As born-again believers, we have the opportunity to know God and to live up to all that He has called us to be. We can have confidence in God, and we can have confidence to speak for Him as ambassadors for Christ. According to one dictionary, the English word “confidence” is defined as the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something. It also means to have a firm trust. Think for a moment. Who is more reliable and trustworthy than God? God never stops proving He is for us (Romans 8:31). Why not prove we are for Him? As ambassadors for Christ, we are qualified to be God’s representatives. As we believe the Word about who we are, we can confidently speak for God.
First, let’s examine who God’s Word says we are—ambassadors for Christ.
II Corinthians 5:20:
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.
An ambassador is an authorized representative or messenger appointed by one country to represent it in another. We are ambassadors. We are representatives taking the place of Jesus Christ on earth. We voice the works of the Lord so others may hear. We speak because God has called us to speak.
Romans 10:14:
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
The saved and the unsaved need to hear God’s Word spoken. People can be delivered and learn who God is when we open our mouths to speak. We show others what the Word says, what it has done for our lives, and what it can do for them. We have been changed by God, and others can be too when they are given the opportunity. We can be their opportunity!
God has called us and has given us a great responsibility as believers. He has given us the responsibility to declare Him as ambassadors for Christ. As we believe what God’s Word says we are, we can have the confidence to speak boldly for God, just as Peter and John did in the Book of Acts when they healed the man born lame.
Acts 4:13,14:
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
Before getting born again, Peter and John had a mind-set of fear (John 20:19). After getting born again and receiving the gift of holy spirit, they had a new mental attitude. They had God’s power within, and they manifested boldness to speak and to perform the works of Jesus Christ.
What can hold us back in our lives? One thing is our old way of thinking, which includes mental attitudes of fear and inadequacy. We can only do what we think we can do. We can only speak what we have sown in our hearts. Our old way of thinking may tell us we are weak or that we can only rely on ourselves. But in Christ, we are a new creation. We have a new way to think according to God’s Word.
II Corinthians 5:17:
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [creation]: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Our new nature is filled with potential strength and boldness. So we put in our minds what the Word says and act on it. Our confidence grows as we make the decision to overcome our old way of thinking and put our trust in God to give us the words to speak. We consider what God has done for us in Christ and think of all that He can do for us in the future. In Acts, Peter and John did not doubt that God was working in them, and a lame man was healed because of their believing (Acts 3:1-8). Imagine the impact we can have!
We are now God’s children, and we are now His qualified ambassadors. We can confidently stand for God just as Peter and John did. They recognized the new nature they received in Christ. This new nature enabled them to declare God and His great power to anyone willing to listen. We too are a new creation in Christ. God works in us, and we can rely on Him. Let’s confidently speak for God because we know that we are ambassadors for Christ and we believe what the Word says.