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"Unless
you believed in vain" (I Corinthians 15:2) - What does it
mean?
Note:
This article was originally part of the article "What
a day" that speak about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
To see
one of the effects of the resurrection of Christ, let's go to I Corinthians 15. As it will be seen there, there were some false teachers in Corinth that taught that there is no resurrection. Thus God had to face this. How did He face it? He gave His Word. That's how the wrong teaching is faced: with the Word of God rightly divided i.e. with right teaching. So let's start from the beginning of the chapter:
I Corinthians 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 by which also you are saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you - unless you believed1
(pistis in the Greek) in vain"
Many Christians have been troubled about what this "believing in vain" means. We know from other scriptures that when you believe in Jesus Christ you are saved (see for example Romans 10:9 and Ephesians 2:1-10). There is no case to believe in Jesus Christ and not to be saved. Also, as it can be seen from the above verses, the Corinthians had accepted the gospel that Paul preached and which is contained in Paul's epistles. Therefore, they had believed in Jesus Christ and in his resurrection from the dead and according to the corresponding scriptures they were saved. What is this "believing in vain" then? One thing that you must be very careful when you study the Bible is not to take things out of the context where they belong nor to ignore other references on the same topic. All the Bible fits together when it is rightly divided. So in our case let's continue to examine the context of our passage. Verses 3 to 8 gives us a small summary of the gospel that Paul preached:
I Corinthians 15:3-8
"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that he was buried, and that he was raised the third day according to the Scriptures and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all he was seen by me also..."
(NKJV-NIV)
See in this passage, the importance that Paul, by revelation, puts on the resurrection of Christ. He states specifically the eyewitnesses of the resurrection. We will see in a minute why he does that. In the second half of verse eight a parenthesis is opened where Paul speaks for himself. This parenthesis closes in verse 10. So verse 11 brings us back to our topic:
I Corinthians 15:11
"Therefore , whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed"
The Corinthians had believed what Paul and the others preached. However this didn't happen for all. For it says:
I Corinthians 15:12-17
"Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead then Christ is not risen. And IF Christ is not risen then our preaching is empty and YOUR FAITH (pistis) is ALSO EMPTY (the KJV translates the corresponding Greek word for empty as "vain"). Yes, and we are found false witness of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up - if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And IF Christ is not risen, your faith (pistis) is FUTILE (the corresponding Greek word (mataios) that is translated as "futile" here means "vain" and it is always rendered so in the KJV); YOU ARE STILL IN YOUR SINS!"
Only in one hypothetical case could someone believe in Jesus Christ and his believing be in vain. This would happen IF Jesus Christ hadn't been raised from the dead. In that case your most honest believing would not be able to save you. You see, resurrection was needed to be saved. Without the resurrection there would be no salvation. Without the resurrection our believing would be in vain, empty, futile. Look what else would happen if Christ was not risen:
I Corinthians 15:17-18
"And if Christ is not risen.......then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished."
If Christ was not risen, then all those believers that died believing in him they would perish. For what do they have to expect if there is no resurrection? However, all this would happen only in that hypothetical situation. For:
I Corinthians 15:20-23
"BUT NOW CHRIST IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD"
The word "but" makes a contrast between what is going to be said and what was said. The word "now" brings us back, from the hypothetical situations described in verses 12-19 to reality: "but now Christ is risen from the dead". This is the reality. Our believing is not in vain. It would be in vain, IF (and only if) Christ was not risen. But now "HE IS RISEN". We are not still in our sins. Those that died believing in Christ and putting their hope in his return they will not perish for:
I Corinthians 15:20-22
"Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive."
See this "shall" there. It does not say that they are alive but that they shall be made alive. When? Verse 23 gives us the answer:
I Corinthians 15:23
"But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's AT HIS COMING"
Jesus Christ will come back and then all those that have died believing in him will live again. But observe that it is because of the resurrection that these will be made alive.
Tassos Kioulachoglou
Footnotes
1. The words "believing" and "faith" are actually a translation of one and the same Greek word: the word "pistis. In Greek there is no discrimination between "faith" and "believing" (press here to return where you stopped).
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