by Timothy W. Burnett
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand. By which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain" (1Corinthians 15:1-2).
He is about to explain the same story of Jesus Christ that he had already preached to them before. It's very possible that the Corinthian believers were starting to forget the truth. Somebody in the church may have been influencing them away from the truth. The above reference to being saved is not conditional upon whether or not people keep in memory the gospel. It is saying to keep in memory the things he preached, unless we have believed in vain. When we start forgetting the truth, then our lives and service toward God start to fall apart.
In the name of Jesus Christ we can live more than abundant lives (John 10:10). We can get all of our need met in every situation of life. We can make our decisions based upon God's love rather than upon fear of the unknown future or fear of being attacked or hurt. Yet, when we start to forget what God did for us through His son Jesus Christ, our heartws sink and our lives start to fall apart as we stop trusting God.
When we forget that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, true joy starts to leave our hearts. We are easily provoked to envy and anger. Our lives lose that beautiful and peacefully thankful touch. When we stop being thankful, then anger and bitterness sets in the heart. It is in vain because we and others around us stop benefiting from the gospel of Jesus Christ that saved us.
This situation can be changed by returning to the true gospel and putting on Christ in our lives and being thankful and praying often with thankful hearts with our understanding and with the spirit of God (1Corinthians 14:15).
Paul encouraged the Corinthian believers to return to the true gospel of Jesus Christ and to fully understand what it meant for them, so that they might not have believed in vain. We have the same encouragement and exhortation to not forget the true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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