By Marvin Duncan
First Corinthians 5:2 & Second Corinthians 6:1
There are two passages in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians that speak of activities that are IN VAIN. Paul admonishes these Saints not to be involved in either one. In as much as the Corinthians were members of the Body of Christ, the challenges Paul gives to these saints are just as needful today as when these letters were written. Some may not agree, but I believe the professing church today is suffering from many of the same problems the Corinthian church experienced. If this be the case, the admonitions and commands God gave to this early church are applicable to the professing church today. If Christians would take the challenges of Paul’s letters to the Corinthian church as a personal challenge, there would be less departure from the truth of the Mystery and a more dedicated and serving body of believers today.
Believing In Vain
Two challenges that Paul gives to the Corinthian Saints should be considered very seriously by the saints today. These challenges have to do with two areas that Paul admonishes the Saints not to be engaged in. The first challenge is found in First Corinthians 15:2 where Paul is speaking of the Gospel of the Grace of God which he had preached to these Saints the Gospel by which they were saved (verses 1-2). Paul challenges these Saint to:
“Keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain” (1 Cor,15:2).
What does Paul mean by this warning? How could anyone believe the Gospel of the Grace of God in vain? Paul is warning against anyone believing something that produces nothing in return, but he isn’t talking about the Gospel of the Grace of God not producing anything good. He is talking about these individuals not believing in a vanity, that is, believing in something that isn’t real. His point is that the Gospel of the Grace of God is not a vanity it is a certainty. Because it is a certainty, they do have salvation and acceptance with our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the first four verses of this fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians, Paul defines and declares the Gospel. If the question be asked, “What is the Gospel?” the answer is found in verses three and four.
“…Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4).
The Gospel (the Good News) that brings salvation to the believing sinner is the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. These doctrines are the two great foundation stones of the Gospel, and if either of them be denied then the Gospel ceases to exist. If Christ did not die as an atoning sacrifice for sins, then sin has never been put away. If God’s eternal claims were not satisfied by Christ paying the sin debt in full, there is no deliverance from sin’s power and doom. And, if the Resurrection be denied, then Christ failed to accomplish what He purposed to perform, for He came to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself as a Sin-offering (Heb. 9:26).
It is important to notice that Paul places the authority of the Scriptures above the testimony of men in establishing the truth of the death and resurrection of Christ. Because of the infallibility of the Word of God, Paul establishes the fact that God’s Word declares that Christ died for our sins and was raised the third day (Isaiah 53:4-6 & Luke 18:33). It is only after the witness of the Scriptures that Paul mentions there were more than five hundred human witnesses to establish the truth of the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:6). Today, man wants to reverse this order. Man puts human testimony first and Bible testimony second. This is done for two reasons to gratify man’s high opinion of himself, and to belittle God’s Word. May we never be numbered with the ones who seek man’s testimony above the testimony of the Word of God.
To enforce the necessity of believing in the resurrection of Christ, as well as His death for our sins, Paul continues in this fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians by saying:
“If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (1 Cor. 15:14).
Here the word, vain means empty. If Christ had remained in the tomb, Paul’s preaching was empty because this would indicate there was no acceptable payment for sin made when Christ died. If there was no truth in Paul’s preaching, then any who believed his message, and placed their trust in what he said? had no salvation. They had believed in an empty promise. (The whole point of this discussion of the resurrection of Christ is to prove that Christ was raised from the tomb and the Gospel of Christ is true and powerful to the saving of those who believed what Paul had preached.)
In verse 17 of this same chapter, Paul again uses the word, vain. He says:
“If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.”
The word, vain here means overthrow or frustration. Paul’s point in verses 16-19 is to show the unity of Christ with members of His Body by placing His resurrection and theirs on the same footing. His resurrection and theirs stand or fall together. His not being resurrected would nullify or frustrate their faith, for it would prove the failure of His purpose to take them out of their sins, and consequently liberate them from the eternal doom attached to them.
Receiving In Vain
In Paul’s second letter to these same saints, he challenges them not to receive the Grace of God in vain. In Second Corinthians 6:1 we read:
“We then as workers together with Him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of god in vain.”
Is Paul speaking here of the same thing he was talking about in his first letter? No, in this second letter, Paul is speaking of the members of the Body of Christ failing to show the Grace of God to others as it was shown to them.
I thank the Lord for the Sunday school teacher who was faithful in showing me that I needed salvation and could be accepted by God on the basis of what Christ accomplished in my behalf on the Cross of Calvary. I’m sure you, too, can remember those individuals who were instrumental in sharing the Grace of God with you. Have you ever considered what your life might be like today if someone had not shared God’s Grace with you as they did? When I think of what my life might have been had I not heard the message of salvation when I did, I praise the Lord even more for those who had a part in sharing with me God’s love and grace.
It is Paul’s purpose in this second letter (chapter 6:1-10) to challenge these saints (and every member of the Body of Christ) to become Christian workers who will share the message of Grace with others.
Paul is saying that unless we recognize that every Christian should be engaged in this activity of Grace, we are receiving God’s Grace in vain. That is, we are receiving God’s Grace in an empty manner. The question could be asked, “What does the Grace of God mean to you?” Are you just selfishly receiving God’s Grace for your own salvation and hoarding this wonderful truth, refusing to share it with others who are dying in their sins? That would be receiving the Grace of God in vain.
Paul shows in the next several verses that every Christian should avoid everything that might stumble men (verse 3) and to seek to save them. Paul bases this appeal upon the truth he set forth to these saints in his first letter where he tells them:
“We are labourers together with God” (1Cor. 3:9).
It is Paul’s claim to be in the great mission of love as a fellow laborer with Christ that he appeals to these saints to become active in this labor of love to those still outside of Christ. The challenge of the Second Corinthians 6:1-10 passage is that now, today, is a day of grace in which God is accepting sinners and saving them. Today is a day of salvation because of the death and resurrection of Christ. The fruit of Christ’s death and resurrection is for man’s enjoyment; and, consequently, the present dispensation is for man a day of grace and acceptance. All those who have experienced this grace should seek to make it known to others although it be at the cost of the shame and suffering described in verses 4-10.
Christ gave His all to save men. He suffered rejection and shame to provide forgiveness of our sins. Should we who have benefited from this suffering and shame do any less when we have been commissioned to be Ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20) to a world that is at war with Him? This is Paul’s challenge in this portion of the sixth chapter of Second Corinthians.
The Challenge Before Us
In Second Corinthians 6:4-I0 Paul lists a number of activities that the saints of God should consider as possibilities in their lives as they minister the Grace of God. Yet, regardless of the circumstances the saint might find himself in, he is to give no offence in any way that the ministry be not blamed.
Although the activities listed in this section may seem extreme and even frightening, we should not shrink from the ministry of the Grace of God because our service for Christ will be rewarded when we stand before Him (2 Cor. 5:10). Paul had already told these Corinthian Saints they would be honored for their service. In First Corinthians 15:58 Paul told these Saints:
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
Paul’s promise is that no matter what the cost, it will be to the saint’s advantage to remain steadfast and unmovable because whatever effort you give to our Lord, it will not be without benefit. It will be honored and rewarded by our Lord.
Paul wanted the saints to willingly join in the ministry of the Grace of God as the natural response for having received the Grace of God themselves. Paul wanted these Corinthian Saints to respond in kind to the love and concern someone else showed unto them when they shared the Grace of God to them while they were still under the condemnation of their sin.
There is another passage of Scripture that fits with our subject of not receiving the Grace of God in vain. In Philippines 2:15-16, Paul speaks of the ministry the saints should have to those still outside Christ -how they should be “lights in the world; holding forth the word of life.” Paul wanted them to be in the ministry so he could rejoice with them in “The Day of Christ” and be encouraged that he had not labored in vain.