Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. I Corinthians 15:1-11
1 Moreover, brethren,
Paul addressed the Corinthians as brethren, fellow Christians. The Corinthian Christians, influenced by their culture, failed to deal with immorality in the flock, and they abused the Lord’s table – some gorging, becoming drunken, and others going without. The apostle rebuked them, admonishing them to deal with their sin.
1 I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
Paul reminds them of the gospel which he preached to them and which they received from him and by which they were saved, if they remembered (genuine salvation cannot be forgotten) what he preached to them.
Unless ye have believed in vain – in emptiness/without fruit; in word only (without power); even the demons believe and tremble, but theirs is not saving faith.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received (on the road to Damascus), how that Christ died for our sins (His substitutionary death) according to the scriptures;
Jesus speaking; “Search the Scriptures (the Old Testament) for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and these are they which testify of Me.”
The Bereans searched the Scriptures daily to see if these things (concerning Messiah Jesus) were true.
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
The Gospel – that Christ died in our place, was buried, and rose again the third day. Trying to improve on The Gospel is like taking a brush or pen to the Mona Lisa. Add some color, flowers in her hair, make-up, perhaps a nose ring. She would no longer be what she is known to be. Adding to The Gospel would make it another gospel. Add thou not unto His words, lest He rebuke thee and thou be found a liar (Proverbs 30:6).
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 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. (Romans 10:8-10)
5 And that he was seen of Cephas (Peter), then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
Facts are established in a court of law by two or three witnesses. He (Messiah Jesus) was seen multiple times by multiple witnesses. His resurrection from the dead is a proven fact.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
Paul elsewhere calls himself the chief of sinners – why? Paul was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, having sat at the feet of Gamaliel he was an expert in the Scriptures and as regarding the Law blameless. But He failed to see the Messiah in the Old Testament Scripture. Consumed by zeal he persecuted and killed those who did.
10 But by the grace (help/enabling/unmerited favor) of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
so we preach – to proclaim/herald/declare a message.
And so ye believed – belief and faith come from the same Greek root.
Believe – To believe is to be persuaded of – to be won over to a change of mind (repentance) and hence to place confidence in, to trust. In this sense it signifies, reliance upon, not mere credence.
Saving faith is a firm persuasion or conviction based on hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
It has been said that faith is the gangplank used to board the ship of grace. There is a faith (persuasion) that comes from listening to someone other than God. That kind of faith can be used to board the wrong ship.
The OT declares:
And he (Abraham) believed in the LORD; and he (God) counted it to him for righteousness. Genesis 15:6
The NT explains:
He (Abraham) staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he (God) had promised, he (God) was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed (accounted) to him (Abraham) for righteousness.
Now it was not written for his (Abraham’s) sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Romans 4:20-25
Justification – the act of God whereby He declares righteous those who believe that He is able to perform that which He has promised. God the Father has promised and provided a Saviour from our sins in His Son Jesus, who is Christ the Lord.
The God of Scripture is He who justifies the guilty based on their belief in His promise. Who is the guilty? I am the guilty.
…let the word of Christ dwell (take up its life) in you richly…