“And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, …
who became to us (righteousness) from God,”
There are two scriptural descriptions for the modes in which our life in Christ operates. One is grace and the other is faith. Grace is God’s ministry of love to us and faith is our response to God’s love and grace. It is God’s power, however, providing context for love-grace and faith.
Last week we looked at discernment-wisdom as our response to God’s provision of love-grace. The same principal of love-grace and faith apply as we switch our focus to righteousness. Love and grace are constant companions for believers in Christ. No one can snatch us out of the Father’s hand (John 10-29). Love and grace are fundamental to our relationship in Christ and the fullness of our faith. Our faith effects (not affects) knowledge, wisdom, behavior and hope including the smile on our face.
Grace and faith are context shepherding our focus on righteousness. Because of God we are in Christ who became our righteousness. We alluded last week to the relationship between justification and righteousness. Paul sets the scene at the end of Romans 4 for this statement in 5:
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”
This passage is based upon a promise God made to Abraham that he would become a great nation. Abraham was 75 without a child when he believed God even though he was 100 years old before God blessed his barren wife Sarah with Isaac his son. We read God’s promise in Genesis 12 and His fulfillment in chapter 21.
This biblical narrative illustrates our discussion. It contains God’s promises, His grace and love including our faith response. Paul sums it up nicely for us:
“In hope he (Abraham) believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “so shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about one hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he drew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he has promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” Romans 4:18–5:2 (ESV).
We need to read this passage several times allowing it to soak in. Abraham gave God the glory for what had not yet taken place, fully convinced God would do what he had promised. He is almost one hundred years old, his wife Sarah is barren, way past child barring years, but praising God for his son who is not yet born.
Abraham is an example of God’s grace working so that we can understand what makes no sense to believe. This teaches us how God provides spiritual knowledge when we love Him. Spiritual knowledge includes the assurance of what we can’t explain but have the absolute audacity to accept as true, it is what we call faith.
Paul himself gives thanks for the Corinthians, whom scholarship agrees were carnal Christians, for the grace enriching them in speech and knowledge –“so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:6-9).”
This is also context for our verse, 1 Corinthians 1:30:
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who become to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption”
Paul goes on to explain:
“but we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages of our glory. … these things God has revealed to us through the spirit. For the spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. … Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given to us by God (1 Corinthians 2:7-12).”
This would be impossible unless God made the recipients of His Spirit with capacity for understanding Him. To put it another way, we had to be made righteous. God is righteousness and it is inherently necessary in our holy, intimate relationship with Jesus, the Son of Man, be conducted in His holy nature, 2 Peter 1:3ff. Grace becomes a relationship!
One of God’s inherent attributes is righteousness. Righteousness is communicable and possessed by believers through the seed of God planted in us by new birth. New birth means created in the likeness of God Himself and it is our task to exploit His likeness in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24). Righteousness is the standard for our “fruit” because it is who we are in Christ. Paul tells the Philippians their knowledge and discernment will produce “the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:9-11).”
God’s grace and love works today as it did in Abraham’s day. Our faith works the same way also. “Willing” ourselves, in Christ, to exploit the riches of His righteous grace produces righteousness in our life. His righteousness in us makes His work on the cross visible bringing glory and honor to Himself. This is why John can say that everyone who practices righteousness is born of God (1John 2:29). Our purpose in Christ is to be righteous as He is righteous, or, in Christ’s own words, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples (John 15:8).” We are created in Christ Jesus for good works, Ephesians 2:10.
There is righteous fruit within us because Christ is in us (Col.1:27). Because others have not yet tasted its sweetness does not mean it isn’t there. First, there must be a branch on which a bud can form. That bud must open into a blossom before it can yield its fruit. But still the fruit is not ready to be harvested until the season is full term. Through the whole process of yielding fruit it is perfect but not complete.
The branch or bud may not be perfect in appearance. It probably has punctures from animals or birds. It may very well have been been pruned and climbed on by childhood adventurers. Some of the blossoms were felled by sprinklers and heavy rain lying on the ground wilted. But it is perfect for its intended purpose in each of its diverse conditions.
Even the blossoms themselves had to struggle against the preying ants and insecticides but they over came because life was adequate to sustain them through its season in order to become complete and yield its fruit. The blossoms provided beauty and fragrance even though they were not yet fruit because they were perfect, just not complete.
Righteousness is a quality or state of being itself in the goodness God intends according to His purpose. Righteousness is an inherent quality of God possessed by any 2Corinthinas 5:17 person; righteousness seeks expression through the life of that person to make God visible.
Righteousness is a required state for fellowship with God.