Believing in vain- 1Co 15:2

steko

steko

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1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1Co 15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:


What does Paul mean in 1Co 15:2 "unless you have believed in vain"?
 
jamie

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steko said:
1Co 15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
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The key to the gospel of Jesus Christ is Cephas. Those who don't believe Jesus' gospel believe in vain by believing for doctrine the traditions of men.
 
Tambora

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I believe the key lies in ....

1 Corinthians 15:17 KJV
(17) And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

The wages of sin is death.

Since Christ was the only one that ever died sinless, He was able to break the bondage of the grave.
Without the resurrection, we would all be forever in the grave.
 
steko

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Nonon said:
Being led astray. As you can see on this forum there are many people with vastly different beliefs yet collectively we all believe in Jesus (presumably). It's unfortunate but not everyone or even scarier, none of us will be saved. But yanno that's the mystery and wonder of God after all. Make sure you're right. Tremble with fear from God and seek God always!
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Thanks for your input.

Is it enough to simply 'believe in Jesus' or are there certain things that we must 'believe about Jesus' to be saved?
 
steko

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Tambora said:
I believe the key lies in ....

1 Corinthians 15:17 KJV
(17) And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

The wages of sin is death.

Since Christ was the only one that ever died sinless, He was able to break the bondage of the grave.
Without the resurrection, we would all be forever in the grave.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your input.
Do you find it necessary to understand the meaning of certain words in a text, in order to come to an understanding of what a text actually is trying to fully communicate or do the specific meaning of words not matter?
 
Tambora

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steko said:
Thank you for your input.
Do you find it necessary to understand the meaning of certain words in a text, in order to come to an understanding of what a text actually is trying to fully communicate or do the specific meaning of words not matter?
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I think one needs to find the meaning of the words used by the author that uses them in the story he is communicating.

For instance, when John says "Behold the Lamb of GOD", I don't think he meant look at one of these ..... :sheep:.

Are you looking for the meaning of "vain"?
I believe it to mean useless and futile and unprofitable.

So it would mean that any faith you have that Christ is the Son of God, that faith is useless without believing Christ was resurrected.
 
steko

steko

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Tambora said:
I think one needs to find the meaning of the words used by the author that uses them in the story he is communicating.

For instance, when John says "Behold the Lamb of GOD", I don't think he meant look at one of these ..... :sheep:.
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Yes, I agree.

Are you looking for the meaning of "vain"?
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I'm not looking for it, though I believe that it is a very important word to understand within the context of what Paul is saying.

I believe it to mean useless and futile and unprofitable.
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Yes, I agree. Or another, 'to no avail'.

So it would mean that any faith you have that Christ is the Son of God, that faith is useless without believing Christ was resurrected.
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Presently, yes, though it has not always been the case.

What I'm begging for is that folks would understand the meaning of some of the other key words in Paul's communication in these verses.
 
steko

steko

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Tambora said:
I think one needs to find the meaning of the words used by the author that uses them in the story he is communicating.

For instance, when John says "Behold the Lamb of GOD", I don't think he meant look at one of these ..... :sheep:.

Are you looking for the meaning of "vain"?
I believe it to mean useless and futile and unprofitable.

So it would mean that any faith you have that Christ is the Son of God, that faith is useless without believing Christ was resurrected.
Click to expand...

Much of the time when I'm studying, I'll read a word or phrase in a text that triggers my memory of the same word or phrase somewhere else in Scripture. I'm not saying that every time the same word is used that it means exactly the same thing in context. But sometimes it does.

Such is the case in 1Co 15 with Paul's use of the word 'vain' when he uses the word four times in 1Co 15.
 
steko

steko

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Tambora said:
So it would mean that any faith you have that Christ is the Son of God, that faith is useless without believing Christ was resurrected.
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:thumb: Exactly!

The next question would be, "What does the word 'resurrected' mean"?

Can it mean just anything we imagine it to mean?
 
john w

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1 Corinthians 15 KJV

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.
 
steko

steko

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john w said:
1 Corinthians 15 KJV

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.
Click to expand...

:thumb: Like a Stinger missile!
 
Jerry Shugart

Jerry Shugart

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steko said:
1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

What does Paul mean in 1Co 15:2 "unless you have believed in vain"?
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I think that Paul is using a first class conditional statement at verse two:

"The first class condition indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument. The normal idea, then, is if--and let us assume that this is true for the sake of argument--then...." (Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, p. 690).​

The "if" in this statement is an assumption of the idea that if a person could stop believing then he has believed in vain. However, that can never happen since for the true believer the truth will be with us forever:

"The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever" (2 Jn.1-2).​

A true believer knows that they will always keep in memory the truth of the gospel, that "he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Cor.5:21).
 
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