Lessons #519 and 520

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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +

+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +

+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +

+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +

+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +

+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +

+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +

+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +

+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +

+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +

+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +

+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +

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Gospel Paul preached (1 Cor 15:1-11 NIV 84)

¹Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. ³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. ⁶ After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸ and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

⁹ For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve 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 to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. ¹¹ Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

The message of 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 that we stated in our last study is this: Be sure you are clear about the gospel message. We also started to consider the introductory remarks of the apostle regarding the gospel that are given in verses 1 and 2. We stated that the apostle made four assertions about the gospel. First, he asserted that he proclaimed it to the Corinthians. Second, the Corinthians received it in the sense that they not only accepted the message but believed it. Third, the Corinthians have maintained a spiritual stand or position regarding the gospel. In effect, they were living by the gospel. Fourth, that the Corinthians were being saved by it. Consequently, we considered the first clause of verse 2 By this gospel you are saved. We observed that the apostle used a present tense in the Greek. We interpreted his use of it to mean that while salvation is completed in the sense that the believer is eternally delivered from the wrath of God, but the believer is also being delivered continuously from God’s punishment on the earth as the individual avoids sin. Furthermore, we stated the apostle’s use of the present tense is probably his way of asserting that our final salvation is certain. This is because sometimes a future event is described with present tense in the Greek to convey that an event is so certain to occur that it could be conceived as having already taken place. Thus, the apostle is certain of the final stage of our salvation that he used present tense. However, there is more that the apostle stated in verse 2 that we did not get to in our last study. It is with this remainder of what the apostle wrote in verse 2 that we begin our study this morning.

The apostle followed his assertion that the Corinthians were being saved by the gospel or his proclamation with a conditional clause that may easily be interpreted to imply that believer’s salvation is conditional since he wrote in the rest of 1 Corinthians 15:2 if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. As we have stated, a surface reading of this clause would suggest that a person could lose one’s salvation if the person does not meet the condition stipulated. However, the apostle is not asserting that a person is in danger of losing the individual’s salvation. There are at least two reasons we contend that the apostle would not have been concerned with loss of salvation in what he wrote in the clause we are considering. First, we noted previously that the apostle conceived salvation as completed or finished work of God in the passage we cited in our last study, that is, Titus 3:5:

he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

The sentence he saved us in Titus 3:5 implies the apostle considered salvation as an act of God that took place in the past, implying that once that takes place it cannot be undone or repeated. This being the case, there is a problem in interpreting what Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Second, the general teaching of the Scripture implies that a believer’s salvation is secured. This second reason requires that I review what we studied in the past about the security of a believer’s salvation using the expression “eternity security.”

The term “eternal security” is often viewed by many as the equivalent term to the old theological doctrine of Calvinism or Reformed Theology known as the “perseverance of the saints.” The Westminster Confession of faith in Chapter seventeen has this to say regarding this doctrine:

1. They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.

2. This perseverance of the saints depends, not upon their own free-will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ; the abiding of the Spirit and of the seed of God within them; and the nature of the covenant of grace; from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.

3. Nevertheless they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevelancy of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their perseverance, fall into grievous sins; and for a time continue therein: whereby they incur God's displeasure, and grieve his Holy Spirit; come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts; have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded; hurt and prevalancy others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.

Thus, the doctrine of perseverance of the saints means that all those who are truly born again will be kept by God's power and will persevere as Christians until the end of their lives, and that only those who persevere until the end have been truly born again. However, when we use the term “eternal security” we mean it is “that work of God whereby He keeps the believer from a total and final turning away and continues the work of divine grace begun in regeneration unto its completion in glory.”

In any case, it is our position that believers are eternally secured in the sense that they will never lose their salvation. Our position is based on the conviction that it is the correct one taught in the pages of the Scripture and which is consistent with the character of God. Our task here is to provide the Scriptural justification for this position and to refute briefly its rejection based on what we believe to be misunderstanding of certain passages in the Scripture. Therefore, we present six reasons for believing that believers are eternally secured in their salvation.

First, it is the position that agrees with the character and purpose of God in the plan of salvation. The Scripture is clear that it is God’s purpose to conform those who are saved to the image of His Son, as stated in Romans 8:28–30:

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

This passage is interesting in that it tells us that God works for the good of those who have been called according to His purpose. Therefore, the first thing God did to accomplish His purpose is to select those on whom His purpose will be accomplished. This may not appear to be the first thing God did because the first action of God mentioned in verse 29 is “foreknew.” However, the word “foreknew” is translated from a Greek verb (proginōskō) that means either “to know beforehand or in advance, to foreknow” or “to select in advance, to choose beforehand.” It is true that nearly all our English versions chose the first meaning in translating this Greek verb, but it is the second meaning that fits with God’s actions described in verse 30. The Greek verb is used five times in the NT but only in two of these does the first meaning apply or make sense. The Apostle Paul used the word in his defense in Acts 26:5:

They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.

Apostle Peter used it in his encouragement to believers in 2 Peter 3:17:

Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.

In the other three occurrences, the meaning “foreknow” does not makes sense if by that, it is meant to know in advance. Take for example, Apostle Paul speaking of the election of Israel writes in Romans 11:2:

God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel:

God foreknew all people on the earth so that it is not unique to say whom he foreknew but it is unique and makes better sense according to what is stated in OT if we read the expression as whom He chose. Furthermore, to use the first meaning when God is the subject creates difficulty since it is not easy to understand what it means for God to foreknow Christ before the creation of the world in the context of First Peter. As a result, the translators of many English versions translated the Greek verb using such words as “destined” or “predestined” or “appointed” in 1 Peter 1:20:

He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

The NIV translated the Greek verb correctly in that it uses the meaning “to choose beforehand.” It is this meaning that fits Romans 8:29. It would be self-defeating on the part of God to choose beforehand anyone that will eventually be lost after salvation. Of course, it is those God chose that He predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son; the same individuals that He justified and glorified. If those individuals who were chosen, called, and justified are those who are glorified it seems to me then that it would be impossible for those who have been saved to lose their salvation.

Second, the love of God makes it impossible for anyone that is saved to be lost. The Scripture teaches that there is nothing that can separate believers from the love of God that is in Christ. God loved us enough when we were sinners that He sent His Son to die for our sins so it would not make sense for Him to love us less so that one who has been saved will then lose persons salvation. This is the implication of the assertions of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul in Romans 5:8–10:

⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Later, the apostle also wrote to the effect that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Romans 8:38–39:

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Note the phrase nor anything else in all creation implies that not even Satan and sins that he causes us to commit could separate us from the love of God in Christ since Christ already died for our sins as the Holy Spirit asserted through the pen of the Apostle John in 1 John 2:1-2:

¹My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ² He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

The apostle states that he is writing to us so that we should not sin. You would, perhaps, expect the apostle to say that if we sin, we will lose our salvation, but that is not what he said. Instead, he said we have Jesus Christ defending us. Thus, if after we sin as believers, we have Jesus defending us, it is difficult to conceive how our sins after we have been saved will cause us to lose our salvation.

Third, those who are saved are secured in their salvation because God is strong enough to ensure that they remain that way. It is this confidence in the power of God that caused Apostle Paul to make the assertion of 2 Timothy 1:12:

That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

Apostle Peter stated also that God’s power is what maintains the security of the believer’s salvation when he wrote in 1 Peter 1:5:

who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Fourth, Jesus’ promises guarantee that those who are saved are eternally secured and so will not lose their salvation. The first guarantee of Jesus that assures the security of those saved is given John 5:24:

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

The expression he has crossed is translated from a perfect tense in the Greek. The perfect tense in the Greek portrays an action that occurred in the past that produces a result that continues to the present. This means that the emphasis of the perfect is not the past action so much as it is as such but the present “state of affairs” resulting from the past action. The implication is that the person who has crossed over from death to life because of faith in Christ continues in the state of life. The person’s state at all times is that of being alive so that it is difficult to conceive of how that person will ever not have life or return to death from which the individual crossed over to life. Not to mention, the fact that Jesus assured that such a person will not be condemned.

Another promise of Jesus that guarantees that the believer is eternally secured is given in John 6:37–40:

³⁷ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Several observations need to be made about this passage. No one gets saved unless the Father brings that person to the Son. This is what is meant in the sentence all that the Father gives me will come to me. Another observation is that those who come to Jesus were given to Him in time past and before they actually believe because the expression has given, is translated from a Greek perfect participle that implies that not only were those to be saved given to Jesus in a time unknown to us but also that they continue to be His. There will never be a time when they will cease to be His. Still another observation is that it is God’s will that no one who is saved will ever be lost, as in the clause of verse 39 that I shall lose none of all that he has given me. If it is the will of the Father for the Son not to lose anyone that has already been given to Him, it is inconceivable how a person who is saved could ever be lost.

Still another promise of Jesus that makes it clear that no one who is saved could ever be lost at a future time is given in John 10:27–29:

²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

The phrase never perish in verse 28 is a strong way of stating that which is impossible since we have double negative in the Greek. To assert how secure believers are in their salvation, the Lord says no one can snatch them out of my hand. The phrase no one is a jab to Satan, and all fallen angelic beings. It is not only that no angelic being can remove the believer from the care of the Lord, but also no human being including believers themselves could remove believers from the hand of the Lord. Therefore, this is a very strong promise that in and of itself says that believers are secured in their salvation. It is therefore inconceivable that anyone who is saved can be lost.

Fifth, the fact that the Holy Spirit indwells the believer permanently means that it is impossible for that believer to be ever lost. The Lord promised that the Holy Spirit will indwell the believer forever, according to John 14:16–17:

¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

It is difficult to conceive of how the Holy Spirit will be in believers forever and then they spend eternity in the lake of fire. Therefore, the permanent presence of the Holy Spirit in believers makes it impossible for saved individuals to lose their salvation.

Sixth, eternal life is a gift from God as the Scripture states in Romans 6:23:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But the Scripture is clear that God is not in the habit of rescinding His gift once given, as we read in Romans 11:29:

for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.

Thus, there is no way that God will ever recall the gift of eternal life, something that has to happen for a person to be eternally lost. This passage also implies that the believer given to Jesus Christ cannot be lost. By the way, the very phrase eternal life in and of itself tells us that the life that God gives lasts forever. Those who reject this doctrine claim that this phrase has to do with the quality of the life, a type of life in relationship with God that a person can have for a time and then lose, and not its duration. But our standard Greek English lexicons indicate that the Greek adjective (aiōnios) rendered “eternal” pertains to an unlimited duration of time, hence means “without end, eternal”. The point is that since God’s gift of life to those who believe in Christ is without end, it is inconceivable as to how a person with eternal life will lose or end it. We are saying that spiritual suicide in terms of ending eternal life is impossible. A person can end the human life in the sense of causing the soul to be separated from the body but even then, that person will continue to exist either with God or in the lake of fire. In any event, these reasons we have given are sufficient to establish the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer.

Those who reject the doctrine do it on several grounds but some of these grounds are based primarily on human reasoning. We will not concern ourselves at this point with some of these, instead we briefly consider the arguments that are based on the Scripture. A scripturally based reason for rejecting this doctrine is that if believers could not lose their salvation, there is no need for the passages that warn believer about falling away. A typical passage that is quoted is Hebrews 6:4-8. However, the passage is not concerned with eternal judgment, but temporal judgment that will eventually lead to physical death of the believer. Thus, one reason for the warnings is so that the believer would avoid temporal judgment of the Lord that will lead to death as that was one reason the Corinthians were warned about abuse of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:29–32:

²⁹ For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. ³⁰ That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. ³¹ But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. ³² When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

Another explanation to the passages that warn believers is that such warning is God’s means of rendering certain that those who are saved are never lost.

The passages that are often cited to indicate that a person who is saved can possibly lose the individual’s salvation when carefully examined do not teach that a person saved will lose this salvation. For example, those who hold the position that believers could lose their salvation say that when Apostle Paul spoke of losing his reward that that is an indication that he could lose his salvation. The passage in view is 1 Corinthians 9:27:

No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

The last sentence I myself will not be disqualified for the prize of the NIV is translated I myself should be a castaway in the Authorized Version, and that has led to the interpretation that the apostle sees the possibility of being lost. To begin with, such an interpretation will conflict with the apostle’s confidence that the Lord will keep him safe until that day (2 Timothy 1:12). Furthermore, the word “castaway” of the Authorized Version is translated from a Greek adjective (adokimos) that means “unqualified, worthless, base”. The sense of the word here is that of “disqualified.” In the athletic metaphor, the apostle was referring to the practice of disqualifying one who seemed to have won a given race from a reward because he was in violation of a rule and so he was speaking of being disqualified to receive eternal rewards and not loss of salvation as some interprets it. The apostle in chapter 3 of this same epistle spoke of those who will not receive rewards, but he never said they will lose their salvation only that they will be saved as if they went through fire. So, this passage of 1 Corinthians 9:27 does not mean that believers are in danger of losing their salvation.

Another argument of those who reject this doctrine is that there are several examples in the Scripture of those who were believers and fell away. To them the most obvious example was Judas Iscariot. Those who cite him indicate that he was a believer since the Lord chose him. But there is no indication that Judas was ever saved in light of what the Lord said of him in John 6:70–71:

⁷⁰ Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” ⁷¹ (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

Furthermore, that Judas was chosen as an apostle to the Jews, does not mean that he was saved otherwise our Lord would not have made the statement recorded in John 13:18:

"I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture: 'He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.'

Judas was chosen to fulfill the Scripture. The Lord’s priestly prayer reveals that from the start Judas was destined for eternal destruction, as implied in John 17:12:

While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

The other individuals those who reject this doctrine cite, such as Ananias and Sapphira, could not be proven that they lost their salvation only that they received judgment from the Lord that involved physical death.

Be that as it may, the Scripture clearly indicates that those who are saved are eternally secured. However, we need to caution that there is no assurance to those who are not saved but act as they are because they have joined the Christian church. We should furthermore be careful of the teaching that says that once you believe you are saved even if tomorrow you do not believe. This is a teaching that is not based on Scripture. All the passages that connect belief and eternal living are given in such a manner that it is clear that those who receive eternal life continue to believe. Take for example, the popular passage of John 3:16:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The clause whoever believes in him shall not perish is more fully everyone who continually believes shall not perish. This is because we have in the Greek a present participle with the definite article. This kind of construction is more concerned with the kind of person than his action and when used in connection with salvation, envisions the kind of person who believes and will not quit believing. The Greek scholar, Dr. Wallace, has this to say about this kind of Greek construction:

…The present was the tense of choice most likely because the NT writers by and large saw continual belief as a necessary condition of salvation. Along these lines, it seems significant that the promise of salvation is almost always given to ὁ πιστεύων…. ¹

Thus, it is dangerous to give assurance of salvation to anyone who does not continuously believe. Having said this, if you know that you are saved then you should be assured that you can never lose your salvation since you will certainly not cease believing in Christ. With this review we return to considering the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:2 that led to our consideration of the doctrine of eternal security of believers.

The apostle, despite what some believe, did not mean that there is a condition to be met by the Corinthians for them to be in a state he described as being saved as we read in verse 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. The apostle assumed that the Corinthians are being saved because they are holding firmly to the message of the gospel he preached to them. You see, the word “if” is translated from a Greek particle (ei) that is used in different ways in the Greek. For example, the Greek particle is used as a marker of condition that exists in fact or hypothetical so that it is translated “if.” On the one hand, if a writer presents an action associated with a verb as real, although the writer may or may not believe the action to be real, there is the implication there is no doubt or uncertainty about what is stated when our Greek particle is used. Thus, in some context the meaning “if” may be understood to mean “since”, especially if the action has already taken place. It is this meaning that is used by Apostle Paul as he described believer’s relationship with Christ in that they are considered as those who have been raised with Him as we read in Colossians 3:1:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

The clause Since, then, you have been raised with Christ is literally if, then, you have been raised with Christ. Certainly, the apostle did not mean that the condition to be fulfilled for the command he issued to be carried out is that of believers being raised with Christ. No! He assumed that it is true and so the word “if” has the sense of “since.” On the other hand, if a writer presents the action associated with a verb as possible, the implication is that the thing in question is possible but uncertain, though assumed probable. Thus, it is used to state the possibility of suffering of Christians, recognizing that not everyone may suffer in a given time as we read in 1 Peter 3:14:

But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.”

It is in the first meaning that something is true or has taken place that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 15:2. This being the case the clause if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you may be read as since you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. The implication will be that the apostle is stating what is true of the Corinthians or assumes something to be true of them. This interpretation is supported by the third assertion of the apostle that we considered in verse 1 on which you have taken your stand. We indicated that the sentence you have taken your stand is translated from a perfect tense in the Greek, implying the apostle stated something that occurred in the past with its result continuing to present with the Corinthians. Hence, it makes sense that the apostle did not intend to put a condition that must be met for the Corinthians being saved to be true. He assumed it to be true that they are standing firm in the gospel he preached to them.

In any case, the apostle asserts that the Corinthians were holding firm to the message they received that is the means of their salvation since we again read in 1 Corinthians 15:2 if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. The expression “hold firmly” is translated from a Greek word (katechō) that may mean “to confine, bound” as it is used to describe being kept within limits in a confining manner by the law in Romans 7:6:

But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

The word may mean “to possess,” that is, to keep in someone’s possession as the word is used in the oxymoron of the apostle’s spiritual life, he expressed in 2 Corinthians 6:10:

sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

The word may mean “to hold on” as it is used in the command of 1 Thessalonians 5:21:

Test everything. Hold on to the good.

The word may mean “to restrain, check, hold back,” that is, to prevent someone from exercising power as it is used of the restraining of the future lawless one in 2 Thessalonians 2:7:

For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.

The word may mean “to keep” in the sense of to hold someone back from going away as Apostle Paul used it to describe what his desire was about Onesimus in Philemon 13:

I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel.

In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:2, the word is used in the sense of “to hold fast” or “to adhere firmly” in that a person continues to believe and practice what is taught.

The thing Apostle Paul asserted the Corinthians held fast to or adhered firmly is the message of the gospel he preached to them as in the sentence of verse 2 the word I preached to you. The word “word” is translated from a Greek word (logos) that concerns communication of what is in a person’s mind so that it means “word.” However, it has several nuances. It may mean “message” as it is used in Peter’s preaching of the gospel to Cornelius and those gathered in his house as we read in Acts 10:36:

You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

The phrase the message is literally the word. The Greek word may mean “statement”, as that is the sense of its usage in Luke’s record of the response of the elders of the Ephesian church to what Paul said to them in Acts 20:38:

What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

The phrase his statement is literally the word. The Greek word may mean “speech” as it is used in Apostle Paul’s encouraging the Corinthians about being generous as we read in 2 Corinthians 8:7:

But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

The phrase in speech is literally in word. The Greek word may mean “instruction” as it is used in what Apostle Paul said to the Thessalonians regarding his letter to them in 2 Thessalonians 3:14:

If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed.

The phrase our instruction is literally our word. It may mean “preaching” when it is used with the Greek word that means “teaching”, as it is used in 1 Timothy 5:17:

The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.

The clause those whose work is preaching and teaching is literally those laboring in word and teaching. The Greek word may mean “reason, ground, motive” as the word is used to encourage believers to be able to defend what they believe in 1 Peter 3:15:

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

The phrase the reason for the hope is literally the word for the hope. The Greek word may mean “command” as it is used by Apostle John in recording the Lord’s message to the church in Philadelphia as we read in Revelation 3:10:

Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

The verbal phrase my command to endure is literally word of my endurance. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:2, the Greek word is used in the sense of “message,” that is, “the contents of a communication.”

The apostle having stated what is true of the Corinthians in that they are holding firmly to the gospel message puts forth an exception where what he stated may not be true. This exception is given in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 15:2 Otherwise, you have believed in vain. A more literal translation is unless in vain you believed. The Greek has a Greek word (ektos) that may mean “outside,” that is, a position not contained within a specific area. It may be used as a marker of exception hence means “except.” The word as it is used in our verse in the Greek phrase of the verse we are considering, is best translated “unless, except.” So, the apostle states something that is an exception contrary to what he assumed to be true. In effect, the apostle states that the Corinthians were not being saved if they did not believe the message, he preached to them. Hence, he wrote you have believed in vain. The word “believed” is translated from a Greek word (pisteuō) that its predominant meaning in the Greek NT is “to believe”, as it is used by Apostle Paul to describe the belief in resurrection, cast in the sense of living with Christ in Romans 6:8:

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

The Greek word may also mean “to trust”, with the implication of total commitment to the one who is trusted, as it is used in the apostle’s short prayer for the Roman believers in Romans 15:13:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The word has the sense of trusting or putting something to the care of another. Apostle Paul was so conscious of the fact that the preaching of the gospel was entrusted to him that he states it several times. Writing to the Galatians, he indicated that preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles is a task given to him, as we read in Galatians 2:7:

On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.

He informed the Thessalonians that he was entrusted with the preaching of the gospel although he did not envision himself as the only one entrusted with that task, as we can gather from his statement in 1 Thessalonians 2:4:

On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.

The apostle also reminds Timothy that he has been entrusted with the gospel that is, no doubt, concerned with eternal life that he described with the word “glorious”, indicating its greatness certainly because it contains the promise of eternal life in 1 Timothy 1:11:

that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:2, the word has the sense of “to believe” or “to trust,” that is, “to entrust oneself to an entity in complete confidence.”

To make stronger the contrast the apostle was making regarding the exception to not being saved by not believing the message he preached, he stated in alternative translation unless you have believed in vain. The word “vain” is translated from a Greek word (eikē) that may pertain to being without cause or reason and so means “without cause/reason” as Apostle Paul used it to criticize those involved in false humility and worship of angels in Colossians 2:18:

Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.

The translators of the NIV used the meaning “idle” to translate our Greek word in this verse but the more literal translators such as the ESV used the meaning “without reason.” The word may pertain to being without success or result, hence means “to no avail” or “for nothing” as that is the sense of the word in Apostle Paul’s question to the Galatians who were wavering regarding the doctrine of justification by faith as we read in Galatians 3:4:

Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing?

The word may pertain to being without purpose so means “to no purpose” as Apostle Paul used it in describing the function of government in Romans 13:4:

For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.

The standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG suggests that the verbal phrase bear the sword for nothing be translated carry the sword to no purpose. According to standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:2 with the meaning “without due consideration, in a haphazard manner.” This meaning would imply that some of the Corinthians were in a confused state about their salvation. This aside, it is probably the case that the apostle used the Greek word with the meaning “in vain,” that is, “for no reason or to no end.” A person who hears the gospel message and accepts it in the sense of believing it could not possibly be said to have believed for no reason or to no end. Thus, the apostle stated to the Corinthians something that he believed was not true of them although it is possible that there might have been some among them that have indeed not believed. They are those who are not being saved. The apostle’s apprehension is applicable to every local church. Thus, it is possible that some in this congregation may not be saved but come regularly when there is no conflict with their idolatrous practices. Anyway, the fourth assertion of the apostle with regard to the gospel as it pertains to the Corinthians is that they were being saved in the sense that there is a completed phase of salvation, a present phase, and a future phase that will involve not ever being in the presence of sin. Let me end by reminding you of the message we are considering which is: Be sure you are clear about the gospel message.

05/12/23