Dreadful Smell Of Death And Doom

[mlepfitjw]

Hello you, thought this would be interesting to share.

What do you think about these passages?

This was the second letter written by Paul, to the Corinthians. (Which is highly interesting!)


“But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession.

Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.

Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.

But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.

To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.

And who is adequate for such a task as this? You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭2:14-17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

 

[Navair2]

Hello you, thought this would be interesting to share.

What do you think about these passages?

I wasn't sure where you were quoting from until I looked at the end and saw "NLT".
Here is it is my Bible:

" Now thanks [be] unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
16 to the one [we are] the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who [is] sufficient for these things?
17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ." ( 2 Corinthians 2:14-17, AV ).

Given that the "KJV" has a bit of a learning curve associated with it, plus the fact that the Greek text used by it is the "Received Text" and not the "Critical Text" like the NLT uses, I think that the words in your above quote look fairly similar, if one converts the passage into more modern English.

As a help, here is my breakdown, verse by verse:

14) Paul is saying, " I thank God, which always causes us to triumph ( have victory ) in Christ, and makes clear ( or shows, brings out ) the smell ( or aroma ) of His knowledge by us in every place.
15) For we are to God a sweet aroma of Christ...in them that are saved and in them that perish.
16) to the one, the aroma of death unto ( up to, or leading to ) death; and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient ( enough ) for these things?
17) For we are not as many who corrupt ( pervert ) the word of God...but as of sincerity.
But as of ( by or from ) God, in the sight of God we speak " in Christ" ( in the power of His authority ).

That is how I currently understand it.


So, it looks to me that the NLT ( which is essentially a paraphrase of what the translators thought it was saying ) got it "in the ballpark", but not word-for-word exactly as a more Formal Equivalency translation would have.

As for the significance of the passage, I'll leave that up for you to decide.

 

[GOD Shines Forth!]

To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.

I've experienced this both ways as a believer. As an unbeliever I only knew the first experience. Death and doom. The second I have regularly now, smelling the sweet perfume of Truth when it is shared with me by God through His Word or another believer. Like you just did.

 

[mlepfitjw]

Thank you for sharing your seeing of Scripture, Navair.

Thank you for sharing your experience, Godshinesforth!