Triumph in Defeat

In his autobiography Confessions, St. Augustine recounts how his heart was hard and the things of the Lord were despicable to him. Before he understood the beauty of the Gospel, Christ’s work was a stench to him. But when the Lord softened his heart to His voice, Augustine says, “You were radiant and resplendent. You put to flight my blindness. You were fragrant, and I drew in my breath and now pant after You. I taste you and I feel but hunger and thirst for You.” Likewise, in 2 Corinthians, Paul says, “We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” Before Christ saved us, we were all like Augustine. The Gospel was a stench we wanted to avoid, but now we pant after it—and not because of our own work. It is because Christ leads us in triumphant procession. The fragrance of Christ is no longer death to death but life to life for the believer. We are now the saints triumphant who follow the King of glory. Because God has made us alive in Christ, we can adore Him and give Him “all glory, all wisdom and might.” Because God has clothed us in His righteousness and His fragrance, we can proclaim His triumph before a watching world, “ascribing salvation to Jesus our King.” —Emma Marsh