What follows is an excerpt from a 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Bible Study lesson. Visit that page for more context, the bibliography, and even a crossword puzzle (✞-word).
Stand Firm, Persevere
So, in 1 Corinthians 15:2, Paul continues by saying:
and by which you are saved, if you hold firm to the word I proclaimed to you –unless you believed in vain. (1 Cor 15:2, AT)
Notice how this verse is the end of the sentence that begins in verse 1. A lot of times, when people take Bible “verses” (verse divisions were not introduced until the around 16th century) out of context, they’re really lifting sentence fragments and giving them meaning that’s foreign to the sentences that surround it.
In any case, in verse 2, Paul tells them that: through this gospel you are saved[1] – if you hold firmly to it.
In other words, as Paul tells others in his other letters, the Corinthians must persevere in the faith (cf. 1 Cor 16:13, etc.).[2]
Despite what you may have heard, to be saved, people must persevere in the faith of the gospel to the very end. This is the gospel that Paul preaches.
As he tells the Colossian church in Colossians 1:21-23:
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. (Col 1:21-23, NIV)1
So, if someone is telling you that a person just needs to come down the aisle of a church one day, say they believe in Jesus, and then live life however they want to live it and be saved… they’re preaching a different gospel than Paul.
If someone is telling you that someone can just be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ – as an infant, a child, or an adult – and then not be faithful to the Name of Jesus Christ to the end, and then in the end be saved, they’re preaching a different gospel than Paul.
They’re giving people a false sense of security with false teaching.
To be saved, we must stand firm on the word, hold firmly to the gospel, be firmly faithful to the Lord.
The word translated “hold firm” is also found in Hebrews 3:14, which says:
We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold [κατέχω | katechō] our original conviction firmly to the very end. (Heb 3:14, NIV; cf. Heb 3:6, 10:23; Mt 10:22)
It also appears Christ’s Parable of the Four Soils. As we’ve said in our previous lessons, the Gospel is always good seed. But it doesn’t always fall on good soil.
After saying that the seed that falls along the path and is eaten by birds refers to the devil taking the word of the Gospel from people’s hearts (Lk 8:11-12), Jesus says in Luke 8:13-15:
13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it [κατέχω | katechō], and by persevering produce a crop. (Lk 8:13-15, NIV)
You see, Jesus says people can believe superficially for a while. They can even be joyful doing it. But in the end, such people with no real roots will fall away.
But the good soil refers to those who not only hear the word, but retain it, persevere in it, and live productive Christian lives.
Like Paul tells the Corinthians, we must hold firm to the word of the true Gospel. The Christian walk is a marathon – not a sprint.
Otherwise, You’ve Believed In Vain
Otherwise, he says, they have believed in vain.[3]
Now, as it’s been said, the word translated “in vain” can mean “being without careful thought, without due consideration, in a haphazard manner.”[4]
Brothers and sisters, as it’s been said, such belief is “groundless and empty;” it is not true faith at all.[5]
So, Paul may be saying to them: have you read the fine print? Have you considered what it truly means to be a Christian, a follower of Christ?
You know, starting in Luke 14:28, Jesus essentially asks, “Before you start building something, don’t you first estimate how much it will cost to finish before you break ground?”
Likewise, before someone says they want to follow Christ to the finish, they should count the cost (cf. Lk 9:23, Mk 8:34)
You know, when you install new software on a computer, or a new app on a phone, there’s often a message that pops up that asks you to accept the terms and conditions.
When is the last time you actually read them? (I know I usually don’t!)
Well, if someone claims to accept Jesus as their Savior without understanding the terms and conditions, without comprehending the necessary surrender, they likely have believed in vain.
That said, the word translated “in vain” can mean also mean “for nothing.”[6]
For as we’ve already said, if there is no resurrection, our faith is for nothing.[7] “Everything is a lie.”[8] The whole house that is Christianity crumbles (cf. 1 Cor 15:14, 17-19).
[1] Actually, “you are being saved” (present continuous) Morris, 197; Baker, 210; Thiselton, 1185; etc.
[2] As he commands them elsewhere, and as he tells others in his other letters. For word translated persevere “(see Luke 8:15; Heb. 3:6, 14; 10:23).” Paul often tells believers to persevere until the end (cf. Rom. 11:22; Gal. 3:4; Col. 1:23; 1 Thess. 3:1–5; 2 Thess. 2:15). Schreiner, 302; cf. 1 Cor 11:2, 16:13; Taylor, 370.
[3] They must not deviate. Ciampa and Rosner, 744. Cf. Garland, 683.
[4] BDAG, 281.
[5] Morris, 198. Cf. Garland, 683; Thiselton, 1186.
[6] EDNT, 388.
[7] Cf. Taylor, 371. Cf. 1 Cor 15:14; Garland, 683.
[8] Fee, 801.