NKJV: “15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?”

The fragrance of Christ

The terms used in the NIV and GNT makes it appear like we are agents of destruction!

NIV: “16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life.”
GNT: “16 For those who are being lost, iti is a deadly stench that kills; but for those who are being saved, it is a fragrance that brings life.”

But the NKJV shows our presence to be like a litmus test, a stark warning to those who have chosen the wrong path, to change their direction.

The sense is similar to Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth”. Our presence makes life sweeter for some, and for others it gives them a taste or an appetite to want more of what we have.

Application

If we are to be a fragrance among those who are perishing, that shows we are not to limit our lives to church circles, but to be a presence in the world that, like salt, changes the taste of things for everyone.
During a discussion in my bible study group, some retired guys confessed their response to God’s command to spread the gospel was difficult, as all of their friends and acquaintances were from church.
I shared with them how I enjoy mixing with non-church people, and looking for opportunities to be the contrary voice when modernist group-think infects the conversation. Friends respect that contrary view. Acquaintances may sometimes explode, but that reflects badly on them, and who knows, it may lead them to change?

Who is sufficient for these things?

This is not something we can do in our own strength. But verse 17 shows how — “in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.”
So, we are simply to speak God’s truth as He provides the opportunity, with sincerity; to scatter the seed without selecting the site, and to let his Holy Spirit do the rest.