To Encourage You

2 Corinthians 2:14 – 17 “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.”

Whenever we share the unvarnished truth of the gospel, there are multiple effects. The gospel is a message of triumph. It’s the message of the victory that Jesus won on the cross over man’s greatest enemies: sin, Satan, and death.  Whenever we share this awesome truth, a message that is meant for the salvation of the world, it is like a sweet aroma of Christ to God. Throughout the Old Testament we are told of the sweet-smelling savor that the burnt offerings emitted as they rose up to God. These offerings were a type of the total surrender of Jesus to the will of God as He gave His life for the salvation of the world.  So as we share this message, regardless of the reaction of those who hear it, it is a sweet-smelling aroma that pleases God. 

Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  Obedience to that command brings God great glory. Nevertheless, among men, that message is not always well-received. To those who receive it, it is the fragrance of life, but to those who reject it, it is a message of condemnation, likened to the smell of death.  Paul was clear that the message of the gospel he shared was a sincere message. It was a message commissioned by God. It was the same message that Jesus would have shared if He were to do it Himself rather than through us.  And just as many rejected the Word of Jesus when He walked the earth, many will reject us if we follow His example. It’s inevitable for those who speak the Truth. 

It’s so interesting, then, that Paul states at the end of the passage above that there were others in his day that did not share the gospel in this way. Rather, these people were “peddlers of God’s word.” In other words, they used the gospel as a means by which they could make money or otherwise take advantage of people.  As such, they would have altered the message in some way to avoid the “message of death” nature of it, for who would ever give money to someone who “smells” of such a thing.  It’s the same way today.  There are many false teachers in this world who will preach a partial gospel but avoid the whole truth. They will avoid any negative aspect of the gospel. They will twist God’s Word in a way that makes people always feel good about themselves. Paul warned his protégé Timothy of this with these words: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

Itching ears: what an apt description of those who want to be told things that will make them feel good.  It’s fascinating how people will pay good money to hear such things.  It’s how the self-help coaches and preachers that aren’t much different from them make their big money.  But by avoiding the Bible’s clear message of condemnation and eternal death to all those who will not repent and believe, these “peddlers of the God’s Word” are a stench in God’s nostrils rather than the aroma of Christ. 

May God help us to be those who spread the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere we go, including the part of this message that may be hard for many to hear.  You see, the message that is the aroma of death is not meant to end in death, but to expose spiritual death and thus the need each person has to turn from their sin to the only One who has a remedy for that sin, Jesus Christ, the author of life.  Jesus was very clear, whoever does not believe is condemned already. They do not have eternal life (John 3:18).  But He was also clear about the remedy: “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). 

Hallelujah for this message that is the aroma of life to all those who believe.