For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 2 Corinthians 2:15

You are the living temple of God

Walking around this earth. – John Fischer from the song, “Don’t Veil the Door”

The bulk of the ministry happening through your life today happens merely by you being in the world. It does not require any particular effort from you. It merely is because of what you are. And what are you? You are a pleasing aroma of Christ to God.

“Wait a minute, John,” you say. “You’re making this way to easy. Aren’t we supposed to do something?”

No. I’m not making this anything other than what it is. There are definitely things that scripture asks us to do, but this is not one of them. Paul has just told us how he blew it in Troas by walking past an open door to preach the gospel (that God opened for him, no less), but now he’s telling us why he (and we) can thank God even in our missed opportunities, because there is something going on in and through us that is happening no matter what we are doing, what we have done, or whether we are even conscious of it. It’s happening in you right now. It’s happening if you do something or if you do nothing. It’s happening if you mess up. It’s happening if you help an old lady across the street or if you accidentally run into her because you took your eyes off the road for a few seconds to notice a pretty girl.

It’s happening because of what you have become through no effort of your own. It’s happening because you have become a pleasing aroma of Christ to God. And just what is that aroma?

In the Old Testament of the Bible whenever a priest of the Jewish people burned a sacrificial animal it says it was a pleasing aroma to God. Now this doesn’t make God some kind animal masochist; it indicates that the people have humbled themselves. They are repentant of their sins and are desirous of receiving the forgiveness God offers through the ultimate sacrifice of His Son. And because Christ has already become that sacrifice on the cross, there is no need for further sacrifices, only for faith in Him. And finally, when Christ is born again in us by that same faith, we become that pleasing aroma to God wherever we go because of Christ’s presence in us through the Holy Spirit. Christ is God’s continual sacrifice for our sin.

So that’s why we are a pleasing aroma to God all the time and also why that aroma creates varying responses among people depending on where they are in the process of becoming humble before God.