Paul
the apostle told the church members in Corinth, “if
the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:”,
and in
chapter fifteen and verse seventeen of First Corinthians, Paul told
the church members if Jesus was not “raised”,
then “your faith is vain”,
where we read:
And if
Christ be not raised, your faith is
vain; you are yet in your sins.
The
verse begins, “And
if Christ be not raised, your faith is
vain;” Paul
began with the words, “and if” or
“and whether”, “Christ”
which refers to “the anointed One, the Messiah and the Son of God”
“be not raised”
or “did not arouse, rise and appear from death”, “your
faith”
which means “the church members' the conviction that God exists and
is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of
eternal salvation through Christ” “is
vain” or
“devoid of force, truth, success, result and useless and of no
purpose”. Paul declared if Jesus did not “rise from the dead”,
then the church members' belief and trust in God's plan was “devoid
of force and truth”.
The
verse continues, “you
are yet in your sins.” Paul
added the words, “you are yet”
which means
“the church members are still, remain and continue” “in
your sins”
which means “the church members' missing of the marks, errors,
mistakes and violations of the divine law in thought or act”. If
Jesus did not rise from the dead it meant “the church members' sins
remained in them”.
When
we consider these words from Paul, we understand the importance of
Jesus “rising from the dead”. If He didn't, everyone's “faith”
in the gospel is “empty and without purpose”, and no one's “sins”
are removed. Jesus Christ came into the world to “save” people
from their “sins”, and because of His resurrection, not only is
our “faith” filled with purpose, but also our “sins”
are forever removed.
Next
time Paul shares with the
church members about those who have,
“fallen
asleep in Christ are perished”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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