is compelling. It is a “gentle persuasion” if I may use that phrase, and not an “arm twisting” force. When one compares these two verses, we see that they both are speaking of the same type of persuasion, and yet, we know that love compels us to do what we ought to do. It is the love of Christ that compels us, to go…and the love of Christ constrains us to go… you see, they are both saying the same thing to some degree. Love is our motivation, and that is what these verses are speaking of—motivating others. We are to make the Gospel irresistible to them, and by so doing, we “compel” them to come in to the fold.

My dictionary says it best--compel:
“To compel by physical, moral, or circumstantial force; OBlige:”


CONSTRAINING, ppr. Urging with irresistible or powerful force; compelling; forcing; repressing; confining; holding by force; pressing; binding.

Edited July 24, 2010 by irishman