1 Corinthians 15: 1-11
Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for your sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them–yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
A Thought
Paul is reminding the Corinthians, also you and me, of the gospel that we are to hold firmly if we are to be saved. We must believe that Christ died for sins acording to Scriptures, that he was buried, arose on the third day and that he appeared to many after his resurrection, including Paul. At this time there were many apostles and perhaps as many as five hundred brothers that were still living who had witnessed the appearance of Jesus after his death. There was no reason that they should not have believed, but Paul is reminding them to remember this fact or they have believed in vain.
Our Prayer
Father thank you for the many witnesses found in the Scriptures of people who personally knew Christ and saw his live appearance on earth after his death on the cross. We must keep this message alive of your gift of love that spared not your own Son from the death on the cross for all to receive forgiveness from sin. Help us not to receive your grace in vain. Awaken us by the power of your Holy Spirit to be your witnesses. We ask in Jesus’ name, amen.
