1 Corinthians 15:1-2 – The effect of the Gospel

Paul started in this chapter to remind the believers in Corinth of the Gospel he had preached to them. He reminded them how they had received the message and stood by it. In referring to the fact that they stood by the Gospel, he was saying they had positively responded to his message, repented and were baptized. When the Gospel is truly embraced, there would be willingness to take up the necessary steps to show genuine belief. The natural order after faith and repentance is water baptism.

Notice in talking about their reception of the Gospel, Paul used a past tense. He said that “…in which you also received.” But in verse 2 there’s a change in the tense and mood of the verb. He used the present passive tense instead. So he said, “By which (the Gospel) you are saved.” This phrase would be better translated as “By which you are being saved.” From this we can conclude that Paul saw salvation as a process. It begins with faith in Christ and a personal repentance and conversion to follow Him. It would lead to one’s baptism and a journey of sanctification culminating in one’s glorification at Christ’s glorious appearing.

Apparently, there were also those who did not hold fast to the whole message Paul preached. They had accepted some false doctrines that had undermined the fundamental truth of the Gospel that he had shared. In the phrase “…unless you believed in vain” implies that they would not be saved if they do not hold fast to the whole fabric of the truth which he had preached.  

For us who have embraced the Gospel, we are now in the process of being sanctified. We have repented of our sin, turned to Christ to follow Him, and were baptized and brought into fellowship with Him. However, practically, none of us can say that we are already perfect in Christ, although in position we are already made whole in Him. All of our encounters in life, both the positive and negative, are there to sanctify us i.e. to make us more and more Christ-like. Let’s seize every opportunity to make the best of all encounters to become more like Him!

 

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