Am I the fragrance of Christ?

 

『Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. 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? 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. 』(2 Corinthians 2: 14-17)
Those who are in Christ have died with Jesus on the cross to the world and are alive to the kingdom of God. Those who are in Christ do not believe in God by mouth, but die on the cross with Jesus. God has given these people the Holy Spirit.『For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 』(Romans 8: 2)

『In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 』 (Ephesians 1:13)

"were sealed" means "to stampl". Those who are in Christ are with the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians (1:22) says: 『Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 』

2 Corinthians (5: 5 )says:
『Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 』

God has given the Holy Spirit to those who are in Christ, and to know if the man has the Holy Spirit, it can be seen through the fragrance of Christ. Those who are in Christ have the fragrance of Christ. Those who are in Christ should have the fragrance of Christ, what is the fragrance of Christ?

『For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 』(Ephesians 5: 8-9)
Those in Christ received the Holy Spirit because of:『This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 』 (Galatians 5: 16-17)

Although those in Christ have a body of spirit, they also have a body from their parents. So the flesh wants to be greedy, and the Holy Spirit does not. Jesus Christ was born under the law (the law of God's wrath), died on the cross to save sinners, and ransomed the repentant sinners. Thus, those under the law (the law of God's wrath) were united with Jesus Christ, dying under the law, and born into new life by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is, freed from the law. Therefore, they are not under sin because they are not under the law. But because the body is present, the saints fight the desires of the body. This fight continues until death.

Those whose desires of the flesh have not died do not know the meaning of the spiritual battle. We cannot be saved unless we are born again into the spirit body. Only those who are born again in the body of the spirit enter the spiritual battle. To win a fight is to control the desires of the flesh that are received from parents. So desire is burned by fire. The smoke that is burned is a fragrance to God.

『Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 』(Romans 6: 6)

The desires of the flesh must die with Jesus. "Faith in Jesus Christ" means "to die on the cross with Jesus and live again." Most people do not know the meaning of dying. The desire of the flesh is to die to the law (the law of the wrath of God) and to the world. This is to bear his cross.

The apostle Paul explains the desire of the flesh in Galatians (5: 19-21).

『Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 』, Galatians (5:24) says: 『And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 』 Those who live according to the desires of the flesh have nothing to do with Jesus.
Whether the Holy Spirit leads or not can be seen by the fruit of the Holy Spirit. What Galatians (5: 22-23) says

 『But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 』 This is the fragrance of Christ. If we are in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit leads us.

『Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. 』(Romans 7: 4) The dead are the desires of the flesh (old man). It makes no sense that the dead keep the law (the law of the wrath of God). Therefore, those who try to keep the law mean that they are not dead about the law, and that "the old man is not dead." We must die on the cross with Jesus Christ and enter Christ, but those who do not die are outside of Christ. In Matthew (Chapter 7), "Lord, in the name of the Lord I was a prophet, healed the sick, and performed great power." But Jesus said, "I do not know you." Such a man believes himself in Jesus Christ, but in fact the old man (the desire of the flesh) is not dead, so he is outside of Christ.

『There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 』(Romans 8: 1)

The old man (the desire of the flesh) is dead: The body of the spirit is master. So God does not condemn the spirit body. For the law of the Holy Spirit has freed the reborn from the law of sin and death. When the old man dies, the spirit body is born by the Holy Spirit, and the spirit body follows the law of the Spirit. They follow the law of the Holy Spirit, and they become unrelated to the law. Thus, those who follow the law (the law of God's wrath) are "those who are not dead, not guided by the Holy Spirit."

Many church people misunderstand that they are "in Jesus Christ." If we are in Christ, we are not the subject of faith, but Christ. I die and live only Christ. But I (the old man) do not die, but I think I am in Jesus Christ because I believe in Jesus. It is only one's confidence. Without knowing the exact structure of the human mind, it is difficult to understand. It is the fact that there is a physical mind and a spiritual mind. These two minds do not appear simultaneously in the body received from parents, but in each of the two bodies. The physical mind appears in the the flesh body, and the spirit mind appears in the body of the spirit. The physical mind is the old man. Being born again is not a change of mind in the flesh received from parents, but the flesh (physical mind) is crucified with Jesus and born again from God into the spirit body. Thus the fragrance of Christ is revealed to those who are born again. For the flesh is offered as a living sacrifice.