Ambassadors Of Christ, Not Moral Gatekeepers

Paul teaches that members of the Body of Christ are ambassadors, and our ministry is reconciliation through the gospel of the grace of God, not cultural refereeing or moral gatekeeping. “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 Corinthians 5:20. The context explains our identity and our message. God “hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation” and He “was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them” 2 Corinthians 5:18 to 19. That message is not a program for policing the behavior of the ungodly. It is the proclamation that God has provided a fully sufficient salvation in Christ, and that sinners may be reconciled to God by faith alone in the finished crosswork of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Judging the lost by the standard of our personal holiness misunderstands Paul’s plain instruction. Paul asks, “For what have I to do to judge them also that are without” and then answers, “them that are without God judgeth” 1 Corinthians 5:12 to 13. Those who are without are the unsaved and those outside Pauline sound doctrine. They are not under house discipline from the Body of Christ, and they are not brought into life by lectures on morality. They are in need of the gospel. Moral reform can clean the outside of the cup, but only the gospel saves. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God” 1 Corinthians 2:14. Until a man is made a new creature in Christ, moral yardsticks only condemn him and leave him where he began, still dead in sins and without hope. God uses the gospel to bring life, and life produces the fruit that morality demands. Right division keeps this order in place.

The gospel we carry is clear and it must be spoken with clarity. “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel” that “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day” 1 Corinthians 15:1 to 4. Paul ties salvation to the propitiatory value of the blood of Christ. God set forth Christ “to be a propitiation through faith in his blood” Romans 3:25. We have “redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:14. This is the only message that saves today. It is not behavior reform, it is not ceremonial performance, it is not a pledge to live better, it is not accepting clichés. It is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His blood shed for our sins, proven sufficient by His resurrection. When we preach this gospel, we speak as ambassadors who carry terms of peace from a reconciling God.

Grace changes how we address those who oppose themselves. Paul instructs the servant of the Lord not to strive, but to be gentle, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, so that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil 2 Timothy 2:24 to 26. The tone of an ambassador is set by the message he carries. We are not enforcers of a moral code upon the lost. We are messengers of reconciliation who speak with clarity, patience, and conviction about Christ crucified and risen. Our speech is to be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that we may know how we ought to answer every man Colossians 4:6. This gracious posture does not weaken sound doctrine. It adorns doctrine, and it keeps the main thing the main thing, which is the gospel.

Right division also guards us from importing Israel’s program into our ministry to the world. Israel was given a visible nation, earthly promises, and a law covenant that regulated conduct in detail. The Body of Christ is not under the law, but under grace Romans 6:14. Our commission is not to impose Israel’s covenant norms on Gentile society. Our commission is to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery Ephesians 3:9, to testify the gospel of the grace of God Acts 20:24, and to see souls saved and saints edified. When believers confuse the prophecy program with the mystery given to Paul, they often substitute cultural battles and moral campaigns for evangelism and edification. The result is a ministry that shouts at the darkness rather than holding forth the word of life.

This does not mean sin is minimized. The cross proves how serious sin is, since Christ had to die for our sins. It means we keep the divine order. The law shows sin and condemns, but it cannot save. The goodness of God leads a man to repentance Romans 2:4, and the goodness of God is manifest at the cross where the blood of Christ was shed for sinners. Once a man believes the gospel, he is baptized by the Spirit into the Body of Christ 1 Corinthians 12:13, he is sealed by the Holy Spirit Ephesians 1:13, he is made the righteousness of God in Christ 2 Corinthians 5:21, and he is now taught to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith he is called Ephesians 4:1. Sanctification is the fruit of salvation, not the price of admission.

Paul’s pattern shows how ambassadors operate in a world that is blind to the truth. “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” 2 Corinthians 4:3 to 4. The solution to blindness is light. Paul says we preach Christ Jesus the Lord, for God has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Corinthians 4:5 to 6. That light is not the glow of our personal morality held up as a standard to shame the world. That light is the clear preaching of the cross where the sinless Son of God shed His blood, was buried, and rose again, and the plain announcement that God saves the chief of sinners by grace through faith without works Titus 3:5 and Ephesians 2:8 to 9 and 1 Timothy 1:15.

In daily practice this means we direct our strongest words of correction toward doctrinal confusion inside the Body of Christ, since Paul tells us to judge them that are within, and we aim our clearest words of invitation toward those who are without, since God judges them that are without 1 Corinthians 5:12 to 13. We teach sound Pauline doctrine to establish saints in the mystery of Christ, and we preach the gospel to the lost so that they may be justified by faith. When conversations with unbelievers drift into moral debates, we do not let the tail wag the dog. We bring the matter back to the cross and the blood and the resurrection, because only there is the power of God unto salvation Romans 1:16.

Therefore let us embrace our assignment as ambassadors. Let us keep our message centered on the gospel of Christ’s grace. Let us keep our posture gracious and clear. Let us remember that God has not sent us to police the behavior of the lost world. He has sent us with the word of reconciliation, that sinners might hear of the blood of Christ, believe the gospel, and be saved. Once saved, they can be taught sound doctrine and learn to walk in the grace wherein we stand. This is Pauline ministry in order and in power, and it keeps our labor aligned with the will of God our Saviour who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth 1 Timothy 2:3 to 4.