Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 5:20
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech [you] by us; we pray [you] in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
20. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ ] Literally, we undertake an embassy ( legatione fungimur, Vulgate; usen message, Wiclif). Tyndale, followed by Cranmer and the Geneva Version, render, are messengers in the roume of. The Rhemish characteristically renders by legates. The signification ‘in the room of,’ for , is doubtful. It is perhaps better to render ‘for’ with the A.V. (Vulgate, pro). Cf. Eph 6:20. An ambassador represents the monarch from whom he is sent, in all matters relating to his mission. What the nature of the mission was, and what the powers of the ambassadors, is stated in the remaining words of the verse.
as though God did beseech you by us ] See notes on ch. 2Co 1:3. God may be said rather to exhort or encourage than to beseech ( as if God monestith bi us, Wiclif). This, then, was the object for which the full powers of the ambassadors were given, an object still more clearly defined in what follows. Cf. Mal 2:7; Gal 4:14.
we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God ] Rather, we intreat on behalf of Christ (sec above). First there was the encouraging tidings that there was ‘henceforth no condemnation’ to those who accepted the reconciliation offered through Christ (or perhaps the exhortation to accept it, see last note), and next the still more urgent entreaty on Christ’s behalf that they would accept it.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ – We are the ambassadors whom Christ has sent forth to negotiate with people in regard to their reconciliation to God, Tyndale renders this: Now then are we messengers in the room of Christ. The word used here presbeuomen, from presbus an aged man, an elder, and then an ambassador) means to act as an ambassador, or sometimes merely to deliver a message for another, without being empowered to do any thing more than to explain or enforce it – Bloomfield. See Thucydides 7, 9. An ambassador is a minister of the highest rank, employed by one prince or state at the court of another, to manage the concerns of his own prince or state, and representing the dignity and power of his sovereign – Webster. He is sent to do what the sovereign would himself do were he present. They are sent to make known the will of the sovereign, and to negotiate matters of commerce, of war, or of peace, and in general everything affecting the interests of the sovereign among the people to whom they are sent.
At all times, and in all countries, an ambassador is a sacred character, and his person is regarded as inviolable. He is bound implicitly to obey the instructions of his sovereign, and as far as possible to do only what the sovereign would do were he himself present. Ministers are ambassadors for Christ, as they are sent to do what he would do were he personally present. They are to make known, and to explain, and enforce the terms on which God is willing to be reconciled to people. They are not to negotiate on any new terms, nor to change those which God has proposed, nor to follow their own plans or devices, but they are simply to urge, explain, state, and enforce the terms on which God is willing to be reconciled. Of course they are to seek the honor of the sovereign who has sent them forth, and to seek to do only his will. They go not to promote their own welfare; not to seek honor, dignity, or emolument; but they go to transact the business which the Son of God would engage in were he again personally on the earth. It follows that their office is one of great dignity, and great responsibility, and that respect should be showed them as the ambassadors of the King of kings.
As though God did beseech you by us – Our message is to be regarded as the message of God. It is God who speaks. What we say to you is said in his name and on his authority, and should be received with the respect which is due to a message directly from God. The gospel message is God speaking to people through the ministry, and entreating them to be reconciled. This invests the message which the ministers of religion bear with infinite dignity and solemnity; and it makes it a fearful and awful thing to reject it.
We pray you in Christs stead – ( huper Christou). In the place of Christ; or doing what he did when on earth, and what he would do were he where we are.
Be ye reconciled to God – This is the sum and burden of the message which the ministers of the gospel bear to their fellow-men; see the note on 2Co 5:19. It implies that man has something to do in this work. He is to be reconciled to God. He is to give up his opposition. He is to submit to the terms of mercy. All the change in the case is to be in him, for God cannot change. God has removed all the obstacles to reconciliation which existed on his part. He has done all that he will do, all that needed to be done, in order to render reconciliation easy as possible. And now it remains that man should lay aside his hostility, abandon his sins, embrace the terms of mercy, and become in fact reconciled to God. And the great object of the ministers of reconciliation is to urge this duty on their fellow-men. They are to do it in the name of Christ. They are to do it as if Christ were himself present, and were himself urging the message. They are to use the arguments which he would use; evince the zeal which he would show; and present the motives which he would present to induce a dying world to become in fact reconciled to God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Co 5:20
Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ.
Of the nature and use of the gospel ministry as an external mean of applying Christ
First, Christs ambassadors commissionated. Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ. Secondly, their commission opened; wherein we find, first, the work whereunto the ministers of the gospel are appointed, to reconcile the world to God. Secondly, their capacity described: they act in Christs stead, as His vicegerents. He is no more in this world to treat personally with sinners. Thirdly, the manner of their acting in that capacity; and that is by humble, sweet, and condescending entreaties. Doct.: That the preaching of the gospel by Christs ambassadors is the means appointed for the reconciling of sinners to Christ. First, we will open what is implied in Christs treaty with sinners by His ambassadors or ministers.
1. It necessarily implies the defection of man from his estate of friendship with God. If no war with heaven, what need of ambassadors of peace? The very office of the ministry is an argument of the fall.
2. It implies the singular grace and admirable condescension of God to sinful man.
3. It implies the great dignity of the gospel ministry. We are ambassadors for Christ.
4. Christs treating with sinners by His ministers, who are His ambassadors, implies the strict obligation they are under to be faithful in their ministerial employment (1Ti 1:12).
5. It implies the removal of the gospel ministry to be a very great judgment to the people. The remanding of ambassadors presages an ensuing war.
6. And, lastly, it implies both the wisdom and condescension of God to sinful men in carrying on a treaty of peace with them by such ambassadors, negotiating betwixt Him and them. Secondly, we are to consider that great concernment about which these ambassadors of Christ are to treat with sinners, and that is their reconciliation to God. First, that God should be reconciled after such a dreadful breach as the fall of man made is wonderful, No sin, all things considered, was ever like to this sin; other sins, like a single bullet, kill particular persons, but this, like a chain-shot, cuts off multitudes which no man can number. Secondly, that God should be reconciled to men and not to angels, a more excellent order of creatures, is yet more astonishing. Thirdly, that God should be wholly and thoroughly reconciled to man, so that no fury remains in Him against us (Isa 27:4) is still matter of farther wonder. Fourthly, that God should be freely reconciled to sinners, and discharge them without the least satisfaction to His justice from them, is, and for ever will be, marvellous in their eyes. For though Christ, your Surety, hath made satisfaction in your stead, yet it was His life, His blood, and not yours, that went for it. Fifthly, that God should be finally reconciled to sinners, so that never new breach shall happen betwixt Him and them, so as to dissolve the league of friendship, is a most transporting message. In the last place, we are to inquire what and whence is this efficacy of preaching to reconcile sinners to Christ. First, this efficacy and wonderful power is not from the word itself; take it in an abstract notion, separated from the Spirit, it can do nothing: it is called the foolishness of preaching (1Co 1:21). Secondly, it derives not this efficacy from the instrument by which it is ministered, let their gifts be what they will. Thirdly, but whatever efficacy it hath to reconcile men to God it derives from the Spirit of God, whose co-operation and blessing gives it all the fruit it hath. First, admire and stand amazed at this mercy. I will praise Thee, O Lord, saith the Church (Isa 12:1). Though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortest me. Secondly, beware of new breaches with God. God will speak peace to His people and to His saints, but let them not turn again to folly (Psa 85:8). Thirdly, labour to reconcile others to God, especially those that are endeared to you by the bonds of natural relation. Fourthly, Let your reconciliation with God relieve you under all burdens of affliction you shall meet with in your way to heaven. (John Flavel.)
Ambassadors for Christ
1. The dignity of an ambassador is measured–
(1) By the grandeur of the power he represents. Compare a minister from Paraguay with one from Prussia. The former may have more personal wealth and dignity of character than the latter; but how difficult their official dignity! The apostles official exaltation was the very loftiest in the world.
(2) By the grandeur of the State to which he is sent. An ambassador to Russia is a greater personage than one to Liberia. Now; Paul was sent, not to one State or kingdom, but to the world.
(3) By the subjects about which they are commissioned to treat. Compare the Treaty of Ghent with the settlement of the Alabama Claims. The object of the apostles mission was not to make peace between contending nations, not to adjust spoliation claims, but to restore a world of rebels to their prime allegiance, and to wrest from hell its illgotten spoils.
2. The apostle says, We are ambassadors for Christ.
3. Behold here an evidence that God delighteth not in the death of the sinner. Not content to commission a body of men simply to announce, He condescends to plead through them (Eze 18:23-32; Isa 1:18; 2Pe 3:9).
I. Let us analyse this wonderful divine solicitation. It assumes–
1. A state of alienation from God on your part and offence on His.
2. That God has been propitiated.
3. That without the sinners own consent the interposition made by Christ can be of no avail.
II. How is mans aversion to reconciliation to be accounted for?
1. While conscious of sin, they are really unconscious of peril. When danger is realised no man is indifferent. Hence the necessity for preaching about law and hell.
2. Sinners love their sin. Sin has its pleasures. You see no pleasure in holiness. Admit that the life of the sinner reconciled is a gloomy journey, nothing to compensate him for the life of revelry that he is to abandon. Is it not better to experience temporary unhappiness for the sake of immortal bliss? Now God, who knows the unsatisfying nature of sinful pleasures, beseeches you by us, Be reconciled to God. (J. W. Pratt, D. D.)
Ambassadors for Christ
I. The office in which the ministers of Christ appear.
1. An ambassador holds an office of distinguished honour. He represents the king who sends him. Ambassadors may, or they may not, be talented men. It may be of importance to the sovereign that they should be so; but they are not to be respected for their talents, but for their office, and any disrespect shown them in a foreign court is levelled at the office. Now all this is true of the ministers of Christ. Christ accounts every kindness shown to them as shown to Him, and every unfriendly act towards them as done to Him. Talents and piety commend ministers; but it is their office which is the ground of their honour.
2. The ambassadors is an office of important trust. They are not sent to make laws, but simply to convey instructions. Now the apostle says that he was put in trust with the gospel, and God requires in stewards that a man be found faithful. They have, therefore, simply to deliver that to the people which they have received of the Lord Jesus.
3. This office is one requiring great skill, diligence, and labour. What tact, and ingenuity, and application does it often require to conduct the kings business at a foreign court! And oh! how much more to negotiate the affairs of Christs kingdom among them! Who is sufficient for these things? To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews, etc.
II. The object at which they aim–that men may be reconciled to God.
III. The message they have to deliver.
1. It is free.
2. Full.
3. Final.
IV. The manner in which their object is to be prosecuted. Not by compulsion, not by punishment, but we pray you–God beseeches you by us.
1. Such a mode answers to the character of God and His gospel. God is love; His gospel is goodwill toward men. Methinks it is very easy to be reconciled to love.
2. The method corresponds with the character of man. Men are more easily drawn than driven. Love wins the heart, when terror would often drive it away. (J. Sherman.)
God beseeching sinners by His ministers
Man became Gods enemy without the slightest provocation; but man did not make the first overtures for peace. Consider–
I. The ambassadors of reconciliation.
1. They themselves were once enemies to God. God might have sent angels to you, and you might have been awed by their glory; but their sermons must have been unsympathetic compared with ours, for they could not know your misery as we do.
2. They are now reconciled, and therefore can speak not theoretically, but experimentally. They were reconciled, too, by Jesus Christ, in the same way as other sinners. Again, Paul tells us–
3. They have a message to deliver which has been given to them. Their mission is not to invent a gospel. I send my servant with a message, and if she, in her wisdom, alters my message to suit her own views, I discharge her, for I want some one who will bear my message, and not make one of her own. God would have His ministers be like transparent glass, not like painted windows, which colour all the rays after their own nature.
II. The subject-matter of our message.
1. That reconciliation is only to be obtained towards God on the ground of substitution. You cannot reconcile yourself to God by lamentation on account of your past sins, by any future arduous service, nor by any ceremony of mans invention, or even of Gods ordaining. This is the plan:–Men were all lost and condemned; then Jesus took upon Himself our manhood, that He might be our brother; and in His death He bore the burden of human sin.
2. That this reconciliation was not apart from God, but that God was in Christ. You must never fall into the idea that God is revengeful, and that the death of His Son was necessary to pacify the Father. God was love before Jesus died. The substitution made on Calvary was a substitution provided by Gods love. It is not Jesus, a stranger, who hangs there to gratify the Fathers vengeance; it is God who, in one of His Divine Persons, bears the penalty which justice demanded of sinful men.
3. That in consequence of Gods having reconciled the world to Himself in Jesus Christ, He is able now to deal with sinners as if they had never sinned. Not imputing their trespasses unto them. The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Aye, and something more. God treats us who are reconciled to Him as if they were full of good works; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
4. That the atonement of Christ is for the world (Joh 3:16).
5. That there is nothing whatever needed in order to their reconciliation and acceptance with God, except what Christ has already wrought out.
III. The manner in which this message is to be delivered. The text tells us very plainly–
1. By beseeching and praying men. We are not merely to convince the intellect; neither are we alone to warn and threaten, though that has its place.
2. By beseeching men as though God did beseech them. Now how does God beseech them? Read Isa 1:4.; Eze 33:11; Jer 44:4; Hos 11:8.
3. By praying souls in Christs stead–i.e., we are to preach as if Christ were preaching. That would not be in a light or trifling manner, or in a cold official style, but with melting eyes and burning heart. Sometimes He prayed–
(1) By setting before them the evil of their ways. For which of these works do you stone Me? And so I inquire, For which of Gods works are you His enemy? Are you His enemy because He keeps you in life, gives you your food, or sends you the gospel?
(2) By showing them the uselessness of their rebellion (Luk 14:31). Why will you be Gods enemy when you cannot win the battle?
(3) By displaying the result of their sin, as He did when He stood on the brow of the hill and looked down on Jerusalem. Remember the passages where He speaks of dividing the sheep from the goats, where He treats of the virgins who had no oil in their vessels with their lamps. Whoever puts the doctrine of hell into the background, Jesus never did.
(4) By pleading the love of God–e.g., in the parable of the prodigal son, And, oh, how tie implored man to be reconciled, in such words as, Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.
4. By bringing this matter home and pressing it. We pray you in Christs stead, be ye reconciled to God. It comes to this with you: God says to you–
1. Throw down your weapons; why dost thou contend with thy Maker? What has Christ done that thou shouldst not love Him? What has the Holy Ghost done that thou shouldst resist Him? What wilt thou gain by it in time or in eternity?
2. Accept the Lord Jesus. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Christian ambassador
I. The character that becomes ministers as ambassadors for Christ.
1. Intelligence. No wise prince would employ as his representative at a foreign court a man destitute of good sense and of acquired knowledge; otherwise the interests of the empire might be compromised, and the lustre of the sovereigns reign tarnished. Surely, then, the care of souls, every one of which is more valuable than worlds, ought only to be entrusted to men gifted by nature, whose minds have been roused by cultivation, and whose conduct gives evidence that they have been taught by God.
2. Attachment to Christ and His cause. In the early stages of society ambassadors were chiefly chosen from among the personal friends of the prince, and, being often bound to him by the ties of consanguinity or marriage, afforded the best guarantees of fidelity and zeal. And so love to the Saviour, arising from the heartfelt power of His religion, and from the workings of a devoted gratitude, is the highest qualification of a Christian minister.
3. Fidelity. When an envoy is sent to a foreign court he bears with him not only credentials, but written instructions, defining the conditions on which a treaty of peace may be ratified; and should he exceed his instructions the treaty so negotiated would not be sanctioned by his king. And so when ministers entreat sinners to be reconciled unto God, they should always remember that they are acting for Christ, and should only propose salvation in the manner and on the terms in which it is offered in His gospel. Thus saith the Lord should be distinctly attached to all their announcements.
4. Zeal. The man to whom is committed the dignity of a prince and the interests of an empire should subordinate every personal feeling to the glory of his sovereign; and so the ambassador for Christ should spend and be spent in his Masters cause.
5. Wisdom. The ambassador of an earthly monarch behoves not only to maintain a courteous deportment, but to mark, with eagle glance, the ever-shifting relations of the kingdoms with which he negotiates, and to adapt his policy to their changing circumstances; and so the minister of Christ requires to display much wisdom, both in maintaining an inoffensive conversation and adapting his lessons to the existing state of society.
6. Diligent and persevering exertion. A superficial observer, who gazes on the splendid attire and retinue of an envoy, and who observes his attendance upon the levees and gala-days of royalty, is apt to imagine that his duties are light and his post nearly a sinecure; but a person who peeps behind the curtain, who notices the thousand channels by which he gleans information, his anxious consultations with confidential advisers, his sleepless nights, devoted to unravelling the mysteries of the passing masquerade, and his frequent interchange of correspondence with his sovereign–the man who looks to the details of all these labours must admit that his employment is most arduous and harassing. In the same manner, many suppose that the station of a minister is one of indolence; but those who survey their ministrations in the sanctuary, their diligence in study, their hours devoted to prayer, their painstaking visitations, and their sympathy with the sick, must admit that the employment is most harassing, and need feel no surprise that so many fall as martyrs who devote themselves with zeal to the duties of this profession.
7. Great dignity. If the envoy of an earthly monarch, whenever he presents his credentials, has a portion of the respect due to his sovereign awarded to him, so the man, however humble, who acts for Christ as the legate of the skies, derives a dignity from his office before which all worldly honours sink into insignificance.
II. The motives which should rouse us to increased zeal.
1. Should souls perish through our negligence, their blood will be required at our hands.
2. The example of the apostles should stimulate us to exertion.
3. The example left us by the Luthers, Calvins, and Knoxes, of the reforming era, and by the fathers of this Church at a later period, should rouse and ashame us.
4. Were the motives derived from religion forgotten, patriotism and humanity should rouse us.
6. It becomes us to recollect that our lots have been cast in critical and perilous times, which demand from us extraordinary zeal and watchfulness. (J. Brown, A. M.)
A merciful embassy
There has long been war between man and his Maker. Our federal head. Adam, threw down the gauntlet in the garden of Eden. From that day until now there has been no truce between God and man by nature. But though man will not make terms with God, God shows His unwillingness any longer to be at war with man. He Himself sends His ambassadors. Consider–
I. The ambassadors. All nations, with one accord, have agreed to honour ambassadors. Strange, then, that all nations and all people should have conspired to dishonour the ambassadors of God! But the ambassador of God may be very welcome to some of you, who have bitterly felt your estrangement, and are prepared by a sense of ruin for the good tidings of redemption. Ambassadors are welcome–
1. To a people who are engaged in a war which is beyond their strength, when their resources are exhausted and the peril of defeat is imminent. Ah, man! thou hast bid defiance to the King of heaven, whose power is irresistible. How canst thou stand against Him; shall the stubble contend with the fire? Happy for thee that terms of peace are proclaimed. Wilt thou not gladly accept what God proposeth to thee?
2. When the people have begun to feel the victorious force of the King. Certain cities have been taken by the sword and given up to be sacked. Now the poor, miserable inhabitants are glad enough to get peace. Doubtless there are some here who have known the power of God in their conscience. Surely you will rejoice to hear that there is an embassage of peace sent to you.
3. To those who are labouring under a fear of total and speedy destruction.
4. If the people know that he brings no hard terms. When a certain king sent to the inhabitants of a town that he would make peace with them provided he put out their right eyes and cut off their right hands, the ambassador who brought those tidings could not expect a cordial welcome. But there are no hard terms in the gospel. They are simply, Believe and live; not Do, and live; not Feel this, and live; but simply Believe, and live. And should not the fame of the King increase the zest with which the embassage is received? No temporary peace is proposed that may presently be broken, but a peace that shall stand for ever and ever. This peace is proclaimed to all men. Whosoever believeth in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. None are excluded hence but those who do themselves exclude.
II. The commission of peace which God has entrusted us to proclaim—To wit, that God, etc. Let us open the commission. Our commission begins with the announcement that God is love, that He willeth to forgive. Our commission goes on to disclose the manner as well as the motive of mercy. God has been pleased to give His only-begotten Son that He might stand in the room of those whom God has chosen. Thus the justice of God should be satisfied, and His love flow over to the human race. But the proclamation needs something more to give us any satisfaction. Are there any tidings in it for you and me? Well, our message goes on to announce that whosoever in the wide world will come to Christ shall forthwith be at peace with God. Though only some will accept it, the preacher is not warranted in showing any partiality. When Charles II. came back to England there was an amnesty, except for certain persons, and these were mentioned by name–Hugh Peters and others were proscribed; but there is no exception here.
III. The duty we have to discharge–As though God did beseech you by us, etc. Then we have not merely to read our commission, but to beseech you to accept it. Why?–
1. Because You are men, not machines.
2. Your hearts are so hard that you are prone to defy Gods power and resist His grace.
3. You are unbelieving, and will not credit the tidings. You say it is too good to be true that God will have mercy on such as you are.
4. You are so proud and self-satisfied that you will sooner follow your own righteousness and cling to your own works than accept a peace already sealed and ratified, and now freely proffered to you for acceptance.
5. You are careless. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
As though God did beseech you by us: we pray You in Christs stead, be ye reconciled to God.—
The arguments by which men should be persuaded to reconcile unto God
Man hath an indisposition God-ward, which doth expose him to the greatest danger.
1. That the motion of reconciliation begins with God.
2. Though the motion of reconciliation begins with God yet God expects our concurrence and consent. Reconciliation is never accomplished without us.
3. God in this motion of reconciliation accommodates Himself to humane principles, which are two: intelligence and freedom. To show you wherein this reconciliation doth consist, and whereby you may come to be reconciled to God.
(1) Rectify your wrong apprehension of God. To lay aside false opinion, this is the first; but it will not be the last. We find in ourselves, that if we have had wrong apprehension of a person, if we have a better representation of him, we begin to change in our minds. Wrong apprehensions of God are very mischievous; they, keep us off from Him, at the greatest distance. The first step to reconciliation is to lay aside wrong apprehension.
2. Let your affections be inflamed toward God, for this is due order; let understanding go before and affections follow after. If we apprehend God to be good and lovely, we cannot but adore, love, and magnify Him; the second will follow upon the first.
3. Be reconciled to God by savouring the things of God. Through reconciliation we come to harmonise with the nature, and mind, and will of God: to think of things as He thinks; to relish them as He doth. Friends that are of a familiar acquaintance, they come so to harmonise, that you may know one by the other.
4. Be reconciled to God by imitating Him in acts of goodness, acts el mercy, acts of love.
5. Let us direct all our intentions towards Him.
6. Acknowledge His grace and goodness in Christ. Now to apply this-1. This doth highly recommend religion to us, in that it is a reconciling principle.
(1) The reconciliation of man to God.
(2) The reconciling of man to man. (B. Whichcote, D. D.)
Reconciliation with God
I have a special errand; I bring a message from the King. When the President of the United States sends a message to the national legislature it takes precedence of all other business. When the ambassador of England or Germany presents his credentials, he has behind him the authority and prestige of a mighty empire. How much more authoritative the voice of him who is the ambassador of the King of kings. I have no theory to propound, but only the command of nay Master. I beseech you on the behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God. Notice:–
I. How positions here are reversed. It is not the rebel pleading for pardon, but the King asking the rebel to fling down his weapons; not the returning prodigal seeking the father, but the loving Father entreating the return of the wayward son. A son once quarrelled with and stole from his father, then fled to London, where he wasted his substance in sin. A detective discovered him in a haunt of vice–health and money gone. The father was notified, and hastened to the wretched abode. He climbed to the attic, and found his sick son in a broken, troubled sleep. He bent over him and was recognised. My poor boy, Ive come for you; will you go home with me? Go home! yes, if youll forgive me, father. He lifted up the invalid, and took him home repentant and forgiven. So God says to you, Poor son, daughter, come home, come home!
II. The cause of this conroversy. Sin; it affects the whole nature. If I should let fall a single drop of ink into this glass of water it would discolour the whole. There is also a penalty to be met. Christ becomes our substitute. It is His grace that bridges the gulf between us and heaven.
III. The one condition of reconciliation–that is, submission to Gods government. Unconditional surrender is the message. We remember how the large-hearted Lincoln pleaded, be ye reconciled. But he held to the one condition, yield! SO God says, Put away the evil of your doings. You cannot pass over this bridge till you have left at the gate your evil ways and thoughts.
IV. The fruits of this reconcilement are sweet and precious. You may be lying like a rosebush beaten by the blast and pelting rain. Your heart is crushed and bleeding, but as the sun comes and talks, as it were, with the flower; covers its petals with warm kisses and lifts it up to drink in the sunshine, and to be beautiful again, so will He give you beauty for ashes and joy for heaviness when you repentingly and lovingly open your heart to Christ. Conclusion.
You have heard of the Highland mother whose daughter had long led a reckless life in Edinburgh, sunk in sin. Her eyes were opened. She returned home to the but by the hillside, finding her way in the darkness. The daughter entered and found her old mother crooning over the ashes of the fire. The penitent was clasped in her mothers arms. I came home in the dead of night and found the cabin door unlocked! Its never been looked since you went away, for I didna ken when you might come back. So God keeps the door of mercy ajar and waits to welcome you. Think of that Saxon word, well-come–that is, It is well for you to come. To stay away is hell! (T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)
Reconciliation to God
I. What ministers, as Christs ambassadors, are to do in order to sinners being reconciled to God.–They are not to be silent, but to speak; and as they are ambassadors of Christ, He should be the principal subject of their ministrations. But more particularly–
1. In order to sinners reconciliation to God, it is necessary for ministers boldly to declare
(1) The natural enmity of their hearts against Him. Every sin is an act of rebellion against God.
(2) That though the groundwork of our reconciliation was laid in the eternal counsels of God, yet that it is actually brought about in time (Eph 2:13).
(a) The law being fulfilled, and justice satisfied in the person of Christ, the offended Deity now says, Fury is not in Me, This is reconciliation on Gods part, with respect to which we have nothing to do but to cordially embrace it.
(b) Reconciliation on our part is begun and completed by the grace of the Spirit. He slays the enmity of the heart, subdues the obstinacy of the will, and sanctifies the carnal affections, so that we are made to resign ourselves up to Him as our lawful Sovereign, and at the same time choose Him as our supreme good.
2. Christs servants are likewise to declare that there is need of a farther reconciliation in those who are already reconciled to God. Be ye particularly reconciled
(1) To the absolute sovereignty of God. Deny Him not that right which you yourselves exercise in disposing your favours as you please.
(2) To the providences of God, so as neither to quarrel with Him for what He has done, nor prescribe to Him what He shall do.
(3) To all the requirements of God. His laws are founded upon the highest reason, as well as enforced by the highest authority.
(4) To the methods of Divine grace, and the way of salvation by Jesus Christ. Be ye then reconciled to the gospel, as a mystery far above your comprehension: yet a mystery of godliness, the manifest design of which is, to make you more like God, and meet for heaven.
3. Ministers are faithfully to denounce the terrible judgments of God against those who live and die unreconciled to him. They are to tell their hearers that if reconciliation do not take place in this world, it will not in the next.
II. The manner in which ministers thus treat with sinners about their reconciliation to God.
1. With a perfect unanimity. However various their gifts and abilities may be, yet the subject of their ministrations is the same.
2. With warmth and affection. We not only direct and exhort, but we pray you (Act 20:31).
3. With spiritual power and authority, as though God did beseech you by us.
4. With meekness, gentleness, and all the means of persuasion, We beseech you.
Conclusion.–The subject teaches us–
1. The dreadful corruption and depravity of human nature. Nothing worse can be said of the devil than that he is an enemy to God.
2. The necessity of a Divine change; not a change of the conduct only, but of the inward frame and temper of the mind.
3. How much are we indebted to the Lord Jesus Christ, without whom this reconciliation never would, nor ever could have taken place! (B. Beddome, M. A.)
On reconciliation
I. This earnest entreaty of the apostle supposes alienation from God, and enmity against Him, as the natural character of mankind. That they are naturally averse from God may be proved from the general tendency of their desires and affections. The desire of knowledge is natural. The philosopher, the scholar, the artist, are all in earnest pursuit of knowledge. But of what kind?–on questions and speculations which natural objects suggest, and which are all of temporary importance. In no class of men, indeed, do we perceive a natural desire after the best of all knowledge, the knowledge of God, and of the gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ. That knowledge is the last and the least desired. Again, we are all desirous of happiness; but where is it generally sought? Look at the young, and you find them pursuing their happiness among trifles and amusements that are ever shifting with the hour. Look at those of maturer age, in what do they place their happiness? In pursuits as idle as the play of children, but more dangerous. Again, we take much pleasure in social conversation. We are made for society, and the social principle belongs to our nature. If then no alienation from God has taken place, the most delightful topics of conversation would be His nature, His works, our relation to Him, the duties we owe to Him, and the blessedness of communion with Him. Our experience, however, tells us that these are by no means the favourite themes of social conversation.
II. The possibility, notwithstanding mans natural enmity, of his reconciliation to God. Observe what wisdom and grace appear in the exact adaptation of the gospel to our actual condition! If reconciliation be proposed at all, it is not for the inferior and offending party to determine the way. God well knew that His wisdom alone was adequate to this. But in making known the purposes of His grace, how conspicuous does His wisdom, how glorious does His majesty, appear! His offended justice requires satisfaction, and His truth declares that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. But further, in this work, in this combination of might, wisdom, and grace, we see each Person of the Godhead harmoniously engaged.
III. That our text suggests the leading object of the Christian ministry–to beseech men to be reconciled to God.
1. We beseech you by the imminent dangers of a state of enmity against God.
2. We beseech you by the mercies of God.
3. We beseech you by the blood of Christ shed for the remission of sins. Think of the costly sacrifice made for this gracious purpose.
4. We beseech you by the promised influences of the Holy Spirit, be ye reconciled to God. We know that your own efforts cannot effect this object; but we call upon you to put into diligent use the means with which Divine grace has furnished you.
5. Finally, we beseech you, by the awful importance of eternity, and the value of your never-dying souls. (T. Lewis.)
Reconciliation with God, mans truest interest
I. I shall endeavour to prove that a state of sin is a state of hostility against God; that the impenitent offender is at enmity with God. That obstinate sinners are the enemies of God, we have His own unerring word for our confirmation. This is the very name which He gives them, speaking by the prophet Isaiah, I will avenge Me, says He, of Mine enemies, and render vengeance to Mine adversaries. Nor is He unjust in branding them with this title, since their constant practice proves them to be no other, for they live in a direct opposition to His will, in a presumptuous violation of His laws. But the greatest instance of enmity is when we enter into a strict alliance with avowed adversaries. The first and greatest enemy of God is the devil, and the wicked man is entered into a close covenant with him. A second enemy of God is the world, and therefore the apostle positively assures us that the friendship of this world is enmity with God. But how dear and tender a union is there between this and the wicked man! A third enemy of God is the flesh. I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind. Friendship is generally founded upon a resemblance of dispositions, and enmity is often caused by a contrariety of humours. But what inclinations can be more opposite than those of God and the sinful man? Holiness and justice are the delights of the one; uncleanness and iniquity the darlings of the other.
II. To inquire into the dismal consequences of being Gods enemies, and having Him for ours.
1. By considering the nature and probable effects of this enmity. How is it possible to taste any enjoyment of our lives, our fortunes, or any other friendship, whilst we thus continue out of favour with our God.
2. From the consideration of our own weakness and infirmity, and the vast power and ability of our formidable enemy, we may learn how miserable a thing it is to be at enmity with our God. We cannot resist His anger.
3. The great misery of this condition will yet further appear if we consider that he who has God for his enemy is thereby deprived of the only cordial which can sweeten the bitterness of this present life. For what is there that can carry a man comfortably through all the troubles and disappointments of this turbulent world, but a sober consideration of his living under the protection of Almighty God?
III. The invincible necessity which lies upon us of complying with the advice which the apostle here gives us, That we should, be reconciled unto God. Having just laid before you the miserable consequences of continuing in a state of enmity with God, one would think any other arguments useless. Shall the traitor at the gallows need to be importuned to accept of pardon and be restored to his Princes favour? One would think there should need no entreaty in such a case.
1. The infinite condescension of Almighty God in vouchsafing to make such a passionate address to us, should prevail with any grateful and ingenious soul to lay hold of the reconciliation which is offered by his God.
2. We should be prevailed with to be reconciled to God, because no just reason or pretence can be alleged for our continuing to stand out in hostility against Him. The causes which are wont to occasion our continuance in any enmity are either our hopes of victory, or our despair of peace, or the difficulty of the terms of our reconciliation, but none of these hindrances can fairly be pretended as the obstruction of our agreement with Almighty God.
3. We ought heartily to close with a reconciliation to our God, because otherwise we shall be unable to resist those enemies which we must expect to encounter in this troublesome world.
4. Let us reconcile ourselves to God, because then we shall be sure of such a friend as is able to deliver us out of all distresses, and to impart to us both temporal and eternal advantages. When once we have entered into a friendship with Him, we are placed beyond the reach of any other enemies; for who is he that will harm you if ye be the followers of that which is good? (N. Brady.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 20. We are ambassadors for Christ] – . We execute the function of ambassadors in Christ’s stead. He came from the Father to mankind on this important embassy. He has left the world, and appointed us in his place.
Ambassador is a person sent from one sovereign power to another; and is supposed to represent the person of the sovereign by whom he is deputed. Christ while on earth represented the person of the Sovereign of the world; his apostles and their successors represent the person of Christ. Christ declared the will of the Father to mankind; apostles, c., declare the will of Christ to the world. We are ambassadors for Christ.
As though God did beseech you by us] What we say to you we say on the authority of God our entreaties are his entreaties; our warm love to you, a faint reflection of his infinite love; we pray you to return to God, it is his will that you should do so; we promise you remission of sins, we are authorized to do so by God himself. In Christ’s stead we pray you to lay aside your enmity and be reconciled to God; i.e. accept pardon, peace, holiness, and heaven; which are all procured for you by his blood, and offered to you on his own authority.
“What unparalleled condescension and divinely tender mercies are displayed in this verse! Did the judge ever beseech a condemned criminal to accept of pardon? Does the creditor ever beseech a ruined debtor to receive an acquittance in full? Yet our almighty Lord, and our eternal Judge, not only vouchsafes to offer these blessings, but invites us, entreats us, and with the most tender importunity solicits us not to reject them.” The Rev. J. Wesley’s notes in loc.
This sentiment is farther expressed in the following beautiful poetic version of this place, by the Rev. Charles Wesley:-
“God, the offended God most high,
Ambassadors to rebels sends;
His messengers his place supply,
And Jesus begs us to be friends.
Us, in the stead of Christ, they pray,
Us, in the stead of Christ, entreat,
To cast our arms, our sins, away,
And find forgiveness at his feet.
Our God, in Christ, thine embassy
And proffer’d mercy we embrace;
And, gladly reconciled to thee,
Thy condescending mercy praise.
Poor debtors, by our Lord’s request
A full acquittance we receive;
And criminals, with pardon blest,
We, at our Judge’s instance, live.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The apostle here giveth us a true notion, not only of apostles, which were the first and principal ministers of the gospel, but of all other ministers; teaching us what all ministers should be, and what all true ministers of the gospel are. They
are ambassadors for Christ. There is by nature an enmity between the creature and God; he naturally hateth God, and God is angry with him. Those that were sometime alienated, and enemies in their minds by wicked works, Christ hath reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, Col 1:21,22; he hath purchased a reconciliation for them. But yet, till they have received Christ as their Lord and Saviour, they are not actually recovered to God by him. God does by men, as great princes do by such as they are at enmity with; he sends his ministers to them, who are his ambassadors; and as all ambassadors represent the person of him whose ambassadors they are, and speak in his name, and as in his stead, persuading to peace; so these speak as in Christs name, and in Gods stead; their business is to beseech men to be reconciled unto God, to lay down their arms, and to accept of the terms of the gospel for peace and reconciliation.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. for Christ . . . in Christ’ssteadThe Greek of both is the same: translate in bothcases “on Christ’s behalf.”
beseech . . . prayrather,”entreat [plead with you] . . . beseech.” Such “beseeching”is uncommon in the case of “ambassadors,” who generallystand on their dignity (compare 2Co 10:2;1Th 2:6; 1Th 2:7).
be ye reconciled toGodEnglish Version here inserts “ye,” whichis not in the original, and which gives the wrong impression, as ifit were emphatic thus: God is reconciled to you, be yereconciled to God. The Greek expresses rather, God was theRECONCILER in Christ . . .let this reconciliation then have its designed effect. Bereconciled to God, that is, let God reconcile you to Himself(2Co 5:18; 2Co 5:19).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ,…. Since God has made reconciliation by Christ, and the ministry of it is committed to us, we are ambassadors for him; we come with full powers from him, not to propose terms of peace, to treat with men about it, to offer it to them, but to publish and proclaim it as made by him: we represent him, and God who made it by him,
as though God did beseech you by us; to regard this embassy and message of peace, which we bring from him; to consider from whence it takes its rise, what methods have been used to effect it, and how it is accomplished; which should oblige to say and sing with the angels, “glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, and good will towards men”; and to behave in peaceable manner to all men, and one another:
we pray you in Christ’s stead; representing him as if he was present before you:
be ye reconciled to God; you, who are new creatures, for whom Christ has died, and peace is made; you, the members of the church at Corinth, who upon a profession of faith have been taken into such a relation; be ye reconciled to all the dispensations of divine Providence towards you; let your wills bow, and be resigned to his, since he is the God of peace to you; and as you are reconciled by Christ as a priest, be reconciled to him as your King, and your God; to all his ordinances and appointments; to all the orders and laws of his house; conform in all things to his will and pleasure, which we, as his ambassadors, in his name and stead, have made known unto you. You ought to be all obedience to him, and never dispute anything he says or orders.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ ( ). Old word from , an old man, first to be an old man, then to be an ambassador (here and Eph 6:20 with in a chain added), common in both senses in the Greek. “The proper term in the Greek East for the Emperor’s Legate” (Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 374), in inscriptions and papyri. So Paul has a natural pride in using this dignified term for himself and all ministers. The ambassador has to be persona grata with both countries (the one that he represents and the one to which he goes). Paul was Christ’s Legate to act in his behalf and in his stead.
As though God were intreating by us ( ‘ ). Genitive absolute with used with the participle as often to give the reason (apparent or real). Here God speaks through Christ’s Legate.
Be ye reconciled to God ( ). Second aorist passive imperative of and used with the dative case. “Get reconciled to God,” and do it now. This is the ambassador’s message as he bears it to men from God.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
We are ambassadors [] . Only here and Eph 6:10.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ,” (huper Christou oun presbeuomen) “We are therefore ambassadors (presbyters), elders, on behalf of Christ,” This “we” refers to the missionaries; Paul and his helpers, (as here used) in the restricted sense, messengers in the stead of Christ, Joh 20:21.
2) “As though God did beseech you by us.” (hos tou theou parakalountes di’ hemon) “as though God were beseeching you all through us, ” the presbyter-ambassadors, ordained messengers, in the stead of Christ, doing the leadership labors of an under-shepherd, 1Pe 5:1-4.
3) “We pray you in Christ’s stead,” (deometha huper Christou) “We beg you all, on behalf of Christ,” as He would beg you if he were to seek rest for your soul and restoration to God’s favor, Mat 11:28-30; Joh 6:37.
4) “Be ye reconciled to God,” (katallagete to theo) “Be ye reconciled (restored) to God,” God’s favor from which they had drifted, in moral, ethical, and doctrinal disobedience, for which he had chided or reproved them. Isa 55:6-7; Rev 22:17.
WE BESEECH YOU
A son once quarreled with and stole from his father, then fled to London, where he wasted his substance in sin. A detective discovered him in a haunt of vice – health and money gone. The father was notified, and hastened to the wretched abode. He climbed to the attic, and found his sick son in a broken, troubled sleep. He bent over him and was recognized. “My poor boy, I’ve -come for you; will you go home with me?” “Go home! yes, if you’ll forgive me, father.” He lifted up the invalid, and took him home repentant and forgiven. So God says to you, “Poor son, daughter, come home, come home!” You have heard of the Highland mother whose daughter had long led a reckless life in Edinburgh, sunk in sin. Her eyes were opened. She returned home to the hut by the hillside, finding her way in the darkness. The daughter entered and found her old “mother” crooning over the ashes of the fire. The penitent was clasped in her mother’s arms. “I came home in the dead of night and found the cabin door unlocked!” “It’s never been locked since you went away, for I didna ken when you might come back.” So God keeps the door of mercy ajar and waits to welcome you. Think of that Saxon word, well-come-that is, “It is well for you to come.” To stay away is hell!
– T. L. Cuyler
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
20. As if God did beseech you This is of no small importance for giving authority to the embassy: nay more, it is absolutely necessary, for who would rest upon the testimony of men, in reference to his eternal salvation? It is a matter of too much importance, to allow of our resting contented with the promise of men, without feeling assured that they are ordained by God, and that God speaks to us by them. This is the design of those commendations, with which Christ himself signalizes his Apostles:
He that heareth you, heareth me, etc. (Luk 10:16.)
Whatsoever you shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven, (Mat 18:18,)
and the like.
We entreat you, in Christ’s stead. Hence we infer, with what propriety Isaiah exclaims,
How blessed are the feet of them that preach the Gospel! (Isa 52:7.)
For that one thing, that is of itself sufficient for completing our felicity, and without which we are most miserable, is conferred upon us, only through means of the Gospel. If, however, this duty is enjoined upon all the ministers of the Church, in such a way, that he who does not discharge this embassy is not to be regarded either as an Apostle, or as a Pastor, we may very readily judge from this, as to the nature of the Pope’s entire hierarchy. They are desirous, indeed, to be looked upon as Apostles and Pastors; but as they are dumb idols, how will their boasting (561) correspond with this passage of Paul’s writings. The word entreat is expressive of an unparalleled (562) commendation of the grace of Christ, inasmuch as He stoops so low, that he does not disdain to entreat us. So much the less excusable is our depravity, if we do not, on meeting with such kindness, show ourselves teachable and compliant.
Be reconciled. It is to be observed, that Paul is here addressing himself to believers. He declares, that he brings to them every day this embassy. Christ therefore, did not suffer, merely that he might once expiate our sins, nor was the gospel appointed merely with a view to the pardon of those sins which we committed previously to baptism, but that, as we daily sin, so we might, also, by a daily remission, be received by God into his favor. For this is a continued embassy, (563) which must be assiduously sounded forth in the Church, till the end of the world; and the gospel cannot be preached, unless remission of sins is promised.
We have here an express and suitable declaration for refuting the impious tenet of Papists, which calls upon us to seek the remission of sins after Baptism from some other source, than from the expiation that was effected through the death of Christ. Now this doctrine is commonly held in all the schools of Popery — that, after baptism, we merit the remission of sins by penitence, through means of the aid of the keys, (564) (Mat 16:19,) — as if baptism itself could confer this (565) upon us without penitence. By the term penitence, however, they mean satisfactions. But what does Paul say here? He calls us to go, not less after baptism, than before it, to the one expiation made by Christ, that we may know that we always obtain it gratuitously. Farther, all their prating as to the administration of the keys is to no purpose, inasmuch as they conceive of keys apart from the Gospel, while they are nothing else than that testimony of a gratuitous reconciliation, which is made to us in the Gospel.
(561) “ Leur vanterie orgueilleuse;” — “Their haughty boasting.”
(562) “ Vne singuliere et inestimable louange;” — “A singular and inestimable commendation.”
(563) “ Vne ambassade et commission perpetuelle;” — “A perpetual embassy and commission.”
(564) The reader will find this tenet of Popery adverted to by Calvin at considerable length in the Institutes, volume 3 — Ed.
(565) “ La remission de nos pechez;” — “The remission of our sins.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) Now then we are ambassadors for ChristThe preposition for implies the same representative character as in 2Co. 5:14-15. The preachers of the Word were acting on behalf of Christ; they were acting also in His stead. The thought or word meets us again in Eph. 6:20. I am an ambassador in bonds. The earlier versions (Tyndale, Geneva, Cranmer) give messengers, the Rhemish legates. Ambassadors, which may be noted as singularly felicitous, first appears in the version of 1611. The word, derived from the medival Latin ambasciator, and first becoming popular in the Romance languages, is found in Shakespeare, and appears to have come into prominence through the intercourse with France and Spain in the reign of Elizabeth.
We pray you in Christs stead, be ye reconciled to God.It will be seen, in this conclusion of the language of St. Paul as to the atonement, how entirely, on the one hand, he recognises the representative and vicarious character of the redeeming work of Christ; how entirely, on the other, he stands aloof from the speculative theories on that work which have sometimes been built upon his teaching. He does not present, as the system-builders of theology have too often done, the picture of the wrath of the Father averted by the compassion of the Son, or satisfied by the infliction upon Him of a penalty which is a quantitative equivalent for that due to the sins of mankind. The whole work, from his point of view, originates in the love of the Father, sending His Son to manifest that love in its highest and noblest form. He does not need to be reconciled to man. He sends His Son, and His Son sends His ministers to entreat them to be reconciled to Him, to accept the pardon which is freely offered. In the background there lies the thought that the death of Christ was in some way, as the highest act of Divine love, connected with the work of reconciliation; but the mode in which it was effective, is, as Butler says (Analogy, 2:5), mysterious, and left, in part at least, unrevealed, and it is not wise to endeavour to explain the efficacy of what Christ has done and suffered for us beyond what the Scripture has authorised.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. We are ambassadors They have an embassy from the government of God to the rebellious anarchy of men.
For May, intrinsically, mean either in behalf of or in the stead of. The context here indicates the latter meaning. An ambassador is the representative and substitute of his sovereign. And so it is God who beseeches by us. As Christ died in our stead, (2Co 5:14,) so we are ambassadors in his stead.
We pray A striking thought that God’s ambassador prays, in his stead, to man for reconciliation. A powerful proof that God has, in a true sense, done all he can, and man must do the rest.
Be ye reconciled to God A passive active. Take that course by which God will reconcile you to himself. Take one path and he will; take the other path and he never will, the blame being your own.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
5. Consequent style of apostolic appeal to men to be reconciled, 2Co 5:20 to 2Co 6:2.
These appeals, in the second person plural, must not be mistaken for exhortations by Paul to the Corinthian Church to be reconciled to God. They are a statement to the Corinthians what is the hortatory result, that is, what the resultant mode, of exhorting men, derived from the scheme of reconciliation exhibited in 2Co 5:14-19. Their appeal to the world (2Co 5:19) is, Christ has died to reconcile you, therefore be ye reconciled. And this ye is addressed, not to the Corinthians, but to the world.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we plead on behalf of Christ, be you reconciled to God.’
‘Therefore’, because a way of reconciliation has been made possible, we who are His, and reconciled already to Him, have a responsibility as ‘ambassadors’, as those sent to represent Him, bearing His authority. We go on behalf of Christ, just as though God was entreating through us, and our message is, ‘We plead, on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.’ Our ministry is a ministry of reconciliation. Not a reconciliation between man and man, although that will follow, but a reconciliation with God. And Paul is making clear that he himself is such an appointed ambassador.
This ‘plea’ is not a plea in weakness. It carries behind it an implied threat. Peace has been offered. An amnesty is available. But if they are not willing to truly believe and be reconciled they must bear the consequences.
This may be seen as simply a general description of what his message and purpose is all about, that as God’s ambassador his is a ministry offering reconciliation with God to the world, as God entreats through him, or as a specific plea to certain of the Corinthians, whom he perceives by their behaviour to be in a doubtful position, to make sure of where they are with regard to God (compare 2Co 6:1; 2Co 13:5).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Co 5:20. We are ambassadors for Christ, The Apostles were so in a peculiar sense; but if it be the will of Christ that ministers, in all ages, should press men to accept the treaty of reconciliation established in him, then it is evident they may be called his ambassadors, even though such a phrase had never been used in scripture. The term ‘ plainly means, in Christ’s stead, as we render it. When Christ was in the world, he pressed this treaty of reconciliation; and we rise up in his stead to urge it still further. See Mat 5:24.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Co 5:20 . For Christ, therefore, we administer the office of ambassador, just as if God exhorted through us . This double element of the dignity of the high calling follows from the previous . . . If, namely, it is the word of reconciliation which is committed to us, then in our embassy we conduct Christ’s cause ( . .), seeing that the reconciliation has taken place through Christ; and because God has entrusted to us this work, our exhortation is to be regarded as taking place by God through us ( . . . .). On with . in the sense specified, comp. Eph 6:20 and the passages in Wetstein and Kypke. The opposite: . , Dem. 400, 12. The usual interpretation, vice et loco Christi , which is rightly abandoned even by Hofmann, and is defended on the part of Baur by mere subtlety, runs counter to the context; for this sense must have followed ( ) from what precedes, which, however, is not the case. If the notion of representation were to be inferred from what precedes, it could only furnish us with a .
Observe the parallel correlation of Christ and God in the two parts of the verse. The connecting of . . with . (Hofmann) would only disturb this symmetry without due groun.
. . .] specification of the contents of the , and that in the form of apostolic humility and love: we pray for Christ , in His interest, in order that we may not, in your case, miss the aim of His divine work of reconciliation: be ye reconciled to God ; do not, by refusing faith, frustrate the work of reconciliation in your case, but through your faith bring about that the objectively accomplished reconciliation may be accomplished subjectively in you. Rckert wrongly holds [240] that the second aorist passive cannot have a passive meaning and signifies only to reconcile oneself (see, on the contrary, Rom 5:10 ; Col 1:21 ); that Paul demands the putting away of the , and the putting on of the ; and that so man reconciles himself with God. In this view, the moral immediate consequence of the appropriation of the reconciliation through faith is confounded with this appropriation itself. The reconciliation is necessarily passive ; man cannot reconcile himself, but is able only to become by means of faith a partaker of the reconciliation which has been effected on the divine side; he can only become reconciled , which on his side cannot take place without faith, but is experienced in faith. This also in opposition to Hofmann, who says that they are to make their peace with God , in which case what the person so summoned has to do is made to consist in this, that he complies with the summons and prays God to extend to him also the effect, which the mediation constituted by God Himself exercises on the relation of sinful man toward Him.
The subject of is all those, to whom the loving summons of the gospel goes forth; consequently those not yet reconciled, i.e. the unbelieving , who, however, are to be brought, through Christ’s ambassadors, to appropriate the reconciliation. The quotidiana remissio which is promised to Christians (Calvin) is not meant, but the is fulfilled by those who, hitherto still standing aloof from the reconciliation, believingly accept the . sent to them. [241]
[240] See against this, also Weber, v. Zorne Gottes , p. 302 f.
[241] Thereby is completed in their case the task of the apostolic ministry, which is contained in the , Mat 28:19 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
The Apostle hath very beautifully introduced this verse, in the midst of those high truths he was delivering to the Church, as if his mind was suddenly constrained to make appeal, from what he had said before, to the Church of God, in that place. He takes up the idea of an Ambassador, sent not with an earthly commission, but with an heavenly, to entreat poor sinners to a reconciliation with God in Christ. And what endears the message still more is, that the overture first comes from the offended party. By the fall, it is our nature that is in a state of enmity and warfare with God. So that, what grace must it be in God, not only to provide a remedy, for repairing the dreadful breach of sin, but also to woo the sinner’s heart, to accept the offered mercy. Reader! do not overlook in this view, the provision made, for acceptation, in every instance, of the Church of Jesus, Psa 110:3 ; Joh 6:37 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Ver. 20. Ambassadors for Christ ] And therefore sacred persons, not to be violated on pain of God’s heavy displeasure: “Do my prophets no harm.” They that would annihilate the ministry, go to pull the stars out of Christ’s hand; and they will find it a work not feasible.
As though God did beseech you ] God’s grace even kneels to us. En flexanimam suadae medullam; who can turn his back upon such blessed and bleeding embracements?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
20, 21. ] He describes his office as that of an ambassador for Christ, consisting in beseeching them , ON THEIR PART, to be reconciled to God; and that, in consideration of the great Atonement which God has provided by Christ . On Christ’s behalf then (i.e. in pursuance of the imposition on us of the .) we are ambassadors, as if God were exhorting by us: we beseech (‘ you ,’ but not uttered as an integral part of the present text, not a request now made and urged , as Rom 12:1 ; he is describing the embassage ; we are ambassadors, and in our embassage it is our work to beseech ‘ Be ye ,’ &c.) on Christ’s behalf, Be reconciled to God : . strictly passive : ‘God was the RECONCILER let this reconciliation have effect on you enter into it by faith.’ Our E. V., by inserting the word ‘ ye ,’ has given a false impression, making it appear as if there were an emphasis on it, corresponding to God being reconciled to us , as if it had been , whereas it is the simple being reconciled in that reconciliation in which God was, in Christ, the Reconciler .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Co 5:20 . . . .: we are ambassadors therefore, sc. , because to us has been committed the Ministry of Reconciliation, on behalf of Christ , as Christ’s representative (see on 2Co 5:15 above for the force of ), as though God were entreating by us ( cf. 2Co 6:1 and see on 2Co 1:4 ). The construction of followed by a genitive absolute is found also at 1Co 4:18 , 2Pe 1:3 . . . . .: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, Be ye reconciled to God . The imperative is much more emphatic than the infinitive (see crit. note) would be; all through we perceive the Apostle’s anxiety that the Corinthians should turn from the sin which beset them, whatever it might be in any individual case ( cf. 2Co 2:16 , 2Co 4:1 , 2Co 6:1 , 2Co 11:3 ). Note that the appeal, “Be ye reconciled to God,” is based on the fact (2Co 5:18 ) that God has already “reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ”.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
2Co 5:20 to 2Co 6:3 . AS CHRIST’S AMBASSADOR HE ENTREATS THE CORINTHIANS TO BE RECONCILED TO GOD.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
2 Corinthians
THE ENTREATIES OF GOD
2Co 5:20
These are wonderful and bold words, not so much because of what they claim for the servants as because of what they reveal of the Lord. That thought, ‘as though God did beseech,’ seems to me to be the one deserving of our attention now, far rather than any inferences which may be drawn from the words as to the relation of preachers of the Gospel to man and to God. I wish, therefore, to try to set forth the wonderfulness of this mystery of a beseeching God, and to put by the side of it the other wonder and mystery of men refusing the divine beseechings.
Before doing so, however, I remark that the supplement which stands in our Authorised Version in this text is a misleading and unfortunate one. ‘As though God did beseech you’ and ‘we pray you’ unduly narrow the scope of the Apostolic message, and confuse the whole course of the Apostolic reasoning here. For he has been speaking of a world which is reconciled to God, and he finds a consequence of that reconciliation of the world in the fact that he and his fellow-preachers are entrusted with the word of reconciliation. The scope of their message, then, can be no narrower than the scope of the reconciliation; and inasmuch as that is world-wide the beseeching must be co-extensive therewith, and must cover the whole ground of humanity. It is a universal message that is set forth here. The Corinthians, to whom Paul was speaking, are, by his hypothesis, already reconciled to God, and the message which he has in trust for them is given in the subsequent words: ‘We then, as workers together with God, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.’ But the message, the pleading of the divine heart, ‘be ye reconciled to God,’ is a pleading that reaches over the whole range of a reconciled world. I take then, just these two thoughts, God beseeching man, and man refusing God.
I. God beseeching man.
So, then, let us think of that pleading. To sue for love, to beg that an enemy will put away his enmity is the part of the inferior rather than of the superior; is the part of the offender rather than of the offended; is the part of the vanquished rather than of the victor; is the part surely not of the king but of the rebel. And yet here, in the sublime transcending of all human precedent and pattern which characterises the divine dealing, we have the place of the suppliant and of the supplicated inverted, and Love upon the Throne bends down to ask of the rebel that lies powerless and sullen at His feet, and yet is not conquered until his heart be won, though his limbs be manacled, that he would put away all the bitterness out of his heart, and come back to the love and the grace which are ready to pour over him. ‘He that might the vengeance best have taken, finds out the remedy.’ He against whom we have transgressed prays us to be reconciled; and the Infinite Love lowers Himself in that lowering which is, in another aspect, the climax of His exaltation, to pray the rebels to accept His amnesty.
Oh, dear brethren! this is no mere piece of rhetoric. What facts in the divine heart does it represent? What facts in the divine conduct does it represent? It represents these facts in the divine heart, that there is in it an infinite longing for the creature’s love, an infinite desire for unity between Him and us.
There are wonderful significance and beauty in the language of my text which are lost in the Authorised Version; but are preserved in the Revised. ‘We are ambassadors’ not only ‘ for Christ,’ but ‘ on Christ’s behalf .’ And the same proposition is repeated in the subsequent clause. ‘We pray you,’ not merely ‘in Christ’s stead,’ though that is much, but ‘ on His account ,’ which is more-as if it lay very near His heart that we should put away our enmity; and as if in some transcendent and wonderful manner the all-perfect, self-sufficing God was made glad, and the Master, who is His image for us, ‘saw of the travail of His soul, and,’ in regard to one man, ‘was satisfied,’ when the man lets the warmth of God’s love in Christ thaw away the coldness out of his heart, and kindle there an answering flame. An old divine says, ‘We cannot do God a greater pleasure or more oblige His very heart, than to trust in Him as a God of love.’ He is ready to stoop to any humiliation to effect that purpose. So intense is the divine desire to win the world to His love, that He will stoop to sue for it rather than lose it. Such is at least part of the fact in the divine heart, which is shadowed forth for us by that wonderful thought of the beseeching God.
And what facts in the divine conduct does this great word represent? A God that beseeches. Well, think of the tears of imploring love which fell from Christ’s eyes as He looked across the valley from Olivet, and saw the Temple glittering in the early sunshine. Think of ‘O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! . . . how often would I have gathered thy children together . . . and ye would not.’ And are we not to see in the Christ who wept in the earnestness of His desire, and in the pain of its disappointment, the very revelation of the Father’s heart and the very action of the Father’s arm? ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ That is Christ beseeching and God beseeching in Him. Need I quote other words, gentle, winning, loving? Do we not feel, when looking upon Christ, as if the secret of His whole life was the stretching out imploring and welcoming hands to men, and praying them to grasp His hands, and be saved? But, oh, brethren! the fact that towers above all others, which explains the whole procedure of divinity, and is the keystone of the whole arch of revelation; the fact which reveals in one triple beam of light, God, man, and sin in the clearest illumination, is the Cross of Jesus Christ. And if that be not the very sublime of entreaty; and if any voice can be conceived, human or divine, that shall reach men’s hearts with a more piercing note of pathetic invitation than sounds from that Cross, I know not where it is. Christ that dies, in His dying breath calls to us, and ‘the blood of sprinkling speaketh better things than that of Abel’; inasmuch as its voice is, ‘Come unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.’
Not only in the divine facts of the life and death of Jesus Christ, but in all the appeals of that great revelation which lies before us in Scripture; and may I say, in the poor, broken utterances of men whose harsh, thin voices try to set themselves, in some measure, to the sweetness and the fulness of His beseeching tones-does God call upon you to draw close to Him, and put away your enmity. And not only by His Word written or ministered from human lips, but also by the patient providences of His love He calls and prays you to come. A mother will sometimes, in foolish fondness, coax her sullen child by injudicious kindness, or, in wise patience, will seek to draw the little heart away from the faults that she desires not to notice, by redoubled ingenuity of tenderness and of care. And so God does with us. When you and I, who deserve-oh! so different treatment-get, as we do get, daily care and providential blessings from Him, is not that His saying to us, ‘I beseech you to cherish no alienation, enmity, indifference, but to come back and live in the love’ ? When He draws near to us in these outward gifts of His mercy, is He not doing Himself what He has bid us to do; and what He never could have bid us to do, nor our hearts have recognised to be the highest strain of human virtue to do, unless He Himself were doing it first? ‘If thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head.’
Not only by the great demonstration of His stooping and infinite desire for our love which lies in the life and death of Jesus Christ, nor only by His outward work, nor by His providence, but by many an inward touch on our spirits, by many a prick of conscience, by many a strange longing that has swept across our souls, sudden as some perfumed air in the scentless atmosphere; by many an inward voice, coming we know not whence, that has spoken to us of Him, of His love, of our duty; by many a drawing which has brought us nearer to the Cross of Jesus Christ, only, alas! in some cases that we might recoil further from it,-has He been beseeching, beseeching us all.
Brethren! God pleads with you. He pleads with you because there is nothing in His heart to any of you but love, and a desire to bless you; He pleads with you because, unless you will let Him, He cannot lavish upon you His richest gifts and His highest blessings. He pleads with you, bowing to the level, and beneath the level, of your alienation and reluctance. And the sum and substance of all His dealings with every soul is, ‘My son! give Me thy heart.’ ‘Be ye reconciled to God.’
II. And now turn, very briefly, to the next suggestion arising from this text, the terrible obverse, so to speak, of the coin: Man refusing a beseeching God.
And let me remind you that the act of refusal is a very simple one. Not to accept is to reject; not to yield is to rebel. You have only to do nothing, to do it all. There are dozens of people in our churches and chapels listening with self-satisfied unconcern, who have all their lives been refusing a beseeching God. And they do not know that they ever did it! They say, ‘Oh! I will be a Christian some time or other.’ They cherish vague ideas that, somehow or other, they are so already. They have done nothing at all, they have simply been absolutely indifferent and passive. Some of you have heard sermons like this so often that they produce no effect. ‘It is the right kind of thing to say. It is the thing we have heard a hundred times.’ Perhaps you wonder why I should be so much in earnest about the matter, and then you go outside, and discuss me or the weather, and forget all about the sermon.
And thus, once more, you reject Christ. It is done without knowing it; done simply by doing nothing. My brother! do not stop your ears any more against that tender, imploring love.
Then let me remind you that this refusing the beseeching of God is the climax of all folly. For consider what it is,-a man refusing his highest good and choosing his certain ruin. I am afraid that people have been arguing and fighting so much of late years over disputable points in reference to the doctrine of future retribution that the indisputable fact of such retribution has lost much of its solemn power.
I pray you, brethren, to ask yourselves one question: Is there anything, in the present or in the future condition of a man that is not reconciled to God, which explains God’s beseeching urgency? Why this energy and intensity of divine desire? Why this which, if it were human only, would be called passionate entreaty? Why was it needful for Jesus Christ to die? Why was it worth His while to bear the punishment of man’s sin? Why should God and Christ, through all the ages, plead with unintermittent voice? There must be some explanation of it all, and here is the explanation, ‘They that hate Me love death .’ ‘Be ye reconciled to God,’ for enmity is ruin and destruction.
And finally, dear friends, this turning away from Him that speaketh from Heaven, of which some of you have all your lives been guilty, is not only supreme folly, but it is the climax of all guilt. For there can be nothing worse, darker, arguing a nature more averse or indifferent to the highest good, than that God should plead, and I should steel my heart and deafen mine ear against His voice. The crown of a man’s sin, because it is the disclosure of the secrets of his deepest heart as loving darkness rather than light, is turning away from the divine voice that woos us to love and to God.
Oh! there are some of you that have heard that Voice too often to be much touched by it. There are some of you too busy to attend to it, who hear it not because of the clatter of the streets and the whir of the spindles. There are some of you that are seeking to drown it in the shouts of mirth and revelry. There are some of you to whom it comes muffled in the mists of doubt; but I beseech you all, look at the Cross, look at the Cross! and hear Him that hangs there pleading with you.
Before the battle there comes out the captain of the twenty thousand to the King with the ten thousand, who in His loftiness is not afraid to stoop to sue for peace from the weaker power. My brother! the moment is precious; the white flag may never be waved before your eyes again. Do not; do not refuse! or the next instant the clarion of the assault may sound, and where will you be then?
It is vain for thee to rush against the thick bosses of the Almighty buckler. ‘We beseech, in Christ’s behalf, be ye reconciled with God.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2Co 5:20-21
20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2Co 5:20 “we are ambassadors for Christ” To whom does the “we” and “you” in this verse refer? Is Paul speaking to the church? If so the “we” is Paul and his missionary team and the “you,” believers at Corinth. These people did not need to be saved, but they did need to be brought back into unity.
Notice that Paul does not say believers should be ambassadors, but that they are ambassadors. This is similar to Jesus’ statements in Mat 5:13-16. Believers are salt and light. The question is what kind of salt and light. This is the question here. Believers are Christ’s representatives, but what kind of ambassadors are they: factious, heretical, unloving, etc.?
“beg” See full note at 2Co 1:4-11.
“be reconciled to God” This is a present passive imperative. Is this a command to lost people or to saved people? The larger context is mandating an appropriate lifestyle on the part of believers. Jesus saved us from sin and strife; we are saved to serve! We are called to Christlike ministry, not personal agendas.
This context has a message to a lost, needy world-Christ died for you (positional righteousness). This context has a message for a factious, unloving church-Christ died for you (progressive righteousness).
The passive voice could be translated “let God reconcile you to Himself”; “allow yourselves to be reconciled” (cf. The Jerome Biblical Commentary, p. 281); or “let God change you from enemies into his friends” (cf. TEV). Believers proclaim the truth, the Spirit convicts the lost, the Son provides the means, and the Father accomplishes His will through covenant response.
2Co 5:21 This text has several great truths.
1. God sent Jesus to die for us (cf. Joh 3:16). Jesus came to die for us (cf. Mar 10:45).
2. Jesus knew no sin (cf. Joh 8:46; Heb 4:15; Heb 7:26; 1Pe 1:19; 1Pe 2:22; 1Jn 3:5).
3. The goal is personal righteousness, serving Christlikeness (cf. Rom 8:28-29; 2Co 3:18; Gal 4:19; Eph 1:4; 1Th 3:13; 1Th 4:3; 1Pe 1:15). However, there is a note of contingency (subjunctive mood). All believers do not fully realize God’s complete purpose in salvation. It is a call to service, a call to self denial, a call to holiness. Christianity only begins when one trusts Christ. Belief is only the first step of a long journey.
NASB”to be sin on our behalf”
NKJV”to be sin for us”
NRSV”to be sin”
TEV”share our sin”
NJB”a victor for sin”
How did God make Jesus become sin? This may be an OT allusion to a sin offering (cf. Isaiah 53; Rom 8:3). God offered Jesus as the sinless lamb (cf. Joh 1:29; Joh 1:36).
I think Jesus’ words from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me” (cf. Mar 15:34), which is a quote from Psalms 22, reflects the spiritual reality of the Father turning away from the Son (i.e., symbolized by the darkness, cf. Mar 15:33), as He bore the sin of the world. This is theologically parallel to Gal 3:13, “having become a curse for us”!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
are ambassadors. Greek. presbeuo. Only here and Eph 6:20.
did beseech = is beseeching. App-134.
pray. App-134.
in . . . stead = on behalf of. Greek huper, as in 2Co 5:12.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
20, 21.] He describes his office as that of an ambassador for Christ, consisting in beseeching them, ON THEIR PART, to be reconciled to God; and that, in consideration of the great Atonement which God has provided by Christ. On Christs behalf then (i.e. in pursuance of the imposition on us of the .) we are ambassadors, as if God were exhorting by us: we beseech (you, but not uttered as an integral part of the present text, not a request now made and urged, as Rom 12:1; he is describing the embassage; we are ambassadors, and in our embassage it is our work to beseech-Be ye, &c.) on Christs behalf, Be reconciled to God:-. strictly passive: God was the RECONCILER-let this reconciliation have effect on you-enter into it by faith. Our E. V., by inserting the word ye, has given a false impression, making it appear as if there were an emphasis on it, corresponding to God being reconciled to us, as if it had been ,-whereas it is the simple being reconciled in that reconciliation in which God was, in Christ, the Reconciler.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Co 5:20. , for Christ) Christ the foundation of the embassy sent from God.- , we are ambassadors, [we pray], we beseech) two extremes, as it were, put in antithesis to each other, which relate to the words we have acted without moderation [whether we be beside ourselves, 2Co 5:13]. In antithesis to these, the mean between those extremes is, we exhort [, not as Engl. Vers., We beseech], ch. 2Co 6:1, 2Co 10:1, which appertains to the , we act with moderation [whether we be sober, 2Co 5:13]. Therefore the discourse of the apostle generally , exhorts; since the expression, , we are ambassadors, implies majesty, the expression , we beseech, intimates a submission, which is not of daily occurrence; ch. 2Co 10:2, [comp. 1Th 2:6-7]. In both expressions Paul indicates not so much what he is now doing, as what he is doing in the discharge of all the duties of his office. , for Christ, is placed before the former verb [though after the latter verb], for the sake of emphasis; comp. the preceding verses. Presently after, the latter verb is placed first for the same reason.-, be ye reconciled).
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
2Co 5:20
2Co 5:20
We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ,-An ambassador is one entrusted with a message from one sovereign to another. The apostles were ambassadors sent by God to the world. As ambassadors to men, they, in the state of Jesus, besought men to accept Gods terms of reconciliation.
as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God.-This presents the picture of God having given his Son to die to redeem man, still through his chosen ambassadors tenderly beseeching men to be reconciled to God. This was no selfish good to God, but knowing the awful doom that awaited the impenitent rebels, he placed himself in the position of entreating them for their own good.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Ambassadors for Christ
2Co 5:20-21; 2Co 6:1-10
On Gods side the work of reconciliation is complete. Everything has been done and is in readiness to make forgiveness and justifying righteousness possible as soon as a penitent soul asks for them. He only waits for us to make application for our share in the atonement of Calvary. Many as our trespasses have been, they are not reckoned to us, because they were reckoned to Christ. God wants this known, and so from age to age sends out ambassadors to announce these terms and urge men to accept them.
God sends none forth to entreat men without cooperating with them. When rain falls on a slab of rock, it falls in vain. Be not rock, but loam to the gentle fall of Gods grace. Let none of us be stumbling-blocks by the inconsistencies of our character, but all of us stepping-stones and ascending stairways for other souls.
The three marvelous series of paradoxes in 2Co 6:4-10 deserve careful pondering. The first series enumerates Pauls sufferings on behalf of the Gospel; the second, his behavior under them; the third, the contrast between appearance and reality, as judged respectively by time and eternity. The stoic bears lifes sorrows with compressed lips; the Christian, with a smile. Let us be always rejoicing, many enriching, and all things possessing.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Ambassadors for Christ
We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were intreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God.2Co 5:20.
1. The ministry is one of the original elements of historic. Christianity. From the beginning there have been duly appointed ministers in the Church. The ministry was implied in the constitution of the Christian Society. No thoughtful student of the Gospels can doubt that the ultimate origin of the ministry must be traced to Christ Himself. From the start the Church has taken the form of an ordered society. The earliest Christian writings we possess indicate the existence of an authorized and accepted ministry. The ministry takes rank with the two Sacraments, the Lords Day, the Scripture, as an original and therefore essential element of historic Christianity. The earliest Christian document we possess is the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, and there we encounter the ministry as a settled thing. We beseech you, brethren, to know them that labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them exceeding highly in love for their works sake.
2. The Christian ministry has, in the course of history, fulfilled itself in many ways. The methods of one age have not been the methods of another. The clergy have been variously organized; the Christian Society has run a parallel course to the State. There has been continuity of government in and through changes of system; for the standing necessities which government exists to meet never change, though the actual forms in which they must be met are never long the same. Every generation comes fresh to its problems, and has to learn the lesson of duty, and submit itself to the yoke of discipline. The proper and inalienable services of the Christian ministry will never be superfluous. The unseen world is too closely pressed by the world of sight and sense to vindicate its claim to human regard. There is need for Christs testimony being taken up, uttered in intelligible terms of the age, applied in actual life, pressed home by authoritative voices, illustrated by consecrated characters.
As an ambassador for Christ, I regard a preacher of the gospel as filling the most responsible office any mortal can occupy His pulpit is, in my eyes, loftier than a throne; and of all professions, learned or unlearned, his, though usually in point of wealth the poorest, I esteem the most honourable. That office is one angels themselves might covet.1 [Note: Thomas Guthrie, in Memoir, i. 272.]
I
An Ambassador is a Commissioner
The word Ambassador is one of great dignity. It is common among the ancient writers. In Luk 14:32, Jesus tells of one king who, while the other is yet a great way off, sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace. St. Paul is fully conscious of the great commission which he bears from God on behalf of Christ. In a word, St. Paul, as all ministers are, is Gods spokesman to men. He comes with authoritative word as the ambassador from the Court of Heaven to plead the cause of Christ with men whom God so loved that He gave His Son to die for them.
1. The commission is from God, and the ambassador owes his standing to Divine authority. What is it that makes a man an ambassador of the king? It is not that he chooses or wishes to be so, or that he is clothed in a certain robe, or is a member of a certain family; but it is solely and exclusively that he has the commission of his sovereign. What is it that makes a man a minister of Christ? Not any form or ceremonial, however beautiful and good; not ordination by presbyter or bishop, however useful and proper in its place; but the commission of the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, the minister of the gospel is here said to sustain to Christ, the heavenly King, precisely the relationship which an earthly ambassador sustains to an earthly monarch; and if none can make an ambassador but the sovereign, so none can constitute a man a minister of Christ but He who rules by His power, inspires by His wisdom, and creates faith by His grace. Whatever rites of ordination are proper for the public declaration and consecration of those who are the ministers of Christ, the minister is assumed to have been first called by the Holy Spirit. He is ordained, not that he may be made a minister, but because he has been set apart for that great office. An ambassador of the king, when he goes to a foreign court to reside, does not there make law, but simply executes the commission entrusted to him; he does not declare and define the terms of communion between his own kingdom and another, but simply declares what is the will of his sovereign, or his government, in reference to that other country. So a minister of the gospel is not to make law, but to preach law already made; he is not to make a sacrifice, but to proclaim a sacrifice already furnished; he is not to set up a rule of faith, but to call attention to a rule of faith already complete. That ambassador best discharges the duties entrusted to him by his sovereign who expresses least of his own mind, and most clearly the sovereigns mind; and that minister best discharges the duties which he owes to God who gives the least of human conjectures, and who declares most plainly and distinctly the will and word of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is one condition before any man can deliver such a message as this; it is, first, that he should have had it delivered to his own soul. Unless the message has within it that reality which only comes from its being a real part of your own life, a great deal of what you are saying must inevitably be words, and nothing else. If there be any truth that you are setting forth of which it is possible for you to say, Had it been untrue I should have been just the same as I am, then depend upon it such a belief as that is not a belief that would enable you to impress the truth upon your peopleit is not a belief that will enable you to be a real ambassador of Christ to deliver that message. Spiritual teaching must be backed up by truth of life, or else it loses its power.1 [Note: Frederick Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, i. 408.]
2. The substance of the commission is this: Be ye reconciled to God. To sue for love, to beg that an enemy will put away his enmity is the part of the inferior rather than of the superior, is the part of the offender rather than of the offended; is the part of the vanquished rather than of the victor; is the part, surely, not of the king but of the rebel. And yet here, in the sublime transcending of all human precedent and pattern which characterizes the Divine dealing, we have the places of the suppliant and of the supplicated inverted, and Love upon the Throne bends down to ask of the rebel that lies powerless and sullen at His feet, and yet is not conquered until his heart be won, though his limbs be manacled, that he would put away all the bitterness out of his heart, and come back to the love and the grace which are ready to pour over him. He that might the vengeance best have taken, finds out the remedy. He against whom we have transgressed prays us to be reconciled; and the Infinite Love lowers Himself in the lowering which is, in another aspect, the climax of His exaltation, to pray the rebels to accept His amnesty.
Conceive a king with an overwhelming powerfurnished with everything to command success, able, at any moment, to crush the rebellious force which had outraged him in every possible wayjust on the eve of taking the most complete vengeance, at the very height of his supremacy, and in the moment of the surest confidence of his victory, sending forth a flag of truce to the enemyand in the most suppliant and endearing terms, for no advantage of his own, but entirely for that enemys sakebeseeching an embassy and a reconciliation. Conceive that the result of that proposition, if accepted, is nothing less than the elevation of that pardoned state, to all the privileges and dignities which its captor could bestow, even to the position of equality with his own dearest and most obedient children. Conceive that so dear was this reconciliation to that all-conquering monarch, that, to compass it, he spared not his dearest and his best, and that even when his well-beloved son had been murdered by the treachery of those to whom he was bearing the white flag of his fathers clemency, still he continued to send forth more messengers with the same offers, and never ceased to use all the arguments, and to take on himself the suitors part, as though he were the guilty one! What an unparalleled passage that would be in the history of man! And yet, what is that to the grandeur of this simple fact here set forth, We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were intreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God?
I read the other day that a father in Watford last year was greatly troubled about his son, who had gone wrong, and who was now ill and despondent and wrote to him, very tremblingly and fearfully, as if to ask whether there was any hope. The father sent a telegram to him, and the telegram consisted of one word; the one word was Home, and it was signed Father. Now the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is Gods telegram to the sinful world, summed up in one word, Home, and signed by one name, Father.1 [Note: R. F. Horton, How the Cross Saves, 102.]
3. The message is for all men. The supplement which stands in our Authorized Version in this text is a misleading and unfortunate one. As though God did beseech you and we pray you unduly narrow the scope of the Apostolic message, and confuse the whole course of the Apostolic reasoning here. For he has been speaking of a world which is reconciled to God, and he finds a consequence of that reconciliation of the world in the fact that he and his fellow-preachers are entrusted with the word of reconciliation. The scope of their message, then, can be no narrower than the scope of the reconciliation; and, inasmuch as that is world-wide, the beseeching must be co-extensive therewith, and must cover the whole ground of humanity. It is a universal message that is set forth here. The Corinthians, to whom St. Paul was speaking, are, by his hypothesis, already reconciled to God, and the message which he has in trust for them is given in the subsequent words: We then, as workers together with God, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. But the message, the pleading of the Divine heart, be ye reconconciled to God, is a pleading that reaches over the whole range of a reconciled world.
In 1854, when the British fleet was lying in Nagasaki Bay, the Japanese Government was extremely anxious that we should not land, and General Wakasa was appointed to watch the fleet and to prevent the British troops from landing. It happened that, as he rowed about the bay in fulfilment of his duty, some careless sailor on one of those English men-of-war had dropped his New Testament overboard. Probably he cared very little for his New Testament and he parted with it without any regret. But it so happened that General Wakasa picked it up out of the sea, and he was curious to know what this book was. He got an interpreter to tell him what it was. He became interested in it. He procured a Chinese New Testament and read it throughit brought him to Christ. Twelve years later General Wakasa came down to Verbeck, the missionary, and asked to be baptized because he had found the Saviour. Your British sailor let his New Testament fall into the sea, but that New Testament converted the General of the Japanese army, and his family, and the whole circle of his friends, and planted the blessed truth of reconciliation in the islands of Japan. That is the logic of missions. The first duty is to let the world know, and let every race of men know, to have it in every language, to put it within reach of every human being, that God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.1 [Note: R. F. Horton, How the Cross Saves, 109.]
4. To turn a deaf ear to this message is to incur great guilt. It is an awful and solemn power that every poor little speck of humanity has, to lift itself up in Gods face, and say, in answer to all His pleadings, I will not! as if the dwellers in some little island, a mere pin-point of black, barren rock, jutting up at sea, were to declare war against a kingdom that stretched through twenty degrees of longitude on the mainland. So we, on our little bit of island, our pin-point of rock in the great waste ocean, can separate ourselves from the great Continent; or, rather, God has, in a fashion, made us separate in order that we may either unite ourselves with Him, by our willing yielding, or wrench ourselves away from Him by our antagonism and rebellion.
God cannot prise open a mans heart with a crowbar, as it were, and force Himself inside. The door opens from within. Behold! I stand at the door and knock. There is an if. If any man open I will come in. Hence the beseeching, hence the wail of wisdom that cries aloud and no man regards it; of love that stands at the entering in of the city, and pleads in vain, and says, I have called, and ye have refused. How often would I have gathered and ye would not.
We heard his footfall on the vacant stair
The whole night long. We lay awake in bed
And heard him climb;but those who slept instead
Smiled and assured us that he was not there.
We had our own important things to care
Aboutplace, profit and the daily bread;
And then the street so thundered in ones head
And often lifes a commonplace affair!
Yet then we heard him!we not they were right:
We heard himYes! tho now we sleep by night
Almost as soundly as we sleep by day,
We waked, we heard him, heardand nothing more.1 [Note: G. C. Lodge, Poems and Dramas, ii. 152.]
II
An Ambassador is a Representative
1. An ambassador has no independent position, no independent authority. What he is, he is because he represents the king or nation which has commissioned him to bear their message. Instructions are given him, and he must not exceed them. The terms he proposes, the plans he communicates, have been settled beforehand, and they are not his own. He is the mouthpiece of others. He mediates between kings or nations, because he represents one king or one nation to another. To put the ambassador in the place of his king or nation would be a gross perversion of the truth. To put the minister in the place of Christ would be equally gross. And yet the minister does represent Christ, does mediate between his people and Christ, for he speaks in his Masters name.
We are ambassadors not only for Christ, but on Christs behalf. And the same preposition is repeated in the subsequent clause. We pray you, not merely in Christs stead, though that is much, but on His account, which is moreas if it lay very near His heart that we should put away our enmity; and as if in some transcendent and wonderful manner the all-perfect, self-sufficing God was made glad, and the Master, who is His image for us, saw of the travail of his soul, and, in regard to one man, was satisfied, when the man lets the warmth of Gods love in Christ thaw away the coldness out of his heart, and kindle there an answering flame. An old divine says, We cannot do God a greater pleasure, or more oblige His very heart, than to trust in Him as a God of love.
There is one absolute essential to successful preaching and to beneficial hearingfirm faith that it is Gods own appointed plan for the conversion of souls, and that He never will withhold the blessing when it is earnestly sought. The moment you allow the mind to fix itself solely and exclusively on the human element in preachingthe man, the talent, the oratoryyou miss the good of preaching. The way to regard it is this: to look upon the man as but the machine in Gods hand, doing Gods work. Then you reap the benefit; because you listen reverently, patiently, receptively. This is far too little enforced and far too little understood.1 [Note: Dr. MacGregor of St. Cuthberts, 97.]
The clergyman is not simply an officer or servant of God or workman of God, but His ambassador and herald to tell men about God Himself. He must bring distinctly before men the reality of the heaven of which the earth and all that it contains is but the symbol and vesture. And, since all human teaching is but the purging of the ear to hear Gods teaching, and since the whole man, and not certain faculties only, must enter into the Divine presence, the sacraments must be the centre and crown (I dont mean central subject) of his teaching, for there the real heights and depths of heaven are most fully revealed, and at the same time the commonest acts and things of earth are most closely and clearly connected with the highest heaven. This is, briefly, my view of a clergymans work; and by this, I think, must the nature of the Spirits inward motion be determined.2 [Note: F. J. A. Hort, in Life and Letters, i. 279.]
2. The Christian ambassador must spare no pains to be a true copy of the Master whom he represents. David Brainerd was a young American missionary to the Red Indians. Weak and ill in body he died at twenty-nine, but what a noble history he left. He travelled, in spite of suffering, four thousand miles a year, through woods, over mountains and rivers. At night he lay out in the open woods, or in log and turf huts. He ate the Indians coarse food, learned their strange language, and preached to them in their wigwams, full of smoke and filth, the Indians often laughing and drinking around. And he tells us why he so lived and suffered: first to be conformed to Jesus in toil and suffering; and second, I cared not where or how I lived, or what hardships I went through, so that I could but win souls to Christ.
To one who asked MacGregor in the zenith of his power what were the things which stood behind his preaching, the answer was characteristically descriptive of what was felt by every listening hearer of his ministry: All through, from the beginning, I have tried to be true to my colourspreaching Christ and Him crucified. The rock of my faith is the eternal Sonship of the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. All flows from that. Religion without that is a pithless, marrowless concern. On that I rest my own eternal hopes; on the work done for me; on Christ as the Redeemer of men; the love of God in sending His Son, in giving Him as a sacrifice for the sins of the world; the love of Christ in executing His Fathers loving purpose; and the love and power of the Holy Ghost in applying the benefits which Christ secured for us. These doctrines he never preached with bated breath. The clarion voice gave no uncertain call. A herald charged with a direct commission, he might fitly have begun and closed every one of his sermons with the words, Thus saith the Lord.1 [Note: Dr. MacGregor of St. Cuthberts, 163.]
III
An Ambassador is a Diplomatist
1. The ambassador has to recommend his message. Everything, or almost everything, depends on address in the ambassador. What corresponds to this in the Christian minister? Why, the first element is character, and the second is character, and the third is characterthe character and life of the minister of Christ, of the preacher of the gospela life of earnestness, of self-forgetfulness, of truthfulness, of singleness of purpose, of simplicity.
Diplomacy! What ideas do we not commonly connect with the word? Ambiguity, manuvre, chicane, over-reaching, fraud. Not such must be our diplomacy. Only let people feel that we have a single heart and a single eye; only let them see that in all our words and all our acts we seek not theirs but them; not ourselves, but our work; not ourselves, but Christ Jesus our Lord; and the battle is already half won. Duplicity, untruthfulness, insincerity, self-assertion, self-seeking in any formthis it is which mars a mans influence.
Remember how often Christ has said, The Father has sent me. I am sent. I do the will of him who has sent me.
These words have always been obscure to me.
Only now has the simple, clear, and joyous meaning of these words been revealed to me. I arrived at the comprehension of them through doubt and suffering.
Their meaning is this, that Christ has taught all men the life which He considered the true one for Himself. But He considers His life an embassy, a fulfilment of the will of Him who sent Him.
But the will of Him who sent is the rational (good) life of the whole world. Consequently, it is the business of life to carry the truth into the world.
If I am Gods messenger, my chief business does not only consist in fulfilling the commandmentsthey are only conditions under which I must fulfil the ambassadorshipbut in living in such a way as to carry into the world with all means given me that truth which I know, that truth which is entrusted to me.
It may happen that I shall myself often be bad, that I shall be false to my mission; all this cannot for a moment destroy the meaning of my life: To shine with that light which is in me, so long as I am able, so long as there is light in me.
The conviction of the ambassadorship has the following practical effect upon me (I speak for myself and, I know, for others also).
Outside the physical necessities, in which I try to confine myself to the least, as soon as I am drawn to some activity,speaking, writing, working,I ask myself (I do not even ask, I feel it) whether with this work I serve Him who sent me. I joyously surrender myself to the work and forget all doubts andfly, like a stone, and am glad that I am flying.
But if the work is not for Him who has sent me, it does not even attract me, I simply feel ennui, and I only try to get rid of it, I try to observe all the rules given for messengers. But this does not even happen. It seems to me that a man can live in such a way as to sleep, or in such a way as with his whole soul, with delight, to serve Him who sent him.1 [Note: Tolstoy, Thoughts and Aphorisms (Works, xix. 100).]
2. The ambassador must use the most persuasive modes of speech. He must entreat and beseech those to whom he is sent. It is, indeed, a strange thing that men should need beseeching to take what is the greatest good, and indeed the only good, that the human soul can gainreconciliation with God. But it is a fact that all of us need beseeching, and most of us who have come to Christ have come because some dear voice entreated. And it is the duty of every Christian to use every art of entreaty, every sanctified art of entreatyargument, reasoning, pleadingbut also literally beseeching, wooing, winning, pleading with men to be reconciled to God.
Entreating and beseechingthese are wonderful words to use in regard to Gods dealings with men. We can understand how fitting it is for man to beseech God for those Divine gifts without which he must perish. We can understand also that man should entreat God to be gracious unto him with strong crying and tears. But that God should beseech and Christ should entreat men to accept the greatest gifts is marvellous indeed. But such is the fact, such are the terms of a ministers commission. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God.
There was put up in the town of Bedford, some twenty-five or thirty years ago, a statue to the memory of John Bunyan. On the pedestal of the statue are engraved these words: It had eyes lifted up to Heaven, the best of books in his hand, the law of truth was written upon its lips, the world was behind his back; it stood as if it pleaded with men, and a crown of gold did hang over its head. This was the picture which Christian saw in the Interpreters house, and this is the picture which the sculptor has sought to embody in his bronze. It stood as if it pleaded with menwhat better picture could we have of the great Apostle? Thrice in the one short passage (2Co 5:20 to 2Co 6:1) is the word of entreaty on his lips, with such tender solicitude did he urge upon his readers, and does he urge upon us, Be ye reconciled to God.1 [Note: G. Jackson, Memoranda Paulina, 261.]
It was after midnight that Jamie rose and crept to Leebys bedside. Leeby was shaking the bed in her agony. Jess heard what they said.
Leeby, said Jamie, dinna greet, an Ill never dot again.
He put his arms round her, and she kissed him passionately.
Oh, Jamie, she said, hae ye prayed to God to forgie ye?
Jamie did not speak.
If ye was to die this nicht, cried Leeby, an you no made it up wi God, ye wouldna gang to heaven. Jamie, I canna sleep till yeve made it up wi God.
But Jamie still hung back. Leeby slipped from her bed, and went down on her knees.
O God, O dear God, she cried, mak Jamie to pray to you!
Then Jamie went down on his knees too, and they made it up with God together.1 [Note: J. M. Barrie, A Window in Thrums, 174.]
3. The ambassador must use all dispatch in executing his commission. He must be urgent as well as persuasive. He who has before his mental eye the Four Last Things, says Newman, will have the true earnestness, the horror, or the rapture, of one who witnesses a conflagration, or discerns some rich and sublime prospect of natural scenery. His countenance, his manner, his voice, speak for him, in proportion as his view has been vivid and minute. The great English poet has described this sort of eloquence when a calamity had befallen
Yea, this mans brow, like to a title-leaf,
Foretells the nature of a tragic volume.
Thou tremblest; and the whiteness in thy cheek
Is apter than thy tongue to tell thy errand.2 [Note: J. H. Newman, Idea of a University.]
Bishop Paget writes from Priest Leys, to the Rev. G. S. Barrett, of Norwich, thanking him for his book, Religion in Daily Life:
A friend of mine said to me once about my father-in-law [Dean Church] after an University sermon at Oxford: Well, at all events he has one great quality as a preacherhe makes one thoroughly uncomfortable;and I am thankful for some thoroughly disturbing words of yours. And I am thankful, too, with all my heart, for the resolute gathering of all daily life, of all its relations and opportunities and tasks and phases and problems, into the light of our Lords teaching, to be ruled by His demand and estimated by His standard:together with the recurring witness to the gladness of a disciplined life, the rest that is hidden in the strenuousness of obedience.3 [Note: Francis Paget, Bishop of Oxford, 143.]
Sometimes while preaching I have felt as if I could imitate that Roman ambassador who met a certain king, and told him that the Romans forbade him to advance farther. The king somewhat jested at the stern command of the Romans, but the ambassador stooped down, and with his stick drew a ring in the dust round the king, and said, You must give your answer before you come out of that circle; for if you step over that line, the Romans will accept it as a signal of war. I have sometimes felt, when preaching to this great congregation, as if there were some who had to decide for God or for the world before they stepped out of this place, for Gods ambassador had, as it were, drawn a line all round them, and said to them, Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.1 [Note: C. H. Spurgeon.]
Ambassadors for Christ
Literature
Aitken (W. H. M. H.), Mission Sermons, 272.
Cameron (J.), Sermons and Memoir, 13.
Cooper (T. J.), Loves Unveiling, 49.
Fowler (G. H.), Things Old and New, 153.
Garbett (E.), The Souls Life, 34.
Henson (H. H.), Preaching to the Times, 174.
Horton (R. F.), How the Cross Saves, 101.
Jackson (G.), Memoranda Paulina, 260.
Lightfoot (J. B.), Ordination Addresses, 44.
Maclaren (A.), Expositions: 1 and 2 Corinthians, 380.
Meyer (F. B.), In the Beginning God, 163.
Price (A. C.), Fifty Sermons, iv. 33; viii. 361.
Randolph (B. W.), The Threshold of the Sanctuary, 30.
Robertson (A. T.), The Glory of the Ministry, 203.
Robertson (J.), Sermons and Expositions, 3.
Robinson (C. S.), Studies in the New Testament, 48.
Snell (B. J.), in The Sermon Year Book, ii. 1.
Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, xix. (1873), No. 1124; lv. (1909), No. 3148.
Vaughan (J.), Sermons (Brighton Pulpit), vi. (1869), No. 627.
Watson (F.), The Christian Life Here and Hereafter, 161.
Watson (J.), Preparing for Home, 238.
Church of England Magazine, x. 296 (E. Parker); xv. 166 (W. Stone); xx. 200 (W. H. Brett).
Homiletic Review, liii. 306 (R. Smith).
Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible
ambassadors: 2Co 3:6, Job 33:23, Pro 13:17, Mal 2:7, Joh 20:21, Act 26:17, Act 26:18, Eph 6:20
as: 2Co 5:11, 2Co 6:1, 2Ki 17:13, 2Ch 36:15, Neh 9:29, Isa 55:6, Isa 55:7, Jer 44:4, Eze 18:31, Eze 18:32
in: Job 33:6, Luk 10:16, 1Co 4:4, 1Co 4:5, 1Th 4:8
be: Job 22:21, Pro 1:22-33, Isa 27:5, Jer 13:16, Jer 13:17, Jer 38:20, Luk 14:23
Reciprocal: Gen 42:23 – he spake unto them by an interpreter Exo 40:36 – when Lev 1:4 – put Deu 5:29 – O that there 2Sa 19:11 – Speak Neh 5:10 – I pray you Job 23:3 – where Job 36:2 – I have yet to speak Psa 4:1 – O Pro 8:4 – General Pro 9:3 – sent Pro 16:14 – but Son 2:13 – Arise Isa 57:19 – Peace Eze 3:17 – hear Hag 1:13 – the Lord’s Zec 9:10 – he shall Mat 5:9 – are Mat 9:6 – that the Mat 10:12 – salute it Mat 10:40 – He that Luk 15:28 – therefore Joh 17:18 – General Joh 17:22 – the glory Act 2:40 – Save Rom 12:1 – beseech Rom 15:16 – I should Rom 15:33 – the God 1Co 1:10 – I beseech 2Co 2:10 – whom ye 2Co 5:18 – hath given 2Co 10:1 – beseech Gal 4:14 – as Christ Eph 2:13 – are Eph 2:17 – and preached Eph 4:1 – beseech Phi 4:9 – the God 2Ti 1:14 – good Phm 1:9 – love’s sake Heb 13:22 – suffer 1Pe 2:11 – I beseech
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Co 5:20. Ambassadors is from PRES-BEUO, which is used twice in the New Testament (here and in Eph 6:20). Both Thayer and Robinson give us the simple word that is used in our verse as their definition, which shows they understand the Greek term to mean the same as the English, namely, “the official representative of his own government.” Hence there are no ambassadors for Christ living on earth today, for the apostles are still in authority (Mat 28:20). Be ye recanciled. The Corinthians had already been reconciled to God by their obedience to the Gospel (1Co 15:1-2), but it was necessary to remain faithful in order to continue in the faith or be reconciled.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Co 5:20. We ace ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were intreating by us (as His mouth), we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God. Calvin would extend this reconciliation to the daily forgiveness which believers themselves stand in need of, because the Epistle is addressed to believers. But besides that the opening verse of the next chapter is a word to them, the call is evidently to all unreconciled ones whom his words might reach, no longer to withhold their seal to that great act of God in the death of His Son in which lay their only hope of reconciliation to Him.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. The minister’s office and employment declared: they are ambassadors for Christ; ambassadors from God to man, and as ambassadors they have their mission, their commission, from a great Prince, about great concerns; they must be faithful to their instructions, they are inviolable by the law of nations, and their embassy must be received upon pain of displeasure.
Where let us remark the wonderful goodness and wisdom of God, in appointing men of the same level with us, and not angels superior to us, to dispense the mystery of reconciliation to us. As God deals more familiarly with us in this way, (for we cannot bear the voice of God, or the sight of angels,) so there is more certainty in this way, because ministers must deceive their own souls, if they deceive us: and and herein God magnifies his own power, and lets us know, that the efficacy of the gospel is from him the Author, and not from man the dispenser.
Observe, 2. The minister’s duty discovered: in God’s name, and Christ’s stead, to entreat, beseech, and persuade sinners to become reconciled unto God.
Here note, 1. That God and man were once friends.
2. That God and man are now enemies.
3. That man, and not God, first made the breach of friendship, and occasioned that unhappy controversy, which is now depending between God and man.
4. That though man was first in the breach, yet God is the first in the offer of reconciliation.
5. That therefore it is the highest duty and chiefest interest of man to accept of terms of peace and reconciliation with God.
6. That in order to all this, the great duty incumbent upon the ministers of the gospel, is this, with all earnestness to press upon people the doctrine of reconciliation, and to use all arguments with them, to persuade them to become reconciled unto God.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 20 As ambassador carries messages from the King. Because Christ’s blood had cleansed him of sin, Paul carried the message of salvation to the world. As Christ’s messenger, he pleaded with men to become God’s friend through the washing away of sin.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
2Co 5:20 to 2Co 6:10. Paul proceeds to expound and apply the relationship between himself and his converts based upon this ministry. He acts in Christs stead when he beseeches men to allow themselves to be reconciled to God. And what Paul did for Christ, God did through Christ. Once more he points to the supreme illustration and proof of Gods will to reconcile men. He had treated Christ, the Son of His love, though He had no experimental knowledge of sin, as though He had sinned and deserved the punishment of death. And He had done this for mans sake, in order that he might participate in the Divine righteousness. The strange expression made him to be sin is probably due to Pauls shrinking from saying made him a sinner, which would also have been open to misconception; for the same reason, in Gal 3:13 he says, Christ was made a curse, when cursed would have been in accordance with the citation from Deuteronomy which follows.
It is the grace, the undeserved mercy, of God that is offered in this message of reconciliation, and while Christs ambassadors, as fellow-workers with God and Christ, entreat the world to accept that grace, they entreat those who have already accepted it (you) to ensure that their acceptance be fruitful. (In a parenthesis he illustrates by a quotation from Isaiah 49 the blessed character of the moment.) Accordingly the apostles so shape their conduct that they may approve themselves to men as nothing less than the agents and emissaries of God. The quality of endurance is exhibited in severe experiences arranged in three triplets, with which we should compare the list in 2Co 11:23-28; then follows the enumeration of many other qualities of the ministry. It is further distinguished by a message which springs from truthfulness, and by the use of weapons of righteousness alike for offence and defence. In the antitheses that follow (2Co 6:8 f.) the injurious representations are to be understood as the opinion of Pauls opponents. It is they who regard him as obscure, as moribund, as chastised by God. In 2Co 6:10 both members of each antithesis probably represent the genuine experience of the apostle.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
This ministry makes us God’s ambassadors, one of the most exalted titles the Christian can claim.
"The ambassador has to be persona grata with both countries (the one that he represents and the one to which he goes)." [Note: Robertson, Word Pictures . . ., 4:233.]
Ambassadors authoritatively announce messages for others and request, not demand, acceptance. The Christian ambassador, moreover, announces and appeals for God.
". . . when Christ’s ambassador entreats it is equivalent to the voice of God entreating through him." [Note: Hughes, p. 210.]
"When I was a young pastor, it used to embarrass me somewhat to make visits and confront people with the claims of Christ. Then it came to me that I was a privileged person, an ambassador of the King of kings! There was nothing to be embarrassed about. In fact, the people I visited should have been grateful that one of Christ’s ambassadors came to see them." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:650. Cf. Romans 1:16.]
However the stakes involved require an urgent appeal. We should never present the gospel to the lost with a "take it or leave it" attitude. Our presentation should communicate the urgency of their believing the message. Full reconciliation only takes place when a person trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her Savior (Joh 3:16). Consequently it may be helpful to think of reconciliation as objectively provided by God in the past but needing subjective appropriation by the unsaved in the present.
We could understand the word "you" in "we beg (or implore) you" as a specific reference to the Corinthians or as a general reference to all people. Paul was probably not appealing to his Corinthian readers to be reconciled to God. They had already been reconciled (2Co 5:18) and had trusted in Christ. While there may have been a few unbelievers in the Corinthian congregation, Paul was clearly writing to believers. If his appeal was to the unbelievers in Corinth to get saved, he probably would have made a more specific appeal and identified that segment of his audience in his appeal. He was explaining his ministry to the unsaved generally (2Co 5:19).