[Now] I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, ²and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. ³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, —1 Corinthians 15:1-3
In one of our pastor’s sermons he talked about a family trip to the Grand Canyon. As they approached the unfenced ledge overlooking deep gorges, he said to his children with urgency, “hold onto me and don’t let go.” He knew what they didn’t. One false step could mean death. It sounds a lot like what Paul says in our passage: “hold fast to the word I preached to you.”
Paul foresaw something worse than a fall to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The believers’ ongoing belief in the gospel was essential to their ultimate salvation. False teachers were infiltrating the Corinthian church. And falling away from true faith would mean an ultimate, eternal death.
Trust Christ every day
When we first trust Christ, we are justified (Romans 3:21-25). But salvation isn’t a one-time confession that we leave in our past. We must keep on trusting Christ, every day, to forgive our sins and be our righteousness. Only in Him are we saved. He said, “Abide in me” (John 15:4). That means we must remain, dwell, and stay in Jesus, all the time.
God’s strong hold
Elsewhere in his letters, Paul talks about the effort he made to remain in Christ. He tells the Corinthians, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). Here, Paul shows us his secret: he worked, and God worked. Paul made a mighty effort, mightier than any of the others working alongside Him. But God’s work was decisive. All of Paul’s efforts, apart from God’s grace, would be for nothing.
George Mueller, founder of the Bristol orphanage and renowned for his faith in God to supply the vast needs of his ministry, used to say, “Work with all your might; but trust not in the least in your work” (George Mueller’s Strategy for Showing God).
We are called to be faithful, to hold fast to Christ, yes! But also, we are to put our faith in Christ, confident that He will hold us fast.
Keep yourselves in God's love
The threat of falling away is real. Scripture warns us by recounting what happened to some of the Hebrews God called out of Egypt, “Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe” (Jude 1:5).
Jude call clearly for effort: “But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 1:20-21).
Still, the ground of our salvation, the reason we hope, is not in the end, up to us. Jude goes on to say,
"Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen" (vv. 24-25).
Did you catch that? We are to keep ourselves in the love of God, the God who is able to keep us from stumbling. He is the One who will present us blameless.
He will keep you
We need to preach the gospel to ourselves, not just the first day we believe it, but every day we live. This is the very message Paul said was “of first importance…that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.” Christ, the Messiah, came according to God’s Word foretold in the Old Testament. He lived the perfect, sinless life we never could, and died in our place, paying the penalty we deserve. He is the fulfillment of all the prophecies. He is our salvation. It’s only in His righteousness that we can stand before God, not condemned.
Believer, rejoice—your ability to keep on believing comes from God. Keep on believing this gospel. Hold fast to Him, confident that He will hold you fast.
For Reflection
How does knowing that Christ died for our sins—including the sin of unbelief—strengthen your resolve to keep on believing?
When you're tempted to doubt that your faith will hold, consider the prayer of the man in Mark 9:24, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Ask the Lord to give you the opportunity and faith to encourage a fellow believer this week to keep holding fast to the One who will hold us fast.
Candice Watters is the editor of Fighter Verses and the co-author with her husband, Steve, of Start Your Family: Inspiration for Having Babies. Together they teach My Purpose Will Stand to the 5th grade Sunday school class at their church. The Watterses are the parents of four young adults.