Conquered by Christ

Verses 14-16 receive most of the focus for this sermon. The ancient Roman victory parade, known as the Triumph, is the background for this passage. Here we see that as conquered enemies we are continually led to our death by Christ our conqueror. Also we understand that Christ spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of himself through us everywhere; to some it is the fragrance of death; to others it is the fragrance of life. In addition, we see that our sufficiency to do these things, i.e., lead a life of unselfish devotion to God, comes only from his gracious enablement.