Paul traveled up the coast from Ephesus to preach the message about Jesus in Troas. And although God provided some great opportunity for that in Troas, Paul was still not at peace because he hadn’t met up with Titus, a missionary partner, whom he had hoped would give him a report on how the Corinthians had responded to his “severe letter”.
Troas served as a common port where travelers would sail to Macedonia, which Paul explains that he did next. We’ll eventually see that Paul was comforted by Titus when he reached Macedonia, but before Paul tells the Corinthians about that, he moves into a digression that lasts until Chapter 7. Digressions in ancient letter writing were common and Paul’s digression here is a natural one.
Paul was experiencing emotional turmoil because he cared deeply about his relationship with the Corinthians and their willingness to respond to the truth. Despite this, however, Paul knew that God’s undeserved favor toward him (grace) would be enough for anything he experienced in life. Paul’s perspective on life, in the middle of relational stress and difficulty, can serve as an encouraging reminder for us when we are working through long-term conflict with people we are close to.
Paul thanks God for the position that God had given him. He describes it using the metaphor of a “triumphal procession”. During this time period Roman conquerors would lead their captives in a public procession, and burning incense was often part of this event. In light of Ephesians 4:1-8, which uses a similar metaphor, Paul probably views himself as a prisoner in this procession, but a grateful one. Being a servant, or even a “slave” of Jesus is so much more fulfilling than being a slave to the life he takes us from when we put our trust in him.
God can also use us, as he did Paul, to spread “the fragrance of the knowledge of him”, much like bystanders to the triumphal procession would smell the incense being burned. This “fragrance” will smell different depending on who smells it. The first, staggering thought is that believers trusting and following God are “a fragrance of Christ to God”! The beauty and holiness of Jesus is seen in believers by God, no matter what faults they have or what sins are in their past. (1 Cor. 1:30, 2 Cor. 5:21)
Believers can also be a “fragrance of Christ” to people. For those being saved and transformed by God, other Christians can be a source of life and refreshment. For those who are ultimately perishing, rejecting God, Christians can leave a bad “aroma”, because they are a reminder of the idea of God’s existence, something that, at the very least, they don’t want to think about.
After expressing this truth, Paul understandably comments, “Who is equal to such a task?” (He will answer this question in the next chapter. But you can look ahead at verse 5 if you want.)
Paul knows that he is not up to the task of being an “aroma of Christ”. He humbly reminds the Corinthians that He doesn’t treat his message about Christ like a product that he’s selling. Instead, as though standing before God himself (which in reality he WAS doing, through his Apostleship and the presence of the Holy Spirit in him), he speaks with complete sincerity as a representative (Apostle) of God.
Next Week- The transformed and transforming life of the Christian
Coffee House Question
What do you think the difference is between being an unpleasing “fragrance of Christ” around non-Christians and being… well, jerks?
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