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Unless You Believed in Vain

Sue J Love

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Mar 27, 2015
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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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