Christian Ministry: False and True

2 Corinthians 2:17
P. G. Mathew | Sunday, March 23, 2014
Copyright © 2014, P. G. Mathew

In 2 Corinthians, especially chapters 2, 4, and 11, Paul writes about false Christian ministry and true Christian ministry.

Discerning between false and true Christian ministry is not a topic limited to Paul’s day. It is reported that on February 20, 2014, Pastor David Yonggi Cho, formerly known as Paul Yonggi Cho, of Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea, supposedly a million member church affiliated with the Assemblies of God, was convicted of embezzling several millions of dollars of church funds.

In a Bible League Quarterly article Ruth E. Palgrave of England says that Pastor Cho “claims that he received the call to preach directly from Jesus Christ, who, he says, appeared to him dressed like a fireman.” Pastor Cho is “a proponent of the . . . New Age teaching which says that the believer is God and Christ and that faith is a creative force that can be used to shape one’s own world, a common occult and New Age belief. He teaches that the ‘third dimension is the material world, while the ‘fourth dimension’ is the spiritual world, and that one can influence the third dimension. He states that ‘through visualization and dreaming you can incubate your future and hatch the results.’”¹

Pastor Cho teaches that a person can create new reality by imagining it by faith. Thus, one can “create” better health, more wealth, bigger mansions, and so on. My questions for Pastor Cho are: First, why did he not make millions for himself by faith and imagination? Second, why did he not avoid conviction by means of this fourth dimensional imagination? Third, can he live forever without dying by exercising this power of word-faith, this power of creative imagination? I say he is going to die like everyone else.

 

The False Christian Ministry

Paul says, “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity like men sent from God” (2 Cor. 2:17). False Christians, such as those who propound liberalism and liberation theology, the health and wealth gospel, the word-faith cult, shallow evangelicalism, and celebrity-star pastor cult, all reject the absolute authority of the Bible.

The Westminster Confession of Faith says all sixty-six books of the Bible are given by the inspiration of God to be the rule of the church’s faith and life. The authority of Scripture depends wholly upon God the author as the Scriptures themselves testify. The apostle Paul, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, Bishop Ryle, J. Gresham Machen, Cornelius Van Til, John Murray, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and many others all believed and preached the true gospel.

The ministers of false Christianity peddle the word of God by corrupting it to make money and become famous in the eyes of the world. They add to, subtract from, and misinterpret the Scripture. They are incompetent to interpret the Bible because they are not born again and indwelt by the Spirit of God. The Bible calls them natural men: “These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit” (Jude 19); “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).

False ministers cannot understand the gospel. They do not have the mind of Christ. Instead, they corrupt the word of God so as to deceive the gullible and make a profit for themselves. They do not worship Jesus Christ; they worship and serve money and power. By soothing smooth words, they pick the pockets of those who crowd into their churches like sheep to the slaughter, not to hear the gospel, but to be entertained. These self-called ministers tell stories and jokes to make people laugh. They preach themselves. They are star performers, not servants of Christ. And those who are non-elect will go to watch them perform.

These false ministers deny, distort, adulterate, and falsify the true gospel. Paul writes, “We have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Cor. 4:2). But these preachers do not preach the depravity of man, the atoning sacrifice of Christ, or the need for true repentance. They do not preach saving faith in Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of the elect and was raised for their justification. Instead, they preach a salvation by their own dirty works. They preach worldliness, not separation from the world to practice biblical holiness required of the bride of Christ. They do not preach about the judgment to come, the judgment by Jesus Christ, who has received all authority to justify and condemn. They do not preach about an eternal hell. To them, Jesus is a nice, huggable teddy bear who never rebukes or judges, but always gives people lots of money and forgiveness. To them, biblical morality has become immorality, and biblical immorality has become morality. Isaiah said they are “those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isa. 5:20).

These false ministers champion conformity to culture; therefore, anything goes. The thing that matters most to false ministers is money and lots of it. They also enjoy power. Their goal is to receive applause from the gullible and ignorant crowds who seek entertainment. These ministers long to get an invitation to visit the White House. But they do not long for the appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They are strangers to the true gospel of the cross.

These false ministers use all sorts of secret and shameful methods to promote their anti-gospel of easy believism and cheap grace. They oppose the true gospel at every turn through their lies. They practice the ways of the devil, who is a liar and the father of all lies, who comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. Listen to the lies of the devil: “‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (Gen. 3:4–5).

They do not preach Jesus Christ, as we read in 2 Corinthians 4:5. The truth is that their eyes are blinded by the god of this age so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of God. So what do they preach in these crowded churches of the mindless? They preach themselves. And at the same time, they perform false signs and wonders. Jesus warned about such ministers: “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible” (Matt. 24:24). Paul says, “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (2 Thess. 2:9–12).

False ministers entertain, making people laugh and swoon. Paul warns in 2 Corinthians 11 that when these false apostles and deceiving prophets meet a group of true believers, they always try to seduce them and lead them astray from their sincere and pure devotion to Christ. They prophesy over them, trying to predict their future through demonic powers. This is a way to dominate others.

The truth is, these false ministers are servants of the devil. They are filled with an evil spirit, as was Saul, when the Holy Spirit left him. An evil spirit came upon him to torment him, and in due time, it killed him.²

These ministers masquerade as apostles of Christ, as celebrity pastors, as super-apostles dressed in purple and gold. They live daily in luxury. But the truth is, they have no divine authority. Their authority is demonic. They are false apostles, deceitful workers. They are ferocious wolves in sheep’s’ clothing. They speak much about their anointing, but their power comes from the devil. They are powerful, as the Egyptian magicians were. They preach Jesus, but it is not the Jesus that Paul preached, who is the Son of God crucified and risen. Their Jesus is an anti-Jesus, an anti-Christ. He is not the Lord, the Judge, the Lawgiver, the King, and the Savior (Isa. 33:22).

False ministers speak about the “Spirit” too, but their “Spirit” is not the Holy Spirit, whom Paul preached and about whom he asked the Ephesians: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:2). The “Spirit” of these manipulators is the same spirit who entered Judas.

They also speak of a gospel, but not what Paul preached. Theirs is an anti-gospel, a different gospel of peace and affluence that can only condemn them. They preach a different Jesus, a different Spirit, and a different gospel—radically different from the truth. They preach an anti-Jesus, an anti-Spirit, and an anti-gospel from hell. They are counterfeit. Paul assures us that God will condemn these false ministers.

The apostle John speaks much about these “anti-” people in his epistles: “Dear children, this is the last hour. And as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18); “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist. He denies the Father and the Son.” (1 John 2:22); “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits.” Believers should be intelligent, full of the Scriptures and full of the Spirit to be able to analyze who these manipulators are and reject them outright. “But test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. . . . We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood” (1 John 4:1–3, 6). And in 2 John 7 he says, “Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

Paul also speaks about these antichrists, who preach the anti-gospel by the inspiration of an anti-Spirit: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” These people permit their hearers to engage in every form of immorality because their gospel permits them to violate every law in the Bible. Paul continues, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Gal. 1:6–9). Later in the same epistle he says, “I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be” (Gal. 5:10). To the Corinthians he wrote, “If anyone does not love the Lord—a curse be on him. Come, O Lord!” (1 Cor. 16:22). Jesus is coming to punish these false preachers, as we read also in the book of Revelation: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (Rev. 21:8).

The most dangerous people on earth are preachers who corrupt the gospel to deceive people for personal power and profit. They kill their sheep and eat them, as we read in Ezekiel 34. They send their sheep to hell.

The Bible is full of examples of those who try to use the gospel for personal gain. In 2 Kings 5 Elisha refused to receive gifts from Naaman. But Gehazi lied to Naaman to obtain two talents of silver and two sets of clothing. Elisha prophesied a curse on his wicked servant: “‘Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservant? Therefore Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and your descendants forever.’ Then Gehazi went out from Elisha’s presence and he was leprous, as white as snow” (2 Kings 5:26–27).

Judas was one of the twelve apostles. But he took thirty pieces of silver for selling Jesus. Then he hanged himself and went to hell.

Simon Magus wanted to buy the Holy Spirit wholesale so that he could become a retailer of the Holy Spirit and make a lot of profit. Peter rebuked him, saying, “Let your money perish with you!” (Acts 8:18–20).

Demas was an apostle who worked closely with Paul. But Demas, having loved this present evil age with its power and money, abandoned Paul and the true gospel. He also went to hell (2 Tim. 4:10a).

We must beware of the fake gospel of money and power. Consider the following scriptures:

• Jeremiah 8:10: “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.” That is where we are today in this country and throughout the world. Money, money, money, money.
• Exodus 23:2: “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.”
• Luke 16:15: “[Jesus] said to them, ‘You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is [abomination] in the sight of God.’”
• 2 Timothy 3:1–5: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”
• 1 Timothy 6:3–5: “If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.”
• 2 Peter 2:1–3: “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”

 

See also what Jeremiah says about false ministers:

• Jeremiah 5:13: “The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.”
• Jeremiah 5:30–31: “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way.” Most very large churches do not preach the word of God.
• Jeremiah 8:10–11: “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.”
• Jeremiah 10:21: “The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the LORD; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered.”
• Jeremiah 14:14: “Then the LORD said to me, ‘The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.’”
• Jeremiah 23:16–18: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. They keep saying to those who despise me, ‘The LORD says: You will have peace.’ And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, ‘No harm will come to you.’ But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?”
• Jeremiah 23:21: “I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.”

 

The True Christian Ministry

Jesus Christ builds his church through the true ministers that he calls, commissions, anoints, and sends. Generally, these true ministers do not want to preach the gospel. But they have no choice; it is God who is telling them what to do.

Take the case of Moses. He refused to preach the gospel. He asked many questions, and God answered all of them. But after all that, he said, “Please find someone else” (Exod. 4:13). But he had no choice. When God calls, we must hear the call and do the work.

Look at Jeremiah. He recounted, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’ ‘Ah, Sovereign LORD,’ I said, ‘I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.’ But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a child.” You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,’ declares the LORD. Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant’” (Jer. 1:4–10).

This is true of every true minister of God. God sets them apart before he formed them in the womb and he sets them apart from the womb. They have no choice. They cannot reject it. So the Lord exhorted Jeremiah, “‘Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,’ declares the LORD” (Jer. 1:18–19).

What about Paul? He writes that “God, . . . set me apart from birth and called me by his grace” (Gal. 1:15). God also baptized him in the Holy Spirit: “Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 9:17). So Paul writes in Romans 10, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” (Rom. 10:14–15).

I am standing here also as one sent by God. I was not at all interested in the ministry. In fact, I ran away from it. But God did not let me do what I wanted. A true minister is not self-called or even called by a church. A true minister is called, commissioned, anointed, and taught by God himself, and a true church recognizes such a minister as sent from God.

A true minister does not preach himself, but Jesus Christ as Lord. He preaches the gospel. Paul tells us what the essence of the gospel is in his letter to the Corinthians: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve” (1 Cor. 15:3–5). That is the heart of the gospel, and that is what we preach. We preach the gospel so that people may believe it and by the Holy Spirit confess Jesus as Lord and themselves as his bondservants.

If you go to a church where the gospel is not preached, it is not a church; it is a synagogue of Satan. There are three things about a true church: word, word, word. If there is no word, it is not a church.

The true preacher does not fear people, whether they are big or small, rich or powerful. He will speak what we need to hear. He does not fear men nor does he live to please men. He does all things to please his heavenly Master, as Paul writes, “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10).

A true minister will not pick and choose what he preaches. He is commanded to preach the whole counsel of God. In Acts 20:27 Paul begins, “For I have not hesitated.” Note that word “hesitated.” Many preachers who are not called by God hesitate; they are fearful. So he says, “For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” Then, finally, he said goodbye to the elders of Ephesus. “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).

A true minister does not preach to make money. He lives by faith in Jehovah Jireh, who did not spare his own Son but gave him up in death for our salvation. Jesus exhorted, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33).

So I refuse to beg for money. In all my forty years of gospel ministry in this church, I have never begged or pleaded with anyone. The truth is, God has provided for all of us exceeding abundantly above all that we asked or imagined.

This is the logic: if I am the slave of Jesus, it is his good pleasure to give me food and clothing, if I am faithful in the preaching of the eternal gospel, the unchanging gospel. If the Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing, and I do lack nothing.

True ministers are approved by God, as Paul writes, “For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness” (1 Thess. 2:3-5).

Ministers approved by God are also faithful. Paul says, “So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Cor. 4:1-2). True ministers never change the gospel. They preach the same gospel, even while the culture is changing and moral values are turned upside down.

True ministers are entrusted with the true gospel. They will never adulterate the word of God, nor will they try to conform it to a corrupt culture. The gospel shines as light in a culture of moral darkness. Paul exclaimed, “Woe unto me if I preach not the gospel!” (1 Cor. 9:16).

A true minister will preach not only salvation in Christ but also suffering on behalf of Christ, for it is all part of following Christ. In Hebrews 11:35–38 we read, “Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.”

Paul himself wrote, “Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?” (2 Cor. 11:23–29).

 

Analysis of 2 Corinthians 2:14–17

Let us look more closely at this passage (2 Cor. 2:14–17) as we compare false and true ministers.³

Paul begins, “Thanks be to God” (v. 14). Praise God for our salvation produced by the gospel. Praise God for his calling, anointing, and sending true ministers to his holy church, ministers who preach the gospel to us by the competency of the Spirit. Paul declares, “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power” (1 Cor. 2:1–4). He also says, “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit, which gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6).

Then he defines this God: “who always leads us in triumph.” We are always victorious, even when we are persecuted and martyred, like Stephen. Our victory is the victory of Christ who, by his death on the cross, defeated all his and our enemies.

He leads us in triumph. The Greek word is thriambeuô. It appears only one other time in Colossians 2:15: “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” When we resist the devil in the name of Christ, he shall flee from us, because Christ defeated all his and our enemies by his death on the cross. So we read, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (Rev. 12:11).

In Christ, we are overcomers. We don’t violate God’s commandments, as those who serve Satan do. Either one is a slave of Jesus Christ or a slave of the devil. There is no neutrality. In Christ, we can overcome the devil and he shall flee from us.

Then Paul says, “and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.” Notice, this knowledge is spread through us, not through angels. Christ builds the church through us as we share the gospel. Paul says through us God makes manifest to the world as well as to the church the fragrance of the gospel of the knowledge of God.

In his catechism, John Calvin says the first responsibility we have is to seek knowledge of God. We must know who God is, the God who made us. We must seek the fragrance of the gospel of the knowledge of God. Everyone must know God through creation, conscience, and especially through the preaching of the gospel. That is of first importance.

What this world needs most is the gospel of salvation. In Luke 24:45–47 we read, “Then [Christ] opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins [that is the fragrance] will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

So we read, “through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.” Notice that word “everywhere.” Everywhere we go, the fragrance of God is spreading out from us. In every place we go, we should share the gospel: in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.

We read about such spreading of the gospel in Acts 11: “Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:19–21).

When Mary broke a bottle of expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus, the whole house was filled with the fragrance (John 12). In the same way, we are to fill this earth with the fragrance of the gospel that people may come to know Jesus Christ.

Not only is the gospel the fragrance, but the text says that also the true ministers who proclaim the gospel are fragrance. We read in 2 Corinthians 4:7: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” In the clay vessels of our bodies we carry about the gospel; therefore, ministers themselves are fragrance.

So Paul says, “For we are to God the aroma of Christ” (v. 15). We are fragrance to God because we share the gospel. Out of the abundance of our hearts, the gospel overflows. Jesus spoke about this: “On the last day of the feast, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come unto me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from him” (John 7:37–39). As we go out to share the gospel, from us comes out fragrance.

We are perfume bottles filled with the gospel. There are twofold effects of the gospel proclamation. It is the same gospel but there are two different results. It saves some even while it destroys others. It is the same gospel. Even in the same house, one person or two people will believe while the rest do not.

So Paul writes, “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved [by faith in the gospel] and those who are perishing.” Jesus said that many are on the broad way going to destruction, but few are on the narrow road going to eternal life” (Matt. 7:13–14). (PGM) Elsewhere Paul declares, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing [eternally], but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).

Only a few are being saved. The vast majority of people in the world are perishing. They perish because of their own unbelief and hardness of heart. Paul writes, “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan . . . and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (2 Thess. 2:9, 10–12). Unbelievers delight in their wickedness. They get pleasure out of violating divine law. They get a kick out of it. But that kick will kill them, in due time.

So Paul says in verse 16, “To the unbelieving, the gospel is the smell of death unto death” (Gk., ek thanatou eis thanaton). The fullness of death, eternal death, is what awaits those who refuse to believe in the gospel. “But to those who believe, the gospel is the fragrance of life unto fullness of life” (Gk., ek zôês eis zôên). And we are awaiting the fullness of life, when Christ comes again.

Then Paul asks, “Who is equal to such a task?” (v. 16). In other words, who is competent for the gospel ministry? It is an issue of life and death. The answer is, those who have been saved by the gospel, called by Christ, baptized in the Holy Spirit, and taught in the Scriptures. Elsewhere Paul writes, “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). And Jesus promised, “You shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” I myself am standing here in the uttermost part of the earth to preach to you the gospel.

Don’t ever think the devil is for you. He comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. But Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

Paul summarizes in verse 17, “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit.” In other words, he is assuring his readers, “We are not like the majority who are false ministers.” The majority of ministers in today’s churches are false. Paul is saying, “We are not like the majority, who are false ministers, who corrupt the word of God by preaching what itching ears want to hear, who preach to entertain and deceive the gullible for personal financial gain.”

Then Paul describes his true ministry and that of his fellow ministers, which was characterized by four positives.

1. “We speak . . . with sincerity.” He says, “We labor as persons of sincerity, without impure and deceitful motives.” Paul was clear, direct, and straightforward. He was not a crook. He preached what people needed to hear. He did not preach for financial gain. He did not have any secret, selfish, shameful agenda. He preached for the salvation of the lost. He preached Jesus Christ as Lord.

2. “We speak . . . like men sent from God” (Gk. ek Theou). As we said before, true ministers are called and commissioned by God himself. Elsewhere Paul says about himself, “Paul, an apostle, sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead” (Gal. 1:1). Having been called and sent by God, we preach with divine authority.

3. “We speak before God.” Paul practiced the presence of God. He always knew that he was living in God’s presence (“before God”). So he says, “God is my witness and the evaluator of my work. He is with me always, whether in prosperity or in suffering. So I strive to please him always.”

4. “In Christ we speak.” What does that mean? Paul is saying, “We speak as those who have been united with Christ by faith. We preach Jesus Christ and him crucified. We preach by the authority of Christ, who received all authority in heaven and on earth.” In other words, Christ is with Paul, and Paul recognizes that truth. And Christ is with all true ministers, to defend them and support them. Christ is our Master. When the apostle speaks, Christ himself speaks. And when the true minister speaks, he speaks the word of Christ. Christ himself is speaking through the minister. And if anyone rejects the gospel, he is rejecting Christ.

What is Paul saying in 2 Corinthians 2:17? He is declaring that he did not corrupt the gospel to deceive and please people to make money. He always operated with transparent motives. His ministry was carried out by divine commission, with a sense of accountability to God, and with the power and authority of Christ. His ministry was free of deceit and duplicity. He always set forth openly and clearly the whole counsel of God to the conscience of every person in the sight of God.

May God help us to grow in our knowledge of God! Then we can approve the truth of the gospel and oppose error. Our risen Lord admonishes us, “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false” (Rev. 2:2). We need an intelligent apprehension of the gospel. If we don’t have such understanding, in due time we will fall away to commit every form of sin. John writes, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). False prophets are found throughout the world. This is speaking about Christian ministry. The world is full of churches, but it is also full of false ministers. True ministers are few. They exist, but they are few.

On the last day, Jesus will speak to the false ministers and their gullible sheep: “I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers!” But that is not all. The Good Shepherd will then speak to the true ministers and the sheep of God: “Well done, good and faithful servants. Enter into the everlasting joy of your master.” May God have mercy on us so that we may believe the true gospel and be saved.

 

¹ R. E. Palgrave, “The Right Direction?” (http://www.bibleleaguetrust.org/articles/west.pdf), 3–4.

²They are like the 400 prophets of Ahab who were filled with a lying spirit (1 Kings 22, especially verses 21–23), in contrast to Micaiah, the true prophet of God.

³We refer the reader to the treatment of this passage by others, especially Murray J. Harris,The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, The New International Greek New Testament Commentary series (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 240–256.