Series: Being God's Church
Do You Have a Vain Faith?
1
Corinthians 15
Introduction: Vanity
Solomon, in his reflection on the meaning of
life, wrote:
I hated all my toil in which I
toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after
me, and who
knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which
I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. So I turned about and gave my heart up to
despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes a
person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything
to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a
great evil. What has a man from all the
toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his
heart does not rest. This also is vanity. There is nothing better for a person
than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil (Eccl.
2:18-24a, ESV).
How
many people feel this way when they think about their job? Vanity, right? It's not something that brings satisfaction;
it only brings, to use Solomon's words, "sorrow" and
"vexation"—a mere annoyance and aggravation. It's something that has to be done, but we
don't have to like it.
The apostle Paul, in a discussion of the
gospel, and particularly the resurrection, wants to tell us about labor that is
not "in vain." He writes:
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.
For I delivered to you as of
first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in
accordance with the Scriptures, that he
was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the
Scriptures, and that he appeared to
Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he
appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still
alive, though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared
also to me. For I am
the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I
persecuted the
Now if Christ is proclaimed as
raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of
the dead? But if there is no
resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our
preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about
God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead
are not raised. For if
the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith
is futile and you are still in your sins.
Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hoped in Christ,
we are of all people most to be pitied.
But in fact Christ has been
raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came
death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ
shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the
firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the
kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and
power. For he must
reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For "God has put all
things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "all
things are put in subjection," it is plain that he is excepted
who put all things in subjection under him.
When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be
subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him,
that God may be all in all.
Otherwise, what do people mean
by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why
are people baptized on their behalf? Why
am I in danger every hour? I protest,
brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die
every day! What do I gain if, humanly
speaking, I fought with beasts at
But someone will ask, "How
are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" You foolish person! What you sow does not
come to life unless it dies. And what you
sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of
some other grain. But God gives it a
body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its
own body. For not all flesh is the same,
but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and
another for fish. There are heavenly
bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and
the glory of the earthly is of another.
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and
another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
So is it with the resurrection
of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in
glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a
spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual
body. Thus it is written, "The
first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving
spirit. But it is not the spiritual that
is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of
dust; the second man is from heaven. As
was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man
of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear
the image of the man of heaven.
I tell you this, brothers: flesh
and blood cannot inherit the
"Death is swallowed up in
victory."
"O death, where is your
victory?
O death, where is your
sting?"
The
sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to
God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers,
be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that
in the Lord your labor is not in vain (1 Cor. 15).
There
are three things Paul wants to tell us about the implications of resurrection
on our faith: (1) It is possible for us to
have an empty faith; (2) Faith without the hope of resurrection is vain; and
(3) In view of the resurrection, our working faith in the Lord is not in vain.
I. Do You Have a Vain Faith?
Paul begins by suggesting that he wants to
remind the Corinthians of the gospel he had preached to them. This gospel is something they had
"received," something in which they stood, and by which they were
"being saved." The question
for the Corinthians was, "Are you holding fast to it, or have you believed
in vain?"
What is the gospel? Paul says that it was something that didn't
originate with him, but that he had received and passed on to them. He also says that it was something that was
according the Scriptures: "that
Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that
he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of
whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the
apostles. Last of all, as to one
untimely born, he appeared also to me."
How does one "hold fast" to the
gospel—the death, burial and resurrection of Christ? The word translated "hold fast" is
a word that means to "keep in one's memory." It means "to adhere firmly to
traditions, convictions, or beliefs."
To "hold fast" the gospel is to keep it fresh in one's mind
and heart and to continue to live out its demands. To do anything otherwise is to have an empty
faith, which short-changes the gospel, making it of no effect.
There are folks who speak quite
affectionately of grace, but who despise an active, working, obedient
faith. Paul was not in that
category. He spoke highly of grace: "But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace toward me was not in vain."
This former persecutor of God's church owed his new life to God's
grace. Grace made him what he was. Yet, this grace didn't save him and leave him
be. He finishes the description of his
experience of God's grace by saying, "On the contrary, I worked harder
than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." What did he just say? Did he just say that grace made him
work? That's exactly what he said. He said that he "worked harder"
than the other apostles. He felt such a
debt of gratitude that he put everything he had into living for Jesus Christ
and His gospel. To do anything less is
to have a vain faith. The word
translated "worked harder" means "to exert oneself physically,
mentally, or spiritually" to the point of exhaustion. Paul really worked for the Lord because of
the gospel of grace. Paul would still
attribute all of that labor to the working of the grace of God within him.
II. A Faith without the
Hope of Resurrection is Vain
Paul then launches into a discussion about a
part of the gospel that had obviously been distorted or left out all together
by some false teachers in
First, Paul quite clearly states if Christ
has been raised, being "the firstfruits," then we, too, will be
raised. If we're not going to be raised,
then Christ has not been raised, and those who've been preaching the
resurrection of Christ (Paul and the other eyewitnesses of the risen Christ)
are liars. Here are some important
statements he makes about the necessity of the resurrection:
Second, Paul launches into a discussion
of what the resurrection body will be like.
Again, it's obviously in response to something the false teachers were
saying. Perhaps they had picked up on a
Jewish belief that the body will be raised exactly as it was when we died, and
were scoffing at such a suggestion.
However, Paul suggests that the resurrection body will be different from
our earthly bodies. He says, "So is
it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is
raised is imperishable. It is sown in
dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in
power. It is sown a natural body; it is
raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is
also a spiritual body" (vv. 42-44).
He ends the discussion by suggesting the implications of the
resurrection for the Christian:
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will
be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body
must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable,
and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is
written:
"Death is swallowed up in
victory."
"O death, where is your
victory?
O death, where is your
sting?"
The sting of death is sin, and the power of
sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ (vv. 51-57).
All
in all, Paul suggests that the hope of resurrection is the realization of
salvation, the culmination of faith, and because of these things, it is the
motivation for our labor in the Lord.
III. Our Labor in the
Lord is Not in Vain
Paul's application of his teaching on the
resurrection is this: "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be
steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in
the Lord your labor is not in vain" (v. 58). Those who have been changed by the gospel of
grace, who are holding fast the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ
in their hearts, labor for the Lord.
The word translated "labor" is related to the word Paul used
to describe his work for the Lord. It
means "to engage in activity that is burdensome."
To be successful in our labor, then we must
be (1) "steadfast"—to have a stable and solid purpose for living
(Even Solomon eventually concluded, "Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man"); (2) "immovable"—having
consistency in our purpose, not shifting from it; and (3) "always
abounding"—it "carries the idea of exceeding the requirements, of
overflowing, or overdoing." Keith
Green once sang, in applying God's statement to Saul made by Samuel, "To
obey is better than sacrifice. I want
more than Sundays and Wednesday nights.
'Cause if you can't come to me everyday, then don't bother coming at
all." His point, and Paul's point,
is that Christianity is more than just getting our name checked off on Sundays
and Wednesdays—that's the beginning point, for that's one way that we are able
to keep the gospel fresh within our hearts, but there's more to Christianity
that this. God has overdone it with His
grace—He gives us the victory "through Jesus Christ our Lord," and we
should be willing to overdo it for Him.
Conclusion: I Want to Be a Worker for the Lord
Now before you think that this
is teaching works-salvation, notice what Paul says: God gives (that's grace, brethen)
the victory, and because of that gift we give Him our all. That's grace-salvation, but it is real grace,
and not cheap grace. It's
grace-changed-salvation. Grace changes
us to be what God wants us to be! In
view of everything God has done for us in His grace, how could we desire be
anything less?