1 Corinthians 1
Lipscomb1 Corinthians 1:1-16
And I baptized also the household of Stephanas:—The household of Stephanas were the first fruits of Achaia. (1 Corinthians 16:15). Because it is said that Paul baptized the households of Stephanas, Lydia, and the jailer (Acts 16:15; Acts 16:34), some endeavor to prove that infant baptism was practiced in the apostolic age, on the ground that these families contained infants and that when Paul baptized the household he must have baptized the infants. But that these three persons, one a woman in business of whose husband nothing is said, had infant children is far from certain. Nor does the phrase “baptized the household” make it certain that the infants, if there were any, were baptized. [For we are told that the nobleman “believed, and his whole house” (John 4:53); that Crispus “believed in the Lord with all his house” (Acts 18:8); that the jailer “rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God” (Acts 16:34); that Cornelius “feared God with all his house” (Acts 10:2); and that “the house of Stephanas… is the first- fruits of Achaia, and that they have set themselves to minister unto the saints” (1 Corinthians 16:15). But this by no means implies that in these five houses there were no infants, or that infants believed the gospel, feared god, or rejoiced but that those capable of understanding the gospel believed it and rejoiced. Just so in reference to baptism. Consequently these passages render no aid whatever to those contending for infant baptism.]
besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.—[Paul guards against the statement being taken absolutely, so that any slight error in it could be used against him. The Spirit was given to the apostles to lead them into all the truth (John 16:13); but it was truth relative to man’s salvation which was thus made known to them, and not truth like the fact here mentioned, the certain knowledge of which was of no use to the world.]
1 Corinthians 1:2
unto the church of God—The church is a divine name for the disciples of Christ in a city or community. The term church is used in a general and universal sense, also in a specific and local sense. In its universal sense it embraces all the spirits in the universe that obey God as the ruler and the lawgiver. (Hebrews 12:22-29). In its local sense it embraces all persons in a community who have been called out, separated from the world by the gospel, and who are bound together by a common faith in Jesus Christ. While in the world we can know and approach this church only in its local manifestations. So far as this church is composed of spirits that are invisible, the church is invisible; so far as it is composed of visible men and women, it is a visible body.
No visible being can be a part or a member of an invisible church, any more than visible arms and legs can compose an invisible body. If a visible material person is a member of the church, he is a member of the visible local church where he lives. All Christians in the days of the apostles were members of the local churches. They became so by obedience to God. These local churches were bodies distinct and separate, without any organic connection with one another. Each was a distinct body within itself.
The members of these local assemblies, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, chose their own overseers and workers. The local congregation was the highest and only manifestation of the church. Each congregation stood on a perfect equality with all others. The elders of the local congregation were the highest “dignitaries” of the church, and they were chief servants and ruled by example rather than by authority.
which is at Corinth,—The members of the church at Corinth had fallen into many sinful habits, yet Paul recognized them as a church of God.
even them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus,—The sanctified are set apart or separated to a sacred service of purpose. It does not mean that they were sinless, or free from temptation from sin; but consecrated to the service of God. All who have entered into Christ, and have obligated themselves to serve him, are said to be sanctified in Christ Jesus regardless of their degree of consecration or perfection of character. There are degrees of sanctification just as there are degrees of Christian knowledge and fidelity to Christ. The growth in sanctification and holiness is to be attained by a constant and persistent study of God’s will, and a daily effort to bring oneself into obedience to the same.
The claim that religion in any of its parts is to be obtained otherwise than through learning the word of God and striving faithfully to do the things commanded is a sad mistake that results in the perversion of religion from a faithful, self-denying service to a spasmodic feeling or impulse of excitement. True religion is to be felt and appreciated, not as fleshly excitement or emotion, but as the result of right thinking and doing. It is the abiding consciousness of duty performed to the best of one’s ability. This feeling of joy and happiness that thus comes is permanent and enduring. All excitement of the fleshly emotions are short lived and deceptive.
called to be saints,—All who accept the invitation offered in the gospel are the called of Jesus Christ. Saints are sanctified ones, set apart to the service of God.
with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ— [To call upon is to invoke his aid. To call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord is to invoke his aid as the Christ, the Messiah predicted by the prophets, and as our almighty and sovereign possessor and ruler. It is in that sense that Jesus is Lord. All authority in heaven and on earth was committed unto him (Matthew 28:18) after he died and rose again that he might be the Lord of the dead and of the living; that is, that he might acquire that peculiar right of possession in his people which arises from his having purchased them with his own blood. (Acts 20:28). To call upon the name of Jesus as Lord is therefore to worship him. It looks to him for that help which God only can give.
All Christians, therefore, are the worshipers of Christ. And every sincere worshiper is a true Christian. The phrase expresses not so much an individual act of invocation, as an habitual state of mind and its appropriate expression.]
in every place,—This shows that while the epistle was written directly to, and for the instruction of the church at Corinth, it was also intended for the instruction and use of all who call upon the name of Jesus Christ at all times and in all places. In other words, it was an epistle for universal use.
their Lord and ours:—This means that Jesus is at once the Lord and Savior of all God’s children wherever they be.
1 Corinthians 1:3
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.—This is a prayer that favor be unto them and peace that God and Christ have and alone can give should be given unto them. This peace nothing can destroy.
1 Corinthians 1:4
I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus;—He thanked God for the great favor that had been shown them as servants of Christ Jesus. [He congratulates them on the abundant gifts and graces bestowed on them from God, and to express his hope as to their spiritual progress; in order, by a praise calculated to conciliate their good will, to introduce, with less offense, the reproofs which their state rendered is necessary for him to administer, and which he skillfully introduces. There was much to be thankful for, and hopeful about, in the Corinthian church. And on this he first dwells, in order to appeal to their better feelings, and thus place the contrast in stronger relief, and so fix a deep conviction of sin.]
1 Corinthians 1:5
that in everything ye were enriched in him,—In the fourteenth chapter Paul mentions the many gifts bestowed on the church at Corinth, showing that in everything they, as a church of Jesus Christ, had received blessings and favors that spiritually enriched them, or placed the rich gifts of the favors unto which these gifts brought.
in all utterance—The ability to speak the gospel in different tongues.
and all knowledge;—The spiritual gifts that would bestow all knowledge needful for salvation and the power of imparting it to others by the gift of tongues had been freely bestowed on the members of the church at Corinth. These gifts had been so distributed to the members of the church that they would supply the knowledge of God’s will to them.
1 Corinthians 1:6
even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:— The testimony concerning Jesus was confirmed by the miracles wrought and the gifts bestowed, making sure that the things spoken were from God.
1 Corinthians 1:7
so that ye come behind in no gift;—The gifts were so freely bestowed that they fell behind other churches in no gift. “For what is there wherein ye were made inferior to the rest of the churches, except it be that I myself was not a burden to you?” (2 Corinthians 12:13).
waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ;—These gifts were to impart all instruction and knowledge while they waited the coming, or restitution, of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is difficult to determine whether this coming refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, which would be a full confirmation of all that had been said of Christ and the apostles; or whether to “when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed… in that day.” (2 Thessalonians 1:10). [That it has reference to the latter there can be but little doubt, since the Lord promised his anxious disciples when he was about to leave them that he would return, and this promise was renewed by the angel on the very day that he ascended into heaven. (Acts 1:11). It became the settled hope of Christians that he would return. (Titus 2:12-13; 2 Peter 3:12; Hebrews 9:28). And the apostle John, who was present when Jesus ascended, closed the volume of inspiration with the earnest prayer that he would come quickly. (Revelation 22:20). The expectancy of the coming of the Lord steadied and strengthened the Christian life, and probably here it is introduced as the motive by which they were kept from anything that would impoverish their spirituality. This earnest desire and expectation is the greatest proof of maturity and richness of the Christian life.]
1 Corinthians 1:8
who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye be unreprovable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.—God would so confirm them in the truth of what had been taught them that they would remain steadfast and be blameless when Christ should come to judge the world. [This would cause them to hold themselves in readiness for that great day, not knowing when it might come.]
1 Corinthians 1:9
God is faithful,—He assures them that God is faithful to do what he has promised. If they continued steadfast in their obedience to him, he would preserve them without blame, through the power he exerts in Christ Jesus.
through whom ye were called into the fellowship—Fellowship with Christ means a partnership with him, a merging our individuality in the body of Christ. Earthly partnerships are limited. Business partnerships are limited to the business proposed in the combination. The relation of husband and wife is the most extended partnership of this life, yet it is limited. The partnership in Christ is unlimited as to time or objects of accomplishments. The completeness of the partnership is indicated by the comparison to the union of the fleshly in one body.
They are indissolubly joined together; the interest of the one is the interest of all. One cannot possibly prosper at the cost or detriment of another. If “one member suffereth, all the members [the whole body] suffer with it.” (1 Corinthians 12:26). If one member prospers, all rejoice with it, the union is complete.
of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.—Of that partnership Christ is Head. He is Head in the sense that from him all the strength and power come, all the wisdom descends. He is the center to which all the members are bound, from him all the impulses and guidance flow. [Paul’s whole desire was to rivet the mind of the Corinthian church to the name of Jesus Christ. He makes no mention of any apostle or teacher, but evermore of Jesus. Nowhere in any other epistle is the name of Jesus Christ so often repeated. In these introductory verses, he repeats the name nine times, making it the connecting link of the whole introductory part of the epistle. The frequent mention of his name doubtless grew out of the desire of the apostle to draw them away from their party admiration of particular teachers to Christ alone.]
1 Corinthians 1:10
Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,—Paul, as a brother in Christ, tenderly entreats them from God, speaking for Jesus Christ and by his authority (2 Corinthians 5:20), [not to let any other name eclipse the name of Jesus Christ, by making it a rallying point around which to gather.]
that ye all speak the same thing,—To speak the same thing is to speak only as they were taught by the Holy Spirit, with which he had told them they had been richly endowed.
and that there be no divisions among you;—They were divided over their favorite teachers or ministers. [The divisions which existed in Corinth were not of the nature of hostile sects refusing communion with each other, but such as may exist in the bosom of the same congregation, consisting in alienation of feeling and party strife.]
but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.—To be of the same mind and the same judgment must be practical among Christians, else Paul would not have urged it. But it is practical only when all follow the things taught by the Lord. By deferring our judgment to his teaching and following the same we can be one. When we change things which God directs or add things not taught by God, we will differ and divide. In any matter not taught by God involving no fidelity to his laws or to institutions, each must defer to the other.
1 Corinthians 1:11
For it hath been signified unto me concerning you, my brethren, by them that are of the household of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.—Chloe and her house are mentioned only here. They had probably come from Corinth to Ephesus where Paul was when he wrote this letter and had told him that contentions had arisen among them at Corinth, that divided them into factions and parties.
1 Corinthians 1:12
Now this I mean, that each one of you saith, I am of Paul;—Some Judaizers had come among them and denied that Paul was an apostle. Others became so zealous in his defense that they claimed to be his followers. He had planted the church, was plain, direct, and uncompromising in his teaching, withal was not commanding in appearance or elegant in speech. His enemies said: “His bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” (2 Corinthians 10:10).
and I of Apollos;—Apollos, an eloquent speaker and learned in the Scriptures, had gone among them, become popular and a party had sprung up claiming him as their teacher. At this writing he was with or near Paul (1 Corinthians 16:12), in communication with him and likely cognizant of the condition at Corinth, and of the writing of this letter.
and I of Cephas;—Others had come from Jerusalem and were now at Corinth. They claimed Peter as their leader and teacher, as he had been the leader at Jerusalem and in Judea.
and I of Christ.—Others still claimed to ignore all teachers and to be of Christ. This could be done in a partisan spirit. To ignore the teachers sent of Christ, and while doing this to claim to be of Christ, was to be a party. Jesus said: “He that heareth you heareth me; and he that rejecteth you rejecteth me; and he that rejecteth me rejecteth him that sent me.” (Luke 10:16).
1 Corinthians 1:13
Is Christ divided?—This was said in condemnation of their divided state. To divide and rend the church of Christ into parties is to divide Christ. The church is his spiritual body, to establish which he sacrificed his fleshly body. Then it is a greater sin to divide the church of Christ than it was to pierce and mutilate his fleshly body. He who introduces things not required by God, that cause division and strife, is guilty of the strife. All the divisions in the churches arise over the introduction of teachings, orders, and institutions not ordained of God. Hence the followers of Christ cannot divide—cannot introduce things not required by God.
was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized into the name of Paul?—That is, they should be followers of none, save him who died to redeem them, and into whose name they had been baptized. He does not mention Apollos, but shows the folly of human leaders by showing the sin of following himself instead of Christ. [To be “baptized into the name of” signifies to be baptized while engaging henceforth to belong to him in whose name the rite is performed. In the name is summed up all that is revealed regarding him who bears it, consequently all the titles of his legitimate authority. Baptism is therefore a taking possession of the baptized on the part of the one whose name is invoked on him. Never did Paul think for a moment of arrogating to himself such a position in relation to those who were baptized by him.]
1 Corinthians 1:14
I thank God that I baptized none of you,—He said this on account of their divisions and strife,
save Crispus and Gaius;—Crispus was one of the first converts (Acts 18:8), and was baptized before Timothy and Silas reached Corinth. Of Gaius we know but little. In the epistle to the Romans (1 Corinthians 16:23), he calls him “my host, and of the whole church.” He was doubtless one of the first converts.
1 Corinthians 1:15
lest any man should say that ye were baptized into my name.—Had he baptized in his own name he would have taken unto himself the honor that belonged to Christ alone.
1 Corinthians 1:17
For Christ sent me not to baptize,—By this he did not mean to deprecate baptism, or to say it was not important. An inspired man could not preach Christ without preaching baptism. Usually Paul was accompanied by his companions in labor who baptized those who believed under his preaching; but he went into Corinth unaccompanied by any of them (Acts 17:14; Acts 15; comp. 18:5), and “reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks” (Acts 18:4), and those persons most likely believed before the arrival of Silas and Timothy. So he baptized with his own hands those who believed, and after their arrival he baptized no more of them. They ministered to him by doing such service. Paul, no matter who were his companions, was the chief leader and teacher. His pre-eminence was marked and always recognized.
but to preach the gospel:—To preach the gospel is to preach Christ as God’s representative, and no one can preach Christ as he is represented in the Scriptures without teaching all he taught. Paul could only claim to be free from the blood of all men by declaring the whole counsel of God. (Acts 20:26-27).
not in wisdom of words,—Christ sent him to preach the gospel, not with the wisdom of learning, nor by the philosophy of human wisdom, nor with eloquent and persuasive speech, but with the simple facts of the gospel.
lest the cross of Christ should be made void.—The simple facts of the gospel, with the requirements growing out of them, told in an earnest and loving spirit, and not eloquence and learning, should be relied on to win men from their sins to serve the living God. [To a people thoroughly vitiated in their taste, the preacher of the gospel is open to the temptation of shading off those features of the gospel which are repulsive to the pride of the heart, and of urging the reception of it rather on the ground of its own “sweet reasonableness” than on its being an authoritative message from heaven.]
1 Corinthians 1:18
For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;—To those who reject the story of the cross, the death of Jesus for the deliverance of man from sin is all foolishness. They regard it so, treat it so, and it, standing to them as foolishness, has no influence or power to save.
but unto us who are saved it is the power of God.—The cross, which stands for the facts and truths of the gospel, is the power to save from sin. The idea that to humble himself as a servant, to suffer and die as a criminal, is the way to exert influence and power to overcome man and to lead him away from selfishness and sin is contrary to all feelings and propensities of human nature. While Christ reveals in his humanity a new power to men, and through thus humbling himself he can lead others away from sin, he also reveals to men a new and living way to happiness. The only sure way to happiness is to help others in the name of him who became a sin offering for the whole human family.
1 Corinthians 1:19
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, —The wisdom of the world is folly in the sight of God. The great living principle of salvation is that man must hear God and be guided by his wisdom. God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe and all things must be brought into harmony with his will and be subject to his laws. All God’s dealings with man are intended to bring about this end. The trouble with man is that he prefers to walk by his own wisdom rather than surrender to the wisdom of God. All God’s dealings with man from the beginning have been to show that man’s own wisdom has brought him to ruin. Therefore he must eschew it and seek the wisdom of God. (Isaiah 29:14; Jeremiah 8:9; Romans 1:16).
And the discernment of the discerning will I bring to nought.—So God has foretold that he would bring all the devices and inventions of human wisdom to nought by the things that seemed to men weak and foolish.
1 Corinthians 1:20
Where is the wise?—The wise doubtless were the Greek philosophers who sought after wisdom and claimed to be its chief upholders.
where is the scribe?—The scribes were a learned body of men, otherwise denominated lawyers, whose influence over the Jewish people was very great.
where is the disputer of this world?—The disputers were the Epicureans, Stoics, and other schools of philosophy devoted especially to disputation. None of these classes, the learned and wise of their nations, accepted the truth. Jesus said: “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes: yea, Father; for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight.” (Luke 10:21).
hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?— When properly used, learning, instead of being a hindrance, is a great help in coming to a knowledge of the truth; but if a man is puffed up by it, so as to think he is wise and not dependent upon God, it hinders. God has shown by his teachings and dealings with the world that all such wisdom is foolishness.
1 Corinthians 1:21
For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God,—To know God is to know his character, will, judgments, and his manner of dealings with man, when he will bless and when he will curse. It was a part of the wisdom of God, in ordering all things, that man by his own wisdom should not thus know God.
it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe.—Nothing in man can teach him these things. He is dependent upon God made known through the preaching of the gospel which seems foolishness to man. The gospel is a revelation of God and of his will made known through Christ. Those who believe in Christ and accept him and his teachings as the true wisdom of God will be saved by it. The things suggested by human wisdom cannot save.
1 Corinthians 1:22
Seeing that Jews ask for signs,—The Jews had been trained to accept the revelation of God attested by signs and miracles. It was the test of one claiming to be a teacher of the truth. The Jews repeatedly asked signs of Jesus. (Matthew 12:38; Matthew 16:1; Mark 8:11-12; Mark 14:48).
and Greeks seek after wisdom:—The Greeks asked philosophy—wisdom of the world. The religion of the Jews was based on signs and miracles; [but the more they got of them; the less they were satisfied; contrariwise, the Greeks looked with philosophic indifference on the whole field of the supernatural, regarding even the resurrection of Christ as adding but one more of the already plentiful childish fables, fit only for the simple-minded. “Give us wisdom” was their cry—anything that will carry its own evidence on its face. Nor was this state of things a peculiarity of that time. Every age has its blind devotees of supernatural interposition and its self-sufficient worshipers of human reason.]
1 Corinthians 1:23
But we preach Christ crucified,—This they did as the only means offered to man to escape sin and its penalties.
unto Jews a stumblingblock,—Jesus was a living miracle and sign in his life, his teaching, and his works. The life and teaching of Jesus are as much a miracle, above human power, as were the works he performed. They are not so striking to the unthinking mind, but the life and teaching of Jesus are just as far above the capacities of man as it is beyond the power of man to raise the dead. The Jews could not account for his wonderful life. [It is well known that to the Jews no doctrine was more offensive than that the Messiah was to be put to death, and that there was to be salvation in no other way. It was so in the time of Paul, and it has been so ever since.]
and unto Gentiles foolishness:—His whole teaching and manner of helping man was without reason or sense to the philosophic Greeks. They could see neither reason nor sense in it. [Nothing in the apprehension of the modernist can be more absurd than that the blood of the cross can remove sin, promote virtue, and secure salvation; or that the preaching of that doctrine is to convert the world.]
1 Corinthians 1:24
but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks,— The called were those who believed in Jesus and accepted the invitation to come unto him. And those who accepted him were not those filled with the conceit of their own wisdom and self-sufficiency; but those conscious of their own weakness, willing to hear, and be guided by his wisdom.
Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.—The provisions made in Christ for the salvation of men embodied what God in his wisdom saw was best to save man, and in these provisions the full power of God to save is found.
1 Corinthians 1:25
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men;—The things provided by God that seem foolish to man have much more true wisdom than the things that seem to man the greatest wisdom.
and the weakness of God is stronger than men.—The things of God that seem to man weak have more strength in them than the mightiest of man’s devices. The seemingly weakest of God’s appointments, used in God’s name for God’s honor and glory as he directs, have all the power and strength of God in them.
1 Corinthians 1:26
For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:—This will bear two constructions. One is, not many worldly or great ones accept the divine call and become servants of God. The other is, that not many wise, noble, or great ones of earth are chosen of God to preach the gospel. Both propositions are true. The latter one seems more in harmony with the context.
1 Corinthians 1:27
but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise;—God to show his power and presence, and to manifest the folly of man’s wisdom, and the weakness of his greatest inventions, chose the things that to human wisdom appear foolish to confound or confuse the wisdom of the great ones.
and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong;—Jesus himself came as a helpless babe among the poorer classes of the people and without human power or greatness, and undertook the rescue of the world from the dominion of the evil one. All the appointments of God correspond to the character of Jesus and his condition, lack worldly wisdom. When man uses means fitted to the end sought, he is prone to attribute the result to the means used, to his wisdom in choosing the means. But when the conditions are inadequate to produce the end, then he who ordains the means is looked upon as the source of the power. Of such character was the separating the waters of the Red Sea, the throwing down the walls of Jericho, and the healing of Naaman of leprosy, and this is characteristic of God’s work generally. The things that seem foolish and weak to the wisdom of man are chosen by God to overturn the works of man, and to effect what his wisdom chooses to accomplish.
1 Corinthians 1:28
and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not,—God chose the things that seem base, that man despised as unworthy, and even things that are not—are dead—as Rachel weeping for her children; and she would not be comforted, because they are not—dead.
that he might bring to naught the things that are:—God depended upon a dead Christ to call them to repentance, to establish the reign and authority of God, overturn the mighty works of man that had been built up in the world in rebellion against God.
1 Corinthians 1:30
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,—By the provisions of God we are brought into Christ Jesus through faith. Faith affects the heart, the emotions, and directs the confidence and trust toward Christ. Faith carries into Christ only as it leads us to perform the acts that place us in Christ. Faith perfected by obedience is the bringing the whole man—”spirit and soul and body”—into harmony with the faith of the heart. Faith perfected by obedience embodied and expressed by repentance and baptism (Acts 2:38), puts us in Christ. “For ye are all sons of God. through faith, in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-27).
who was made unto us wisdom from God,—Jesus Christ with his works, teachings, and requirements is the perfection of divine wisdom to save man. When man acts according to his teaching and follows his ways, he appropriates and uses God’s wisdom to guide his steps. This lifts the humble man of earth above the weakness of his own wisdom and ignorance, and enables him to walk by the wisdom of God. When Solomon gave divine sanction to the wise proverbs of nations and peoples, he enabled everyone who has faith in God to appropriate this wisdom as his own and to walk by it. So Jesus Christ is to us the wisdom of God. “Behold, a greater than Solomon is here.” (Matthew 12:42).
and righteousness—Jesus suffered and died as though he was a sinful man that sinful men might stand clothed with the righteousness of God, and live as though he had never sinned. God is righteous, and for man to become righteous, he must live according to the will of God, that in character he may be like him. Man by faith enters into Christ, drinks into his spirit, walks as he walked, and so clothes himself with the righteousness of Christ, thus has God made him righteousness to us.
and sanctification,—Jesus sanctified himself that in him man might be sanctified or set apart to the service of God. Only in Christ, and walking in his wisdom, can man be set apart or sanctified to the services of God. Out of Christ man cannot serve God.
and redemption:—Jesus Christ came to rescue man from the thralldom of sin, and gave his life to rescue him from death. In Jesus Christ as his servant God will accept him. Thus is Christ made unto us redemption.
1 Corinthians 1:31
that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.—All these blessings came to man, not in his own name, or by walking in his ways, but as a servant of Jesus Christ, redeemed, sanctified, saved by him in fulfillment of the Scripture: “Thus saith Jehovah, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he hath understanding, and knoweth me, that I am Jehovah who exerciseth lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith Jehovah.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24). There is no room for man glorying in himself. His own wisdom, his own ways, his own strength brought death, and still bring only ruin. So he cannot glory in himself. He that glorieth in honors won, or in blessings enjoyed, must do it in the Lord, as he alone can guide with wisdom, clothe with righteousness, sanctify man to his service, and redeem him from his iniquities and from death.