1Cor 1:30 But of Him [God] you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption, Rom 5:18 …so also it was through one [Christ] righteous act unto justification of life to all men. 6:22 But now, having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end, eternal life. 8:23 And not only so, but we ourselves also…eagerly awaiting sonship, the redemption of our body.
In verse 30 both the punctuation and the grammar are significant. After the phrase "from God" there is a colon. This indicates that wisdom includes the three items which follow the colon, that is, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. According to Greek grammar, the word "both" is used with respect not to two items but to three. Although this is awkward in our language, the translation is accurate according to the Greek. In verse 30 Paul definitely says Christ "became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption." This wisdom implies righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Christ was made wisdom to us from God as three vital things in God's salvation: righteousness (for our past), by which we have been justified by God, that we might be reborn in our spirit to receive the divine life (Rom. 5:18); sanctification (for the present), by which we are being sanctified in our soul, that is, transformed in our mind, emotion, and will, with the divine life (Rom. 6:19, 22); and redemption (for the future), that is, the redemption of our body (Rom. 8:23), by which we will be transfigured in our body with His divine life to have His glorious likeness (Phil. 3:21). It is of God that we participate in such a complete and perfect salvation, making our entire being-spirit, soul, and body--organically one with Christ, and making Christ everything to us. It is altogether of God, not of ourselves, that we may boast and glory in Him, not in ourselves. (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 84. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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