Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:9-12, 23-24, 30
If we read 1 Corinthians only in a superficial way, we may think that it is a book which deals merely with outward matters. Actually, this Epistle is one of the richest books in the New Testament. First Corinthians is rich in Christ, the Spirit, the church, and life. The first two chapters contain a profound revelation of Christ. The Spirit is also clearly revealed in this book in many aspects. More aspects of the Spirit are revealed in 1 Corinthians than in any other book. Furthermore, in this Epistle Paul has much to say about the church in a very practical way. This Epistle is also rich in life.
Many of the chapters of 1 Corinthians are deep and profound. However, the most rich, deep, and profound chapters in this book are the first three chapters. In these chapters Paul uses a number of unique and significant terms and expressions.
In 1:9 Paul says, “God is faithful, through Whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Do not make the mistake of thinking that the expression “the fellowship of His Son” is insignificant. Many Christians today use the word fellowship in a very common way. But in the Bible fellowship denotes a matter of great significance. In the Old Testament there was not such a thing as fellowship. At most, there was the unity of the brothers spoken of in Psalm 133. Verse 1 of this psalm declares, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” This unity, however, is outward, whereas fellowship is inward. It is possible to have a certain kind of unity without life. For example, those who are members of a labor union may have a particular kind of unity. But such a unity is absolutely devoid of life. Fellowship requires life. Without life, we cannot have fellowship. Fellowship is an inward matter which we may describe as the intercommunication of life.
The word fellowship is used for the first time in Acts 2:42, where we are told that those who were saved and added to the church on the day of Pentecost continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles. The apostles had preached the gospel to them, and this gospel preaching brought them into something which the Bible calls fellowship.
I doubt that there is in any language an equivalent of the Greek word for fellowship, koinonia. This word implies oneness and also a mutual flowing among the believers. When we enjoy fellowship with one another, there is a flow among us. Although electrical current is not living, it can be used to illustrate what we mean by a flow in fellowship. The flowing of electricity produces oneness. The flow, the current, we have in our spiritual fellowship involves both oneness and life. Our fellowship is a flow in oneness; it is an intercommunication among us as believers in Christ.
In the New Testament fellowship describes both the flowing between us and the Lord and between us and one another. First John 1:3 says, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” In 1 John we have life (1:1-2) and then fellowship. There is a flow, a current, vertically between us and the Father and the Son and horizontally between us and other believers. Praise the Lord that on earth today there is something called fellowship, a fellowship among the children of God and a fellowship of the children of God with the Triune God!
Since the day of Pentecost a current has been flowing horizontally among the believers. This flow crosses space and time. As far as time is concerned, this fellowship has been flowing from generation to generation. As far as space is concerned, this fellowship is worldwide; it flows among believers throughout the globe. Because we are in this one flow, we cannot be separated by space. No matter where we may be, we are all in the flow; that is, we are all in the one fellowship.
According to Paul’s word in 1:9, we all have been called by God into this fellowship. Perhaps the best illustration of fellowship is the circulation of blood in the human body. Right now the blood is circulating throughout your body. In a very short period of time the blood makes one complete circuit. Life depends on this circulation. Just as there is the circulation of blood in the human body, so there is a spiritual circulation, called the fellowship, in the Body of Christ. It is a very sad thing that among a great many of today’s Christians, this circulation is either neglected or is altogether lacking. Thus, it is crucial for us to realize that in the Lord’s recovery we are being brought back into this flow, into this fellowship.
From 1:9 we see that through the faithful God we have been called into the fellowship of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. This indicates clearly that we have not been called into the fellowship of any denomination, practice, or theological doctrine. The unique fellowship into which God has called us is the fellowship of His Son. This means that He alone must be our fellowship.
The word fellowship in 1:9 means participation. This can be proved by considering this verse in its context. Verse 10, a continuation of verse 9, says, “But I beseech you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion.” Verse 10 stands in contrast to verse 9. In verse 9 Paul says that God has called us into the fellowship of His Son. Then he begins verse 10 with the words, “But I beseech you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Through the name of the Lord Jesus Paul beseeches that there be no divisions among the saints. Divisions are contrary to fellowship. They are against the fellowship into which God has called us. In verse 11 Paul continues, “For it was made clear to me concerning you, my brothers, by those of the household of Chloe, that there are strifes among you.” The strifes mentioned in this verse are also contrary to the fellowship.
In verse 12 Paul goes on to say, “Now I mean this, that each of you says, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.” Because the Corinthians said such things, they were out of the fellowship. To say, “I am of Paul,” is to be outside the fellowship of the Son of God. Even those who said, “I am of Christ,” were not in the fellowship.
The Corinthians were divided by their preferences and choices. Paul, however, wanted them to realize that they had been called into one fellowship. This means that they had been called into one participation, one appreciation, one enjoyment, one preference, one choice. Those who said, “I am of Paul,” appreciated Paul and enjoyed him. The same was true of those who said that they were of Apollos or of Cephas. But the fellowship in 1:9 is our participation in Christ; it is our enjoyment and appreciation of Him and our preference for Him. In these verses Paul seems to be saying to the believers at Corinth, “Don’t say that you are of this person or of that person. You all must realize that you have been called into one enjoyment, appreciation, preference, and choice. You have been called into one fellowship, and this is the Son of God as our portion. We all are in the fellowship of Christ.”
In 1:23 and 24 Paul says, “But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews an offense, and to the nations foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, God’s power and God’s wisdom.” God has called us into the fellowship of Christ, the unique One. This One is the power of God and the wisdom of God to us who have been called.
First Corinthians 1:30 says, “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, Who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” God has put us into Christ, and now we are in Him. Formerly, we were in Adam, but we have been transferred out of Adam and into Christ. This was not an outward transfer; it was an inward transfer of life. In life we have been transferred from one realm into another, from Adam into Christ. Now we all can declare, “Hallelujah, I am in Christ! How happy I am to be in Christ!”
Being in Christ is a tremendous matter. Far from being a mere doctrine, this is a marvelous fact. We are in Christ, and Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. He is the embodiment of the Triune God. How wonderful that we are in such a Person!
In 1:30 Paul tells us that Christ has become wisdom to us from God. This wisdom comprises righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Righteousness is related to substance, whereas sanctification is related to action. We may say that righteousness is a thing, but sanctification is a matter that involves a process. Sanctification implies the action of being sanctified. Redemption also is not merely a thing, but a matter that involves a process, for it involves the action of being redeemed.
It is significant that in verse 30 Paul speaks of righteousness, but not of justification, and of sanctification, but not of holiness. Why does Paul speak of righteousness but not holiness, and why does he speak of sanctification and redemption, but not of justification? We have pointed out that righteousness is Christ for our past, that sanctification is Christ for the present, and that redemption is Christ for the future. Because our past life was sinful, we need Christ to be our righteousness for the past. Because our present life is not holy, sanctified, we need Christ to be our present sanctification that we may become holy and separated unto God. In the future our body will be redeemed. Hence, redemption is for the future. This interpretation of righteousness, sanctification, and redemption is not wrong; however, it is not sufficiently practical. We need to understand righteousness, sanctification, and redemption in a deeper and more experiential way.
Whenever we truly enjoy Christ in our daily life and experience Him, He becomes righteousness to us. This is different from saying that Christ justifies us or that He becomes our justification. Paul is certainly correct in using the word righteousness in verse 30 instead of justification.
Once again I would use an illustration from married life to show how Christ can become righteousness to us. Whenever a husband and wife argue and exchange words, both parties consider themselves to be completely right. Actually, it is not accurate to say that either the husband or the wife is altogether right. Suppose the husband genuinely enjoys Christ in his daily living. Then Christ will become righteousness to him. The more he enjoys the Lord, the more Christ becomes righteousness to him. As a result, he will realize that, for the most part, he is wrong in relation to his wife. Likewise, if the wife enjoys Christ, He will become righteousness to her, and she will have the same realization about herself. She will sense that she is wrong to argue with her husband and that he is much more right than she is. By this we see that the more we enjoy Christ, the more we become fair, just, upright, and righteous. Moreover, the more a husband and wife enjoy Christ, the more they will condemn themselves and not the other party. The husband will realize that he is wrong and will condemn himself, and the wife will do the same thing. This will keep them from arguing and exchanging words. In this way, Christ becomes righteousness to them day by day.
By nature, no human being is truly righteous. Not even husbands and wives are righteous with one another. On the contrary, they are often unrighteous. Brothers, do you honestly believe that you are righteous with your wife? Sisters, are you righteous with your husband? During the years of your married life, have you always been righteous with your spouse? I do not believe that any married person can testify honestly that he or she has always been righteous. The reason we are not righteous is that we do not have the adequate enjoyment of Christ. But if we enjoy Christ continually in our daily life, we shall become the most righteous of people.
Righteousness is actually Christ Himself. Christ, therefore, is not merely to be righteousness for our past so that we may be justified by God; He should also be our present righteousness in our daily living. I have come to realize this not from books, but through Christian experience. Furthermore, this realization did not come easily; it was the result of facing many problems and difficulties.
If we enjoy Christ in our daily living and if He becomes righteousness to us in a practical way, we shall become special people, a sanctified people. Instead of being common, we shall be separated to God.
It is very common for husbands and wives to argue. Every married couple does this. If our married life is common, we are not sanctified in our married life. But should a brother be delivered from arguing with his wife because Christ has become righteousness to him, he will be a special husband, a particular husband, a husband who is sanctified, separated to God. Christ as our daily righteousness causes us to become sanctified and separated persons. No longer are we common; rather, we are separate from others. Therefore, in our daily living Christ should be not only our righteousness, but also our sanctification.
When we are sanctified and separated unto God, we are also redeemed. This means that we are brought back to God. Whenever a husband and wife quarrel, they are carried away from the Lord. But when Christ becomes righteousness and sanctification to them, spontaneously they are brought back to God. This is redemption. As we have pointed out, redemption includes termination, replacement, and being brought back to God. Thus, redemption is actually transformation.
If we enjoy Christ daily, He will become our righteousness. Then Christ as our righteousness will make us different from others. We shall be sanctified and separated unto God by Christ as our sanctification. Automatically this sanctification will bring us back to God, from whom we have gone astray. This is the experience of Christ as our redemption. Furthermore, this redemption terminates us and causes us to be replaced with what Christ is. This is transfiguration. The future redemption of our body will be the transfiguration of the body. But today we may experience Christ as the One who transfigures our inner being. Thus, Christ will be not only our transfiguration in the future but is also our present transfiguration, redemption, in our being.
Paul wanted the Corinthians to realize that they were foolish to have divisions and preferences. It was foolish for them to say that they were of a particular person. God had called them into the fellowship of His Son, into the fellowship of the One who is God’s wisdom and power. This is the Christ who, in our experience, becomes righteousness to us, who sanctifies us, and who brings us back to God by terminating us and replacing us with Himself.
