Verse 20
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.
Ambassadors ... Throughout history, the office of an ambassador has been one endowed with plenary authority; and it is this aspect of Paul's ministry which is stressed here. David Lipscomb laid heavy stress upon this most important office of Christ's apostles. He said:
The apostles were and are the ambassadors of Christ. They sustained a relation to the gospel that no other preachers in their day or since ever sustained or could sustain. They were the REVEALERS of the gospel. All others are only proclaimers of what the apostles revealed. No preacher today has any revelation, nor can he claim to be a witness of the resurrection. He has no authority to declare remission of sins; but he can only point to the apostles' declaration on the subject. He may preach the gospel, but he cannot reveal it. He has no message that is not already made known. He does not have the credentials of an ambassador; he cannot work miracles; and God will not work with him in signs and wonders confirming the word that he preaches ... We may not expect any more ambassadors until the Lord has a new message for mankind.[33]
Be ye reconciled to God ... People can be reconciled to God in only one way, and that is by complying with the conditions God has laid down in the gospel, which conditions are antecedent and prerequisite to salvation. "There are conditions on the part of man. Christ died for all, but not all will be saved."[34] The ambassadors of Christ, in the New Testament, have made it clear what people should do to be reconciled to God. There is no other way.
Christ ... God ... "The apostle makes no difference between Christ and God, Christ himself being the Second Person of the eternal Godhead."[35] As Christ's ambassador, Paul could declare the conditions of reconciliation with God.
[33] David Lipscomb, op. cit., p. 83.
[34] Raymond C. Kelcy, op. cit., p. 36.
[35] Philip E. Hughes, op. cit., p. 210.
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