"unless in vain you believed" I Cor. 15:2

1Corinthians 15:1-2).

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which
also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved if ye keep
in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.”


Nowhere in the Bible is anyone said to be saved from hell by keeping anything in
their memory. Salvation from the penalty of sin is an already accomplished fact for
the believer, not a process now going on. However, each day the believer is being
saved from the power of sin, as a continuing process in his life. How? By keeping
Bible preaching in his memory.
- 1 Corinthians 15:1 is the past tense of salvation “which they had received”
(Greek: aorist, active, past, indicative) in which they stand. This shows that they
were already saved from the penalty of sin.
- 1 Corinthians 15:2 is the present tense of salvation “By which also ye are saved”
(literally: are being saved daily; Greek: present, passive, indicative - indicating
action now going on). They are “being saved” from the power of sin, they are
growing in grace, maturing as Christians, if they were keeping in memory (holding
fast) what Paul preached to them.
- “Unless ye have believed in vain” means unless your belief was “unreal” - unless
they had never really been saved.

-------------
From The Answers Book

 

http://www.xraymag.com/images/xray_v5n5_one_trick_ponies_banner.jpg

 

Benefactory, the subject in 1 Cor 15 is whether Christ truly rose from the dead. And the argument is that if Jesus did not rise from the dead, then the gospel is false and we are believeing a gospel which cannot save. The definition of vain here means empty, or devoid of truth.


1 Cor 15:12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

And you see verse 19 it says "If in this life only". If there is no resurrection from the dead, then the best thing a man can do is eat, drink, and be merry. Christians give up many of the worldly pleasures for Christ, if Jesus did not rise up from the dead, then neither will we, and all our sacrifices for Christ are vain and useless. This is what this chapter is talking about.

 

Which and whose Answers Book ?

 

http://answers.libertybaptistchurch.org.au/index.html

 

Many people believe in God, that God exists. They do all kinds of religious things, but they believe in vain,,,,,,,,the Devil believes in God, and trembles............in vain.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Just curious ... Do you see every text of Scripture as a 'club' to beat Calvinists with? 'cause it's getting somewhat tiresome.

There are other aspects to the Christian life you know ... like HUMILITY for instance.

 

There was a member here on this very board a few years back who wrote in the very same style and arrogance, initially, until he was put in place somewhat by others.
I haven't seen him posting for sometime.
That other one's joy was to portray Calvinists and those who hold to the Doctrine of Grace as despicable, Christ-hating, Scripture-bumbling, gospel-twisting, ignoramuses, although in a more subtle way than this one here.

I wonder........?