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 Cor. 15:1-2
There are four main points that stand out in these two power packed verses:
1 – Preaching
2 – Believing (receiving)
3 – Standing
4 – Being saved
1 – THE GOSPEL, INCLUDING THE RESURRECTION, MUST BE PREACHED
Peter said as much in his evangelistic message to Cornelius: And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. (Acts 10:42). Paul confirms this in his oft quoted words from the Book of Romans: For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? (Romans 10:13-17).
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. So the gospel must be preached.
2 – THE GOSPEL MUST BE RECEIVED
John wrote in the prologue to his gospel: “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11-12). Toward the end of his gospel, the same writer explicitly provided his readers with a purpose statement which also calls for a decision of faith: “but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
3 – THE BELIEVER IS MADE TO STAND
Psalm 130:3 spells out the heart of humanities problem with God: “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” The question is rhetorical; the answer is obvious: no one. As Psalm 1 puts it: “the wicked will not stand in the judgment.”
The believer in Christ, however, has an entirely different judicial standing with God. Rather than condemnation, the believer stands justified. As Paul put it: since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:1-2).
4 – THE BELIEVER IS BEING SAVED
This means literally “to be in the way of salvation,” that is, as opposed to “perishing.” The salvation promised in the gospel comes in three “parts” if you will:
Justification: the believer is already saved from the penalty of sin
Sanctification: the believer is being saved from the power of sin
Glorification: the believer will be saved from the presence of sin
BUT WHAT IF I BELIEVED IN VAIN?
There are two ways in which a person might “believe the gospel in vain.” The first we might call “subjective vanity.” That is, a person failed to meet the biblical conditions or standard of true faith. For example, if you are really seeking salvation by works, then this would indicate that you believed “in vain” (see Galatians 3:1-4). Or perhaps you “deny the power of godliness” as Paul puts it in 2 Timothy 3:5. This could indicate a person who finds religion fashionable in some way, but rejects the power and very heart of the true gospel, the resurrection of Jesus Christ: “if you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
The second way in which a person could believe the gospel “in vain” is if the resurrection of Christ did not actually happen. This we might call “objective vanity.” As Paul so directly and forcefully put it: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” If Jesus is still dead, we have believed the promise of the gospel in vain, because the promises are not true. Combatting this anti-resurrection heresy is a burden of much of the rest of the chapter of Corinthians.