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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 1:3-5, 9, 12, 19-22; 2:14-16
In this chapter we will continue to consider the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity in 2 Corinthians. This dispensing issues in the maturity of life and constitution of ministry.
In 1:21 Paul says, “The One who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God.” Christ is the anointed One. Therefore, to be firmly attached to Christ is to be firmly attached to the anointed One. As the anointed One, Christ has the abundance of the rich Spirit, for He has been anointed by the compound Spirit. Now He is the Christ full of the Spirit, full of the ointment, and God has attached us all to Him.
The apostles, who preached Christ according to God’s promises and lived Christ according to their preaching, and the believers, who received Christ according to the apostles’ preaching, are joined to Christ. Because we have been joined to Christ, we have become one with Him, through whom we say Amen before God to the great Yes of God’s promises, which is Christ Himself. But it is not of the apostles and believers themselves that they have been attached to Christ; it is of God who firmly attaches them all together to Christ. Their being one with Christ is of God and by God, not of themselves and by themselves.
The Greek word rendered “firmly attaches” literally means “establishes.” This word can also be rendered “firmly connects with.” God establishes the apostles with the believers in Christ. This means that God attaches the apostles together with the believers unto Christ, connecting the apostles and the believers to Christ, the anointed One. Hence, the apostles and the believers are one not only with Christ, the anointed One, but also with one another, sharing together the anointing of Christ, which He has received of God.
In 1:21 we see that the One who firmly attaches us to Christ has also anointed us. Because we have been attached by God to Christ, the anointed One, we are spontaneously anointed with Him by God. We all have been attached to Christ. As electricity is connected to a building, we all have been connected to Christ. When we were saved, we were attached, connected, to Him. We are sometimes beside ourselves with joy in the Lord because we have been attached to Christ, and because we have been attached to Him, we are also anointed. Christ is an anointed person, a person fully “painted” with the divine paint. Whenever we contact Him, we are anointed, “painted” with Him.
In 1:22 Paul goes on to say that God “has also sealed us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” The anointing in verse 21 is the sealing. Because God has anointed us with Christ, He has also sealed us in Him. To be sealed with the Holy Spirit means to be marked with the Holy Spirit as a living seal. At the time we were saved, God put His Holy Spirit into us as a seal to mark us out, indicating that we belong to God. The Holy Spirit, who is God Himself entering into us, causes us to bear God’s image signified by the seal, thus making us like God.
In verse 22 Paul also says that God has given the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. The pledge of the Spirit is the Spirit Himself as the pledge. The sealing is a mark that we are God’s inheritance, God’s possession. The pledge is a guarantee that God is our inheritance, or heritage, belonging to us. The Spirit within us is the pledge, an earnest, of God being our portion in Christ.
The Greek word rendered “pledge” also means “a foretaste, guarantee, token down payment guaranteeing the full payment, a partial payment in advance.” Because we are God’s inheritance, the Holy Spirit is a seal upon us. Because God is our inheritance, the Holy Spirit is a pledge of this inheritance to us. God gives His Holy Spirit to us not only as a guarantee of our inheritance, securing our heritage, but also as a foretaste of what we will inherit of God. This affords us a taste beforehand of the full inheritance that is coming.
In the purchase of land in ancient times, the seller would give the buyer some soil from that land as a sample. This sample was called by the Greek word for pledge. Hence, according to ancient Greek usage, a pledge is also a sample. The Holy Spirit is the sample of what we will inherit of God in full.
God’s attaching us to Christ issues in three things: an anointing that imparts God’s elements into us, a sealing that forms the divine elements into an impression to express God’s image, and a pledging that gives us a foretaste as a sample and guarantee of the full taste of God. Through these three experiences of the anointing Spirit, along with the experience of the cross, the ministry of Christ is produced and constituted.
In 1:22 Paul tells us that the Spirit as the pledge is in our hearts. Because this pledge is in our hearts, it becomes part of our consciousness. Now we may be conscious of the fact that the Spirit is within us as a pledge.
The Spirit as the earnest of God being our portion is a foretaste to us. Hence, Paul says that He is in our hearts. Romans 5:5 and Galatians 4:6 refer to the matter of love. Hence, they speak of the Spirit in our heart. But Romans 8:16 refers to the work of the Spirit, because this verse says that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit. Our heart is a loving organ, but our spirit is a working organ.
The anointing, the sealing, and the pledging are all a matter of the divine dispensing. The indwelling Spirit is doing the work of dispensing. As we are anointed with the Spirit, we experience the dispensing of the Spirit into us. Furthermore, the sealing and the pledging, which guarantees, assures, and cheers us, are also related to God’s dispensing.
Through the experience of the dispensing in the anointing, the sealing, and the pledging, we grow in life. We not only receive the element and substance of the divine life, but we also receive the essence of the divine life. Now we are growing through the dispensing of the essence of the Triune God into our being. We do not grow in life through doctrine. Rather, we grow through the divine essence that is being dispensed into us day by day. Only through the divine dispensing do we have real, actual, and practical growth unto maturity.
The anointing, sealing, and pledging of the Holy Spirit in the divine dispensing also lead to the real, actual, and practical constitution of a ministry within us. Concerning this ministry, we all need to practice speaking for the Lord. We should speak not only in the church meetings but also at home. We all need to be prepared, exercised, and trained to speak for the Lord.
In 2 Corinthians 2:14 Paul says, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ and manifests the savor of the knowledge of Him through us in every place.” Here Paul uses the metaphor of a triumphal procession. Often after a general of the Roman army had won a victory, he would march through the capital with his captives in a procession to celebrate his victory. Paul used this metaphor to illustrate how Christ is the victorious General and how Paul and all believers are His captives. Christ is leading a triumphal procession of His captives to celebrate His victory.
The Greek verb rendered “leads us in triumph” as used in 2:14 means “to lead a man as a captive in a triumphal procession; the full phrase means to lead captive in a triumph over the enemies of Christ...God is celebrating His triumph over His enemies; Paul (who had been so great an opponent of the gospel) is a captive following in the train of the triumphal procession, yet (at the same time, by a characteristic change of metaphor) an incense-bearer, scattering incense (which was always done on these occasions) as the procession moves on. Some of the conquered enemies were put to death when the procession reached the Capitol; to them the smell of incense was an odor of death unto death; to the rest who were spared, an odor of life unto life” (Conybeare). God always leads the apostles in such a triumphant way for their ministry. God’s leading is His dispensing of Himself into the apostles. In their ministry God dispenses the virtues of Christ in His person and work into them in triumph, and their ministry is a procession celebrating Christ’s victory.
In 2:12 through 7:16 Paul speaks about the ministry of himself and his co-workers. He first likens their ministry to a celebration of Christ’s victory. Their move in their ministry for Christ was like a triumphal procession from one place to another under God’s leading. Paul and his co-workers were Christ’s captives, bearing the fragrant incense of Christ, for His triumphant glory. They had been conquered by Christ and had become His captives in the train of His triumph, scattering the fragrance of Christ from place to place. This was their ministry for Him.
As conquered and captured ones in the train of Christ’s triumph, Paul and his co-workers celebrated and participated in Christ’s triumph. The apostles were such captives; their move as captives of Christ in their ministry for Him was God’s celebration of Christ’s victory over His enemies.
As we have pointed out, as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession, Paul and his co-workers were also incense-bearers, scattering the savor of the knowledge of Christ in His triumphant ministry as in a triumphal procession. The apostles were such incense-bearers in the ministry of Christ as well as captives in the train of His triumph.
In 2:14 Paul speaks of the savor of the knowledge of Christ. “According to the Greek usage, savor and knowledge are in apposition, so that the knowledge of Christ is symbolized as an odor communicating its nature and efficacy through the apostle’s work” (Vincent).
In 2:15 and 16 Paul goes on to say, “For we are a fragrance of Christ to God in those who are being saved and in those who are perishing: to some a savor out of death unto death, and to the others a savor out of life unto life.” The apostles, being permeated with Christ, became a fragrance of Christ to God. They were not merely a sweet savor produced by Christ, but Christ Himself was the savor being exhaled in their life and work to God, both in those who were being saved, as a savor out of life unto life, and in those who were perishing, as a savor out of death unto death.
The Greek word rendered “unto” in verse 16 means “resulting in.” Therefore, unto death means “resulting in death,” and unto life means “resulting in life.” This refers to the different effects of the apostles’ ministry upon different persons. It is a matter of life and death! Only the captives of God in Christ, who are saturated with Christ by the Spirit, are sufficient and qualified for this (3:5-6).
As captives and incense-bearers, the apostles scattered incense. To some, this incense was unto death; to others, it was unto life. Therefore, these incense-bearers became a savor out of life unto life and out of death unto death. This is a description of Paul’s ministry.
In his preaching of the gospel, Paul was spreading abroad the fragrance of Christ. Whenever we speak Christ, this speaking is the spreading of the sweet fragrance of Christ. Paul also says that this is a sweet fragrance to God. This means that when we speak Christ to others, in our speaking, the fragrance of Christ ascends to God for His enjoyment. Furthermore, to some, to those who are God’s chosen ones, this fragrance will be life; however, to others this fragrance will be death. Whenever we speak Christ to others, we need to realize that our speaking is the spreading of the sweet fragrance of Christ. While we are speaking, God is enjoying this fragrance.
I doubt that many of us have realized that when we speak forth the riches of Christ in the meetings, we are spreading Christ as a sweet fragrance. God enjoys this fragrance, for He is happy to be able to enjoy our speaking of Christ.
We have seen that in chapter 2 Paul says that God is always leading us in triumph in the Christ and manifesting the savor of the knowledge of Him through us. This is to speak Christ with our spiritual knowledge. Furthermore, the apostles were a fragrance of Christ to God because they were saturated and permeated by Christ and with Christ. Because they were permeated in this way, they became the fragrance of Christ to God. When they spoke to others, the very Christ of whom they were constituted spread Himself forth out from their being. Because they were full of Christ, they became the fragrance of Christ. When they spoke, the Christ of whom they were constituted came forth as a sweet fragrance to God for His enjoyment.
This should also be our experience today. While we are speaking Christ, He should come forth as a sweet fragrance out from our being. God enjoys this fragrance. Once again, this is a matter of the divine dispensing.
From experience we know that whenever we give a genuine testimony for the Lord, we are the first to enjoy this testimony. After the meeting we may be filled with praise to the Lord. However, we also know what it is like inwardly when we do not obey the inner sense to speak for the Lord in the meeting. In such a case, we may feel deeply disappointed and deadened. What a difference it makes to speak for the Lord in the meetings!
Some saints may not speak because they are afraid of saying something wrong. Do not be held back by this. Sometimes we are happy in the Lord even though we may have made some kind of mistake in our speaking, for we still spread forth Christ in our testimony.
We have seen that God has firmly attached all of us to Christ. We have been linked to Christ, and Christ has been linked to us. Furthermore, Christ is one with the Spirit, and the Spirit is one with God. Therefore, the Triune God is joined to us. Now when we speak, the Spirit functions, the Lord serves, and God operates.
Through the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity we can mature in life and triumph in our ministry. We all can have a triumphant ministry. When we open our mouths to speak for Christ, we will be triumphant. We can allow Christ to spread His sweet fragrance to God for His enjoyment. This fragrance will also have an effect on others, either unto life or unto death. All this takes place by God’s dispensing, by the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity into our being.
