By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
Paul spoke these words near the end of his work when it was to be rounded off, to a church of strange characteristics that needed sharp treatment. The verse belongs to a chapter that gives great importance to the resurrection, which is a central gospel doctrine. The saving gospel is that Christ died for sins according to Scripture, was buried, and rose on the third day according to Scripture. People are saved by that gospel as received, stood in, kept in memory, and held fast, only if they hold fast its message and do not believe in vain.
Salvation requires more than general assent; it requires intelligent reception of the truth in the heart, standing in it, with faith mixed with the Word. The message must be remembered and the memory of the Word cultivated, because no one is benefited by a forgotten message. Keeping in memory means practicing the truth in every respect, holding fast the word of life, and perseveringly communicating to others the knowledge received.
Belief is in vain when it is haphazard in belief and practice and not after the lessons of Christ, and when faith is diluted by natural traits of character so that it loses its saving virtue by losing Christlikeness. Forgetting the message makes a person only a hearer of the Word and not a doer. The heart contains either treasures of goodness or treasures of evil; the true receiver of truth brings forth good things out of good treasure, while one who claims to believe without practicing brings forth evil things that wound, discourage, and destroy. Those who claim to be rich while lacking this living faith will in the end be wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
The gospel cannot be a changing religion but must be proclaimed and personally received. Its resurrection hope encourages diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness, while neglecting it obscures a major Christian hope. To fail to keep in memory what was preached is to stake time and eternity and the welfare of the soul upon a deception, a terrible calamity. It is altogether too late in this world's history to believe in vain or do anything in vain.
Paul spoke these words near the end of his work when it was to be rounded off, to a church of strange characteristics that needed sharp treatment. The verse belongs to a chapter that gives great importance to the resurrection, which is a central gospel doctrine. The saving gospel is that Christ died for sins according to Scripture, was buried, and rose on the third day according to Scripture. People are saved by that gospel as received, stood in, kept in memory, and held fast, only if they hold fast its message and do not believe in vain.
Salvation requires more than general assent; it requires intelligent reception of the truth in the heart, standing in it, with faith mixed with the Word. The message must be remembered and the memory of the Word cultivated, because no one is benefited by a forgotten message. Keeping in memory means practicing the truth in every respect, holding fast the word of life, and perseveringly communicating to others the knowledge received.
Belief is in vain when it is haphazard in belief and practice and not after the lessons of Christ, and when faith is diluted by natural traits of character so that it loses its saving virtue by losing Christlikeness. Forgetting the message makes a person only a hearer of the Word and not a doer. The heart contains either treasures of goodness or treasures of evil; the true receiver of truth brings forth good things out of good treasure, while one who claims to believe without practicing brings forth evil things that wound, discourage, and destroy. Those who claim to be rich while lacking this living faith will in the end be wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
The gospel cannot be a changing religion but must be proclaimed and personally received. Its resurrection hope encourages diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness, while neglecting it obscures a major Christian hope. To fail to keep in memory what was preached is to stake time and eternity and the welfare of the soul upon a deception, a terrible calamity. It is altogether too late in this world's history to believe in vain or do anything in vain.