Was It In Vain? (1 Corinthians 15:1-11)

March 15, 2020

The purpose of the foundation of faith series is to help us understand our salvation so well that sharing it with others becomes a breeze. We have tried to distinguish between grace, faith, and works in a few lessons so that we have a biblical mindset about our salvation and the salvation of others around us. We looked at Romans 3, James 2, and Romans 10 to see that we are saved by grace, through faith, for good works. We have also seen that faith without works is dead and works without faith is dead.

Today, I want us to back up and look at the basics. What do we have faith in? What is the good news that leads us to grace, faith, and works? Can we put that into words for others to understand, and does the good news lift up our heads when we are discouraged and when all seems lost? As we hear lessons that beat us up because the truth hurts, does the gospel heal our wounds? Do we view the gospel as good news that motivates us to keep going?

Hold Fast To The Gospel

In Romans, Paul tells us that, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” What is the word of Christ that gives us faith? Today we are going to look at 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 to understand the gospel message better.

Paul’s Words of Encouragement (1-2)

1 Corinthians 15:1--2 (ESV) --- 1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you---unless you believed in vain.

Paul is nearing the end of his lengthy letter to the Corinthian church. He has just addressed several issues at Corinth, ranging from division to sexual immorality, to using their gifts with love and order. After discussing all of these different mistakes, he thinks that it is right to point them to the gospel that he preached to them in the beginning. This gospel is going to motivate them to overcome their shortcomings and continually grow to be more like Christ.

They Are Being Saved

Notice that he speaks about the gospel as being what the Corinthians have received, what they are standing in, and what is saving them. Now, if we had looked at all the problems in Corinth, we might think there is no way this group is in a saved condition. Look at all the things they are doing wrong! But here, Paul says that because they have received the gospel and are standing in it, they are being saved through it. Then, he adds the conditional statement at the end, “If you hold fast to the word I preached to you.” The salvation of the Corinthians is not dependent on how good of a Christian they are. It depends on their willingness to hold fast to the word Paul has preached.

But Will They Be?

That statement should make us pause and wonder, “Is it possible that we can lose our salvation?” Paul says that if they stop holding on to the word that was preached to them, their belief was in vain. To say that they have believed in vain means that their belief was pointless or meaningless. If they stop holding on to the word Paul preached to them, their initial faith may have resulted in grace at that time, but there will be no grace for them in the end.

The scriptures are clear that those who believe must have a heart that loves God and wants to submit to his will. We make mistakes, and we are in the process of becoming more spiritually mature, but our hearts must desire to grow up and become more like God. If we believe and then give up because it’s too hard or because we don’t believe God can be that graceful, our initial belief was in vain. If we believe and then think that we will coast right into heaven, our belief was in vain. God did not send his Son to die for us, so we could be lazy and enjoy all of the blessings without being transformed. He expects his sacrifice to affect our hearts in a way that transforms our behavior.

This is supposed to make the Corinthians think about whether they are really holding fast to the original word that Paul preached to them. They need to look at all of the mistakes he has pointed out in Chapters 1-14 and think carefully about the word of Christ Paul preached to them in the beginning. Don’t we need to do the same thing? As we see the mistakes we have made in our lives, we need to consider the word of Christ that was preached to us in the beginning. What word was taught to us at the beginning that changed our hearts?

The Death, Burial, and Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:3--8 (ESV) --- 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

What does Paul say this gospel message was in verse 3-8? “Christ died for our sins according to Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with scriptures, and that he appeared...” This is the good news. This is the gospel that Paul preached in Corinth, and everywhere he went. He says that he preached this “of first importance.” The most critical piece of information that Paul wanted to get across to people is not how to receive the gospel. It is an explanation of what the good news is. Understanding the gospel in this way is foundational for anyone to become a Christian. Do we tend to forget this gospel or at least part of it? I have seen a tendency in myself and in other Christians to replace this good news with bad news.

What Do We Focus On For Salvation?

Instead of saying that someone is standing in the gospel, we might look at all of the mistakes they are making and wonder how God could forgive them. As we become more evangelistic and start to bring in people from the world, there are going to be problems like Corinth that they will have to overcome. We must be sure to recognize that they are holding fast to the “death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.” They aren’t standing in the fact that they are a good person or that they look like us. They are standing in the gospel. That is where they can find their hope and motivation to press on.

If we were writing a letter to Corinthians, we might be tempted to say, “You must fix all of these things FOR God to forgive you.” But Paul says, “You must fix all of these issues BECAUSE God has forgiven you.” If we think we have to be righteous to be forgiven, that is terrible news! The good news is that God knows we are weak and sinful, but he loves us anyway. He is patiently bearing with us as we figure out how to love him back.

Jesus Died For Our Sins

The first part of the gospel is that Jesus died for our sins. Why would anyone do that? Think about that for a moment. Our God was willing to send his son to die for us in the most painful way. The best description of the pain on the cross I have read is from “The Case For Christ.” In this book, the author interviews doctors and experts in ancient near eastern history. This is what one of the experts said about the cross.

“It’s important to understand that the nail would go through the place where the median nerve runs. This is the largest nerve going out to the hand, and it would be crushed by the nail that was being pounded in.” Since I have only a rudimentary knowledge of the human anatomy, I wasn’t sure what this meant. “What sort of pain would that have produced?” I asked. “Let me put it this way,” he replied. “Do you know the kind of pain you feel when you bang your elbow and hit your funny bone? That’s actually another nerve, called the ulna nerve. It’s extremely painful when you accidentally hit it. “Well, picture taking a pair of pliers and squeezing and crushing that nerve,”

“The pain was absolutely unbearable,” he continued. “In fact, it was literally beyond words to describe; they had to invent a new word: excruciating. Literally, excruciating means ‘out of the cross.’ Think of that: they needed to create a new word, because there was nothing in the language that could describe the intense anguish caused during the crucifixion.”

“His arms would have immediately been stretched, probably about six inches in length, and both shoulders would have become dislocated---you can determine this with simple mathematical equations. “This fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy in Psalm 22, which foretold the Crucifixion hundreds of years before it took place and says, ‘My bones are out of joint.’”

“Once a person is hanging in the vertical position,” he replied, “crucifixion is essentially an agonizingly slow death by asphyxiation. “The reason is that the stresses on the muscles and diaphragm put the chest into the inhaled position; basically, in order to exhale, the individual must push up on his feet so the tension on the muscles would be eased for a moment. In doing so, the nail would tear through the foot, eventually locking up against the tarsal bones. “After managing to exhale, the person would then be able to relax down and take another breath in. Again he’d have to push himself up to exhale, scraping his bloodied back against the coarse wood of the cross. This would go on and on until complete exhaustion would take over, and the person wouldn’t be able to push up and breathe anymore.”

Strobel, Lee. Case for Christ. Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

He didn’t do that because we reached a level of righteousness to where we were worth saving. He did that even though we refused to be righteous. He sent his son to die for those who would kill him.

Romans 5:6--8 (ESV) --- 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person---though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die--- 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The good news is that God is willing to forgive those who are still weak and sinful. He does not require us to become strong to receive his grace. He has shown once and for all that he wants us to be reconciled to him in whatever state we are in. He wants to have a relationship with us. He wants it so bad that he was willing to endure the cross to make that happen. I hope you are not desensitized to the cross. Our society has made the cross a beautiful thing, but it is really a torturous execution device. Can you imagine someone wearing an electric chair around their neck? I won’t go into the details of his beating and crucifixion, but those disturbing details show how much God loves us. It is important to remember that Jesus endured horrendous pain and suffering to provide for the forgiveness of his enemies.

He did it for us when he didn’t even know us. He knew that we would be weak and sinful, and he wanted to provide a sacrifice for us to be forgiven. All of us who have received the forgiveness of our sins by submitting our lives to Christ are holding on to that grace as we make mistakes in this life. The Corinthians are divisive, cowardly, idolatrous, and selfish, but Paul says that they are being saved. We have hope for continual forgiveness so long as we hold fast to the grace of God through Jesus’ death. This drives us to obey.

Paul Holds On To The Gospel (8-11)

1 Corinthians 15:8--11 (ESV) --- 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy 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 toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Paul uses himself as the ultimate example in verses 8-11. He says that he is one who did not deserve forgiveness, much less to be called an apostle because he persecuted the church. He was “untimely born,” meaning premature or like a miscarriage. Paul feels like the most unworthy of all after all that he has done. Can you imagine how it must feel to have caused the suffering and death of Christians and then learning the truth? I imagine that would be a tremendous weight of guilt on Paul’s shoulders that he had to accept.

In verse 10, he says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” God has poured out tremendous grace on Paul, and he sees that as his motivation to work harder than anyone. If the grace of God has transformed anyone, it was Paul. He has not believed in vain. He continues to hold on to God’s grace and to pursue greater righteousness that truly glorifies God.

How Does This Gospel Help Me?

The murder of Jesus is simultaneously the most despicable act and the most beautiful, undeserved act of love in human history. Never has someone so perfect done something so loving for someone so undeserving. How does this act of love change my life? Do I let the fact that Jesus died for me motivate me to grow spiritually? In my experience, I have noticed that it is easy to get distracted and lose sight of this gospel in two primary ways.

1. We can focus so much on our failures that we lose sight of the gospel. I like how Paul uses this information to remind the Christians in Corinth of their salvation at the end of the letter. He was willing to tell them the truth about all that they were doing wrong, but then he reminded them of where their hope is found. The only hope they need is found in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Maybe after we go through the Sermon on the Mount, we feel like Corinth, plagued with mistakes and weakness. If that is the case, we need the gospel as a reminder. When we see how far short we are falling and how far we still have to go, we need to see the grace of God toward us and be encouraged to press on with greater love and zeal for godliness.

2. The other extreme is focusing too much on doing good works. It is easy to think so much about doing all the right things that we lose sight of our need for the gospel. If we are like Paul, having accomplished great works and grown a lot spiritually from where we used to be, we still need the gospel. Paul says that he worked harder than any of the other apostles, but he also recognizes that he did not accomplish anything. God’s grace has accomplished everything. Jesus coming to die for our sins changes our perspective on the good that we do and makes us say, “By the grace of God, I am what I am.”

Conclusion

The fact that Jesus died for our sins is a foundational point that we must go back to again and again for motivation, but it is not all of the gospel. This is the first half of the good news. There is also the burial and resurrection of Christ to consider. I would like to devote at least next week to discuss the resurrection. That is what 1 Corinthians 15 is primarily going to talk about, so I hope you can join us for that.

If you hear all of this, and you have not accepted Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins, you can come to God in submission and find the grace that is greater than your sin. The Hebrew writer tells us that Jesus’ sacrifice covers all of our sins for all time (Heb 10:12-18). But those who accept that sacrifice must give up their desires for sin and pursue a relationship with God. God is willing to accept Paul, he is willing to accept the Corinthians, and he is willing to accept us if we humbly submit our will to his. If your belief has been in vain up until this point, and you want to get back on the right track, let us help you and encourage you as you devote yourself to the Lord.