56. What Does It Mean to Believe in Vain?

Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the gospel that he preached, and he told them that they are saved by this gospel - "if you hold fast that word which I preached to you - unless you believed in vain." (1 Cor 15:2). This is a verse that scares many people, causing them to worry about whether or not they have believed in vain.  Later in the chapter, Paul also used phrases such as "our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty" and "your faith is futile."

What did Paul mean by all of this?  Was he laying down conditions to having true faith?  Was he questioning the faith of the Corinthians?  Should people who have believed upon Jesus worry whether or not their faith is futile or in vain if perhaps they have fallen or sinned to much?

Fortunately for us, there's this thing called "context."  If we keep on reading, we can see exactly what Paul is talking about.  Good news for those who worry about this:  This has nothing to do with a person having faith and yet failing in their behavior.  Paul was not addressing sinful behavior in this passage.  Take a listen to this podcast as I show how Paul was highlighting the resurrection of Jesus.  Everything in this passage in 1 Cor 15:1-19 is centered around whether or not Jesus rose from the dead.  Everything about preaching in vain, believing in vain, holding fast to that which Paul preached, etc, has to do with whether or not Jesus really rose from the dead.


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49. Faith in Christ Means You Have Rested from Your Works

There's nothing you can do to get yourself right with God or keep yourself right with God. There is no work that you can do to earn or maintain righteousness. The only way to be righteous is to receive the free gift of God's righteousness, by grace, through faith. Faith in Christ means you have rested from your works.


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47. Have You Believed in Vain? (No, You Haven't!)

A certain verse that often scares people, or at the very least makes them wonder about the condition of their own faith, happens to be a verse that should actually be a source of great hope.

1 Cor 15:1-2
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.

At first glance, the words "if" and "unless" may make it seem as if there's a condition by which one's faith is actually genuine. But really, the condition isn't about the person's faith being genuine. It's really about the genuineness of the thing that the person has faith in. The people that Paul is writing to do have faith in Christ. So why would he suggest that perhaps their faith would be in vain? Some teach that if they've believed in Christ, but have gone back to a sinful lifestyle, then their faith has been in vain. But that's not at all what Paul is talking about here.

The real point is about whether Christ was raised from the dead or not. Some were saying that there is no such thing as the resurrection of the dead. If that's the case, then Christ was not raised from the dead. And if Christ was not raised from the dead, then they are believing in a man who died, and that's the end of the story! If Christ was not raised, then their faith is in vain. It's empty. It's futile. There's only hope for them in this life, but there's no hope beyond that.

That's really the whole point here. This is about whether people believe in a man who lived and died, or whether they believe in a man who lived and died and then rose again! You can rest assured that your faith is in a resurrected Christ, and you yourself also rose together with Him.


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