To those who are being lost, we are the aroma of death. But to those who are being saved, we are the aroma of life. Who is able to do this kind of work?
Jesus said, “I’ve come into this world to judge it, so that people who are blind will become able to see and that people who can see will become blind.”
Then Simeon blessed them. He said to Mary, Jesus’ mother, “God has sent this child to cause many people in Israel to fall and to rise. Many will speak against him,
But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace wasn’t wasted on me. No, I worked harder than all the other apostles—though it wasn’t me doing the work. God’s grace was with me.
I’ve made a fool of myself, but you forced me to. You should have been the ones to praise me. I’m not the least bit inferior to the “super-apostles,” even though I’m nothing.