But of him are ye in Christ Jesus

 

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus

 

1 Corinthians 1:30-31"But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according to it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

All salvation takes place in Christ. When a saint dies on the cross with Jesus Christ, God regenerates the saint into a spiritual body. This is receiving new life from heaven and becoming one who is in Christ.

And Jesus came from God and became to us wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and redemption. The Korean translation lists four things as wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and salvation, but the Greek Bible divides it into two: (wisdom) and (righteousness, holiness, and redemption). That is, it became Egene de Sophia (ἐγενήθη σοφία wisdom), and three things come from that wisdom. Wisdom means ho logos. Jesus came from God and became wisdom, or ho logos, to the saints. Therefore, the saints become righteous, holy, and redeemed from sin.

"So that, as it is written, 'He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.'" This is also mentioned in 2 Corinthians 10:16-18: "So that you do not boast in what you have accomplished by someone else's standard, but so that you may preach the gospel beyond your own region. He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord. For it is not he who commends himself who is approved, but he whom the Lord commends."

Those who boast by others' standards are, for example, those who boast of their faith based on the Pauline or Apollonian groups. It is difficult to use humans as a standard, not Christ. The Apostle Paul was criticized by false teachers in many ways. They said that the Apostle Paul was gentle in front of people but tough when he was away. They disparaged him as someone who seemed to have a sense of weight in his letters but was actually weak and not good at speaking. They criticized Paul as someone who walked according to the flesh. They said that he was a worldly person who was full of human desires, just like other people.

In response to these accusations, the apostle Paul did not fight in the same way as those who were accusing him. He was angry that he was being accused by false teachers, but he was more concerned about the Corinthian church members who might be deceived by them. He had barely restored the relationship with the tearful letter, but if the relationship was destroyed again by the lies and instigation of the false teachers, it would have been easy to lose the gospel he had preached to them. So he actively tried to clearly reveal his identity as an apostle and defend his apostolic office.

The apostle Paul points out the problem of false prophets in 2 Corinthians 10:12. "For we dare not compare ourselves with those who commend themselves, but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." The problem with false prophets was that they liked to praise themselves and insisted that only they were right. However, the apostle Paul said, "However, we do not boast beyond our means, but within the limits of the measure that God has allotted to us, which even extends to you." He tried to maintain a spiritual relationship with God and not go beyond his means. He did not boast beyond his means about the labor of others. He did not boast as if he had done what he had accomplished according to others' standards. The apostle Paul quoted Jeremiah 9 and said that those who boast should boast about the love, justice, and righteousness that the Lord has done on earth.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches. But let the one who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I, the LORD, exercise lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for in these things I delight,” declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 9 largely explains the sins of Israel in two ways. First, the sins of Israel were lies and slander. The tongues that were accustomed to lying would even deceive their brothers without hesitation, and they did not hesitate to slander their neighbors. Their tongues were even described as poisoned arrows that killed people. They spoke of peace with their mouths, but in their hearts they were thinking of harming each other. Even when these people spoke of obedience to God, it was nothing more than hypocrisy. This was because their hearts, filled with lies and slander, had no room for God. In other words, even though they spoke of obedience to God with their mouths, their hearts did not even have the heart to know God.

The second sin of Israel was their stubbornness in going against God’s word. God gave them the law to keep. The intention of giving it was not to make them into puppets, but rather God’s love to give them true freedom and lead them to the path of true life. So, through the law, they were to find Christ and find true freedom. However, they abandoned the law and followed the Baal gods according to their desires. They abandoned the path of true life that they had to follow against the desires of their flesh, and they needed a god who would fulfill their own desires and glory. God pointed out this sin of Israel and told Israel two things to keep in mind.

One is that God's people should boast not in their wisdom, strength, or wealth, but in knowing God and in the fact that God delights to exercise mercy, justice, and righteousness on this earth. In other words, they should boast that they have come to understand God, have the knowledge of God, and have the heart of God.

The two are that what God wanted to engrave in the hearts of the Israelites was circumcision of the heart. The external circumcision performed on Israel was a sign of the covenant between God and Israel, and a symbol of the promise that Israel would obey and devote themselves to God as the people chosen by God and made a covenant. The Israelites were very proud of circumcision, which was an external mark that showed that they were God's people. However, they forgot the essence of circumcision and began to focus only on the formality.

Therefore, when God tells us to circumcise our hearts, he is telling us to restore the original meaning of circumcision. He is telling us not to forget our nature as God's people and to live in accordance with God's will as God's people.

Today, the saints should boast that God acknowledged that sinners who deserved to die repented and died with Jesus, and gave them eternal life by resurrecting them and reviving them from heaven. They should not seek boasting in people, but in God. They should seek and boast about the love and grace that comes from God. That is the death and resurrection of the cross. Therefore, the saints should boast that they died with Jesus, were resurrected with Christ, and were seated in heaven in Christ.