John Calvin Commentary 2 Corinthians 2:14

"But thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest through us the savor of his knowledge in every place." — 2 Corinthians 2:14 (ASV)

But thanks be to God. Here he again glories in the success of his ministry and shows that he had been far from idle in the various places he had visited. But so that he may do this in a way that does not provoke envy, he begins with a thanksgiving, which we will find him repeating later.

Now he does not, in a spirit of ambition, extol his own actions so that his name may be renowned, nor does he, in mere pretense, give thanks to God in the manner of the Pharisee, while, in the meantime, being lifted up with pride and arrogance (Luke 18:11). Instead of this, he desires from his heart that whatever is worthy of praise be recognized as the work of God alone, so that His power alone may be extolled.

Furthermore, he recounts his own praises for the benefit of the Corinthians, so that, on hearing that he had served the Lord so fruitfully in other places, they might not allow his labor to be unproductive among themselves and might learn to respect his ministry, which God everywhere rendered so glorious and fruitful.

For it is criminal to despise or lightly esteem what God so illustriously honors.

Nothing was more harmful to the Corinthians than to have an unfavorable view of Paul’s apostleship and doctrine; nothing, on the other hand, was more beneficial than to hold both in esteem.

Now he had begun to be held in contempt by many, and therefore, it was not his duty to be silent. In addition to this, he sets this holy boasting against the insults of the wicked.

Who causes us to triumph. If you translate the word literally, it will be, Qui nos triumphat — Who triumphs over us. Paul, however, means something different from what this form of expression denotes among Latin speakers.

For captives are said to be triumphed over, when, by way of disgrace, they are bound with chains and dragged before the chariot of the conqueror.

Paul’s meaning, on the other hand, is that he was also a sharer in the triumph God enjoyed, because it had been gained through his agency, just as lieutenants accompanied on horseback the chariot of the chief general as sharers in the honor.

Accordingly, as all ministers of the gospel fight under God’s guidance, they also secure for Him the victory and the honor of the triumph; but, at the same time, He honors each of them with a share of the triumph, according to the station assigned him in the army and in proportion to the efforts he made.

Thus they enjoy, as it were, a triumph, but it is God’s rather than theirs.

He adds, in Christ, in whose person God Himself triumphs, since He has conferred upon Him all the glory of dominion. Should anyone prefer to translate it this way: “Who triumphs by means of us,” even then a sufficiently consistent meaning will be established.

The odor of his knowledge. The triumph consisted in this: that God, through his agency, worked powerfully and gloriously, perfuming the world with the health-giving odor of His grace, while, through his doctrine, he brought some to the knowledge of Christ.

He carries out, however, the metaphor of odor, by which he expresses both the delectable sweetness of the gospel and its power and efficacy for inspiring life.

Meanwhile, Paul instructs them that his preaching is so far from being savorless that it gives life to souls by its very odor.

Let us, however, learn from this that those alone make true progress in the gospel who, by the sweet fragrance of Christ, are stirred up to desire Him, so that they bid farewell to the allurements of the world.

He says in every place, suggesting by these words that he went to no place where he did not gain some fruit, and that, wherever he went, some reward for his labor was to be seen. The Corinthians were aware in how many places he had previously sown the seed of Christ’s gospel. He now says that his latest efforts corresponded with his first.