¹⁸ All this is what God does for us. Because of what Christ has done, God has brought us back to himself, as his friends. Now he wants us to bring other people to be his friends too. That is the job that he has given to us. ¹⁹ God's message is this: By Christ's death, God was bringing people of the world back to himself, as his friends. He would no longer keep their sins in his thoughts. This is the message that God wants us to tell people.

²⁰ So we speak to people on behalf of Christ. It is like this: When we speak, God himself is speaking to you. On behalf of Christ, we say to you, ‘Please come back to God, as his friends!’