FAVORITE CHAPTERS REGARDING OUR FUTURE

As I looked over the content covered so far in this blog, I realized that there were a couple of significant omissions. There are a few specific chapters in scripture that are extremely important in understanding our salvation and our eternal future. The first is 1 Corinthians 15. In this series of blog posts I will take a fresh look at this chapter jumping from my original journal notes and making changes and/or revisions as necessary.

1Corinthians 15:1-2 “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.”

As Paul begins to close his letter, he is led to again affirm the message of the gospel. The gospel is the message of Jesus’ redeeming work on the cross as defined in verses 3-4. Paul assures them that his message has not changed; it is the same message he first presented to them--the message they had received for salvation, the foundation upon which their new life in Christ is established.

“if ye keep in memory” – This is one area in which I think the KJV translators tried to facilitate understanding and ended up making it more difficult. After looking at the Greek, I think the better translation would have been: “if ye possess….”

In looking at the Greek for “in vain,” I found the following: “idly, i.e. without reason (or effect):—without a cause, (in) vain(-ly).”

In other words, Paul is saying that if you truly received the gospel as your personal possession, you are saved, permanently delivered from the condemnation of sin.

This also implies that one can make a profession of believing without truly taking possession of God’s gift of salvation. This makes me think of a verse in the book of James.

James 2:17-19 “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”

I added the surrounding context to explain that belief that doesn’t effect change in one’s life is dead faith, as James put it. If you truly possess faith in God, there will be evidence in your life.

You cannot use this scripture to teach that someone can lose their salvation. Scripture does not contradict itself, and Philippians 1:6 is clear that one who possesses saving faith is sealed with the Holy Spirit of God and is kept by the power of God. You can’t be more securely sealed or more powerfully protected. This truth is affirmed in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians and in Peter’s first letter.

Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”

Ephesians 1:13-14 “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
“sealed” = to stamp for security or preservation

1Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
“kept” = to mount guard as a sentinel…figuratively, to hem in, protect

1Corinthians 15:3-4 “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

Paul is careful to note that he is delivering the gospel message just as he had received it, and in his letter to the Galatians he is very clear in stating that he received it from Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1:11-12 “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

This section of scripture is often referred to as “the gospel in a nutshell.”
1. Christ died for our sins according to the scripture.
2. He was buried.
3. He rose again the third day, according to the scriptures.
The whole of scripture is full of this truth. When Adam and Eve sinned, an innocent animal had to die to provide them a covering. The curse of sin is death—spiritual death. The whole sacrificial system was established to impress upon men that God would only provide forgiveness according to the righteous judgment of sin, and this forgiveness required the death of an innocent lamb without blemish being sacrificed to atone for one’s sins—an obvious picture of the gospel message.

One of the more specific scriptures regarding the death of the Messiah is found in Isaiah 53.

Isaiah 53:5-8 “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. 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. 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. 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.”

Jesus didn’t just fall into a faint, “he was cut off out of the land of the living.” His burial was referenced in the psalms.

Psalm 16:10 “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”

Jesus also taught that He would be buried.

Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

This verse in Matthew also implies from the reference to Jonah, that after three days and nights in the earth, He would return to the land of the living.