YE ARE CHRIST’S

1 Cor. 3:23

Morning Meditation 8/20/16

Verse 23 says, “And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.”

There is no verb in the Textus Receptus (the Greek from which our King James Bible is translated). It simply says, “And ye Christ’s; and Christ God’s.” The verb is properly added to give us what the Greek reader would understand in reading this statement. The word “Christ” has an ending called the genitive which is our possessive case. This means that Paul is saying “Ye belong to Christ, Ye are his possession.” “Ye” in our King James Bible is always the plural “you.” This was the translators way of helping us understand the difference. So the statement applies to every saved member of the Church at Corinth including those carnal Christians spoken of in the beginning of this chapter in verses 1-3.. I rejoice in the truth that I am His. I am His possession. He didn’t get much when He got me, but thank God, I am His. If we are His, if we are His possession, how does one become the possession of another? Let’s look at this.

A child belongs to the Father and mother by birth. You wear the name of your parents by birth. I am also Christ’s by birth. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). John 5:18 says, “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” The Jews understood that a son was equal to his father because he was begotten of him. So when Jesus said, God was his Father the Jews sought to kill Him for blasphemy. Had it not been true, it would have been blasphemy. One of the first verses I look at in a new translation (and I use only the KJV) is John three sixteen. Most of them leave the word “begotten” out. Well, it is there in the Greek text. If we believe in VERBAL inspiration (that means every word is inspired), why would a translator deliberately leave a verbally inspired word out of his translation? Jesus was begotten of God. I will not take time in this meditation to prove it with Scripture. It is too obviously stated in Scripture to need proof for the Bible believer. (See Luke 1:31-38; Matt. 1:23-25; 1 Tim. 3:16). What I want you to see is that the Jews understood that if you were the begotten son of a father, you were his. You were equal to him. We are the son’s of God. We are spoken of as the sons of God. Philippians 2:15 says, “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;” Does this mean that we are equal to the One that has begotten us? 1 John 4:17 says, “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.” Note the words “as He is.” The word esti is a third person singular present indicative and it is translated “is.” And “is” means “is.” That means as He “is” right now, we “are” right now. You say, “You don’t look like Him now.” Well the day of my manifestation has not come yet: Romans 8:19, “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” We are His by birth.

Then there is another way that one may come into the ownership of someone. I was going through a museum in Memphis Tennessee one time and there under the glass I read a deed of the purchase of a slave. This Black man had been bought by a white man for $300.00. It grieved me then, it grieves me now. The fact is, there was slavery in Bible times. The slavery that existed then is used as an illustration many times in Scripture. A Jew could become a slave to another because he could not pay off a loan. We owe God a debt that we cannot pay. If we had to pay our way out of the slavery of sin, we would all be doomed to eternal hell. But thank God, Jesus came into the slave market of this world and bought our freedom with His own blood. 1 Pet. 1:18-20 says, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.” We belong to Jesus because we have been purchased. 1 Cor. 6:19-20 says, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” Amen. Some one hold my mules! Doesn’t it thrill you to know you are His possession?

Then there is another way one could become the possession of another. It is by adoption. We are not only God’s by BIRTH and PURCHASE but we are His by ADOPTION. Galatians 4:5 says, “To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Rom. 8:15 says, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Adoption is the legal way of becoming a son. It involves a legal document. God is the Judge of the world and He has made a covenant that makes the believer a legal son of God. Eph. 1:5 says, “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” Salvation can be stated in many different ways, i.e., the new birth, redeemed, reconciled, saved, justified, etc. All of them happen simultaneous when we are saved. They just explain different aspect of salvation. ADOPTION is an aspect of salvation that makes us His. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). The word “justified” is a judicial word. Justification is a judicial act of God whereby God declares a man righteous because he put his faith in Jesus Christ and looks upon him as if he had never sinned. Then God puts the “Spirit of adoption” in us whereby we cry Abba, Father. We belong to Him by ADOPTION. We are His possession.

In closing this meditation, let me quote what John Gill says in his commentary on this verse:

“This is the ground and foundation of all things being theirs, and shows in what way they come by them, and what gives them their claim and property: they are Christ's, he has an interest in them, and they in him; they are his, not only by creation, as all men are, but by the Father's special gift of them to him, as his spouse and bride, his children, his sheep, his portion, and his jewels; they are his through the purchase of his own blood, and by a voluntary surrender of themselves unto him, under the influence of his Spirit and grace; they are his by their profession of him; they avouch themselves to be the Lord's and call themselves by his name; and they are his by his possession of them, and dwelling in their hearts by faith; and all they have are his. Their worst things are his; their sins are accounted to him, and laid on him by imputation, and have been bore and done away by him: their griefs and sorrows are his, their reproaches his, and their afflictions and sufferings his. Their best things are his; their temporal mercies come from him, and through him; and all their spiritual blessings, they are blessed within him; and all the good things done by them are done in his strength, by the assistance of his Spirit, and in virtue of his grace.

“And Christ is God's; he is his Son, his own, his only begotten and well beloved Son, as he is a divine person; and as man he is his creature, made by him, and inferior to him; he is the head of him, as the man is of the woman; and as Mediator, he is his righteous servant, whom he has chosen, called, brought forth, upheld, and in whom he is glorified: so that, upon the whole, the saints should not glory in men, though ever so great and good, but in God, and in Christ, as of God, made unto them wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.”

May God bless these words to each of us.

In Christ

Bro. White