'It is because of him ...' By these words Paul identifies God as the source and the cause of each believer's salvation. By God's will and by God's action we are saved.
' … you are in Christ Jesus ...' The particular description of our salvation which Paul here attributes to God, is that every believer is deemed by God to be 'in Christ'. This phrase refers to the union between Jesus Christ and those who believe in him. It is a union in which all that he did as our substitute is credited to us, and in which all that stood opposed to us was borne by him. Thus, the phrase 'in Christ' encompasses the complete salvation that we have when we are united by faith to Christ.
'... who has become for us ...'
'… wisdom from God ...' – those who are 'in Christ' know God. Knowing God by knowing Christ we now have a wisdom that the world can never attain, regardless of their level of human wisdom, education or intelligence. We understand truths that human wisdom has tried to discover for centuries. We understand not only who God is, but also that grace, not law, is the way of salvation. In knowing God, we see with absolute clarity that no one could ever be personally good enough, or personally qualified on the basis of law or 'good works', to satisfy the just and holy requirements of this God. This wisdom gained from Christ has thus revealed not only who God is, but who we ourselves are. For this reason, we never again trust in ourselves, but in Christ alone.
This 'wisdom from God' reveals that Christ alone is our righteousness, Christ alone is our holiness [or 'sanctification'], and Christ alone is our redemption. Christ is for us what God demands of us. He liberates us forever from having to depend on ourselves to supply what human wisdom states that we both ought and can supply.
Christ is '… our righteousness …' – this is a legal term referring to a declaration of acquittal – a 'not guilty' verdict resulting from the atoning, sin-bearing, sacrificial, substitutionary death of Jesus Christ in which he, on our behalf, took in full the just, legal penalty, punishment and condemnation due to our sin. Jesus Christ is our 'not guilty' verdict in the presence of the divine Judge. (Read: Romans 3:19-26; 5:6,8,10; 2Corinthians 5:21; 1Peter 2:24.)
Christ is 'our… holiness …' - elsewhere translated 'sanctification', this word refers to being set apart by God for God for his special use and purpose. Just as the Old Testament tabernacle and everything in it was sanctified by God's presence and glory [Exodus 29:41,42] or by a symbolic cleansing ritual [Leviticus 8:10, for example] so those who are 'in Christ' are sanctified by Christ. In Christ they are set apart, purified, consecrated to God. This setting apart for God, including the necessary cleansing, is the possession of every person who is 'in Christ' because Christ is that purification, and that consecration. It is not something that we have to generate in ourselves in order to be accepted into God's presence and acceptable for his service: Christ has become for us our holiness – because of him we are set apart for God, because of him we belong to God, for his use, for his purpose, for his glory. No longer do we belong to the world. No longer do we belong to the devil. No longer are we 'common' or for 'common' use, but 'holy' – we belong to God. (Read: 1Corinthians 1:2; 6:11; Colossians 1:22; Hebrews 10:10:14.)
Christ is 'our… redemption' – Redemption speaks of freedom obtained by the payment of a price. The price paid is his blood (Read: Romans 3:25; Ephesians 1:7; 1Peter 1:18,19; Hebrews 9:15; Revelation 1:7; 5:9). The freedom purchased is multi-layered:
It is freedom from sin [from sin's penalty and guilt] – Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Titus 2:14.
It is freedom from condemnation – John 3:18; 5:24; Romans 8:1.
It is deliverance from the curse of the law – Romans 8:1,2; Galatians 3:3; 4:5.
It is deliverance from the authority/dominion of the devil – Colossians 1:13; Hebrews 2:14,15.
It is future redemption [from the presence of sin and suffering] – Romans 8:21-23; Ephesians 1:14.
‘Because of God ‘… all of this is the possession of every believer on the sole basis of their union with Jesus Christ. All of this is 'in Christ Jesus'. He has become for us all of this: wisdom, that is, righteousness, holiness and redemption.
Apart from Christ we are nothing. Apart from him we have neither righteousness, holiness nor redemption. 'Therefore’ Paul says, quoting Jeremiah 9:24, ‘“Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”' - verse 31. Because all of this is ours only because of God, and only 'in Christ', we have no personal reason for 'boasting'. We did not achieve this. We are not this. Only Jesus is. Only Jesus has achieved this for us. Therefore, any boasting, any glorying, must be boasting, glorying, in and about Jesus Christ alone.
Human wisdom has never been the source of knowledge of God. Such knowledge has always been God's gift, the result of God's action. Human salvation – righteousness, holiness, redemption – has always been the result of God's gift, the result of God's action. Never the result of human effort or human ability or human qualification. And because it is ‘because of him’, it is secure.
© Rosemary Bardsley 2026