1 Corinthians 15:1-2 NKJV
“1Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.”
The Gospel of Christ
So, what was the gospel that the Apostle Paul preached to
the people? It wasn’t just that Jesus died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day
according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to many people before being
taken back up to heaven by God to be with God the Father until the day in which
he returns for his faithful bride, to take us to be with him for eternity. That
is certainly the first part of the gospel message, but that is not the meat of
the gospel.
For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our
own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ
to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as
slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no
longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires.
For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is
what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with
God (see Romans 6:1-23).
And Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny
self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if
we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity.
But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience
to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with
God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew
7:21-23).
False Teachings
I live in the USA, so I speak of what I know that is going
on in my own nation, which may not be the same as what is going on in your
nations. But in the USA, as a general rule, the gospel that I shared above,
which was taught by Paul and by Jesus Christ, is not the predominant “gospel”
being taught in my nation today. Few teach what Paul taught and what Jesus
taught in full context of what they both taught as the gospel of our salvation.
Even if some teach repentance and obedience, it is often taught as optional.
So many today have diluted and altered the gospel of Christ
to make it more attractive and less offensive to the ungodly and to human
flesh. And so many are teaching that a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ
is enough to secure them heaven as their eternal resting place, and forgiveness
of all sins, to the point to where they believe that they can continue living
in sin without guilt, and without conscience, and that they will still go to
heaven when they die, or when Jesus returns, regardless of how they live.
And so we have a whole lot of people in my nation claiming
Christianity as their “religion” of choice, and claiming Jesus Christ as their
Lord and Savior, but who have never denied self, died with Christ to sin, and
followed Jesus in obedience to his commands in holy living. Many who profess
his name are still living for the flesh, still doing what their sinful hearts
desire while they put on a performance of living the Christian life because
they go through certain religious rituals, yet while they deny the Lordship of
Christ.
Believing in Vain
Paul did not teach “Once Saved Always Saved.” He taught
progressive salvation – We are saved (past), we are being saved (present
active), and we will be saved (future) when Christ returns for his faithful
bride, but provided that we continue to obey our Lord’s commands, and that we
continue to put sin to death, and that we continue to follow the leading of the
Holy Spirit in our lives. For, if we continue in sinful addiction and not in
obedience to our Lord, then we will not inherit eternal life with God.
[Matthew
7:13-14,21-23; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 9:23-26; John 6:44; John
8:31-32; John 15:1-12; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-17; Romans
11:17-24; Romans 13:11; 1
Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; Galatians 5:16-24; Galatians 6:7-8;
Ephesians 5:3-6; Colossians 1:21-23; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; 2 Timothy 2:10-13; Hebrews 3:6,14-15; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 1:5,9; 2
Peter 1:5-11; 2 Peter 2:20-22; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6,24-25;
1 John 3:4-10]
So, a profession of
faith in Jesus Christ is not enough to secure you forgiveness of all sin and
eternal life with God. For those who live according to the flesh, and
not according to the Spirit of God, will naturally think on and act on what is
of the flesh, and not on what is of God. Even if they know about God, and even
if they have studied the Scriptures, and even if they have made a profession of
faith in Jesus, and maybe they have taught the Scriptures, they may still be
those who are still living by the flesh, living in a fantasy world, who are not
truly receiving the things of the Spirit of God.
The Heart of Man
Based off Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23
An Original Work / April 4, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Listen to me
ev’ryone and
Understand this
teaching of Christ:
Why do you break the
commands
Of God for the sake
of tradition?
When you follow the
ways of man,
And don’t obey the
words of Christ,
You nullify the
words of God,
And you hold to the
ways of man.
What comes out of a
man’s mouth is
What makes him
unclean and dirty.
The things that come
out of the mouth
Come from the heart,
from within him.
The heart of man is
so sinful;
From his nature, out
comes evil:
Lying, cursing,
greed and malice,
Lust and lewdness,
deceit, slander.
Jesus calls us to
obey him;
Turn from our sins;
follow His ways.
Yet, his people
honor him with their lips,
but their hearts not
with Him.
Their worship of God
is in vain.
Their teachings are
rules taught by man.
Jesus calls us;
gently leads us
To return and follow
His truth.
Unless You Believed in Vain
An Original Work / June 15, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
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