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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life.
And who is equal to such a task?
Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.
2 Corinthians 2:14-17
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
God loves when His people are obedient to Him and surrender their ways for His.
There is no question about this as the scriptures validate the statement.
But when we think about pleasing God with the things we do in His name, we rarely if ever compare it to the sense of smell and yet, we can see this illustration front and center in today’s scripture passage from our continued study of 2 Corinthians 2. Look again at the words of the Apostle Paul here:
But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life.
And who is equal to such a task?
Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God. 2 Corinthians 2:14-17
Here we find the matter of scent all over this passage.
First, we learn that God intentionally uses believers to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Jesus everywhere. This is carried out through the Gospel work Christ called His disciples to carry out and they do just that, led by God to the same triumphal procession His Son followed.
Note that this aroma of Christ will be different, depending on whether a person chooses to accept or reject Christ. The one who rejects Jesus and is perishing will receive an aroma from a Gospel-sharing Christian that brings death while the person who receives Jesus will receive the aroma of life, now and forever.
When we do this, when we follow the lead of Jesus and comply with His Great Commission, we not only bring the aroma of Christ to others but we ourselves are a pleasing aroma of Christ to God, our Master. Paul made it clear that he wasn’t peddling the word of God for profit which seems to indicate there was people who were. Paul wasn’t interested in money because his future was set through belief in Jesus as Savior. And so Paul was most interested in speaking before God with integrity so that those he encountered would know He had come from God and God alone.
We should follow Paul’s lead in our Gospel work, remaining loyal to God while speaking the good news about Jesus with honesty and absolute truth. When we do, then we like Paul will be a pleasing aroma of Christ Jesus to His Father and ours.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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