|
|
Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
September 4
Click on verses for Full Scripture
|
previous - - - - - - - - - -
next
|
Today's Pathway:
|
Yesterday we saw Paul define the Gospel as the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. These were facts that the Corinthian church had received by faith, and were the foundation upon which they stood. In verse 2 he states that it was the Gospel message that saved their souls. This verse raises an interesting observation about being saved. It has been said that there are three "tenses" of salvation. When a man receives Christ as his Savior, he is immediately saved from the Penalty of sin. For those of us who have been born again, that salvation took place in the past, and therefore we can boldly proclaim that we are "saved". This was the case of the Corinthian church members, for according to verse 1 they had received the Gospel and were standing upon it. There is also a future aspect to salvation, for there will come a day, either through death or by the rapture, that the believer will be saved from the Presence of sin because he will be present with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:8). Paul speaks of this in Romans 13:11 when he says to those Christians,
"for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed".
Finally, there is a present aspect to being saved as well. We are eternally saved, but we are also in the process of being saved from the Power of sin. The Bible refers to this as Sanctification. Paul wrote this to the church at Philippi:
"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12).
The Greek word translated "work out" in that verse means "to accomplish or finish". Paul is obviously not teaching the Philippian believers that they need to do good works in order to gain or keep their salvation. He is telling them to bring the eternal salvation that they already have to its logical conclusion by living sanctified lives.
Understanding the "tenses" of salvation will help us to understand the meaning of verse 2. Because of the use of the word "if", some have unfortunately taught that a man's eternal destiny is determined not only by receiving Christ, but also by continuing in the faith. They teach that there is no such thing as eternal security, but that it is up to the individual to keep himself saved by "keeping in memory" what he had been taught. This is not what Paul is teaching. He is not talking here about their eternal salvation; he is speaking of their process of sanctification. He is telling them that their acceptance of the Gospel would not only save them from the Lake of Fire, it would save them from succumbing to the world. If they would believe what he had preached, and put it into practice, they would not waste their lives in sin and slothfulness.
Paul concludes verse 2 with the phrase,
"unless ye have believed in vain".
What he means here is this: "All these things that I have just mentioned are true, unless the Gospel which you believe is empty and untrue." If any part of the Gospel is false, then they have no salvation, they have no power to be victorious in this life, and they have nothing to look forward to in the future. A vital part of that Gospel is the resurrection. Billions of people have died, and those same billions have been buried in one form or another. But only One has risen from the dead. Therefore, if the bodily resurrection is not true, then the Gospel is untrue, and there is no salvation at all: past, present, or future. Albert Barnes concludes,
“'You will be saved by the Gospel unless it shall turn out that it was vain to believe, and that the doctrine was false'. That it was not false, he will proceed to demonstrate."
We will look into this further tomorrow.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
|
|
You Are Here: 
