BELIEVING IN VAIN

1 Corinthian 15:1-4(KJV)

1. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2. By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4. And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

The gospel of our Christ is about how he dealt with sin through his death, burial, and resurrection.

The fact of the resurrection of the dead is the fabric of the gospel.

Romans 1:1-4(KJV)

1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

2. (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)

3. Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

4. And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

Now, 1 Corinthians 14 verse 2 presents a thought of believing in vain. Does this mean you could believe and get saved, but at the end, it becomes in vain, denoting a loss of salvation?

Let's investigate this together.

Now, I started the way I did in order to emphasize the resurrection of Jesus. This was the focus of Paul in our theme text (1 Corinthians 15).

Why?

See the 12th verse.

1 Corinthians 15:12(KJV)

Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

Some set of folks were infiltrating the church in Corinth with a contrary teaching, which is, the impossibility of the resurrection of the dead. This definitely was driven to invalidate the resurrection of Jesus.

The resurrection is a very important fact of the gospel. In fact, there is a gospel because Jesus rose from the dead.

So we see Paul's focus in 1 Corinthians 15 was to defend this glorious gospel of Christ. He gave evidence.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4(KJV)

3. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES;

4. And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES.

“...according to the scriptures….”

Evidence 1: The scriptures testify of the facts of the gospel.

In the scriptures (the Old Testament writings), we find testimonies ahead of time of his death and resurrection several centuries before he even came. The prophets of old prophesied these things.

See Isaiah’s words:

Isaiah 53:4-10(KJV)

4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

8. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

9. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

See one of David’s psalms:

Psalm 16:8-11(KJV)

8. I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

9. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

10. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

11. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Peter quoted and explained this psalm:

Acts 2:25-32(KJV)

25. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:

26. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:

27. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

28. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.

29. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.

30. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

31. He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

32. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.

So, back to our text, the first evidence Paul gave is scriptures.

We continue

1 Corinthians 15:5-7(KJV)

5. And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

6. After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

7. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

Evidence 2: The second evidence of the gospel of Jesus' resurrection is the presence of EYEWITNESSES. There were people who saw him after he rose.

8. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

9. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

10. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Next, he gave himself as a witness of Jesus' resurrection, with reference to his encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus.

11. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

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.

You see? Believing in vain or otherwise is completely hinged on the validity of Jesus' resurrection.

The word vain here is kenos in the Greek, which means empty. If truly there is no resurrection, then our faith is empty (there is nothing in it).

"If Christ did not rise from the dead, then the message I preached is false and you have believed in 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.

Paul used another Greek word here. The word translated as vain here is mataios in the Greek. It means futile, that is, profitless. If truly there is no resurrection, then our faith is a mere waste of time.

"If Jesus did not rise from the dead, you have believed in vain."

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.

However,

20. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept (KJV).

 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (ESV).

 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (NIV).

 But the fact is that Christ (the Messiah) has been raised from the dead, and He became the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep [in death] (AMP).

 But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again (NLT).

Glory! Christ indeed rose from the dead; and therefore, our gospel is not a false gospel.

So, the explanation of 1 Corinthians 15:2 is, "If Jesus did not rise from the dead (if the gospel is untrue), then you have believed in vain." The word translated as vain here is eikē in the Greek, which means without reason, meaning just hastily believing an information without proper consideration.

1 Corinthians 15:2(KJV)

By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

See how the New Living Translation puts it:

1 Corinthians 15:2(NLT)

And it is this Good News that saves you if you firmly believe it--unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.

The gospel is predicated upon the resurrection of Jesus. If this were untrue, like those perverted individuals were claiming, then we have believed in vain.

Believing in vain is not a loss of salvation; but believing a message that could not bring salvation in the first place.

Believing in vain is believing a wrong message; a false message; a lie.

But this is not our case, for Christ indeed rose from the dead never to die again.

Amen.

Victor Ibosiola © 2018

For a sequel to this article, read I Die Daily.