To Encourage You

2 Corinthians 5:20 – 6:1 “We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.”

Perhaps the greatest privilege of the Christian is that God has called us to be one of His ambassadors. He has given us the incredible privilege of working with Him to reach the world with the gospel.  He has given us the message of the wonderful work that He has done of putting the sin of the world on His sinless Son so that “we might become the righteousness of God.” It’s the message of forgiveness and hope for anyone who will believe.  It’s the message of what God has already done for us. We know what an indescribable blessing it is to be delivered from the life we once lived. We know we are totally unworthy to be saved, let alone to have the privilege to share the gospel with others. In all of this, we aren’t sharing a message about anything we have done or about any goodness we have in and of ourselves. It’s a message about how, in spite of our past sin and the sentence of damnation that we deserved, God has blessed us with His awesome grace.  Then, as we share this message, God supernaturally uses our words to change a life. More than that, to give life, eternal life. 

This is all so wonderful that the believer should be motivated to share the gospel no matter the resistance they are sure to receive from the world for doing so.  It is worth any rebuke, persecution, hatred, and even death, to have the privilege to share the hope we know with even one sinner who might repent.  There is joy in heaven when this occurs, and the believer can share in that joy with the knowledge that he or she has been given even a small part in it. 

Yes, sharing the gospel is an act of obedience to our Lord, and yes, that obedience can have a cost, but the rewards are so infinitely superior to the cost as to not be able to be compared.  So, if you are a believer, are you involved in this work? Are you making the most of every opportunity to share the Truth that was once shared with you?  Do you see this as the privilege that it is, as something you get to do, rather than something you have to do?  Sharing the gospel is work, hard work, but it will be worth it all in the end. 

Do do you believe this?  You should, because the Lord Who saved you has said it over and over again in His Word.  Have you told anyone about the gospel today, this week, this year, or ever? 

May God help us to live out the privilege of being our Lord’s ambassadors and fellow workers for there is no higher privilege in all the world.