17. When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world. The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new!
18. All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between himself and us. And God gave us the work of bringing people into peace with him.
19. I mean that God was in Christ, making peace between the world and himself. In Christ, God did not hold people guilty for their sins. And he gave us this message of peace to tell people.
20. So we have been sent to speak for Christ. It is like God is calling to people through us. We speak for Christ when we beg you to be at peace with God.
21. Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could be right with God.