Second Corinthians 2:15

The Bible says in Second Corinthians 2:15-16, “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish; To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?” There is something different about a Christian, a true Christian. The difference is God. The way that people respond to the difference depends upon if they are saved or if they are not saved.

To the unsaved “we are the savour of death unto death.” The terrible condition of the unsaved is emphasized here. They are called in these verses the one who are perishing. And then the phrase “death unto death” is used. They are already dead spiritually, separated from God. And they will experience eternal death, eternal separation from God, if they remain in their unsaved state. One of the reasons that believers rub them the wrong way is because believers remind them of what they should be. Many of the unbelievers are running away from God and running away from the truth. To these we are the “savour of death unto death.” Often you will not have to worry about separating from the unbelievers. If you name the name of Christ, they will separate from you.

If you are saved, to the other saved ones on the earth you are “the savour of life unto life.” That is because you have received from Christ the exact same life that they received. The common faith in Christ is what binds you together. Nothing can break barriers between people down like faith in Christ can. The barriers of gender, age, race, and nationality can all be broken down in Christ Jesus. The Bible says in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

It is a good thing to be one of the saved because then you have the “savour of life unto life.” You have spiritual life now, and then you will have eternal life when you go to be with God. You also have God’s great affection showered upon you. It is much more important what God thinks of you than what man thinks of you. And Second Corinthians 2:15 says, “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ.” God’s affection and love is poured out upon us not because of who we are or what we have done, but because we believe on Jesus. God loves His Son, Jesus, so much that whoever is connected to Jesus through faith God also loves.

It is much more important what God thinks of you than what man thinks of you. That is still the theme of what Paul is talking about in Second Corinthians 2:17 where he writes, “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.” Notice the shocking truth of the corruption that had already taken place even in the first century. Paul said, “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God.” Many corrupt the word of God. It is still like that, and even worse in our day. “In the last days some shall depart from the faith.”

Many corrupt the word of God. In what ways do false teachers corrupt the word of God? One of the errors that they make is that they deny that the Word is the word of God. That’s one of the errors of the liberals and the modernists. The Bible is called the word of God because it is the Word that came from God. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” The Word that was given by God was written down, so that it could be preserved for every generation. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away.” The Word of God is without error. The Word of God is truthful. The Word of God is reliable. Anyone who does not teach these things corrupts the word of God, and Paul warned that there are many who do that very thing.

It is not just liberals who corrupt the Word of God. There are also non-liberals who corrupt the Word of God. A good example of that is the Pharisees in the days of Christ. They were conservatives. They believed that the scriptures were the Word of God. But Jesus said to them in Mark 7:13, “Making the Word of God of none effect through your tradition, which you have delivered: and many such like things you do.” This is one of the great failures of organized Christianity in our day. The traditions of their organization and rituals become more important than the Word of God. It has happened over and over again in every denomination. People stop teaching the Word of God and they start teaching their traditions.

Another way that the word of God gets corrupted is when people take things out of context. Each verse in the Bile has a context to it that helps to explain the true significance of that verse. A Bible verse is surrounded by its context and is helped to be explained by its context. Each verse exists within a chapter. The other things taught in that chapter help to properly understand the things being taught in the particular verse you are looking at. The chapter that you are looking at exists in a particular book of the Bible. The things taught in the rest of that book help you to properly understand the chapter that you are looking at. The same thing is true concerning the book of the Bible that you are studying. There are other books of the Bible that teach on similar subjects. Sometimes you need to understand what one book of the Bible teaches in reference to what another book of the Bible teaches to get the full understanding and the complete teaching. For example, if I only study what the Old Testament teaches about a certain subject, I will only have an understanding that was possible before Jesus came in the scene. I need to know what the New Testament says in order to have a fuller and more complete understanding on certain subjects. For example, on the concept of sacrifice for sin I must know what the New Testament says about Jesus and His death on the cross to understand what was really the significance of the temple sacrifices. Second Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Another way in which some people corrupt the Word of God is that they fail to make the right emphasis in what they say and teach. A bit of a clue as to what should be spoken about is found in the last part of Second Corinthians 2:17 where it says, “In the sight of God speak we in Christ.” Jesus Christ should be the central theme of all teachings if the Word of God is to not be corrupted. Jesus Christ can be found on almost every page of the Bible. Make sure that you see Him there or you will corrupt the Word of God.

There once was a young man who went to preach his first sermon at a small Baptist church. When he walked up behind the pulpit to begin his sermon, he saw that a sign had been put there by the old pastor of the church that no one in the congregation could see, but whoever was behind the pulpit could see very clearly. It said, “Preach Christ.” Those were wise words given by the old pastor. Any preacher who does not keep those words will corrupt the Word of God. Jesus is the living Word of God. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Bible is the written Word. To separate the one from the other is to corrupt the word. Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself.” Some people have corrupted the Word of God because through pride or vanity they have sought to bring attention to themselves. And so they speak of themselves instead of speaking of Jesus.

Here are some principle things that must be done if you are going to avoid being among the many who corrupt the word. 1. You must truly believe that it’s God’s Word. 2. You must speak about Jesus, not about yourself. 3. You must teach the content of the Word of God, not your own ideas or system of theology. The purpose should always be to unfold and to expound upon the Word. 4. You must not take verses out of context. 5. You must be rightly related to God through the Spirit. The Spirit gave the Word, and only the Spirit can give understanding of the Word. 6. You must be sincerely motivated by the desire to teach the truth and have no other motivation in what you say. The end does not justify the means in what you do or in what you say. If you are able to do these six things, you just might by the grace of God avoid being of the many who corrupt the Word of God.

Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 3:1-3, “Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or need we as some others, epistles of commendation to you. You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.” No one has written the number of epistles that the Apostle Paul has written. Paul knew that was the case. But as far as Paul was concerned his greatest accomplishment was the lives that were changed by the message of the gospel. How many lives have you touched for Christ? That’s what it’s all about: seeing unbelievers come to Christ, and seeing believers become stronger in faith. If you have seen none of this, then you have done nothing.

Paul had seen much conversion work especially in the city of Corinth. But Paul was not going to take the credit to himself. He knew that the work that had taken place was the work of the Spirit. Paul may have been the instrument, but salvation is the work of the Spirit. That is why Paul said that what was done in the lives of the Corinthians was done “with the Spirit of the living God.”

There is also in Second Corinthians 3:3 a reference to a major difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament and the difference between law and grace. He wrote, “Not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.” The central part of the Old Testament law, the Ten Commandments, was written on tables of stone. Stone is cold and lifeless. This is symbolic of the fact that the law cannot give life. The letter of the law killeth, “but the Spirit giveth life.”

The Bible says in Second Corinthians 3:4-6, “And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward; Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also has made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.” Concerning the work that he was doing, in these verses Paul emphasizes the fact that all of his confidence was in God and in Christ and in the Spirit, but not in any way did he have confidence in himself. He said that he trusted in God “through Christ.” He said that they were not sufficient of themselves. He said that his sufficiency came from God.

Notice also that Paul said God made him a minister of the New Testament. How does someone become a minister? Some would say that it is by going to a seminary, being ordained by man, and then being selected by a group of human beings to be the pastor of their church organization. Paul said that he became a minister for one and only one reason: God made him a minister. That is it. If God did not make you a minister, then you might be a pastor of a church; but you are not a minister of the New Testament.

Paul said that he was a minister of the New Testament. A testament is a contract; a covenant; an agreement between God and man. There is a big difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament the agreement between God and man was based upon the law, and it went like this: God said; I will bless you if you will keep the law. The law was written in stone and could not be changed. It was a great law: holy and good. But the problem with the arrangement was that man could not keep his side of the bargain. Man could not keep the law, and therefore could not inherit eternal blessings through the law.

The New Testament, the new agreement, the new covenant between God and man is much different. Jesus said in Mark 14:24 that his blood was, “the blood of The New Testament.” It is as though God said, “Man is sinful and weak. Therefore, I will send my son to die for the sins of the world, and everyone who believes will inherit the blessings of eternal life freely through Christ.” The Spirit of God uses the ministers of God to deliver the good news of the gospel so that everyone in the world might have the chance to believe on Jesus. Be careful. There are those who claim to be under the New Testament, but they have fallen into the trap of teaching the letter of the law. “The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.”

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