What A Nice Smell
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor (Ephesians 5:2)
The analogy in this verse takes us back to the Old Testament sacrifices. Along with the sacrifices, incense was burned to God. All the men and women could smell the sweet smell as the sacrifice burned to God. This represented the fact that God was satisfied with the blood offered to Him.
Although this was Old Testament, it represented the time when God would eternally be satisfied with the blood of His Son, Jesus, when He died for us on the cross. When Jesus arose from the dead, God smelled an odor free from sin, the curse, and poverty. For the first time ever, God smelled righteousness in His Son. Now that we have accepted His Son, Jesus, as our Savior, God is satisfied with us and we are a sweet smelling aroma in the nostrils of God.
This doctrine is called propitiation. It is found in the book of Romans and simply means God is satisfied. First, He is satisfied with the finished work of His Son. Next, He is satisfied with us who have accepted Jesus as our Savior. The good news is not that you are satisfied with God, but that God is satisfied with you. In your weakest moments of greatest failure, you can tell the devil, “As long as God is satisfied with Jesus, He is still satisfied with me.”
The Standard For Forgiveness?
Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32)
The Christian way of life is powered by the Holy Spirit who lives in us. His desire is for us to live through His power and display the attributes of Jesus Christ to others. Kindness is one of the greatest characteristics Jesus displayed in the earth. Paul commands us to be kind to each other and tenderhearted. Kindness is easy enough to understand, but what does it mean to be tenderhearted? It simply means we are to look at others who fail and remember we have done the same and perhaps worse at one time or another. This helps us to be tenderhearted with others and want to help them for the right reasons.
Our standard for forgiveness is the way God has forgiven us in the past. We want God’s forgiveness to be given to us instantly, but we want someone else to pay for their sins over weeks and perhaps months. We should forgive others with the same standard God uses. If we confess our sins, God will forgive us. If someone asks our forgiveness we should give it to them immediately. I am glad God does not forgive us as we have forgiven others. He might make us pay for our own sins instead of consigning them to the cross of Jesus.
What is evil talk?
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers (Ephesians 4:29)
Corrupt speaking is not curse words, swearing, or attributing the works of God to Satan. I am sure those types of statements could be called corrupt speaking. However, if you will look at the entire verse, it explains that corrupt communications are words that tear other people down. We are in the ministry and calling of encouraging and building each other up.
It may be one thing to look objectively at the problems other Christians are facing in their lives and help them overcome of their problems. This is counseling or Christian instruction. This verse is not speaking about helping other believers who come to us with problems in their lives. This admonition in Ephesians is telling us to stop running others down or judging their moves and actions by our own standards. Even if another Christian has a problem, we should be giving them advice and counsel to help them out of the problem and become productive again.
Our speech should be ministering grace to the hearer, whether the hearer is the person we are talking about or someone else. The next verse tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. When we speak badly about other believers, we do something Jesus would not do Himself. When we act contrary to God, we grieve the Holy Spirit. Speaking badly about other people is a sin and sin grieves the holiness of the Holy Spirit.
How about making a resolution beginning this week to clean up your speech about other believers? Why not begin to see them pulling out of their problems with the help of your words of faith over them? After all, wouldn’t you want someone to do that for you?
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