Those who say they believe in Jesus but do not have the fragrance of Christ

 

Those who say they believe in Jesus but do not have the fragrance of Christ

 

2 Corinthians 2:14-17 『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 save of death unto death; and to the other the save 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.

The fragrance of Christ means the death of Jesus Christ who died on the cross. So, those who died with Jesus will be resurrected to new life together. Many church people misunderstand the fragrance of Christ as living holy, living by good deeds, and thoroughly keeping the commandments of God's Word. Those who say this are confusing the words of the Bible. But the fragrance of Christ is to revive the dead spirit through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Therefore, if the saints do not have the heart to raise the dead spirits of their neighbors, they are people without love for their neighbors and without the fragrance of Christ. Because those whose spirits have been resurrected through Christ want to revive the spirits of their neighbors. Jesus also said in John 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

For the old man, the body is important, but for the new man, it is important to save the spirit. That's why I'm telling you to throw away your old self and go out into a new life. In Romans 6:6, “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.” The old man who was born in the flesh must die with Jesus. This is not to try to kill the old self, but to believe that you died on the cross with Jesus Christ and go out into the spirit world.

The Bible says that all humans are sinners. Therefore, the world in which sinners live is like a prison of sin. So no one can escape from the net of the law. Galatians 3:23 says, “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.” Only those whose old self died with Jesus Christ on the cross will be set free from sin. We can say that the old man is a person who has a greed to become like God, and is a soulful being. However, it can be said that the person who is set free is a spiritual being.

Even in the prisons of the world, what prisoners should think about is not "doing the right thing in prison, wanting to live in a spacious cell, and helping others is the main thing", but rather, It is about repenting of things and becoming a new person by looking at the outside world with parents and family. Likewise, all people who have left the kingdom of God and came into the world want to become like God, so they leave God and are confined in this world. They must repent of their greed to become like God and return to God as a spiritual being.

The surest proof of whether our old self died with Jesus Christ is the awareness of one's identity. Rather than thinking and remembering every day, “the old man must die,” we realize that we are spiritual beings who have come into the world from the kingdom of God, and that we must return to the kingdom of God through the cross. When we cry out to God as spiritual beings, God fulfills the death of the old man. It is said that the old man does not improve or die through his own efforts.

Those who realize this fact and are born again with a new life have no choice but to inform their neighbors of this fact. This is the fragrance of Christ. Those with the Holy Spirit naturally live morally in the world. The word moral is a mind that is alive and moving with conscience. But those who do not have the Holy Spirit, although some have a living conscience. They value the law over conscience, and the real world of the flesh over the world of the spirit.

Spiritual beings act according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, so their faith is manifested in their actions, but carnal beings try to evaluate their faith through certain actions. The guidance of the Holy Spirit can be known by the fruit of the Holy Spirit. As 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." If you go into the cross of Jesus Christ and receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it will naturally appear through these actions. God is guiding him. Those who say they are united with Jesus Christ and look like the old ones have no choice but to cry out to God and look to the cross, always remembering that they have died with Jesus Christ. So we remember that the saints are the dead every day.

Nevertheless, God is aware of the weakness of the flesh and says in Romans 8:1-6. 『There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us , who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. As we daily grab the cross, God frees us from sin and death through Jesus Christ, and God never again accuses those who are in Christ.

The will to do something for good, the determination to live a holy life, and the determination to keep God's commandments are only acts of self-righteousness. Man cannot do that, he is just imitating. This is the image of those who want to become like God. A believer puts everything down, believes only in death and rebirth through the cross of Jesus Christ, and acts with conscience as the Holy Spirit leads. This is what God wants. The Bible describes death and rebirth as the ritual of baptism. To die in water and be born again by the Spirit. In 1 Peter 3:21, “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ”