2 Corinthians 2:14–15

2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 2

Paul’s Triumph in Christ, 2 Cor. 2, 12–17.

V.14. Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place. V.15. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish.

All the worries of the apostle were dispelled by the information brought by Titus, whom Paul met in Macedonia, as his triumphant words show: But thanks to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ, literally, leads us in a triumphal procession. The emphasis lies upon “always.” No matter what anxiety and distress are besetting the Christians, they always are partakers of the victory of God, even if it be in the role of one of the captives, one of the believers gained for the Lord through the Gospel.

And not only does God make use of the apostle in that capacity, but he also makes manifest the odor, the savor, of the knowledge of Christ through the apostle and his companions in every place. The knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Savior, as spread by Paul in the countries from Jerusalem to the Aegean Sea and beyond, is an odor of sacrifice which is well-pleasing to God. Compare Malachi 1, 11. Its effect may be hidden before the eyes of man, but the omniscient God is delighted with such a sacrifice, and all those that are spiritually minded take note of its power.

“For concerning the presence, operation, and gifts of the Holy Ghost we should not and cannot always judge ex sensu [from feeling], as to how and when they are experienced in the heart; but because they are often covered and occur in great weakness, we should be certain from, and according to, the promise, that the Word of God preached and heard is [truly] an office and work of the Holy Ghost, by which He is certainly efficacious and works in our hearts” (Formula Concordiae. Concordia Triglotta, 903).