2 Corinthians 2:14, John 14:6, Romans 6:23, John 1:17, Titus 2:11-14, Ephesians 2:8, Titus 3:4-6, Romans 5:15, Luke 15:1, John 8:32, 1 Corinthians 13:13

Glyn Barrett looks at how we live as Christians.

Glyn Barrett

'But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere.' 2 Corinthians 2:14

This is a challenge! God uses us to spread the aroma of Christ. The question we have to ask ourselves is. "How do I smell?"

We all know what it is like to wrinkle up our noses because of a bad smell. Unfortunately some Christians live their lives in a way that makes society wrinkle up it's nose. I'm not talking about us compromising the truth of God's word, but our lives should be attractional not off-putting.

How do you create the balance between living God's truth & attracting society? The answer is found in TRUTH & GRACE.

Jesus we know is the 'Way, TRUTH and the life" (John 14:6). Many Christians know the truth and can be very militant & cut throat in the way they pronounce it to the world. For example it is true that, 'The wages of sin are death' (Romans 6:23), and we have seen courageous people with placards parading this truth around our cities. Please understand I am not criticising these people, it is truth, but GRACE is also needed in our presentation of it.

John 1:17 says: 'The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.' Notice it says grace first, THEN truth came through Jesus. This is important because even though Jesus is the truth, he came with an operation of grace first. Look at these verses:

• Titus 2:11-14 'For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.'


• Ephesians 2:8 'For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.'


• Titus 3:4-6 'But when the kindness of God our Saviour and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy.'


• Romans 5:15 'But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.'

Jesus was gracious. He loved the unlovely, welcomed the children, forgave the unforgivable and attracted the world. Luke 15:1 says, 'All the sinners came to hear Jesus gladly.' Grace won people to Him. It was after He had shown grace that He brought truth. And truth, though painful to hear and receive at times sets us free (John 8:32).

Grace means you love and respect people for who they are, a long time before you tell them where they are wrong and how they should live. Maybe we should do a lot more loving before a lot more telling, because the greatest thing is LOVE (1 Corinthians 13:13).

So I ask the question again ...How do you smell? Are you attracting people to Jesus, or putting them off? How do you know? It's simple, look at the fruit of people's response to God around your life. It's a challenge, but one worth taking up!