2 Corinthians 5:20
in 2 Corinthians 5Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
⋯
This verse in 2 Corinthians 5
Commentary
21 notes on this verseWe are ambassadors for Christ - Ὑπερ Χριστου - πρεσβευομεν. 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.
This site's exposition
we are ambassadors for Christ
on 2 Corinthians 5:20-21
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: presbeuomen, the term for an official envoy speaking with the sender's own authority, and the bench reads the plea as addressed first to the still-resistant faction at Corinth before it is addressed to the world. Verse 21 states the great exchange at the center of the whole letter, for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him: Christ's sinlessness is affirmed absolutely, the imputation runs both directions, our sin credited to him, his righteousness credited to us, and the bench across every era reads this as substitutionary atonement stated as plainly as anywhere in Paul. The exposition teaches the verse at its full strength as the letter's own climax.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Paul wants to show both his devotion to God's providence and his belief that it is his duty to love the whole human race.
He says, "He [Christ] who knew no sin, he [God] made to be sin for us." The God to whom we are to be reconciled has thus made him the sacrifice for sin by which we may be reconciled. He himself is therefore sin as we ourselves are righteousness—not our own but God's, not in ourselves but in him. Just as he was sin—not his own but ours, rooted not in himself but in us—so he showed forth through the likeness of sinful flesh, in which he was crucified, that since sin was not in him he could then, so to say, die to sin by dying in the flesh, which was "the likeness of sin." And since he had never lived in the old manner of sinning, he might, in his resurrection, signify the new life which is ours, which is springing to life anew from the old death in which we had been dead to sin.
Seest thou how he has extolled the thing by introducing Christ thus in the form of a suppliant; yea rather not Christ only, but even the Father? For what he says is this: The Father sent the Son to beseech, and to be His Ambassador unto mankind. When then He was slain and gone, we succeeded to the embassy; and in His stead and the Father's we beseech you. So greatly doth He prize mankind that He gave up even the Son, and that knowing He would be slain, and made us Apostles for your sakes; so that he said with reason, "All things are for your sakes." "We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ," that is, instead of Christ; for we have succeeded to His functions. But if this appears to thee a great thing, hear also what follows wherein he shows that they do this not in His stead only, but also in stead of the Father. For therefore he also added, "As though God were entreating by us." For not by the Son Himself only doth He beseech, but also by us who have succeeded to the office of the Son. Think not therefore, he says, that by us you are entreated; Christ Himself, the Father Himself of Christ, beseeches you by us. What can come up to this excess of goodness? He was outraged who had conferred innumerable benefits; having been outraged, He not only exacted not justice, but even gave His son that we might be reconciled. They that received Him were not reconciled, but even slew Him. Again, He sent other ambassadors to beseech, and though these are sent, it is Himself that entreats. And what doth He entreat? "Be ye reconciled unto God." And he said not, Reconcile God to yourselves; for it is not He that beareth enmity, but ye; for God never beareth enmity.
The Medieval Church2 voices
"On behalf of Christ," that is, sent in place of Christ. For what He intended to do, we have now received, and as through Him the Father called us, so now through us He calls you to be reconciled with Him. He did not say: …
Let us consider the deeds of the Truth, that we may see where the actions of our depravity lie. For if we are members of the supreme Head, we ought to imitate Him to whom we are joined. For what does Paul, that outstanding preacher, say as an example for our instruction? "We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were exhorting through us; we beseech you for Christ's sake, be reconciled to God."
14 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then when he says, So we are ambassadors for Christ, he indicates the use of the benefit. First, as to the second benefit conferred on the apostles; secondly, as to the first benefit conferred on all (v. 20b). He says therefore: since God has established …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ-we beseech you in Christ's stead - Herein the apostle might appear to some "transported beyond himself." In general he uses a more calm, sedate kind of exhortation, as in the beginning of the next chapter. What unparalleled condescension and divinely tender mercies are displayed in this verse!
Faithful ministers are Christ's ambassadors, sent to treat with sinners on peace and reconciliation: they come in God's name, with his entreaties, and act in Christ's stead, doing the very thing he did when he was upon this earth, and what he wills to be done now that he is in heaven.
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ,....
The Nineteenth Century10 voices
MAN became God's enemy wantonly, without the slightest offense given on God's part. But man did not make advances towards reconciliation, or express regret because peace was broken. The first overtures for peace are not made by man, the offender, but by our aggrieved and offended God. Therefore our text begins with the declaration, "All things are of God." Reconciliation of man to his Maker is never achieved by man, but is the work of God from first to last, and to God must be all the glory. The text enforces this Truth by giving us a brief summary.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
for Christ . . . in Christ's stead--The Greek of both is the same: translate in both cases "on Christ's behalf." beseech . . . pray--rather, "entreat [plead with you] . . . beseech." Such "beseeching" is uncommon in the case of "ambassadors," who generally stand on their dignity (compare 2Co 10:2;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3497: “A Solemn Embassy” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
THERE has long been war between man and his Maker. Our federal head, Adam, threw down the gauntlet in the garden of Eden. The trumpet was heard to ring through the glades of Paradise, the trumpet which broke the silence of peace and disturbed the song of praise. From that day forward until now there has been no truce, no treaty between God and man by nature. Man has been at variance with God. His heart has been at enmity towards God. He would not be reconciled to God.
MAN became God's enemy wantonly, without the slightest offense given on God's part. But man did not make advances towards reconciliation, or express regret because peace was broken. The first overtures for peace are not made by man, the offender, but by our aggrieved and offended God. Therefore our text begins with the declaration, "All things are of God." Reconciliation of man to his Maker is never achieved by man, but is the work of God from first to last, and to God must be all the glory. The text enforces this Truth by giving us a brief summary. The Lord first finds the messengers of reconciliation by reconciling some men to Himself. He chooses His ministers, having called them into a state of reconciliation. Read the verse—"All things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation." The ambassador is sent, not from man to God, but from God to man. Then the matter of the ambassador's message is altogether of God, for it is God who has "reconciled the world unto Himself through Jesus Christ." He gave His Son to be the atoning Sacrifice by the ordained method of substitution—thus it is He, alone, who has made a way of access between fallen man and Himself. Furthermore, the method by which this Atonement is applied to the reconciling of men is also of God. It is not man who beseeches God, but God who beseeches man to be reconciled. It is not man who cries to Christ, but Christ prays man, through His ministers whom He places in His stead, to be reconciled to God. So that from the first thought of reconciliation, right on through the provision of the Atonement, to the conclusion of the solemn league and Covenant between the heart and God, all things are of God. I am glad to commence my sermon with such a weighty doctrine. I am glad to have such a theme with which to stir the hearts of the reconciled.
THE heart of the gospel is redemption, and the essence of redemption is the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. They who preach this truth preach the gospel in whatever else they may be mistaken; but they who preach not the atonement, whatever else they declare, have missed the soul and substance of the divine message. In these days I feel bound to go over again the elementary truths of the Gospel.
THE heart of the gospel is redemption, and the essence of redemption is the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. They who preach this truth preach the gospel in whatever else they may be mistaken; but they who preach not the atonement, whatever else they declare, have missed the soul and substance of the divine message. In these days I feel bound to go over again the elementary truths of the Gospel. In peaceful times we may feel free to make excursions into interesting districts of truth which lie far afield; but now we must stay at home, and guard the hearths and homes of the church by defending the first principles of the faith. In this age there have risen up in the church itself men who speak perverse things. There be many that trouble us with their philosophies and novel interpretations, whereby they deny the doctrines they profess to teach, and undermine the faith they are pledged to maintain. It is well that some of us, who know what we believe, and have no secret meanings for our words, should just put our foot down and maintain our standing, holding forth the word of life, and plainly declaring the foundation truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me give you a parable. In the days of Nero there was great shortness of food in the city of Rome, although there was abundance of corn to be purchased at Alexandria. A certain man who owned a vessel went down to the sea coast, and there he noticed many hungry people straining their eyes toward the sea, watching for the vessels that were to come from Egypt with corn. When these vessels came to the shore, one by one, the poor people wrung their hands in bitter disappointment, for on board the galleys there was nothing but sand which the tyrant emperor had compelled them to bring for use in the arena.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3148: “Christ's Ambassadors” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
[Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon, on verses 18 to 21, are as follows—Sermons #1123, Volume 19—GOD BESEECHING SINNERS BY HIS MINISTERS and #1910, Volume 32—THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL.] So, then, there is war between man and God. It seems preposterous that man should be in arms against his God, but it is all too sadly true. Shall the gnat contend with the flame? Shall an insect fight against an angel? Even this would not be as absurd as for man, who is utterly insignificant, to make war with God who is Infinite!
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3148: “Christ's Ambassadors” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
[Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon, on verses 18 to 21, are as follows—Sermons #1123, Volume 19—GOD BESEECHING SINNERS BY HIS MINISTERS and #1910, Volume 32—THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL.] So, then, there is war between man and God. It seems preposterous that man should be in arms against his God, but it is all too sadly true. Shall the gnat contend with the flame? Shall an insect fight against an angel? Even this would not be as absurd as for man, who is utterly insignificant, to make war with God who is Infinite! Man, who is but as the ephemera of an hour, to enter into the lists against the dread, eternal and Almighty God? Accursed was that hour in which our first mother put forth her hand to take the forbidden fruit! From that moment war began between man and his Maker and from the Garden of Eden right on until now man has been an enemy of God! And although God has constantly returned good for evil, and is still the God of love and condescension, yet has man continued to fight against Him—there still is war between Heaven and earth. Otherwise, there would be no need for ambassadors between God and men. This would be proof enough that a state of war prevails. But, alas, in our own hearts we bear, each one of us, sad proofs of the enmity of man and God. And we see, besides, in our fellow men, ten thousand sorrowful instances which prove that they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God and are not the friends of the great Friend of man. Our text tells us that the ministers of Christ, the Apostles and all others who are sent of God to preach the Gospel, are "ambassadors for Christ." In speaking upon that matter, we must make some references to ourselves and I especially shall have to ask the earnest prayers of the congregation for myself.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3497: “A Solemn Embassy” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
THERE has long been war between man and his Maker. Our federal head, Adam, threw down the gauntlet in the garden of Eden. The trumpet was heard to ring through the glades of Paradise, the trumpet which broke the silence of peace and disturbed the song of praise. From that day forward until now there has been no truce, no treaty between God and man by nature. Man has been at variance with God. His heart has been at enmity towards God. He would not be reconciled to God. Never in the heart of any natural man, unless divine grace has put it there, has a desire to re-establish peace been felt or entertained. If any of you long to be at peace with your Maker, it is because his spirit has made you long for it. Left to yourselves, you would go from conflict to conflict, from struggle to struggle, and perpetuate the encounter, until it ended in your eternal destruction. But though man will not make terms with God, nor sue for peace at his hands, God shows his unwillingness any longer to be at war with man. That he anxiously desires man to be reconciled unto him, he proves by taking the first step. He, himself, sends his ambassadors. He does not invite them from the other party—that were grace—but he sends ambassadors, and he commands those ambassadors to be very earnest, and to plead with men, to pray them, to beseech them that they would be reconciled to God. I take this to be a sure pledge that there is love in the heart of God. Why, at the very announcement of these tidings, the rebellious sinner's ears should be opened! It were enough to make him say, "I will hearken diligently; I will hear what God the Lord shall speak, for if it be true that he takes the first step towards me, and that he is willing to make up this deadly quarrel, God forbid that I should turn away; I will even now hear and attend to all that God shall speak to my soul.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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 πρεσβεύομεν presbeuomen, from πρέσβυς 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. […]
The words behind it
16 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ὑπὲρ | huper | For | G5228 → | 155 times |
| Χριστοῦ | christou | Christ | G5547 → | 523 times |
| οὖν | oun | therefore | G3767 → | 497 times |
| πρεσβεύομεν, | presbeuomen | we are ambassadors, | G4243 → | |
| ὡς | hos | as though | G5613 → | 500 times |
| τοῦ | tou | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θεοῦ | theou | God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| παρακαλοῦντος | parakalountos | is beseeching | G3870 → | 108 times |
| δι᾽ | di᾽ | through | G1223 → | 664 times |
| ἡμῶν· | hemon | us; | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| δεόμεθα | deometha | We implore | G1189 → | 22 times |
| ὑπὲρ | huper | on behalf | G5228 → | 155 times |
| Χριστοῦ· | christou | of Christ: | G5547 → | 523 times |
| καταλλάγητε | katallagete | do be reconciled | G2644 → | 6 times |
| τῷ | to | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θεῷ. | theo | to God. | G2316 → | 1312 times |
ὙπὲρFor
huperG5228 →155 times
ΧριστοῦChrist
christouG5547 →523 times
οὖνtherefore
ounG3767 →497 times
πρεσβεύομεν,we are ambassadors,
presbeuomenG4243 →
ὡςas though
hosG5613 →500 times
τοῦ<the>
touG3588 →19766 times
θεοῦGod
theouG2316 →1312 times
παρακαλοῦντοςis beseeching
parakalountosG3870 →108 times
δι᾽through
di᾽G1223 →664 times
ἡμῶν·us;
hemonG3165 →1936 times
δεόμεθαWe implore
deomethaG1189 →22 times
ὑπὲρon behalf
huperG5228 →155 times
Χριστοῦ·of Christ:
christouG5547 →523 times
καταλλάγητεdo be reconciled
katallageteG2644 →6 times
τῷ<the>
toG3588 →19766 times
θεῷ.to God.
theoG2316 →1312 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 14:23So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
it leads to
- Matthew 22:9–10
Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’
- Colossians 1:28
We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
- Acts 13:47–48
For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
- Matthew 22:9–10
Through
Malachi 2:7For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 2:24–25
And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing.
- Leviticus 10:11
so that you may teach the Israelites all the statutes that the LORD has given them through Moses.”
- 2 Timothy 2:24–25
Through
Ephesians 6:20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.
it leads to
- Colossians 4:4
Pray that I may declare it clearly, as I should.
- 2 Timothy 2:9
for which I suffer to the extent of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained!
- 1 Thessalonians 2:2
As you are aware, we had already endured suffering and shameful treatment in Philippi. But in the face of strong opposition, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of…
- Colossians 4:4
Where this verse is studied
About 2 Corinthians
This page draws on 18 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Augustine of Hippo, Enchiridion 13.41; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1124: “God Beseeching Sinners by His Ministers” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3497: “A Solemn Embassy” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1910: “The Heart of The Gospel” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3148: “Christ's Ambassadors” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 32; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homilies on Second Corinthians; John Chrysostom, Homily 11 on 2 Corinthians; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 2 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 2 Corinthians.