Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.We have found out that the Word says Satan's ambassadors are willing to go; therefore, God's ambassadors should be willing to go. Who are the ambassadors of Christ? Christ's ambassadors are all those who are new creatures, created in Christ Jesus.
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
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.
(2 Cor. 5:17-20)
God says He has given unto His ambassadors the ministry of reconciliation. In other words, every Christian - every new creature in Christ - is in the ministry. You may not be in one of the five-fold offices of the ministry (Eph. 4:8-11); but as a representative of Jesus, an ambassador for Christ, you are in the ministry of reconciliation.
What is the ministry of reconciliation? What does it mean? It is defined in verse 19: To wit (or to know), that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. In the Amplified Bible this verse reads:
It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but canceling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor).That's what reconciliation means. God was in Christ at Calvary; and through what Christ did at Calvary, God blotted out the sins of mankind. Now He is not holding the sins of the world against them. That's good news! Don't you think the world needs to know that? Don't you think they would want to know it?
The religious idea has been that the reason a sinner is going to hell is because of all the sins he has committed. But those sins have been forgiven. The reason a sinner goes to hell is because he does not believe in Jesus Christ.
All the sins you ever committed before you came to Jesus were already paid for by the shed blood of Jesus Christ at Calvary. The only sin keeping you out of fellowship with God was the sin of unbelief, of not believing on Jesus. All your past sins have been blotted out and canceled. They no longer exist! This is reconciliation.
The ministry of reconciliation which has been given to us is very simple: Tell others that God is not counting men's sins against them; they have been forgiven. When a sinner finds out that he has already been forgiven, he wants in!
But do you see the religious idea we have had in the past? We have told them: "You're going to hell because you drink! You're going to hell because you smoke! You're going to hell because you beat your wife!" I repeat: That's not what sends a person to hell! A person goes to hell because of the sin of unbelief.
You must believe in God's Son and allow Him to be the Lord of your life.
A person goes to hell because he is not born again. An unregenerated spirit cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven. In reality, the ministry of reconciliation is simply giving people the good news that, through Jesus Christ, God has already forgiven them of all their sins and redeemed them to Himself - if they will only believe it.
I guarantee that if half the sinners in the world knew right now that they were already forgiven, you couldn't keep them out of the Kingdom of God! Do you know why? Because for years and years they have been beaten down and condemned.
They have the idea that God is some kind of monster with a spiritual hammer in His hand just waiting to "bust their head" every time they do something wrong. That's the image of God that has been presented to the sinner by the religious world. But the Bible says the word of reconciliation is this: that God is not counting men's sins against them anymore.
When I witness to a sinner, I don't condemn him. I don't even mention drinking, or smoking, or adultery, or whatever sin a person may be involved in. I talk about what God did for him in Christ at Calvary.
I emphasize the fact that he is already forgiven of all his sins, whatever they may be. I present God's forgiveness and salvation to him, then I ask, "Now do you want new life?" Most of the time people will say, "I sure do!" Most of the time they will accept God's love and forgiveness. Sinners want to hear some good news!
You might ask, "But, what if they turn you down?" So what? At least you have planted some good news inside them. And remember, you're not the only laborer out there. You plant the seed, and God will find somebody else who will water it (1 Cor. 3:6,7).
Excerpt permission granted by Jerry Savelle Ministries International