Complimentary Story
January 2026“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2).
In 1 Corinthians 15:1 the Apostle Paul says, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand.”
The Apostle Paul knew we would need a reminder of the Gospel that he preached, and to stand firm in the Gospel we have received. This is so important that the Apostle Paul told the Galatian Church in Galatians 1:8, and by extension the faithful of all ages, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”
We have many problems within the American Church today, and they all result from compromising or failing to preach the Gospel as written in the Word of God.
Some preach a Gospel devoid of repentance. Some preach repentance as though it were a synonym for the word ‘Sorry.’ Repentance comes from the Greek word ‘Metanoia,’ which means a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree change of direction. You can be sorry and not change your ways. Repentance, however, is changing your ways. True repentance is a work of Christ; we know that because the Bible teaches we are not saved by works.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
The central focus of the power of the Gospel must remain the bodily resurrection of Christ. This is not preached as it should be because to preach it as it should be preached, we must acknowledge that we, too, must be crucified with Christ, we must die to self and pick up our cross daily.
My favorite verse is Galatians 2:20 which says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Notice that the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:2, “and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the Word I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.” Is Paul saying it is possible to lose your salvation? No, you cannot lose your salvation. What the Apostle is saying is that many will believe in vain.
You might ask, “how can you believe in vain?” Listen to the warning that Jesus Himself gives in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.”
Notice the people Jesus says that He never knew, address Him four times as “Lord” in that passage. They appeal to the works they did in His Name, and yet Jesus tells them, “‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.”
How can you believe in vain? How can you profess Jesus as Lord and not be saved? Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
The best illustration I ever heard on this subject is that the distance between Heaven and Hell is eighteen inches. Eighteen inches is the distance from your mind to your heart. You must allow what you know about Jesus to be received in your heart as well. Salvation is not merely knowing who Jesus is, it is about allowing that knowledge to change your heart and thus change who you are. This is where the power of the resurrection comes in. Dying to self in this life so you might live with Christ in this life and in the next.
I will close this article with a Truth and a challenge, and that is the power to live a life that is not in lived in vain is to hold steadfastly to the Gospel.
Email:
AliveMinistriesUSA@gmail.com
