The Established Path of Discipleship

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:30-31).

This is part 1 of a 4 part series.

Every time I write, I face the difficult task of expressing timeless truths with meager words. The words may or may not be meager; however, piecing them together in sentences that adequately describe the endless treasure of God’s truth is often daunting. This is why I ask God for wisdom daily, who promises to supply (Jas. 1: 5). His wisdom, embodied in Christ, guides our understanding of God’s truth and gives us confidence in expressing these truths.

One of my favorite summaries of what we have because of our union in Christ is 1 Corinthians 1:30-31. Paul lists four things: Christ our wisdom, Christ our righteousness, Christ our sanctification, and Christ our redemption. Before discussing the first one, I must mention the context.

In 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, Paul clarifies that our union with Christ is God’s doing, not ours. Our union with Christ is first a calling (v. 27)—not a calling that can be refused but one that comes from God’s choosing (vv. 27-28). It’s a humbling realization that God chose us—the unwise, unpowerful, the weak, the low, and the despised. This is who we are in the world. Nevertheless, because of God (v. 30), we are “in Christ Jesus.”

I read the book of Proverbs, and the amount of wisdom in one place overwhelms me. Proverbs are not promises but general guidance and wisdom on how life works. I often struggle with what to make of Proverbs like 26:4-5:

Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.

Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

So, which is it? To answer or not to answer. That is the question. The author is most likely communicating that there are times when we answer and times when we don’t. How do we distinguish between those times? Who can know how to apply the wisdom of Proverbs, that is, the wisdom of God, to every situation? Certainly not me. But who? Christ, who is our wisdom. When we ask God for wisdom, he provides that wisdom from Christ, who lives in us (Gal. 2:20). Does that mean we will apply this wisdom correctly every time? Of course not. We will muck it up often. So what consolation do we have?

Our consolation is that Christ is our wisdom. When we misapply, misunderstand God’s wisdom, and even respond sinfully, Christ is our wisdom. His role as our wisdom reassures us that God forgives and looks not at our clumsy attempts at wisdom. Instead, he looks at Christ’s perfect exercise of wisdom. This means that even when we fail to apply Christ’s wisdom correctly, God still sees us as righteous and forgiven because of our union with Christ. If God dealt with us in any other way, we would boast in our wisdom. Instead, in Christ, we boast that we know “the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth” (Jer. 9:24), and knowing the LORD is the wisdom of God.

My next post will cover Christ our righteousness.