“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.”
~ 2 Corinthians 2:14
Hi James and Ellen,
Would you rather that your grandmaa visit you or send you a letter? Apostle Paul – over 2,000 years ago, visited and sent letters to Christ-follower communities. Paul traveled a lot. Paul in his travels would spend time in different places. Paul got to know guys and gals in the towns where stopped. Paul’s extended trips are called today missionary journeys. On Paul’s second and third missionary journeys, Paul spent time in Corinth, Greece. A lot of guys and gals who were living in Corinth lived corrupt lives. When Paul was in Corinth, Paul preached and taught. Some of the guys and gals who were living in Corinth internalized Paul’s Good News messages about what took place when Jesus Christ was crucified on a crude cross. Paul wrote at least two letters to the Christ-followers who were living in Corinth. The Corinth Christ-followers did not have a firm grasp of God’s truths. Paul felt that he needed to send letters to the Corinth Christ-followers to help them sort through some difficult issues. One of the thorny dilemmas that the Corinth Christ-follower community was facing involved a guy who was involved in an unacceptable liaison. When Paul made a second stop in Corinth, your grandpaa thinks that this is when Paul found out about a guy who was involved in an immoral relationship. What do you think that your dad should do if he should happen to one day find out that a guy who he knows has an immoral lifestyle? Your grandpaa thinks that Paul asked the Corinth Christ-follower guys to deal with the guy who was acting perversely. Your grandpaa thinks that Paul got some guys upset with him when he asked the Corinth Christ-followers guys – the guys who had made decisions of faith to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, to confront the guy who was caught up in a reprehensible affair – to see to it that the guy be removed from the Corinth Christ-follower community or . . .
Has your ma and/or dad ever confronted you for doing something that you should not have done? If you have been confronted by your ma and/or dad, your ma and/or dad did what they needed to do as a good ma and/or dad. Your ma and/or dad showed you tough love. Paul showed tough love to the Corinth Christ-follower guys and gals. Paul did something which he would rather not have to do but . . . as you grow older, there will be times when you will know that you will need to confront a guy or gal. When your grandmaa and/or grandpaa notice that a guy or gal is acting out inappropriately, your grandmaa and/or grandpaa will talk to the guy or gal about what he or she is offensively doing. What do you think happened to the Corinth Christ-follower community guy who was caught up in an immoral relationship? Your grandpaa thinks that Paul sent a letter to the Corinth Christ-followers – after he had spent some time in Corinth, to ask the Corinth Christ-followers to forgive the guy who had been enmeshed in a degenerate liaison. Paul asks the Corinth Christ-followers in this letter – in 2 Corinthians 2, to forgive the guy who had been involved in an immoral entanglement as the guy had come to recognize that what he had been doing was a wicked thing for him to be doing. Guys and gals in churches today can learn a lot from the way that Paul worked through the knotty problem that emerged in the Corinth Christ-follower community. Guys and gals in churches today just do not seem to want to take on making the tough decisions that sometimes need to be made. Guys and gals in churches today have acquiesced to accepting that it is not right and/or that it is wrong to hurt the feelings of other guys and gals. Your grandpaa also seriously thinks that when a Christ-follower guy or gal falters today and sins, that there are guys and gals in churches who do not want to forget the sin which the guy or gal committed after the guy or gal recognizes and confesses that what he or she had done was a sinful thing for him or her to do.
Paul goes from sounding upset in this chapter to sounding upbeat. Paul had found out that the guy who had been living in an immoral relationship had been awakened to the fact – after being confronted, that his relationship was sinful. This resulted in the guy confessing his sinful action to God. Because this guy wanted to worship God instead of continuing in an immoral liaison is an example of how God’s Word works. Verse 14 says “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.” When you accept God’s Word as being true, you smell good to God because you smell of His Son Jesus Christ through Whom you are saved. God’s Word gives you knowledge about God. God has asked your grandmaa and grandpaa to help the guys, gals and kids here in Guatemala to understand His Good News. Your grandpaa learned a lesson one day when he was in Bolivia how God speaks through His Word. Your grandpaa was asked one evening to speak in a rural schoolhouse that was packed with guys, gals and kids. Your grandpaa always took with him a portable blackboard. This blackboard was a piece of cloth. Your grandpaa could write on this piece of cloth with chalk. Your grandpaa likes to draw stick figures to help him explain what he is trying to say. While your grandpaa was speaking to the Villa Cruz Christ-follower guys, gals and kids, your grandpaa noticed an older lady really paying attention to what your grandpaa was saying. The older lady always seemed to smile and to nod at just the right time – as if she was grasping perfectly what your grandpaa was attempting to say. Your grandpaa later mentioned to some guy that he really appreciated the older lady’s attention to what he was trying to say. When your grandpaa pointed out the older lady to the guys, the guys told your grandpaa the older lady only understood their Mayan dialect. This older lady was simply enjoying the smell of God’s Word even though she did not understand it.
2 Corinthians 2 (75)