Greater Riches than the Treasures in Egypt (1)

by Charles H. Welch

No.1. All things ours, in Christ 

(I Cor. i. 30; iii. 21 - 23). 

In another series of articles, the typical history of Israel from the Exodus to the Jordan came before us as we considered the application to ourselves of the text: 

“The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions” (Obad. 17). 

In the present series we carry these typical lessons with us in heart and mind and survey those blessings which are ours in Christ, and ask ourselves as we do so, how far can we truthfully say that we “possess our possessions”? We are sure that God will abide faithfully by all His promises, but there is such a thing as apprehending that for which we have been apprehended of Christ Jesus (Phil. iii. 12). 

The blessings that are ours through Christ can be considered under three headings: 

(1) Blessings of Salvation. Such would include: Justification, Sanctification, Forgiveness, Life and Peace. 

(2) Blessings of our Calling. Such blessings would be “dispensational” in character, and look to the sphere of blessing, the character of our calling,“Heavenly places” and “One Body” for example. 

(3) Blessings in Service. True service is rendered in newness of life, and accomplished by the power of the Risen Christ. 

Two related passages in I Corinthians will open this series of studies by their very comprehensiveness, sweeping aside all human merit, and revealing unlimited blessing to be the believer’s portion in Christ Jesus. 

The reader knows that the Corinthian Church was splitup into coteries, one claiming Paul, another Apollos, another Cephas, and yet another Christ Himself as a party leader. The Corinthians moreover, being Greeks, placed a high value on human wisdom, and this the Apostle brings to the touchstone of the Cross. Although Paul uses strong language as he denounces the folly of these believers, he concludes his double attack upon “man’s wisdom”, not with invective or censure, but by revealing that all the time, if any man is in Christ, he already possesses all things including “wisdom” at its highest. Here are the two passages.

“Ye see your calling . . . . . that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (I Cor. i. 26-31). 

“Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (I Cor. iii. 21-23). 

Here are “possessions” indeed, which as from a Pisgah of faith, spread themselves out before our wondering gaze. It will be observed that both passages open with a warning “That no flesh should glory in His presence”. “Let no man glory in men”, and this warning we must obey if we are to possess our possessions. 

The English word “glory” is used in the N.T. to represent two very different concepts. It translates doxa “do all to the glory of God” (I Cor. x. 31), but it also translates kauchaomai “God forbid that I should glory” (Gal. vi. 14). It is the word kauchaomai that occurs in I Cor. i. 29, 31 and iii. 21. This word is allied with aucheo “to boast, please oneself”, which some lexicographers believe is connected with, if not derived from, the Greek word auchen “the neck”. The Psalmist says “speak not with a stiff neck” (Psa. lxxv. 5) and Isaiah speaks of those who were haughty, and “walk with stretched forth necks” (Isa. iii. 16). Kauchaomai is used by the LXX for the “triumph” of the wicked (Psa. xciv. 3) and for the “joyful” praise of the saints (Psa. cxlix. 5). So also in the N.T. the word can speak of “glorying” in men and in appearance or of “glorying” in the Lord. Salvation is by grace “lest any one should boast”, that is, boast in themselves. Yet the true circumcision “rejoices (or boasts) in Christ Jesus, and has no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. iii. 3). The Apostle was so sure that the whole testimony of the Word was against this boasting in self, that he combines the teaching of more than one O.T. passage under the saying: 

“According as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord”, 

a summary that not only appears in I Cor. i. 31, but which is repeated in II Cor. x. 17. 

Putting aside therefore all foolish boasting, let us come close to the enumeration of blessings which the Apostle has said are all ours in Christ. 

Before we can do justice to I Cor. i. 30, we are obliged to make a digression, because one small but important particle has not been translated in the A.V. of this passage. Kai is correctly rendered “and”, but the combination te kai demands something more. 

In a number of passages, the translation “both . . . . . and” is called for, and if these references are quoted, the reader may be the more willing to agree that something is missing in the A.V. translation of I Cor. i. 30. 

“These servants . . . . . gathered together . . . . . both bad and good” (Matt. xxii. 10). 

“All that Jesus began both to do and teach” (Acts i. 1). 

“Both Herod and Pontius Pilate” (Acts iv. 27). 

“Both gifts and sacrifices” (Heb. ix. 9). 

The omission of the word “both” from any of these passages would be detrimental. There is a logical and internal relation between those things which are annexed by te kai ‘both . . . . . and’, not only in the passages cited above, but in I Cor. i. 30. Translators may have found it difficult to use the word ‘both’ when translating I Cor. i. 30 but that does not justify ignoring the presence of te kai. There are other equivalents. “David also and Samuel” (Heb. xi. 32). “Whether they were men or women” (Acts ix. 2). 

The word ‘besides’ can be employed in the passage before us and the truth maintained. 

“But of Him, are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us, wisdom, besides righteousness, sanctification and redemption” (I Cor. i. 30). 

It appears that the Corinthians were already possessed of the fact that righteousness, sanctification and redemption were theirs, what the Apostle would have them recognize was that in the self same way ‘wisdom’ too was theirs in Christ. This was a truth that would be somewhat humbling to a Greek, for the Greeks sought after wisdom, even as the Jews sought after righteousness, and alas, both sought it in the power of the flesh. 

Paul has been at great pains to show that “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” is the Wisdom of God, despite even as the preaching of the cross is the Wisdom of God, despite the fact that in the eyes of the “wise” such a message is “foolishness”. This question of wisdom and the natural man is pursued in the second chapter of I Corinthians, and in chapter iii. the carnality of those who said “I am of Paul”, “I am of Apollos”, is exposed. This leads at length to the close of the chapter which reintroduces the fact that all the spiritual possessions of the believer are found in Christ. 

“For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (I Cor. iii. 21-23). 

Here are some of our ‘possessions’. They are all ours. It is evident upon reading the two epistles, that the Corinthians were far from entering experimentally into this treasure, and it will be salutary to go over the ground now surveyed so that we too may learn what to avoid, and how these things may become our own, not only as they are ours already “in Christ Jesus”, but in apprehension and life. 

We shall have to give fuller heed to the repeated warning against ‘boasting’ or ‘glorying’ in men or the flesh. We shall have to ponder what is implied in the words ‘Who of God is made unto us’. We shall have to deal separately with the great gifts, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. We shall need to consider what is implied in the words “All things are yours”, and to examine carefully the list given in I Cor. iii. 22; a list that includes life and death, things present and things to come, and finally we shall have to give the most earnest consideration to the climax and the seal of all this teaching. 

“And ye are Christ’s: and Christ is God’s.” 

To devote most precious and important aspects of truth, therefore, we must devote ourselves in subsequent studies. 

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(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 41, page 110).
http://charleswelch.net/BE%20Vol%2041%20Final.pdf

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