Why did I choose the name “Ambassador of Conciliation”?
The name is based on one of my favorite sections of scripture:
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 CLNT
"Yet all is of God, Who conciliates us to Himself through Christ, and is giving us the dispensation of the conciliation, how that God was in Christ, conciliating the world to Himself, not reckoning their offenses to them, and placing in us the word of the conciliation. For Christ, then, are we ambassadors, as of God entreating through us. We are beseeching for Christ's sake, "Be conciliated to God!" For the One not knowing sin, He makes to be a sin offering for our sakes that we may be becoming God's righteousness in Him."
I love the Concordant Literal New Testament’s translation of these verses, as the compilers of this translation identified the difference between two Greek words, transliterated katallasso and apokatallasso. The word apokatallasso means reconcile while katallasso means conciliate. In these verses the Greek words Paul used are katalasso and katallage (conciliation).
Paul does use apokatallasso elsewhere, for example, in Colossians 1:20: "and through Him to reconcile all to Him (making peace through the blood of His cross), through Him, whether those on the earth or those in the heavens." In this verse, Paul is describing what Christ will accomplish during the coming eons, the reconciliation of all of God’s creatures to God. This is not the current condition of many of God’s creatures, whether those on earth or those in the heavens, but it is a surety.
So, what is Paul describing in 2 Corinthians 5? Here are some definitions for “conciliate”: one side only (peace) in an estrangement, appease, stop (someone) from being angry or discontented. This is A.E. Knoch’s commentary on verse 18 and 20, which you can read on Concordant.org here :
“18 "All is of God!" This is the key to real evangelism. Here we have, in brief, the heart of the true evangel for the world in this administration of grace. The key note is conciliation. Not the sinner conciliating God, by penance or prayers, but God conciliating the sinner. The sinner may be most offensive and insulting, but. God does not reckon these offenses against him. Let this be clear. God is not charging men with their sins, for Christ died for sins. He is not pressing their offenses, for He is bent on conciliation. The evangel is not concerned with the sinner at all but with God's attitude toward him and with the sufferings of Christ. He has placed in us, not the message of judgment, but the word of conciliation.;
20 God insists on being at peace with the world, no matter how they treated His Son, or Paul, or any of His ambassadors. He will withdraw us, His ambassadors, before He declares war, in the coming day of His indignation. What a marvelous token of His grace and love that God (not the sinner) does the beseeching now! Nothing can be so foreign to this evangel as a sinner praying to God, for it closes his ears to God's entreaties. We are ambassadors for the high court of heaven, proclaiming peace and conciliation. When the sinner receives the conciliation there is mutual reconciliation between him and God. Sinner, God is beseeching you, through us, "Be conciliated to God! " Your sins are no hindrance, for He has made Christ a Sin Offering for our sakes that we may become God's righteousness in Him. There is nothing for you to do but to accept His proffered love. Simply thank and adore Him for His grace.” - A.E.Knoch
I could not have said it better. What a contrast, between the message the risen and glorified Christ gave to Paul here, and the message spouted by religion, especially christianity. Christianity’s message is fundamentally this - “Though Jesus died for your sins, God is still angry with you.” The true message for today is “God is at peace with you, be conciliated to God!”
Paul goes into this wonderful truth more in Romans 5:6-11 CLNT: "For Christ, while we are still infirm, still in accord with the era, for the sake of the irreverent, died. For hardly for the sake of a just man will anyone be dying: for, for the sake of a good man, perhaps someone may even be daring to die, yet God is commending this love of His to us, seeing that, while we are still sinners, Christ died for our sakes. Much rather, then, being now justified in His blood, we shall be saved from indignation, through Him. For if, being enemies, we were conciliated to God through the death of His Son, much rather, being conciliated, we shall be saved in His life. Yet not only so, but we are glorying also in God, through our Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom we now obtained the conciliation."
What blessed truths. Verse 8 of Romans 5 tells you how much God loves you: "yet God is commending this love of His to us, seeing that, while we are still sinners, Christ died for our sakes."
In this administration of grace, if one claims to be an ambassador of Christ’s, yet fails to tell about God’s current attitude toward the sinner, that is, that He is at peace with them, loves them proved that by the sacrifice of His Son, and instead emphasizes God’s wrath and that the sinner must do something to placate God, they are no ambassador of Christ’s.
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I have made two videos on this subject of conciliation as well:
