Monday, July 21, 2025

Christians Stink & Smell Wonderful - Christians wear a fragrance - the fragrance of Christ. “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved ... an aroma that brings life.” The more time we spend with the Lord, the more of His fragrance we wear - the more those around us have sweet thoughts of God. When we bear the aroma of Christ, it has a negative as well as positive effect on people. “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom

Why Christians Stink & Smell Wonderful

Years ago, we struck up a conversation with a couple registering for a romantic weekend at the hotel where we were staying. 

When we explained that we were missionaries in Budapest, the woman told us she’d attended a Christian college.

No wonder she looked embarrassed when her partner explained they were not married. 

The following morning when we saw them in the lobby, the woman walked quickly past us, avoiding our greetings, as if we’d never met. 

At first I was confused until I remembered our “smell.”

“Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. 

"But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 

"To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom.

"But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume ...” - 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 

We hadn’t said a negative word the previous evening, but we were a reminder to this woman that her lifestyle wasn't pleasing to God (1 Corinthians 6:9-20). 

Be sure to check out The Bible Love Notes devotional Wisdom for Life. It's discounted on Lifeway, Amazon, and CBD. 

Hi!  I'm Gail Burton Purath. I started Bible Love Notes to give people a minute of scriptural encouragement in their busy day.

I don't have all the answers, but since I asked Christ to be my Lord and Savior in 1974, I've been learning from the One Who has all the answers! 

biblelovenotes.blogspot.com

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Christians are the Aroma of Christ - the aroma spread everywhere by the ministry of evangelism was the knowledge of God as victor. Christians who spread the gospel are members of God’s victorious army led by Jesus Christ. Believers are like the aroma or fragrance spread during the victory processions. To those on the path to salvation, they produce the fragrance of life. To those on the road to destruction, believers who preach the gospel spread the smell of death. For the victorious army and its peoples, the aroma would relate to the joy of triumph

Christ Always Leads Us in Triumphal Procession - in Roman victory parades, incense was burned in celebration of the defeat of Rome's enemies. People could see and smell the evidence of a captured foe as it passed by. Christ leads us in a triumphal procession, making use of us as prisoners captured from the enemy, now available to accomplish His purposes. Christians are the aroma of Christ on earth: evoking death to those perishing and life to those being saved. He uses us to spread the fragrance of His knowledge everywhere we go. We spread the truth of the gospel down every street He leads us along

The Unchanging Message - the message of the gospel has always been the same. Jesus is fully God as the second person of the trinity. He became fully man and lived a perfect life. He humbled himself and walked among us so that we might know him and to die for the sins of mankind. He died a brutal death and rose again. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what all of our lives are hitched to. The message of the gospel has always been the same. "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”





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