In the Sight of God

[Christsfreeservant]

“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 Corinthians 2:14-17 ESV)​

A triumphal procession is a celebration of great victories. In this context these are spiritual victories over our enemy Satan, and over the flesh, and over sin, and over anything opposed to God and to his righteousness and holiness. And these victories are ours through genuine God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. Because of what Jesus did for us on that cross we can now die with him to sin and be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness (1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23).

But these victories are not of the flesh, but of God. So it is God who leads us in Christ in these victories as we cooperate with him in his work of grace in our lives. For we have to follow him and his leading. We have to go where he sends us, and to do what he commands, and to say what he gives us to say, if we are going to have these victories. And we must be those who are spreading the Good News of the gospel of our salvation to the world around us, but we must make certain that we are spreading the truth, not the lies.

So, what is the truth of the gospel that we are to be spreading? Jesus said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. But we must stay the course until the very end, the Bible teaches us.

[Lu 9:23-26; Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Now, when we are spreading the knowledge of Christ and of his gospel to the world around us, including to all who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we are the aroma (fragrance) of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. And please note that this says, “being saved,” for our salvation is not a one-time deal and now we are good to go regardless of how we live. Our salvation is progressive, and it is dependent upon us walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living and us no longer making sin our practice, from now to eternity (see above Scriptures).

And in this context, “aroma” is being used more metaphorically to mean the knowledge or character or distinctive marks of who Christ is and of what he taught and of why he came to the earth. We as his followers are to be his representatives in sharing who Jesus is, but not in words only, but in our actions, by our example. Now this is not a claim to perfection, as Jesus was perfect, but our lives should reflect who Christ is and what he has called us to be and to do. It should be apparent that we have been with Jesus.

Now to those who are genuinely “being saved,” i.e. who are walking in obedience to the Lord in holy living, and who are no longer walking in sin, by God’s grace, what we share with them, if what we are sharing is the truth of the Scriptures, should be an encouragement to them. And to encourage is not just all the “feel good stuff” that people like to hear, but it is sharing with them the truth that can save their souls from hell, and which teaches them how they should live as followers of Christ.

But to those who are perishing in their sins – which includes those who are making professions of faith in Jesus Christ but who are still living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord (see Scriptures above) – they will not find encouragement in our words unless they are ready to receive them and to follow Jesus in obedience to his commands. For they don’t want to be confronted with their sins and called to repentance, to the forsaking of their sins, and to walks of obedience and surrender to Christ as Lord.

But all this is dependent on us being those who speak the truth of God’s word in love to the people, who are teaching the word in its appropriate context, and who are not altering and diluting the truth to make it more palatable to human flesh, as so many people are doing these days. For we need to be people who are honest, sincere, and obedient to our Lord to do what he has commissioned us to do as his servants and messengers. And so we must be careful to teach the Scriptures in context so that we don’t end up teaching a false gospel taken from Scriptures taught out of context.

Come and See

An Original Work / May 20, 2013
Based off John 1:35-51

John, the Baptist, called of God to
Make straight the way for the Lord,
Told his disciples about Jesus,
So two of them followed Him.

One of them who followed Jesus
Told his brother, Simon Peter,
Who then he brought to the Savior,
Who had told them, “Come and see.”

Jesus Christ, our Lord, Messiah,
On his way to Galilee found a man, Philip,
So he told him, “I want you to follow Me.”

Philip then found his friend,
And he told him, “We have found the one
The prophets spoke of – He is Jesus!”
Philip then said, “Come and see.”

Jesus saw the man, Nathanael,
While he sat beneath a fig tree,
Even before Philip called him,
So Nathanael did believe.

Nonetheless the Lord said,
“You believe because of what I told you.
You will see much greater things than these
If you will Come and see.”

Jesus’ calling to each one of us.
He tells us to believe in Him
As our Lord and Messiah,
And to follow where He leads.

He says we must turn from our sins,
Die to sin and self each day,
And put on our new lives in Jesus;
Bow before Him; humbly pray.