1 Corinthians 15:1-2 urges the Corinthians to remember the gospel message Paul taught to them. They believed it, they are Paul's brothers and sisters in Christ, but they need to also live it out daily to be saved from the power of sin. We have believed in Christ to no useful end in our daily lives if we don't also live out our faith, living in God's power apart from sin's power.
In 1 Corinthians 15:1-2, Paul restates the gospel the Corinthians received, in which they stand, and by which they are being saved, as the foundation for his teaching on resurrection. He sets that gospel before them again in a single sentence:
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain (v 1).
Paul opens by re-announcing something the Corinthians already possess. I make known to you (v 1) introduces old news presented with new emphasis. The congregation heard this gospel when Paul first arrived in Corinth, probably about four years prior to this letter. He remained in Corinth for about 18 months (Acts 18:11). When he came to Corinth he did not present himself as strong, but weak. He was resolved to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2-3).
He calls his audience brethren, family language he has used throughout the letter even while correcting them, signaling that what follows addresses believers who have drifted into confusion about a truth they once embraced.
Three clauses trace their history with the gospel. They received it, a completed act of welcome at conversion. They stand in it, a present posture; the gospel is the ground under their feet, the position from which everything else in the Christian life is conducted. And they are saved by it, a present, ongoing verb. What the Corinthian believers have already been saved from is the penalty of sin, which is separation from God. But they need ongoing deliverance from the power of sin through walking in the Spirit in order to gain the fullest experience of life.
Scripture speaks of salvation in three tenses: believers have been delivered from the penalty of sin the moment they believe (Ephesians 2:8-9). This is a once-for-all deliverance that is solely based on the work of Jesus on the cross. His sacrifice was once, for all, and paid all the debts for sin for all the world (Hebrews 7:27, 9:12, 10:10, Colossians 2:14). We cannot add to or subtract from Jesus's payment based on our deeds (Ephesians 2:8-9,Romans 4:1-4, 8:33).
But believers still have a sin nature and need present deliverance. Believers in Jesus are being delivered from the power of sin as they walk by faith (Philippians 2:12-13). The Greek word "soteria" used in Philippians 2:12 is the noun form of "sozo," often translated as "save." We can see that "sozo" means "something is delivered from something" with context determining what is being delivered by what from passages like Matthew 8:25 andMatthew 9:21.
In Matthew 8:25, the disciples cried "Save us, Lord" when they feared being drowned in a storm. Context makes clear they were asking to be delivered from physical death. In Matthew 9:21, a woman reasoned, "If I only touch His garment, I will get well." The translators rendered here "sozo" as "get well" because context indicates that the woman desired to be delivered from her sickness.
Passages like James 1:21 use "save" to speak of deliverance from the power of sin in our daily lives. James 1:21 says we can "save" or deliver our lives (or "souls") from "wickedness" by setting it aside and replacing it with God's word, implanting it within.
The immediate context asserts that temptation does not come from circumstances, but from within ourselves. We have "lust" that breeds within us, then is birthed and brings forth death when allowed to come to life (James 1:14-15). James's point to the believers he addresses, urging them to endure trials and grow their faith, is that we have sin within us and must make a choice to follow God in order to set it aside and avoid its power to bring us death.
The third tense of "salvation" is the future tense. In the future, every believer will be delivered from the presence of sin at the resurrection (Romans 13:11). Every believer will be delivered from the very presence of sin when they receive a new body that is absent the flesh and its lust--the very thing James urges us to set aside. In the age to come, with new bodies, every believer will be delivered from that battle.
The present tense application of by which you are saved here in verse 2 points to present tense, ongoing deliverance, which the last chapter will connect to steadfast labor, diligent effort, and good deeds (1 Corinthians 16:13-16). Although every believer is saved from the penalty of sin only through God's grace, as asserted by Ephesians 2:8-9, every believer is also purposed and designed as a new creation in Christ to do good works, as asserted by Ephesians 2:10.
Believers are saved from the penalty of sin by Christ alone, apart from deeds (Ephesians 2:8-9). Believers are then delivered from the futility of the Fall, which separates us from our divine design, when we walk in the good works Jesus prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10).
This is why the clause if you hold fast the word which I preached to you attaches a condition to being saved (v 2). Paul’s use of saved in verse 2 refers back to thegospel in verse 1. The gospel is the good news that God has saved, is saving us, and will save us. It is all three: past, present, and future. Believers were saved from separation from God when they believed; at that point they were placed into Christ as a new creation and made a forever child. Believers will be saved from the presence of sin in the future when they go to live with Jesus forever.
But in the present life, being saved from the ongoing power of sin to lead us into adverse consequences depends on holding fast the word of God. As James asserts, it is the word that can displace the wickedness of our inner lusts (James 1:21). It is by choosing to walk in faith, believing that God's word leads us to a better life than what is offered by the world that saves us from sin's adverse outcomes. This is the same thing Paul asserts in Romans 1:16-17, when he says the gospel gives the power of salvation for all who believe, from beginning faith (receiving the gift) to ongoing faith ("the righteous man shall live by faith").
It is the word ingested, the wordbelieved, and the word lived out that saves believers from the adverse consequences of sin. The primary consequence of sin is death (James 1:15,Romans 6:23). "Death" is separation, as we can see in James 2:26 which defines physical death as the separation of body and spirit. Sin separates us from walking in the Spirit. And when we walk in the flesh, we gain the consequences of the flesh.
Paul outlines the adverse consequences for believers to walk in sin in many places, including:
Galatians 5:19-21, where he names the deeds that stem from walking in the flesh, deeds that create obvious destruction;
Galatians 5:15, where he says the flesh leads us to "bite and devour" one another.
Romans 1:24, 26, 28, where he describes the adverse consequence of seeking lust as addiction and loss of mental health (a "depraved mind").
Galatians 6:8, where sowing to the flesh is said to "reap corruption."
It is important to note that Paul wrote Romans to a group of believers whose faith was famous throughout the world (Romans 1:8). And Paul wrote Galatians to his own children in the faith (Galatians 4:19). This is a struggle for all believers, in all times. Even Paul said of his own struggle that he did things he did not even want to do because sin was doing it through him (Romans 7:16-17). Paul concludes "nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh" (Romans 7:18). We all have a flesh that only continually desires to do evil, and lead us to destruction. But thanks be to God that the gospel gives us the power to be delivered from our flesh every day.
However, deliverance from the flesh is a daily chore. It requires an ongoing setting aside of self, the flesh, and an ongoing choice to follow the Spirit. It begins by recognizing the flesh is unreformable, nothing good dwells in it, and then choosing to set it aside and replace it with obedience to God's word. Which is why Paul conditions by which (the gospel) you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you (v 2).
A believer who lets go of the apostolic word, trading it for a resurrection-denying substitute, forfeits the gospel's stabilizing and transforming power in daily life, even though the gift of being counted righteous rests on faith alone (Romans 4:3-5). The final clause, unless you believed in vain (v 2) elevates the sad reality that declining to walk in the power of the gospel and succumbing to the flesh is a genuine option.
To walk in the flesh negates the benefits of life through the Spirit. That is why the choice between flesh and Spirit is presented as a binary choice (Galatians 5:16-17). Paul makes a major point in Galatians that trying to "reform" ourselves through following rules is seeking to be justified, which is foolish (Galatians 2:17). It is foolish for believers to seek to be justified before God because Jesus already justified us before God through His death on the cross.
Paul asserts that if we need to keep rules to be justified before God then Christ did not need to die (Galatians 2:21). The answer then is to rest in our justification in Christ, but also realize that to fully experience the life we have been given requires setting aside the flesh, being crucified with Christ, and living our life through faith in Him (Galatians 2:19-20).
1 Corinthians 15:1-2
The Fact of Christ's Resurrection
1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
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1 Corinthians 15:1-2 meaning
In 1 Corinthians 15:1-2, Paul restates the gospel the Corinthians received, in which they stand, and by which they are being saved, as the foundation for his teaching on resurrection. He sets that gospel before them again in a single sentence:
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain (v 1).
Paul opens by re-announcing something the Corinthians already possess. I make known to you (v 1) introduces old news presented with new emphasis. The congregation heard this gospel when Paul first arrived in Corinth, probably about four years prior to this letter. He remained in Corinth for about 18 months (Acts 18:11). When he came to Corinth he did not present himself as strong, but weak. He was resolved to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2-3).
He calls his audience brethren, family language he has used throughout the letter even while correcting them, signaling that what follows addresses believers who have drifted into confusion about a truth they once embraced.
Three clauses trace their history with the gospel. They received it, a completed act of welcome at conversion. They stand in it, a present posture; the gospel is the ground under their feet, the position from which everything else in the Christian life is conducted. And they are saved by it, a present, ongoing verb. What the Corinthian believers have already been saved from is the penalty of sin, which is separation from God. But they need ongoing deliverance from the power of sin through walking in the Spirit in order to gain the fullest experience of life.
Scripture speaks of salvation in three tenses: believers have been delivered from the penalty of sin the moment they believe (Ephesians 2:8-9). This is a once-for-all deliverance that is solely based on the work of Jesus on the cross. His sacrifice was once, for all, and paid all the debts for sin for all the world (Hebrews 7:27, 9:12, 10:10, Colossians 2:14). We cannot add to or subtract from Jesus's payment based on our deeds (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 4:1-4, 8:33).
But believers still have a sin nature and need present deliverance. Believers in Jesus are being delivered from the power of sin as they walk by faith (Philippians 2:12-13). The Greek word "soteria" used in Philippians 2:12 is the noun form of "sozo," often translated as "save." We can see that "sozo" means "something is delivered from something" with context determining what is being delivered by what from passages like Matthew 8:25 and Matthew 9:21.
In Matthew 8:25, the disciples cried "Save us, Lord" when they feared being drowned in a storm. Context makes clear they were asking to be delivered from physical death. In Matthew 9:21, a woman reasoned, "If I only touch His garment, I will get well." The translators rendered here "sozo" as "get well" because context indicates that the woman desired to be delivered from her sickness.
Passages like James 1:21 use "save" to speak of deliverance from the power of sin in our daily lives. James 1:21 says we can "save" or deliver our lives (or "souls") from "wickedness" by setting it aside and replacing it with God's word, implanting it within.
The immediate context asserts that temptation does not come from circumstances, but from within ourselves. We have "lust" that breeds within us, then is birthed and brings forth death when allowed to come to life (James 1:14-15). James's point to the believers he addresses, urging them to endure trials and grow their faith, is that we have sin within us and must make a choice to follow God in order to set it aside and avoid its power to bring us death.
The third tense of "salvation" is the future tense. In the future, every believer will be delivered from the presence of sin at the resurrection (Romans 13:11). Every believer will be delivered from the very presence of sin when they receive a new body that is absent the flesh and its lust--the very thing James urges us to set aside. In the age to come, with new bodies, every believer will be delivered from that battle.
The present tense application of by which you are saved here in verse 2 points to present tense, ongoing deliverance, which the last chapter will connect to steadfast labor, diligent effort, and good deeds (1 Corinthians 16:13-16). Although every believer is saved from the penalty of sin only through God's grace, as asserted by Ephesians 2:8-9, every believer is also purposed and designed as a new creation in Christ to do good works, as asserted by Ephesians 2:10.
Believers are saved from the penalty of sin by Christ alone, apart from deeds (Ephesians 2:8-9). Believers are then delivered from the futility of the Fall, which separates us from our divine design, when we walk in the good works Jesus prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10).
This is why the clause if you hold fast the word which I preached to you attaches a condition to being saved (v 2). Paul’s use of saved in verse 2 refers back to the gospel in verse 1. The gospel is the good news that God has saved, is saving us, and will save us. It is all three: past, present, and future. Believers were saved from separation from God when they believed; at that point they were placed into Christ as a new creation and made a forever child. Believers will be saved from the presence of sin in the future when they go to live with Jesus forever.
But in the present life, being saved from the ongoing power of sin to lead us into adverse consequences depends on holding fast the word of God. As James asserts, it is the word that can displace the wickedness of our inner lusts (James 1:21). It is by choosing to walk in faith, believing that God's word leads us to a better life than what is offered by the world that saves us from sin's adverse outcomes. This is the same thing Paul asserts in Romans 1:16-17, when he says the gospel gives the power of salvation for all who believe, from beginning faith (receiving the gift) to ongoing faith ("the righteous man shall live by faith").
It is the word ingested, the word believed, and the word lived out that saves believers from the adverse consequences of sin. The primary consequence of sin is death (James 1:15, Romans 6:23). "Death" is separation, as we can see in James 2:26 which defines physical death as the separation of body and spirit. Sin separates us from walking in the Spirit. And when we walk in the flesh, we gain the consequences of the flesh.
Paul outlines the adverse consequences for believers to walk in sin in many places, including:
It is important to note that Paul wrote Romans to a group of believers whose faith was famous throughout the world (Romans 1:8). And Paul wrote Galatians to his own children in the faith (Galatians 4:19). This is a struggle for all believers, in all times. Even Paul said of his own struggle that he did things he did not even want to do because sin was doing it through him (Romans 7:16-17). Paul concludes "nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh" (Romans 7:18). We all have a flesh that only continually desires to do evil, and lead us to destruction. But thanks be to God that the gospel gives us the power to be delivered from our flesh every day.
However, deliverance from the flesh is a daily chore. It requires an ongoing setting aside of self, the flesh, and an ongoing choice to follow the Spirit. It begins by recognizing the flesh is unreformable, nothing good dwells in it, and then choosing to set it aside and replace it with obedience to God's word. Which is why Paul conditions by which (the gospel) you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you (v 2).
A believer who lets go of the apostolic word, trading it for a resurrection-denying substitute, forfeits the gospel's stabilizing and transforming power in daily life, even though the gift of being counted righteous rests on faith alone (Romans 4:3-5). The final clause, unless you believed in vain (v 2) elevates the sad reality that declining to walk in the power of the gospel and succumbing to the flesh is a genuine option.
To walk in the flesh negates the benefits of life through the Spirit. That is why the choice between flesh and Spirit is presented as a binary choice (Galatians 5:16-17). Paul makes a major point in Galatians that trying to "reform" ourselves through following rules is seeking to be justified, which is foolish (Galatians 2:17). It is foolish for believers to seek to be justified before God because Jesus already justified us before God through His death on the cross.
Paul asserts that if we need to keep rules to be justified before God then Christ did not need to die (Galatians 2:21). The answer then is to rest in our justification in Christ, but also realize that to fully experience the life we have been given requires setting aside the flesh, being crucified with Christ, and living our life through faith in Him (Galatians 2:19-20).