¹⁴ Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us ^[a]diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. ¹⁵ For we are to God the fragrance of Christ ^(A)among those who are being saved and ^(B)among those who are perishing. ^16 (C)To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And ^(D)who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷ For we are not, as ^[b]so many, ^(E)peddling^[c] the word of God; but as ^(F)of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.

Christ’s Epistle^(G)

3 Do ^(H)we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, ^(I)epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? ^2 (J)You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; ³ clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ^(K)ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not ^(L)on tablets of stone but ^(M)on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

The Spirit, Not the Letter

⁴ And we have such trust through Christ toward God. ^5 (N)Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but ^(O)our sufficiency is from God, ⁶ who also made us sufficient as ^(P)ministers of ^(Q)the new covenant, not ^(R)of the letter but of the ^[d]Spirit; for ^(S)the letter kills, ^(T)but the Spirit gives life.