Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:24, 30
In 1:24 Paul says, “But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, God’s power and God’s wisdom.” This is an important verse. Here Paul says that to those who are called, the ones who were chosen by God in eternity and who have come to believe in Christ, Christ is God’s power and wisdom. As those who have been called by God to call on the name of the Lord, Christ is God’s power and wisdom to us.
In 1:30 Paul goes on to say, “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, Who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” Why does Paul, after pointing out that Christ is theirs and ours and that we have been called into His fellowship, say that this very Christ has become wisdom to us from God, both righteousness, sanctification, and redemption? We have seen that to be called into the fellowship of Christ means to be called into the co-enjoyment of Christ as our unique portion. In the second part of chapter one Paul shows us various aspects of the enjoyment of this wonderful portion. We may use a chicken dinner as an illustration. When you are served a platter of chicken, the host may ask you what part of the chicken you prefer, the wings, the breast, or the leg. In verses 24 and 30 we have different aspects of Christ; we have the “wings,” “breast,” and “legs” of Christ for our enjoyment. In verse 2 Paul speaks of our portion, and in verse 9 he tells us that we have been called into the enjoyment of this portion. Now in verses 24 and 30 we see the aspects of this portion for our enjoyment. From these verses we realize that we may enjoy Christ as God’s wisdom and God’s power. Furthermore, Christ as God’s wisdom includes righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. My burden in this message is to consider from the standpoint of our experience how Christ is wisdom to us from God, including righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
It is not easy to understand or explain wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I prefer to speak of these matters according to spiritual experience. In verses 24 and 30 the wisdom of God denotes the divine way. If we have wisdom, we shall know the proper way to do things. But if we are not wise, our way of doing things will be foolish. In order to have the best way, we must have wisdom. Wisdom in these verses is equal to the way in John 14:6, a verse where the Lord Jesus says, “I am the way.” Apart from Christ as the way, we do not have access to the Father. Hence, God’s way is His wisdom. How can we enjoy God and participate in Him? If we would enjoy Him and participate in Him, we must have a way, and this way is God’s wisdom.
We may use learning to drive an automobile as an illustration of the relationship between wisdom and the way. One who is learning to drive may find it difficult to turn the car. Because he does not have adequate wisdom, he does not have the way to turn the car properly. However, a skillful and experienced driver has the wisdom to manage the car. He has the way to control it, to make it go where he desires. This way is the driver’s wisdom.
As wisdom to us from God as God’s way, Christ is righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Actually, these are three steps of the way. This understanding is, of course, related to our experience.
Suppose a sister has a problem with her husband. She exercises her spirit and calls on the name of the Lord Jesus. As a result, she is rescued from the problem. To speak more exactly, she receives Christ as wisdom to her from God. Before she learned to exercise her spirit and call on the Lord’s name, she would argue with her husband. This is foolish. Nevertheless, wives often argue with their husbands, trying to convince them and even to subdue them. For example, a certain husband may habitually come home late. Relying on her natural wisdom, the wife may try to change her husband’s behavior. However, the more she argues with him, the more frequently he comes home late. His wife’s arguing actually causes the problem to become worse. Instead of arguing with her husband, the wife should exercise her spirit and call on the name of the Lord. Then she will have the wisdom, the way, to deal with the problem.
Righteousness, sanctification, and redemption are the materials used in the construction of the freeway in our Christian life. Have you ever realized that wisdom is our way, our freeway, and that righteousness, sanctification, and redemption are the materials used in making this freeway? This is very true to our Christian experience. When we enjoy Christ, the first aspect of the divine virtue, the divine goodness, we shall experience is God as our righteousness. Whenever we enjoy Christ and experience Him, we first have God as our righteousness. This means that when we exercise our spirit and call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we become righteous. The more we call, the more righteous we become.
Let us again refer to an illustration from married life. It certainly is wrong for a husband to come home late at night. Nevertheless, a wife may be wrong and unrighteous in the way she deals with her husband concerning this matter. She may be altogether unfair, condemning him and putting all the blame on him. She never condemns herself or blames herself. Her attitude is also wrong, and she is unrighteous in arguing with her husband. Even though the husband may be just ten percent wrong, the wife condemns him as if he were completely wrong. Therefore, her attitude and behavior toward her husband are ninety percent unrighteous.
Whenever a husband and wife exchange words, both parties are unrighteous. The husband will declare that he is right and that his wife is completely wrong. The wife will insist that the husband is wholly wrong and that only she is right. As a result, both the husband and the wife become unrighteous. Should the wife begin to exercise her spirit and call on the name of the Lord Jesus, she will realize that she has been unfair and unrighteous in relation to her husband. Then she will say to herself, “Yes, my husband is wrong to a certain extent. But I put too much blame upon him. Furthermore, I am wrong to argue with him and to condemn him. Now I see that he is wrong only to a small degree, but that I am much more wrong than he is. I am at least twice as unrighteous as my husband is.” When the sister realizes her situation by calling on the name of the Lord, she spontaneously becomes righteous, for Christ becomes righteousness to her.
Whenever there is strife or argument between people, none of the parties involved is righteous. For example, suppose an elder and a brother in the church have an argument. Instead of exercising his spirit to call on the name of the Lord, the elder stands up for himself. In such a case, he is not righteous. Furthermore, he may say to the other elders, “That particular brother always brings death into the meetings.” Later, when this elder exercises his spirit and calls on the name of the Lord, he realizes that he was unrighteous. He may also realize that the brother in question rarely spreads death in the meetings. The elder, however, has told others that this brother always brings death into the meetings of the church. Therefore, this elder, realizing that he was not righteous, will need to confess to the other elders and say, “Brothers, I ask you to forgive me for what I said about this brother. I have made confession to the Lord, and He has forgiven me. Now I also make confession to you. According to my memory, only on one occasion has this brother brought death into the meetings. But I said that he always does this. I was not fair, neither was I righteous.”
When we call on the Lord’s name with the exercise of our spirit, we become righteous. As we gradually become righteous in this way, we shall eventually become righteous in the way we speak to our husband or wife. Suppose a sister is very righteous with respect to her husband. Eventually, her righteousness will convince him and subdue him. He may say to himself, “Formerly my wife was not like this. Whenever I was wrong, she would condemn me very much. I admit that I was wrong, but she was even more wrong in the way she condemned me.” Because of her condemnation of her husband, she offended him and caused him to react negatively. But now she is righteous toward him because she exercises her spirit to call on the name of the Lord. In this way, the Lord becomes righteousness to her.
Whenever we become righteous by calling on the Lord, we become calm. Righteousness calms us down. The reason a husband and wife argue and exchange words is that neither party is righteous. But if one party becomes righteous, this righteousness will cause the other party to calm down. Suppose it is the wife who turns to the Lord, calls on Him, and becomes righteous in dealing with her husband. Immediately he will realize that she has changed and that she is now fair and righteous in relation to him.
What I have been describing of righteousness I have learned through experience, not from books. From our experience we know that to be righteous is to be wise. To have Christ as our righteousness is to have Him as our wisdom. In this way Christ becomes wisdom to us from God.
We have pointed out that the more we exercise our spirit to call on the name of the Lord, the more righteous we become. Now we need to see that not only do we become righteous and holy, but we are also sanctified. This means that the more we exercise the spirit to call on the name of the Lord Jesus, the more we are separated from what is common and from being common ourselves. Whenever a sister quarrels with her husband, arguing with him and exchanging words, she is common. She is no different from an unbelieving wife. Every worldly, unbelieving wife quarrels with her husband. But when a sister calls on the name of the Lord and becomes righteous, she experiences Christ as sanctification, and she is sanctified. The Christ she enjoys causes her to become holy, sanctified, separated. As a result, her husband will realize the difference. Even if he does not believe in the Lord, he will know that his wife is no longer common.
Through the years I have known many sisters who have become genuinely sanctified. In a number of cases a sister’s sanctification convinced her husband and influenced him to believe in the Lord. As a result, the husband of such a sister became a good brother in the Lord.
Both righteousness and sanctification are aspects of Christ becoming wisdom to us from God. We have emphasized the fact that wisdom is the way. How do we receive the wisdom we need? This wisdom comes from the enjoyment of Christ. Day by day and hour by hour, we should not live in the soul, in the self, but live in the spirit, exercising the spirit to call on the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Christ will become our enjoyment, nourishment, support, and supply in a very practical way. The result is that we become righteous. Instead of condemning others and blaming them, we know only to condemn ourselves and blame ourselves. We see that we are wrong with others in many ways. Hence, we become righteous and fair. Furthermore, we become a husband different from other husbands or a wife different from other wives. We are no longer common; instead we are separated, sanctified, and even special. This is sanctification.
If we are those who exercise our spirit, call on the Lord’s name, and enjoy Christ as our unique portion, we shall not only become righteous and sanctified, but we shall also experience Christ as our redemption. This means that in our experience we shall be brought back to God. Whenever a sister quarrels with her husband or debates with him, she is far away from God. The more she argues with her husband, the more she is carried away from the Lord. But when she enjoys Christ and thereby becomes righteous and sanctified, she is brought back to God.
Redemption also includes termination. The Christ who dwells in us, who supplies us, and who becomes our nourishment also terminates us. The more we call on the Lord’s name, the more we shall gradually come to realize how much we are still in the old creation. We shall hate ourselves and confess that we need to be terminated. This termination is a second aspect of experiencing Christ as redemption to us. First, to be redeemed is to be brought back to God; second, it is to be terminated by the Lord. Redemption includes the realization of our need to be terminated and our realization that the Lord is in fact terminating us.
Redemption also includes being replaced by Christ. When Christ terminates us, He replaces us with Himself. This is transformation; it is also transfiguration. This is more than sanctification, which separates us and makes us different from others. This is the actual process of transformation in which our old element, our old constitution, is terminated and replaced with a new element, a new constitution — Christ Himself in resurrection. When we are replaced, we are transformed and reconstituted of Christ. Is not this the wisdom of God? When we experience Christ as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, we truly have Him as wisdom to us from God.
To repeat, 1:2 says that Christ our portion is both theirs and ours. Verse 9 says that we have been called into the enjoyment, into the fellowship, of Christ as our unique portion. In the last few verses of chapter one we see that when we enjoy Christ as this portion, we become righteous, sanctified, and redeemed. Then Christ becomes our wisdom, our way. As a result, we become the most wise people on earth. If you are a married brother, you will become a very wise husband, a husband with the wisdom of God. This wisdom is the Christ you enjoy daily in a practical way. With Christ as our wisdom, we shall walk in the way of righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We shall become righteous, separated, and redeemed. This is the result of enjoying Christ as our unique portion.
