2 Corinthians 2:5-17 (The Fragrance of Forgiveness, Jeff Kliewer)

The Aroma of Christ and the Fragrance of Forgiveness

We're missionaries to inner-city Philadelphia, and when we trained for that, we had to go to Kansas City for about 10 days. And while we were there, one of the ways they trained us is by giving us a taste test.

They had these strips where you were to put it on your tongue. And some of the people in the missionary training were able to taste a horrible, acidic taste on their tongue when they put it in their mouth.

The other half tasted nothing at all. If I'm not mistaken, you didn't taste anything, right, Jen? And I tasted this horrible, disgusting, foul thing. I needed to rinse my mouth out the second it touched my tongue.

About half the group tasted it and perceived this taste. The other half tasted nothing at all. It's similar to when I sing at the top of my lungs. To me, it sounds like an angel singing. I think I'm just killing it.

And then I look around and I see the ears bleeding from people around me. Just horrified. So to one person, something sounds one way, and to another, it sounds differently. Similar things when you read online.

Maybe Franklin Graham comes to mind. He posts tweets and Facebook posts, and almost everything he posts, I'm like, yes and amen. That is spot on. And yet I look and I see in the comments that there are just as many people that are enraged by every last thing he posts.

One person hears it this way, another person hears it that way. Even more so than in politics, because if you look at this country, it's pretty easy to tell it's divided, isn't it? One person hears things this way, another hears it that way.

But even more than the division that exists in politics, is the division that exists because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some people smell the fragrance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it is delightful.

It is joyful.

It is the best thing that you've ever smelled. It is sweet. And yet other people will hear the same message, preached perhaps by the same preacher in the same way, and their ears will be bleeding.

They will be angry.

They will be hearing nothing but condemnation or hate or something quite opposite of what the other group is hearing. It's really remarkable. Well, our text today will show us why that is. I'd like to read through it today, and then point out from this text, ten takeaways, ten things that will help us be the aroma of Christ, that Cornerstone Church would exude the aroma of Christ, the sweetness of forgiveness that's offered in Him.

So we're going to read 2 Corinthians 2, verses 5 -17. Now, if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it too severely, to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough.

So you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.

Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs.

When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was open for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

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.

So, the gospel, the message of forgiveness is a fragrance, it's an aroma, it's a sweet aroma. But there are many teachings that come out in Paul's section here, this verses 5 through 17, that teach us how to be that aroma.

Congregational Authority and Church Discipline

First of all, look at verse 5 and 6. It's important to notice the congregation itself has the highest authority in the church. Local congregations have the highest authority in the church. So, look at verse 5.

Now, if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it too severely, to all of you who is in the purview here. It is the congregation to whom Paul is writing. He's speaking to the congregation of believers who are gathering at Corinth.

And he says in verse 6, For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough. So, a little background here. Most commentators, although not all, but most commentators think that Paul is referencing the erring believer from 1 Corinthians chapter 5.

The one who had fallen into sexual sin. And the church was winking at this. They were just not concerned at all by the sexual immorality of this particular member of the church. And Paul writes a stinging rebuke and says, Listen, I understand, don't judge outsiders, but within the church, you are to exercise judgment.

And he actually tells them to put the erring brother outside of the church. Because he wouldn't repent, Paul calls for church discipline. This is the final and harshest thing that can happen in a church.

And it seems hard that Paul would actually prescribe this punishment. However, because the Corinthians obey what Paul has said, this believer, because he was genuinely a believer who had backslidden, who had fallen into sin, because the Holy Spirit was in him, he was brought to repentance.

He was brought to conviction over his sin, and he was overwhelmed with sorrow. So in verse 6, we're told, For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough. What does he mean by enough? It's sufficient.

And he'll tell them in a minute, you need to turn and forgive him. But before we get to that, notice that it was the majority. Circle that word majority. If you're taking notes, make note of majority.

Pleionon, majority. In the Greek, it means more in quantity or the major part. So it's likely that in Corinth, the teachers who were opposing Paul in 1 Corinthians, remember how there were some who were anti-Paul when we studied 1 Corinthians in overview, we saw there were some who opposed Paul.

There were some who were teaching that they were so spiritual that they didn't need to get married. And they taught a dualism which denied the resurrection, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, between body and spirit.

And what was done in the spirit was important, but the body didn't matter, so they allowed sexual immorality, 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Undoubtedly, these teachers opposed Paul. And when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, not everybody received what he had to say.

There was a division. So how do you solve a division in the church? Well, according to verse 6, the final ruling authority in the church is the majority. The majority. This is strong evidence for what we call congregationalism.

Not a top-down approach to church government, but a bottom-up approach where we trust that the Holy Spirit lives in every genuine believer in the church. And the Holy Spirit will lead the congregation to truth.

This is why it's so important to have a believing congregation, that when people are admitted into membership, it's on the knowledge that we have that that person is showing every possible sign or is showing the true signs of being regenerated in the first place.

Many churches have unregenerate church membership, and therefore, the majority will decide against the Word of God. But if you notice, when heresy comes into churches and into denominations, very often it starts in the high-up places, in the ivory towers of seminaries, of scholars who are brighter than everybody else in the room.

And they impose false doctrine upon the local congregations and destroy it from the top down. But this is a bottom-up approach where congregations have the authority to be the final ruling decision-makers.

That's what Paul appeals to. By the way, this is also a good reason to officially join the church. Some people say that there's never any reason that you should, like, officially become a member of a church because the Bible doesn't teach that.

Well, I would argue that. I would say the implication of there being a majority in verse 6 is that there's a countable number of people. If we didn't know that we had 81 official members, how could we take a vote to determine what the majority is?

Make sense? So by implication, I do believe the Scripture teaches that we should become official members of a church. Can't be dogmatic about that teaching, but I think there's good biblical warrant for it here.

So we begin there to say that this, as a congregation of believers, the majority has executed church discipline, but that doesn't end there. In the case of church discipline, the goal is always restoration.

It's not punishment for punishment's sake. It's not vindictive. Look at verses 7 and 8. After this person has come to repentance,.

We're told,.

So you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. Reaffirm your love for him. Brothers and sisters, congregation, the church at Cornerstone here, we are entrusted with good news.

We have been given the gospel, and this gospel that we go out preaching is for the lost to be found, that they would come into a congregation. But when they come into a congregation, they should find and we should experience that the church is a gospel-centered body.

We never outgrow our need for the gospel because even as Christians,.

We fall short of His glory,.

And the church needs to be a soft place to land. When you come to repentance, when you turn away from your sin, we should be a church that forgives the erring brother. And if you think that you're too strong to ever need that, be careful that you do not fall.

I was in a prayer meeting a couple years ago with a number of pastors, about six or seven of us in the room, and one of the local pastors had just read my book. He said, oh, I just read the book that you wrote.

And I said, oh, that's awesome. I didn't know you got it. That's really encouraging to me. And he gave me all this encouragement. And I thought, wow, that guy, I like him. He read my book. A week later, he got locked up for molesting children.

And a year after that, when he was on trial.

And he confessed it,.

Through tears, weeping, and sobbing, he said, I am sorry. And he said, it's better for me if you just tie a millstone around my neck and throw me in the sea. Overwhelmed by sorrow.

But I would say,.

Here's how scandalous the Gospel really is. That even for that man, as vile as he is and what he did was, the Gospel is still for him, too. If he'll repent and turn to Christ, he will find Christ to be a forgiving Savior.

Even for what we would say is the lowest of the low. And rightfully so, he would say that. And he was right to quote that scripture. The Gospel is powerful to forgive any sin. And I would say, the blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sin is more powerful than any sin that you've ever committed.

Maybe you're in darkness now. Maybe there's a part of your life that's compartmentalized and you fall into sin and you're afraid to confess your sins to a brother because you're afraid that the church will crush you.

You'll find the exact opposite to be true. When you hide your sin, it destroys you. When you come into the light, you will find the Gospel sets you free. Paul exhorts them, look, you were right to obey my instructions and discipline the erring brother.

And now, forgive. Comfort him. We need the Gospel. We need to continue to live in the Gospel. That's verses 7 and 8. Now, verses 9 through 11, he says,. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.

So this is interesting. He just begged them, which means he recognizes that this church discipline situation is to be mediated by the majority of the congregation. He's not going to impose his will upon them.

Even as an apostle, he's allowing them to run their local congregation as a body. And yet, he tells them to be obedient. See, he's also an apostle. And what he says as an apostle is authoritative and binding.

And in the same way, what we have written from Paul is authoritative over the church. The scripture alone is our rule of faith. It is our authority. So he says, I need you to be obedient in everything.

I tested you in my letter by pointing out these 10 things that I needed you to do. In verse 10, he says, Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan.

For we are not ignorant.

Of his designs.

Now that introduces another character. The demon, the fallen angel, Lucifer, who has designs. Even as we, as a church, have church building plans, especially for the body, the people, we want to grow as a church.

That's why we did vacation Bible school last week. We wanted to see people come to faith. We want to build this church, but we recognize it's Christ alone who does it, using us. As sure as we have building plans, Satan has church destruction plans.

He plans to undo, to unbuild everything that we intend to accomplish. Here, the issue is legality. At first, the Corinthians were prone to err to the left, falling off to one side with license. The danger was, well, you know, just let people exercise their freedom, let grace abound.

Whatever people do, God will forgive it. And they were giving a license to sin. Paul corrects them to that, but now they have a danger of falling off in the other direction of legality. Remember Mr. Legality in the Pilgrim's Progress?

This idea that your moral behavior is what will justify you before God. Rather than living in the gospel and recognizing our constant need for forgiveness, Satan's schemes are all around us. He has schemes at every point.

And this is why the obedience in everything is so important. The only place where you and I are safe.

From the enemy.

Is in the fullness of the Holy Spirit and in His Word, in God's Word. Because Satan is looking to attack at every point. Let's consider a couple of those verses. I gave them in your notes. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3.

Paul says, I'm concerned for you that even as the serpent deceived Eve in the garden, your hearts and thoughts would be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. And he goes on to say that some come preaching a different Jesus and a different gospel.

One way that Satan comes into churches and destroys the work of God in the building of his church is through false doctrine. False teachers that come and tickle ears telling a culture exactly what that culture wants to hear.

Rather than remaining true to the doctrine as God has revealed in His Holy Scriptures. False Jesus. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 4. Preaching a different Jesus. Perhaps the Mormon Jesus that says He's a created being and the brother of Lucifer.

Or the Islamic Jesus who's only a prophet and decidedly not one who died and rose from the dead. Different Jesuses preached by different religions and within supposed Christian denominations. Different doctrines that oppose the Scriptures.

That's one way that people are led astray. Secondly, Ephesians chapter 4, verse 27. Turn with me to that one if you will. How might Satan distract us? The context in verse 26 says be angry and do not sin.

Do not let the sun go down on your anger. And give no opportunity.

To the devil.

Unrestrained anger. Allowing the emotion.

Of a moment.

To carry a person away. When you allow anger to control you rather than exercising self-control you are giving it opportunity for the devil to come into churches to the church of which you're a part and wreak havoc.

Next, James 3, 5 to 6. You don't have to turn there. Just remember the tongue is a world of evil. It sets a fire and itself is set on fire by hell. The gossip, the slander, talking behind people's back, saying harmful things about people.

These kind of things come into churches and it's really Satan who set those tongues on fire for the purpose of tearing down what God is building up. There is a war going on. Next, another example of Satan and his designs.

1 Peter 5, 6 to 11. Here I think the context is persecution but you're told, beware of the devil. He's like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Pride came into play in Luke 22, verse 31. You know the context there.

Peter telling Jesus, I'll never betray you. And yet, Satan would lead him astray. His pride welled up. But, says Jesus, I prayed for you.

That you will not fall.

Beyond being recovered. Revelation 2, we see Satan in verses 10 to 16 and chapter 3, verses 9 to 13. There, the context of persecution again, synagogues of Satan, false teachers, and opposition to the church.

Some of them would have to give their lives for the gospel.

Here in America,.

We don't experience that as much but Satan is behind every time you read that in Voice of the Martyrs. You get that magazine or you see a report of Christians being slaughtered by the hundreds in Nigeria this week.

It's Satan's opposition to the church of Jesus Christ. We are not unaware of his schemes. We are not unaware of his schemes, Paul tells us. So now, continue on with me. Satan will not be victorious in this.

We are in 2 Corinthians 2, verse 12. Paul says, When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was open for me.

In the Lord,.

My spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. So real quick, in the back, could you guys pull up the map of Paul's second missionary journey?

Paul's second missionary journey. Paul will come to Corinth, plant the church, stay there for about 18 months, and then on to Ephesus where he quickly passes through and eventually returns to Antioch.

Then on to his third missionary journey. It was in Paul's third missionary journey where he spent three years in Ephesus. He tells us in the book of 2 Corinthians that because of what was going wrong in Corinth, he desired to cross over from Ephesus to Corinth to make a trip.

But last week, we learned that he did not follow what he wanted to do. Instead, he decided to send Titus with a letter, what he calls a harsh letter. In chapter 7, he says he really regretted having written it.

It was so harsh. He was afraid it would break them.

Rather than mold them.

And so, he sends Titus with this letter and Paul himself spends a bit longer in Ephesus. The plan was for Titus to deliver the letter and head back up through the churches and meet Paul here in Troas before Paul continues on.

So now, if you look in verse 13, it makes sense. My spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there in Troas. Why was his spirit troubled? Because he knew the letter that he wrote to the Corinthians was harsh.

He was calling for their absolute obedience to his apostolic authority and he knew it was a very tentative situation. There were false teachers there who were opposing him. He was afraid that the work of God.

Would be undone.

He was so disturbed that Titus had not made it up this far that he couldn't even preach the gospel where he knew he was called to preach. Look at this in verse 12. His anxiety. When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, notice what he says, even though a door was open for me.

In the Lord,.

My spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So, I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. Brothers and sisters, has your anxiety ever kept you from preaching the gospel?

Have you ever been so concerned about a situation going on in your life, something that makes you nervous and afraid and it paralyzes you from going out and doing the kind of things that God is calling you to do?

You'll usually experience that just in the days ahead of some mission work. If you're called to be part of VBS, you can be sure that you'll be attacked. The week of vacation Bible school. If you're called to be a teacher or to go on a mission trip, you'll find that everything goes haywire just before you leave.

When you go on mission for God, Satan is opposing that. And here, Paul is so anxious, he's unable to do what God is calling him to do. But notice the next part, but thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession.

Circle that word, always. That means even in your weaknesses, even in my weaknesses as a pastor, the ways that I fall short of a pastor, guess what, as a pastor, he is still gonna use me for the advancing of his gospel and kingdom.

Brothers and sisters, you are the aroma of Christ. The fragrance of Christ comes forth from you, even when you're struggling and you're muddling your way through life. If the apostle Paul can look at his life and say, you know what, I dropped the ball in Troas.

There was this open door for the gospel, but I was so anxious, I couldn't even stay there. I had to cross over and try to find Titus. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession. Now, that's an interesting analogy that Paul draws there. The triumphal procession was when a warring party came back from the battlefield in victory and rode in, typically into Rome because this was the Roman Empire, celebrating their victory.

They would have captives in their train and there would be incense burning along the side of that highway that the Roman troops would come through. Paul, interestingly, puts himself as a captive in the triumphal procession.

And what I love about that is that when the gospel went forward, it didn't find me as a willing soldier ready to jump right in with Jesus Christ. It found me as a hostile enemy. I was an enemy of Christ and His kingdom.

I believed in my own way, my own religion, and the religion and the pattern of this world. And when a gospel preacher told me that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except by Him, that grated against me and I warred against that message.

I was an enemy.

I was dead in my sin. But this gospel, because God is so gracious, it captured me.

It made me a prisoner.

So the image here, if you look at verse 14, the Greek word for triumphal procession, it just means a group of captives being led into the capital in celebration. And what's strange about that analogy is that Paul is glad to be a prisoner.

Think of the book of Philippians where he begins off. He says, Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus. That word servants is doulos. It's slave. Then he goes on to express throughout those four chapters the joy he has to be a slave.

This is a willing servitude. This is a prisoner for Christ who is so glad that he has been captured. He's in triumphal procession. So in verse 14, even our shortcomings are part of the triumphal procession that he has us on.

Isn't that amazing?

We're still being used by God even in our shortcomings, even when our spirit is not at rest. Next, the second part of verse 14, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

First thing I want you to notice is that word knowledge. You've been wondering, well, what is this aroma? What is this fragrance? Here it's defined as knowledge, gnosis. It's knowledge of him. In other words, the knowledge is the gospel.

It's the content of the gospel. That Christ is the son of God. That he died, that he rose. And the sweetest part of this knowledge, what makes it an aroma that smells so good to us, is that part of this message is the forgiveness of sin.

That a sinner like me can be forgiven. That is the sweetness of the gospel. When Hosea went to Gomer as she practiced prostitution and bought her out of that slave market.

And made her his wife,.

She knew forgiveness.

Right?

When that thief on the cross who had spent his life stealing and killing looked to the dying savior hanging next to him and he said, behold, you will be with me today in paradise. That's the aroma of the gospel.

The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there may I, though vile as he,.

Wash all my sins away.

I'm that dying thief. And the fragrance is this message of forgiveness that God will forgive even me. He'll forgive David for what he did with Bathsheba. And for how he killed Uriah the Hittite. And the prophet comes to him and says, the Lord has taken your sin away.

And Isaiah was undone in the presence of God because he said, I am a man of unclean lips. Have you heard me speak? And that angel took the coal from the fire and touched his lip and he said, behold, this has touched you.

He's clean. The aroma of the gospel, the fragrance that we have to offer which is unique, and no other religion, no other teaching can offer this, is the forgiveness of sin. Now, other religions can say, okay, here's how you can be better.

Maybe you can balance out your bad deeds in the past with some good deeds. Follow this path. We'll tell you how to be good. But only the blood of Jesus can say, the penalty of your sin is removed and taken off of you.

It is forgiven. The burden on your back is unleashed. And you're free. Forgiveness of sin is the unique aroma of the Christian gospel. And we bear that. How do we bear it? By knowledge. We have to speak it.

And be warned of this, brothers and sisters. If you live your entire life doing good deeds, but never point to the Messiah, you've taught by your actions to be a good person. Be like me. Be moral. But you've deceived people.

Because the only thing that changed you from the inside out is the forgiveness of sin. That's why it's so important that we speak. We'll get to that just at the very end in verse 17. We speak in Christ.

We speak. The aroma only comes from us by words. And our life should confirm what we're saying to people. So we're almost done. Through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. Now verse 15.

This I love, for we are the aroma of Christ to God. Took me a while to understand what that was saying. We are the aroma of Christ to God. So the aroma rises to God. He's the one smelling the aroma in verse 15.

Among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. In other words, however people regard you, whether they like my preaching or they hate my preaching, which would be probably half and half on the internet, right?

No matter how people receive what I have to say, no matter how people receive you in the workplace, when you go tell them about Jesus, some people will be encouraged. Wow, that's awesome that you're sharing the gospel.

Other people will smile and nod and hate you for it.

But guess what?

To God,.

It is a pleasing aroma. It is a pleasing aroma. It's a sacrifice that he loves. He is delighted by your obedience, not your success. Jeremiah preached for 50 years without a convert. But God was pleased with Jeremiah.

For his fidelity,.

Not for the numbers of people that turn. You go out preaching and God is pleased. That's the point. But it's not the only point. Verse 16, now, how does this affect other people?

To one,.

A fragrance from death to death. A fragrance from death to death. That doesn't sound like a good thing,.

Does it?

You don't want people to say that your smell is from death to death.

That would be an insult.

If we took this in the physical, right? Like, go take a shower. That's not what you want. But with reference to the gospel, it means they are dead.

And therefore,.

Your preaching to them stirs up death in them.

It angers them. They hate it.

They do not receive it even a little bit. According to Romans 8 -7, they're not even able to.

They're not even able to.

Romans 8 -7, for the mind that is set on the flesh.

Is hostile to God,.

For it does not submit to God's law.

Indeed, it cannot.

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. And so, some people would ask, the book of Romans addresses that in chapters 9 -11. Well, then why does God still find fault.

If they cannot?

There is a difference between physical inability.

And moral inability.

If I tell you,.

Fly to the moon,.

And I'm gonna judge you if you don't,.

That would be wrong of me to do.

Because you can't fly to the moon.

Right?

But if you tell Hitler, love Jews, and he says,.

I can't love Jewish people.

I hate them.

It only exposes.

What's wrong in him.

And in the same way, God commands all people everywhere, repent and believe the good news. Repent of your sin and believe in the one.

That God has sent,.

Jesus the Christ. And he says he will judge the world by this man. And those who hate Christ.

Will hate him more.

When you preach that.

Their hearts are far.

So what's the solution? The only hope is from life to life. If the spirit brings an inward call,.

A miracle,.

Listen, for anyone to believe this message you go out preaching, it's gonna take a miracle, the likes of which was seen in the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead. He was dead in the grave.

For four days.

And Jesus said, Lazarus, come forth. In the same way, when you go out preaching, it's going to take a miracle. God has to give life. And then this gospel that you're bringing them, as you preach it, he awakens their heart and mind.

There has to be an inward call. His work on the inside of them. You cannot convince them to believe in Christ. And I've tried, believe me. I've tried the evidentialist apologetics route through every fine-sounding argument.

I've done my best, debated Muslims and Mormons in public context and privately over and over again.

And I find I can't do it.

I can't convince one single person to follow Christ. And yet sometimes I'll simply tell a child or some guy at the gym or someone anywhere that Jesus is the Messiah and their eyes light up. I remember this one kid in Dallas came to mow the lawn.