In 2 Corinthians 5:20, St. Paul employs perhaps the most meaningful title to those who have been reconciled to God by the propitiatory death of Christ. After demonstrating that it is only through faith in Christ Jesus that this reconciliation can be experienced, the apostle continues to say that those selfsame reconciled souls have been given “the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:18) Just as God “was reconciling the world to himself” through the cruciform life of his only begotten Son, those who have had the wages of sin settled for them by the representation of Christ for them have, likewise, been commissioned “the message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:19) Redeemed and reconciled sinners are, therefore, entrusted the remarkable responsibility to represent Christ to fellow sinners. “Therefore,” Paul asserts, “we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: ‘Be reconciled to God.’” (2 Cor 5:20)
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On the weightiness of “ambassadors for…
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In 2 Corinthians 5:20, St. Paul employs perhaps the most meaningful title to those who have been reconciled to God by the propitiatory death of Christ. After demonstrating that it is only through faith in Christ Jesus that this reconciliation can be experienced, the apostle continues to say that those selfsame reconciled souls have been given “the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:18) Just as God “was reconciling the world to himself” through the cruciform life of his only begotten Son, those who have had the wages of sin settled for them by the representation of Christ for them have, likewise, been commissioned “the message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:19) Redeemed and reconciled sinners are, therefore, entrusted the remarkable responsibility to represent Christ to fellow sinners. “Therefore,” Paul asserts, “we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: ‘Be reconciled to God.’” (2 Cor 5:20)