Context No. 3352 of 4322 · 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 2:12-17: in context

12Now when I came to Troas for the Good News of Christ, and when a door was opened to me in the Lord, 13I had no relief for my spirit, because I didn’t find Titus my brother, but taking my leave of them, I went out into Macedonia. 14Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and reveals through us the sweet aroma of his knowledge in every place. 15For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God in those who are being saved and in those who perish: 16to the one a stench from death to death, to the other a sweet aroma from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17For we are not as so many, peddling the word of God. But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.

Paul gives thanks that God always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ, spreading through us the fragrance of the knowledge of him in every place. He pictures believers as an aroma, the sweet smell of Christ, and notes that it is received two ways: to those being saved it is a fragrance of life, but to those perishing it is the smell of death.

The same gospel, the same aroma, draws some and repels others; we cannot make it welcome to everyone, and Paul does not try to. He insists instead on how he carries it: not as a peddler who waters down God's word for profit, but with sincerity, as from God and in his sight. We are meant to be the fragrance of Christ, carried faithfully and undiluted, even knowing it will not be received by all. Who is sufficient for such a task? Not the one who trims the message to please, but the one who speaks in Christ, honestly, as from God.

Do I carry the aroma of Christ sincerely and undiluted, content to be his fragrance even where it is not welcome?

Sources

2 Corinthians 2:14: "Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and reveals through us the sweet aroma of his knowledge in every place."
2 Corinthians 2:15: "For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God, in those who are being saved and in those who perish."
2 Corinthians 2:17: "We are not as so many, peddling the word of God... in the sight of God, we speak in Christ."