A Pleasing Aroma

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. (2 Cor. 2:14-17 ESV)

I don't know about you, but I've often read this passage and thought, "If I'm an aroma, I stink!" Often my inner thoughts and external struggles waft more Eau de Skunk than Honeysuckle Delight.

So when I was reading this passage yesterday, I was overjoyed when God drew my attention to some factors that remind me that even my fragrant offerings to Him are His work, not mine.

First of all, the passage begins with a certainty: in Christ, God ALWAYS leads us in triumphal procession. Now, I realize as well as you that some days are lived out more victoriously than others - but the reminder here is that this victorious processional is "in Christ". Christus victor, the ancient writer called it. It's His victory. Our ability to take every thought captive to His obedience (2 Cor. 10:5) allows us to share in that victory, but He is always out there, leading the way.

Second, the fragrance we spread is the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. This is liberating to someone who is prone to be quick to speak and slow to listen - the antithesis of James 1:19! It means that when I mess up, I can still spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ by pointing to His cross, His grace, mercy, and forgiveness. This knowledge doesn't give me liberty to sin (Rom. 6:1), but it does give me God the chance to redeem my mistakes by using them to point to Christ.

Third, and most significantly for my Eau de Skunk days, we are the aroma of Christ. Not the aroma of our good works, or the aroma of our religious rituals, or the aroma of sacrifice. The aroma of Christ. What rises up to God from our lives is that which reflects Christ. If I long to send a pleasing aroma God's way, I can only expect to do so through Christlikeness. The world might not understand - in fact Paul says that of those among whom we exude this aroma of Christ to God, some will find it an aroma of life and others an aroma of death. But the aroma is His, and it pleases God.

Paul asks the question we all wonder: "Who is sufficient for these things?" The answer he gives in the following chapter is a world of encouragement in itself: God Himself makes us adequate.

Draw near to God. Beholding leads to becoming.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18)