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We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 1 Corinthians 2:7 God’s secret wisdom is a way of putting your life together with God at the center. This is what Jesus did. He did not ask, “What can I get out of this life on earth?” but, “What has the Father called me to do while I am here? How can I be a means of blessing others?” This will lead to a...

Among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age… But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 2:6-7 Paul speaks here of two kinds of wisdom—two ways of putting your life together: the wisdom of this age and God’s secret wisdom. It is important to grasp the difference so that we can choose which one to follow. The wisdom of this age is a way of puttin...

Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God. 1 Corinthians 1:30 The fourth dimension of your new identity in Christ is perhaps the most important of all: if you are in Christ, you are wise (though you will still make mistakes). Christ is our wisdom. Here is a simple definition of wisdom: the ability to put things together. In the Old Testament, we read about a man called Bezalel, who made the f...

But of him you are in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30 We have seen that in Christ, you are clean (though you still sin) because Christ is your righteousness. You are free (though you still struggle) because Christ is your redemption. You are holy (though you still live in the world) because Christ is your ho...

[God] made us alive together with Christ. Ephesians 2:5 What’s been taken out of the white-flour gospel? It says nothing whatsoever about becoming a new person in Christ. The nourishment that God put in has been taken out, and the result is that many Christians have missed out on the substance that will build up their spiritual lives. To be a Christian is to be in Jesus Christ. When you are “in Ch...

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Perhaps you have made the switch from white bread to whole-grain bread. You were told that white flour has most of the goodness taken out of it, so you began baking your own bread, and it is fantastic. Some of us have got used to a white-flour gospel—a gospel that has much of the goo...

As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. John 17:18-19 The fourth dimension of your holiness is that you are sent to the world. When Jesus says, “I consecrate [that is, sanctify] myself,” He is not talking about a gradual growth in holiness. He is the Holy One. He fulfilled everything that...

I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. John 17:6 The third dimension of your holiness is that you are called. You may have heard the phrase that we are called to be “in the world but not of it.” That’s a good summary, and it comes directly from John 17. Notice the words of Jesus: “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world” (17...

The glory that you have given me I have given to them. John 17:22 That is a staggering statement. You share in Jesus’ glory! This is the second dimension of your holiness. Donald Grey Barnhouse was a church minister in Philadelphia. He conducted many weddings, but he never took money for doing them. This is what he says: For many years it has been my custom whenever I married anybody, that when th...

“Yours they were, and you gave them to me.” John 17:6 In making you holy, God has put you in an entirely new position in relation to Christ and to the world. Four things are true of you in Christ: You are given, glorified, called, and sent. The first dimension of your holiness is that you are given. You are the gift of the Father to the Son. You are His, so be who you are. It is natural for us to...

You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11 Here, Paul is talking about something that has already happened. “You were sanctified.” In this case, it is not an ongoing process. It is a completed act. The word holy, or holiness, is used in two ways in the Bible. The original Hebrew word could mean two...

Christ Jesus, who became to us… sanctification. 1 Corinthians 1:30 We have seen that in Christ you are clean, and in Christ you are free. Now we come to the third dimension of who we are in Jesus Christ: Christ is our holiness. Another word for holiness is sanctification. These words mean the same thing, and it is worth knowing them both. Now this is an area where it is easy to become confused, so...

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 There is a wonderful line in Victor Hugo’s great book Les Misérables. It is the story of Jean Valjean, a heartless criminal. A bishop shows him great kindness, and it changes his life. But later in the story, Jean Valjean’s past gets the better of him, and he steals a coin from a lit...

Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11 Maybe you are thinking, It’s all very well to tell me that I am free, but I don’t feel very free. In fact, sometimes I feel totally defeated. That’s not surprising. If you have thought of yourself as a slave for years, it’s no easy thing to start living the life of a free person. We hear that Christ has redeemed us, but...

Christ Jesus, who became to us… redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30 Notice the centrality of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is at the heart of everything that is truly Christian. The way in which you become free is not through a technique but through a person. Christ is our redemption. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Paul gives us a marvelous description of the man in the ca...

How can we who died to sin still live in it? Romans 6:2 What does Paul mean when he says that we have “died to sin”? Most of us find that sin is still pretty much alive, and sometimes very powerful. If you are in Christ, you are now in a whole new position in relation to sin. You are not in the cage, you are in the field. Sin is still your enemy, but it is not your master. That’s why Paul says, “S...

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. Colossians 1:13 Sin is a power. When it gains a grip in your life, it will not let go. Paul says, “Sin reigned” (Rom. 5:21). It is like a tyrant. It bossed you around. The impulses of sin were in the driver’s seat of your life. Sin was your master. But now, in Christ, Paul says we have “died to si...

Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 The gospel touches the deepest issues of our lives, even the most powerful issues of temptation and addiction. Is Christ able to help you here? If we...

Christ Jesus, who became to us… redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30 If we are in Christ, we are a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come. The heart of the Christian life is that you discover who you are in Jesus Christ, and then be who you are. We’ve seen that the first step in discovering our new identity in Christ is knowing that you are clean. The second step is knowing that you are fre...

Christ Jesus, who became to us … righteousness 1 Corinthians 1:30 In order to understand your purity in Christ, the first thing you need to know is that Christ is your righteousness. The second thing you need to know is that Christ’s righteousness is yours. Imagine that you are living in a derelict building that will soon be pulled down, and you have nowhere to go. Then you meet a man who offers h...

That I may… be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own… but that which comes through faith in Christ. Philippians 3:8-9 The issue on the last day will not be how righteous Christ has made you but how righteous Christ is for you. Some think the important thing is how righteous we have become. If you put sugar into a cup of tea, it makes the tea sweet. In the same way, they say, Christ im...

Christ Jesus, who became to us… righteousness. 1 Corinthians 1:30 If you are to grasp and enjoy your new purity in Christ, there are two things you need to know, and they are both right here in this verse. The first one is that Christ is your righteousness. Your faith does not make you right with God, nor does your repentance, or your performance in the Christian life. Your service cannot make you...

To the one who… believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. Romans 4:5 God justifies sinners. This is mind-boggling. You would expect this verse to say that God justifies the righteous. If God is just, surely He should be looking to justify people who have not broken His law. But nobody is righteous—not even one person (3:10). If God justified only the righteo...

You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11 This is the first of the four dimensions of our new identity in Christ: when we are in Christ, we are clean, though we still sin. The word the Bible uses to describe this is justification. “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God throu...

Because of [God] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30 This is one of the most marvellous statements in the whole of the Bible. In earlier verses, Paul reminds us that God calls ordinary, unimpressive human beings like us, who have nothing very much to boast about. Then he says it is because of Him (God the Fa...