How could Paul be a sweet savor to those who were perishing?
Paul could be a sweet savor to those perishing because they still had opportunity to hear him preach the Gospel. He was potential good news for them, just as for those already saved, since they too could potentially be saved by responding. If they did not respond, spiritual death was their end result.
Les explains that the King James says perish, but the Greek is a little plainer. Paul was not only a sweet savor to those who were saved, but he was a potential sweet savor to those who are perishing. So it isn't to those who are already lost, but to those who still had opportunity to hear him preach the Gospel. He was the good news for them, just as he was for those who had already embraced it. So they were unto God a sweet savor of Christ in both groups: the saved were recipients of God's grace, and the perishing were potentially able to be saved as well. If they didn't respond, spiritual death was their end result; but to those who did respond, the message was life to life.
For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
More Questions
Who are the 'perishing' in 2 Corinthians 2:15 that Paul was a sweet savor to?
In 2 Corinthians 2:15 the "perishing" does not refer to those already lost but to those who still had opportunity to hear the gospel preached, so Paul's ministry was a potential sweet savor to them.
Why was Paul also a sweet savor of Christ in those who are perishing?
Those who are saved are the recipients of God's grace, while those who are perishing were also part of Paul's sweet savor to God because they were potentially able to be saved as well.
What does the Greek word translated 'perish' in 2 Corinthians 2:15 mean?
The Greek word behind the King James 'perish' in 2 Corinthians 2:15 is plainer than 'perish'—it refers to those who are perishing, that is, those who still had opportunity to hear the gospel, not those who are already lost.