Word of Encouragement (4/27/2021)
Today, we will reflect some more on Paul’s prayer in 2 Cor. 2:14-16: “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?”
Yesterday, we focused on Christ’s triumphal procession, in which we take part by God’s grace. We rejoiced in the reminder that Christ has already won the victory over sin and Satan and death and hell and we are called to share in that victory. We also noticed that this victory, for now, is manifested in the advancement of the gospel to the ends of the earth, not in physical, political dominion over others. It is due to this spiritual character of Christ’s victory in the present era that Paul was able to say, “Christ always leads us in triumphal procession....” We said that Paul was mainly speaking of the preaching ministry of the church in this prayer. How could he say that it is always triumphant?
Paul adds to the imagery of triumphal procession that of fragrance. As he and others proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ, “the fragrance of the knowledge of [Christ]” spread everywhere (v. 14). He uses another description in the next verse for this: “the aroma of Christ” (v. 15). The word, “aroma,” is often used of the smell, which arises out of a sacrificial offering by fire (e.g., Ex. 29:18, “...burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD. It is a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD”; Eph. 5:2, “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering [or, a fragrant aroma] and sacrifice to God”).
We can say that this switch from the triumphal procession to aroma is not so sudden. The Roman triumphal procession included offering sacrifice at Jupiter’s Temple on the Capitoline Hill. It also included the execution of certain captives. We can see how the aroma of the sacrifice, which celebrated the Roman victory, also signified the defeat of the enemy. We can understand why Paul said, “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.”
We may question how Paul could characterize his preaching ministry as an earthly manifestation of the glorious triumphal procession of Christ and it is “always” victorious (v. 14). But he could do so on account of the dual effect of his preaching: to those who are being saved, it is a fragrance from life to life; to those who are perishing, it is a fragrance from death to death. In this sense, the preaching of the gospel is always successful—either it brings about conversion and sanctification or rejection and hardening of the heart. As the Lord said in Isaiah, “my word... that goes out from my mouth... shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:11).
It is easy for us to think that reading the Bible “doesn’t work for me.” That is not true. The Bible is always effective: either it softens our hearts and makes us repent of our sins and trust Christ or it hardens our hearts toward God and His Word. So, when we do not respond to God’s Word in faith and repentance and obedience, we are hardening our hearts. When we think that the Bible “doesn’t do anything for me,” we should cry out to God for mercy and break up the fallow ground of our hearts (Hos. 10:12). As we do so, may the Word of God become a sweet aroma from life to life to God, to others, and to ourselves!