We Must Smell

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

WE MUST SMELL

2 Cor 2:12-17

12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, 13 I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia. 14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.

NIV

Could we possible be just like what Paul is taking about? Could we spread everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ? Are we to God, the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing? It would appear that we are supposed to be. It is also pretty clear that to some people we are the smell of death and to others the fragrance of life. But the point here is that we should either have the smell of death or the fragrance of life. That would imply that we must smell one way or the other because we are constantly on all occasions spreading the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. We are asked if we are equal to the task. From this truth we must come to the conclusion that we cannot simply live our life among the people of this world in isolation. We cannot separate ourselves from the people of the world because they do things which God defines as sin. Are we really that free of sin that we dare not walk among them? And as we walk among them we cannot be without an odor. We must have a smell, either one of death or one of the fragrance of Christ. Therefore we cannot keep silent in our daily walk. We must speak up and speak out about the knowledge of Christ. Yes some are going to think we smell like death to them because they will reject this truth about Christ. They will be those who perish, but there are those who will get a whiff of the sweet aroma of Christ and be saved. So we cannot afford to make that choice for people by not speaking up, for in our silence we have chosen for all to perish for without the truth of Christ they have no choice. So we must smell. It is obvious from this passage there must have been men who peddled Jesus as a source of income, using Jesus for personal gain. But it is also clear that if we are sincere in our relationship with God, we will sense that we have been sent by him to be that aroma of Christ to the world, not for our own personal gain, but for the glory of the Kingdom of God. In fact, if we do spread the aroma of the knowledge of Christ, we might actually experience some personal loss, but that too would be to the glory of God. Just the fact that someone thinks we smell like death is a loss. They may no longer desire to be around us and shun us from their presence, or worse could happen. But we also get to experience with enormous joy someone coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. So we must smell.