THE SMELL OF CHRIST

We smell of Christ. We reek of the gospel. We are either the sweet smell of expensive perfume or the rank odor of a rotting corpse depending on the response of the sniffer. Paul writes, "We are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?" (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)

Paul draws his metaphor from the spectacle of a Roman triumphal procession. We are the prisoners being dragged through the streets as trophies of God's grace on display before the world. Wherever the victorious Christ drags us we emit "the smell of the knowledge of Him" (την οσμην της γνωσεως αυτου) before the watching crowds who treat us so rudely according to the word picture Paul is painting (2 Cor. 2:14). The aroma emanating from us could refer to the practice of scattering spices along the triumphal path, or it could refer to the stench that rises from the bodies of the prisoners themselves (Witherington, Conflict and Community, p.366).

We are the fragrance of life to those who are being saved (τοις σωζομενοις). The word for "smell" used here (ευωδια) means a pleasant aroma, a delightful fragrance. The word translated "being saved" is a present tense participle in the passive voice. The rescuing is performed by someone else, namely Christ, and is a continuous ongoing process. People are being rescued as they sniff the perfume of Christ in our lives.

We are the stench of death to those who are being destroyed or ruined (τοις απολλυμενοις). Once again the participle is in the present tense emphasizing the ongoing aspect of the process. The form can be either middle or passive. The verb in the middle voice simply means to perish or die, and this is probably the force of the word as opposed to being destroyed by someone else. The word in the middle voice can mean simply to be lost (BAGD, p.95).

The significance of the parallel phrases "out of life into life" (εκ ζωης εις ζωην) and "out of death into death" (εκ θανατου εις θανατον) is more difficult to determine. We could make a case that the first phrase refers to the living one (a believer) leading the dead one (an unbeliever) into life, but the parallel phrase cannot be meaningfully understood in a similar way. The best way to understand these phrases is to see them as Semitic idioms. The Hebrews expressed a superlative - really alive or really dead - by repeating the word (Hughes, 2 Corinthians, pp.80-81, fn18). We are a living smell or a deathly smell to all we influence in this world.

Another analogy is possible although we cannot be certain. The Talmud and the Mishnah refer to the Torah as medicine. The Law is a powerful drug which can be either life-giving or lethal depending on the reaction of the one receiving the drug. The life-giving or lethal nature of the Law is not intrinsic to the Law itself in Rabbinic thinking but is the result that comes from the nature of those who are touched by the Law (Hughes, 2 Corinthians, p.81, fn19). Paul, with his Rabbinic training, could have also had this imagery in mind as he expressed these truths regarding the gospel.

Preaching the gospel is always effective one way or another. God's Word works to produce results in the lives of people for life or death. The smell of Christ in us will always accomplish its perfect work in others.

Who is adequate for such a calling?