Saturday, July 16, 2016

The Basics of the Faith

1Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importancea : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas,b and then to the Twelve.6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. (1 Corinthians 15)

Thoughts: What is the faith boiled down?  John 3:16 is probably the best.  but 1 Corinthians 15, most scholars agree, contains the most ancient Christian creed besides the short "Jesus is Lord."  Paul says this is the essentials of the faith- to believe in the death of Christ for our sins (vs. 3), that he was buried, that he was raised and appeared.  If we cannot hold to these things we "have believed in vain."  I will look at this in more detail tomorrow.  But for now, suffice it to say that Paul is trying to say the basics of the faith here.  

Prayer: Lord, I believe.  Help my unbelieff.  

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