Living as Aromas of Christ (Part 1 of 2)

Now when I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

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.

The Example of Paul

If you recall from last time, the apostle Paul presented the fact that the suffering and ministry of the apostles is an example for us to follow. We share in their sufferings, and even more abundantly so. In other words, we increase in the suffering that the apostles shared in when we increase in the service and ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ, advancing his message in our own lives and in the lives of those around us.

It is an example for us to follow, and we will experience an increase of suffering and hardship as we increase in ministry. The more we serve and advance the gospel, the more we suffer. Notice that in the Scriptures it is not just an increase in service, but an increase in service to the gospel, in the spread of the gospel. Certainly many people can do many things in church and yet not experience hardship because they are not focused on spreading the gospel, no matter how busy they are with other activities.

So when we increase in the ministry like the apostles—which was to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ—that means an increase in suffering and hardship. But it also means an increase in the comfort that God gives us, no matter what we do or experience. God is there to specifically comfort us. That is the reason we are not overtaken by various circumstances. The apostle Paul will eventually explain how we are crushed on every side but not completely overtaken.

Through increasing our ministry and following the example of the apostles—sharing in their sufferings—we increase our suffering, but we also increase the comfort from God.

The Purpose of Suffering for Ministry

But there's another question that comes up: What's the point of suffering for the sake of ministry? Why would we increase ministry of the gospel—to protect its soundness, to advance it, to increase it—and thereby incur suffering?

The answer is that through our suffering and by receiving God's comfort, we advance God's purpose of glorifying himself in the salvation of those who love him and in the just condemnation of those who hate him and reject him. It is to advance the purpose of God. We as Christians have been saved to live for the purpose of God. That's the point of why we do anything.

We summarize the rest of our lives—from the moment of our conversion to the moment of our death—as ministry of the gospel, focused upon Christ. Not just focused on different activities like getting a job or starting a family—all that is good, as long as it is in relationship to gospel ministry. But gospel ministry is the focus of our lives.

We changed our names from Face-First Youth Ministry to Means of Grace Youth Ministry because we want to be instruments of God's grace. That's what we want to be as a youth group: instruments used by God to glorify God in the accomplishment of his purpose in our lives and the lives of those around us.

The goal of our text focuses on that reality. Taking the previous context of suffering and Paul's correcting of sin, we arrive at our passage: to suffer for doing what's right, not for doing what's wrong. Our lives are focused on God glorifying himself in the salvation of those he makes believers and in the just condemnation of those he passes over who reject him.

The question our text focuses on—in pursuing the goal of having our lives be instruments of Christ—is: Do those around you smell Jesus? Do you emit the aroma of Jesus Christ in your life? That advances the purpose of God in saving many and in the just punishment of those who reject Christ.

The smelling like Christ relates specifically to the knowledge of Christ. The aroma of Christ is synonymous with knowing Christ. Do the people around you smell Jesus? Is there enough knowledge of Christ emitting from your life—both verbally and in display? Is your life committed to putting off the aroma of Jesus Christ, the knowledge of Jesus Christ?

There are several important considerations as we attempt to permeate our lives with the smell of Jesus—just like cologne comes off its source.

The first is to look at the example of Paul. Paul starts by recounting his experience at Troas, tying in with his missionary journey and explaining why he was unable to visit the Corinthians as indicated. He went to Troas and preached the gospel—the Lord opened the door. But his spirit was not at rest because he did not find Titus there. One purpose of going to Troas was to meet Titus, who may have delivered the first letter to the Corinthians.

Not seeing Titus, he had to move on to deliver the letter. But he preached the gospel until he had reason to move. This ties in with increasing our sharing of the apostles' sufferings through increasing our ministry like the apostles. When we have opportunity—when the door is open—walk through it. Whenever we have opportunity to advance the knowledge of Jesus Christ in preaching or ministering the gospel, we should serve Christ.

Paul's purpose in going to Troas was to give Titus the letter, but the Lord opened an opportunity to advance the gospel, so he took it. That's the example Paul left for us: to take opportunities God gives to increase and spread the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Paul's life after conversion was summarized by the ministry of the gospel. Even in delivering a letter or exercising church discipline, he took advantage of opportunities to spread the gospel. His commitment to the gospel and knowledge of Jesus Christ was such that he couldn't help but share it. It was overwhelming—like Mentos and Coke. When a person takes in so much knowledge of Christ, they cannot help but permeate that knowledge like an aroma.

Paul was a means of grace, an instrument God used, opening doors for ministry. Sometimes doors closed, and he moved on. Whatever it is about Paul, he had the purpose of advancing the gospel and the knowledge of Jesus Christ in his sphere of influence.

It doesn't mean we all have to become missionaries—though I highly encourage that. Every ministry advancing the knowledge of Jesus Christ is important: children's ministry, youth ministry, women's and men's ministry. We must not think of ministry as just what we do at church, but as what our lives are intended to accomplish.

For those not paid pastors, it's a struggle. We have the American way of thinking: you have your job, family, life, and then volunteer to feel good. That's not Christianity, missions, or the church. You are supposed to be a fragrant aroma of Jesus Christ.

When two dudes meet, they ask what they do for a living. If two Christians met, the last thing they'd describe is their ministries—unless asked specifically what they do at church. Paul doesn't talk about himself as a tentmaker. He says, "We are the aroma of Jesus. We are the fragrance of Christ. And this is how we live."

The Exhibition of Victory

Our second point is the exhibition of victory—how Paul was so successful in advancing the gospel. Think back to 1 Corinthians 15: "I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God."

Notice verse 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." Christ is the subject. He leads us in triumphal procession and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

By "exhibition," I mean public display—like a parade where people follow others. That is what we are as means of grace: Christians in the line of other Christians marching forward in the victory parade because of Jesus Christ's work. It is the public display of Christ's victory on the cross, his perfect sacrifice for sins to save his people and usher us into eternity.

You are simply objects displaying the reality of Christ's victory. Because of God's sovereignty over his purpose, we as instruments experience a procession of triumph. God will succeed in his purpose, which means we don't enter Christian life or ministry expecting to accomplish good ourselves, but experiencing God accomplishing his purpose through us.

That is the fundamental definition of the Christian life: those who have experienced, are experiencing, and will continue experiencing God accomplishing his purpose through us.

Does that mean we wake up and wait for God to animate us? No. We should excel and work hard, but the victory of our service is secured by Jesus Christ.

One big question about God choosing to save some and not others is: Why evangelize? If God didn't sovereignly purpose and accomplish salvation through fallen humans like us, the burden would be on us to convince people—and if they aren't convinced, we failed. But because God sovereignly chooses to save his people through us, there is a triumphal procession, a public display of victory through our lives and ministries.

We have confidence to minister, encouragement when results seem lacking—because God's message always produces results: one of two we'll discuss next. It accomplishes God's purpose. You have the guarantee of victory if it is the genuine knowledge of Jesus Christ you advance.

When you increase in the knowledge of Christ, you increase in the effectiveness of the message. The more knowledge of Jesus we take in and live out, the more God's purpose permeates our lives and those around us. People who know little about Jesus do little for his kingdom. People who know much are capable of doing much—because it is Jesus doing much through them.

Christ leads us and through us spreads knowledge of himself everywhere. We are messengers, ambassadors, instruments in his hands to accomplish what he has secured: that we will all be with him forever, accomplishing his Father's will, losing none—through every one of us.

The aroma of Jesus Christ is compared to the knowledge of Jesus. To smell more potently like Christ, we must be more knowledgeable about Christ. The more we know Jesus, the more he influences how we live along the procession of triumph.

The Experience of Those Around Us

We've talked about smelling like the life and knowledge of Christ, and God accomplishing his purpose through us. Now, what does that purpose look like as we smell like Jesus to the world around us?

What happens when someone comes into contact with someone who smells like Jesus—someone who preaches and exemplifies the knowledge of Jesus Christ, living to honor his reputation?

God's purpose is that through us, the knowledge of his Son spreads like an aroma to those nearby. From biology class, smells are molecules moving from areas of higher concentration to lower concentration. Concentration is the amount of something in a space—like juice from concentrate or concentrated dishwasher soap.

If there's a scent in high concentration, those molecules inevitably spread to areas of low concentration. If you are the aroma of Jesus Christ, you need more knowledge of Christ to prompt movement to areas of less knowledge—like areas of your life lacking application of Christ. It cannot stay at church; it permeates, spreading to school, work, everywhere.

You take in knowledge of Christ so—like too much cologne—you spread that scent to those around you. If the cologne smells wonderful, people are attracted. If it repulses—like an allergy—they avoid it.

That's God's purpose: to glorify himself in the merciful salvation of those who love Christ and in the just condemnation of those repulsed by the fragrance of Christ—which are you and me.

I remember in middle school and high school youth group not finding acceptance among Christians. But at secular high school, unbelievers were attracted to me, and I to them. Looking back, I wasn't a Christian—no knowledge of Jesus, no fragrance of Jesus. I shouldn't expect God's people, attracted to his fragrance, to be attracted to me when I smelled like the world. The world was drawn to me.

The moment I became a Christian, taking in more knowledge of Jesus, I became more of his fragrance. It became easier to be around other Christians, harder around the world. It's a fragrance issue.

You Stink to the World

You stink to the world. You reek to them. You're the smell of dead fish in the nostrils of those who hate Christ. The more you smell like Christ, the more the world hates Christ. They don't want anything to do with that which smells like Christ.

Those who smell like Christ attract the elect who haven't even been saved yet. It's the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and it's the Holy Spirit who grants them hearts of flesh in exchange for their hearts of stone. When they smell Jesus—in other words, when they hear the knowledge of Jesus Christ—they are irresistibly attracted to him and drawn into him.

There are some—or the non-elect, though we don't know who they are—who, because you smell like Jesus, absolutely hate him. As John 3 says, they don't come to the light because they fear their deeds may be exposed. They become repulsed, reject the aroma, and reject Christ and the knowledge of him.

A Fragrance from Death to Death, Life to Life

Notice what it says in 2 Corinthians 2:16:

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?

To some, you are a fragrance from death to death. People who reject the knowledge of Jesus have sealed their fate in unbelief, an outright rejection of Christ. This doesn't mean someone couldn't reject Christ now and accept him later; it's the summary of their entire life. They came into contact with somebody who is the fragrance of Jesus and rejected the message of Jesus. Therefore, God is thoroughly justified in punishing the person who has rejected his Son for all eternity. Their rejection came through you as an instrument.

Even though creation is sufficient for a person to be without excuse—they know God exists but don't honor him, as Romans 1 says—even more so when they come into contact with the fragrance of Jesus Christ and reject him. Then it is certainly right for God to punish them.

It comes across like this from 2 Peter 2:21:

For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

That describes individuals who ultimately apostatized. They knew the knowledge, even accepted it, but then rejected it. Peter says it would have been better for them not to have ever known the way of righteousness than to have known it and rejected it. That's similar to being the aroma of Christ unto someone's death—from death to death.

You present the message of the gospel; you live it as a reality. You demonstrate the significance and reality of the gospel message. There is no such thing as preaching a message we can't live by. Certainly, as John Piper said, if any pastor is living up to their preaching, they're preaching too low. But there should be some matching of our lives with the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the gospel message. When somebody comes into that aroma and rejects it, they're held accountable to God for rejecting the message of Jesus Christ.

The Danger of Barely Smelling Like Christ

What about those who come into contact with you and you barely smell like Christ—or not at all? You might think, "That's good, because then I'm not an instrument of that person's death. I'm not an instrument of God in bringing about just condemnation for those who reject Jesus. There's not enough Christ in my life—or none at all."

Of course, the problem is that that's not life. That's not eternal life. You're not in a position to worry whether you're a fragrance of death for those who hate Christ or a fragrance of life for those who love him. You're running the risk of being part of those who hate Christ or part of those who need the aroma in the first place. You're in danger. And that also means you're not the aroma of life for those granted the ability to love Christ. You're not an aroma for Christ to be an instrument of God's salvation for those around you.

God has secured the victory and through us accomplishes his purpose.

How Much of Christ Saturates Your Life?

The big question to conclude this passage is: How much of the knowledge of Jesus Christ saturates your life? Do you make decisions or choices because of what you know to be true about Jesus? You know what he taught in holiness, so in a given circumstance, you apply it and demonstrate the reality that you know Jesus. You have knowledge of him, and you do something that matches how he lived his life.

Do you love one another with the kind of love that Jesus had? Do you respond to sin the way Jesus responded to it? Does it grieve you? Does it antagonize you to be in the presence of sin, or does it please you?

Consider Jesus being tempted by Satan. There was no possible way for him to give in to that temptation, so from one perspective, it was pointless for Satan to tempt him. He was going to refute it the entire time. So why did Satan tempt Jesus? It's because the sinless Son of God could suffer in the flesh when tempted by sin. God, perfect in imperfect human flesh—weak human flesh—experienced suffering. That's what the human nature of Jesus Christ was about.

He had lived eternally, not in the presence of sin, thoroughly satisfied and happy in pure divine holiness. God took on flesh and experienced the presence of sin around his flesh, suffering in the presence of that which he abhors.

Do you respond to sin the way Jesus did? Even if you're not being tempted or currently sinning, is the reality of sin in and around your life so antagonizing that it could be said you are suffering because of it? Is that the case in our lives?

Do you have enough of Jesus Christ in your life so that those around you can unmistakably say, "You smell like Christ"?

If not, let's commit together as a youth group to take in more of Jesus, to learn more about Christ so that we may smell like Jesus Christ.