The Aroma of Christ

Second Corinthians 2:15-16 takes the triumphal procession from verse 14 and presses the smell of it into every part of life. Paul says God has conquered him in Christ, not to destroy him, but to give him life. The conquest of Christ is not something Paul resents. Paul thanks God for being vanquished by love, mercy, and sacrifice.

The image of the procession says Paul’s life is being paraded by God. Prison, hardship, public preaching, private moments, all of it becomes the place where God spreads “the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” Paul’s ministry is not a nine-to-five job with defined hours and private freedom afterward. Paul’s life, ministry, and message can be distinguished, but they cannot be separated, and Paul would not want them separated.

The aroma is first “to God.” God is the primary smeller. The Old Testament burnt offering stands behind the language, where the sacrifice may have stunk to everybody else, but to God it was a sweet aroma because it pointed to Christ. Christ’s sacrifice brings atonement for sin and acceptance before God. The Father delights in the Son’s offering because sin is really dealt with, wrath is really satisfied, and salvation is really accomplished.

The aroma also goes outward among people. Christ is set forth through the life of his people, and there are only two audiences. To those who are perishing, Christ is a stench, foolish, repulsive, unappealing. To those who are being saved, Christ is a sweet and alluring fragrance, life from life, drawing the soul again and again to the One who is altogether lovely.

The difference does not come from human cleverness or a neutral heart making itself better. By nature, humanity is dead in trespasses and sins. God must step in. God must change the nature before Christ no longer stinks and becomes beautiful. Sovereign grace moves the heart to seek him.

Paul’s question, “Who is sufficient for these things?” lands with weight because the matter is eternal life and eternal death, and the means are frail, broken, redeemed sinners. The task is too big, and the vessel is too weak. The sufficiency belongs to God. God designs the whole life of his people, every decade and every passing moment, so that Christ’s aroma is not hidden, disguised, or masked, but diffused everywhere.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Christ conquers unto life [09:55] Christ’s triumph over Paul is not described as defeat in the ordinary sense. The conquest that took him down also raised him into life, because Christ conquered by dying. Grace does not flatter the old self, it vanquishes it, and that is why Paul can give thanks. [09:55]
• 2. God is the first smeller [16:38] The aroma of Christ does not first aim at human approval. God receives the fragrance of the Son’s sacrifice with delight because atonement and acceptance have been accomplished. A life that smells of Christ may seem strange or costly to others, but its deepest audience is the Father. [16:38]
• 3. Christ is never neutral [28:02] The aroma of Christ divides humanity into only two groups. To some, Christ is appalling and unwanted; to others, Christ is sweet, compelling, and increasingly beautiful. The heart’s response to Christ reveals more than taste or preference, because it reveals death or life. [28:02]
• 4. Grace changes the nose [37:49] A dead heart does not train itself to enjoy Christ. God must change the nature so that the One once thought to stink becomes the treasure of the soul. Sovereign grace does not merely offer a better option, it gives life where there was no life. [37:49]
• 5. Sufficiency belongs to God [41:40] The matter at hand is eternal life and eternal death, and the means are weak redeemed sinners. That mismatch is not a flaw in God’s design. God makes the task impossible for the flesh so the power is plainly his.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [05:01] - The Aroma of Christ
• [07:02] - The Heart of Paul’s Letter
• [08:22] - Conquered in Christ’s Triumph
• [12:16] - Life to Life, Death to Death
• [16:38] - The Aroma First Rises to God
• [18:34] - Sacrifice, Atonement, and Acceptance
• [24:20] - The Aroma Moves Outward
• [28:02] - Two Audiences, No Third Option
• [31:59] - Christ as Sweet and Alluring
• [35:53] - Sovereign Grace Changes the Heart
• [39:05] - Who Is Sufficient?
• [42:12] - A Life Designed to Diffuse Christ
• [46:34] - Do Not Mask the Aroma

Bible Reading

2 Corinthians 2:15-16
“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?” [05:01] [12:16]

2 Corinthians 2:14
“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.” [08:45]

Ephesians 2:1
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins” [36:30]

Leviticus 1:9
“but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.” [17:44]

Observation questions

1. In 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, what words and images keep repeating, and what do they show about how Christ is made known through a believer’s life? [13:07]
2. According to 2 Corinthians 2:15-16, who is the aroma of Christ first directed to, and what are the two groups of people mentioned afterward? [16:38]
3. What details from Leviticus 1:9 help explain why Paul uses the language of a “pleasing aroma to the LORD”? [17:44]
4. What kinds of places and circumstances were named as settings where the fragrance of Christ is spread? [16:01]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul gives thanks for being led in Christ’s triumphal procession. Why would being “conquered” by Christ be a cause for gratitude rather than resentment? [09:55]
2. If the aroma of Christ rises first to God, how does that change the way a Christian should think about a faithful life that may seem costly, unimpressive, or even offensive to other people? [24:01]
3. Paul says there are only two responses to Christ: death to death or life to life. Why is Christ never presented as a neutral figure that people can simply take or leave without consequence? [28:02]
4. Ephesians 2:1 says people are dead in trespasses and sins. How does that help explain why a person does not naturally find Christ beautiful unless God changes the heart? [37:49]

Application questions

1. Christ does not claim only public ministry hours, but the whole life. Where is it easiest to separate life from devotion to Christ—at home, at work, online, in suffering, or in private habits—and what might it look like for Christ’s fragrance to be more evident there? [43:30]
2. God designed every season of life to diffuse the aroma of Christ. How does that speak into a present hardship, limitation, or ordinary routine that has felt spiritually unimportant? [42:37]
3. Some people will be drawn to Christ, and others will be repelled. When has fear of another person’s reaction made it tempting to soften, hide, or mask the distinctness of Christ? [46:29]
4. Christ is sweet and alluring to those who are being saved. Is Christ actually becoming more lovely and compelling in the heart right now, or has he become distant, assumed, or merely familiar? What might that reveal? [31:59]
5. Since God must change the heart before Christ becomes beautiful, how should that shape the way Christians pray for unbelieving family members, friends, and neighbors? [37:22]
6. “Who is sufficient for these things?” is an honest question when eternal life and eternal death are in view. Where is there a sense of weakness, inadequacy, or fear in speaking of Christ, and how does it help to remember that sufficiency belongs to God? [41:40]
7. A person may spend decades with someone or only have a passing moment, yet either way the calling is to leave behind the smell of Christ. Who is one person in regular contact right now, and what would a more direct, unmasked witness to Christ look like with that person? [44:13]