12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me,
13 I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?
I wrote about verse 12 in Bible Truth #218 but wanted to include it above for context. Then in verse 13 because Paul had no peace of mind he continued his travels.
Who did not give him peace of mind? Who made him restless? Do you think it was the fact that he didn’t find Titus there? If that’s what you think then please think again. Regardless if Titus was there or not, if the Lord wanted Paul to remain in Troas He would have given him peace of mind. But the Holy Spirit moved on Paul to have him travel to Macedonia. He did what God wanted him to do. Some may think Paul made a free will choice but it was God working in him to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).
Paul went on to give God thanks for leading him in Christ and that through him and all the others they are spreading the Gospel. He compared spreading the Gospel to a fragrance and that to God, they are the aroma of Christ among all men, both saved and lost. To those being saved Christians are the fragrance of life but to the lost, Christians are the odor of death.
How can a lost man who “smells” only death on Christians all of a sudden, on his own, smell the sweet fragrance of life?
He can’t!
Please let me answer how it happens: God changed his nose! God quickened the lost man’s dead spirit, He made the lost man alive! The formerly lost man can now see spiritual things, hear spiritual words, understand spiritual truths, AND SMELL THE SWEET FRAGRANCE OF LIFE! All because God quickened his spirit through faith, the faith that God gives him (Ephesians 2:8, Romans 12:3) as a gift. God then gives him belief (John 6:29, Philippians 1:29), repentance (2 Timothy 2:25), and understanding (Luke 24:45, 1 Corinthians 2:14, 2 Timothy 2:7).
Bottom Line - To a lost man, Christians are, and will ALWAYS be, the smell of death. To smell life God has to give him a spiritual nose first! And a spiritual nose comes with a spiritual heart, spiritual ears, and spiritual eyes when God saves him.
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