Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, Redemption
Like stepping into a warm shower after a bitter wind, His life surrounds and restores us.
Devotional Credit: E. Stanley Jones, In Christ
Photo Credit: Unsplash
E. Stanley Jones continues his unfolding vision of the believer’s riches in Christ by turning to 1 Corinthians 1:30: “He [God] is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” This single verse becomes a treasury of spiritual wealth, showing that in Christ we inherit what entire cultures once strained for—and failed to attain on their own terms.
Greek civilization pursued wisdom, but their intellectual pride and systemic injustice undermined their brilliance. Jewish culture longed for righteousness, but its laws hardened into legalism, birthing the self-righteousness of the Pharisee. Both cultures stumbled at the threshold of what they most desired. Yet in Christ, the fullness of these longings is not only realized but beautifully blended into a living reality. He is our wisdom—not a concept to study but a person to trust. He isour righteousness—not a standard to reach, but a life to receive. And the result is sanctification and redemption—not through effort or ancestry, but through union with Christ.
This is no abstract enrichment—it’s deeply practical. The mind of Christ leads us wisely through every situation. The righteousness of Christ forms in us a love-based morality that reflects God’s heart. We don’t strive toward these things—they are ours because Christ is ours. We simply abide in Him, and His life expresses them through us.
Personalized Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
You have not been left to wander through the fog of confusion or strive toward some unreachable moral high ground. Christ in you is your wisdom—I lead you in quiet confidence through every situation. You have My mind, renewed and aligned with heaven’s perspective, not the world’s patterns.
You no longer measure yourself by how well you perform. I am your righteousness, and that righteousness is alive—it flows through love, not law. You are not kept by a set of rules; you are kept by My indwelling presence. I sanctify you, not by demanding more of you, but by expressing more of Myself through you. This is not a self-improvement plan—it is the outflow of My life in you.
I am your redemption—not only from sin’s penalty, but from its power. I bought you out of the marketplace of self-effort and brought you into the freedom of abiding. You are enriched because I am yours and you are Mine.
Let your soul rest. Let your thoughts be formed by Me. Let your actions express My righteousness. All that I am has been given to you, and you will never lack what I am.
Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 1:30; Romans 5:17; Philippians 2:5; Galatians 2:20; John 15:4; Colossians 3:10
Real-Life Analogy
It’s like standing in a warm shower after walking through a bitter wind. The sting of the cold fades, replaced by a gentle, all-encompassing warmth. You’re no longer bracing yourself—you’re enveloped, cleansed, restored. You didn’t turn the faucet. You just stepped in.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, I rest in the richness of all You’ve made mine in Christ. I don’t need to search for wisdom or strive for righteousness—they are found in Him, and He is in me. Thank You for sanctifying me not by my striving, but by His life within. Thank You for redeeming me completely—past, present, and future. I rejoice in the freedom of abiding in the One who is my all. I walk forward today, not trying to become, but knowing I already am—in Christ.