Sue J Love
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- Mar 27, 2015
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- 3,516
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58 NASB’95)
At the beginning of this chapter Paul talked about the gospel of our salvation which he preached to the people, by which we are saved if we hold fast the word which he preached, unless we believed in vain. And the gospel he preached includes all he taught, as recorded in all his writings. And so the Lord had me write on that subject earlier this morning in a writing titled, “Unless You Believe in Vain.” So I am not going to go into all of that again. But I will give a synopsis of it, for it fits with this last verse in this chapter.
Paul spent the majority of this chapter 15 proving that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead, for there were many people with whom he was speaking who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. He said, “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’ Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.” (1 Corinthians 15:32-34 NASB’95) That fits with this:
By God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands. Thus, sin is to no longer be granted by us to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God.
That is a summary of Romans 6:1-23, which was also penned by Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And it is a summary of the gospel message that Paul taught, too, and that Jesus taught, and that the other New Testament apostles taught, as well. For the faith to believe in Jesus comes from God, and it is not of our own doing, not of human flesh. So, by faith, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but as servants of God.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58 NASB’95)
Jesus Christ taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if we deny self, daily putting sin to death by the Spirit, and we now walk (in conduct, in practice, with purpose) according to the Spirit in walks of obedience to our Lord, in the power of God, then we have the hope of salvation and the assurance of eternal life with God in his heavenly kingdom.
And this is not “works salvation.” All this is of God, by the Spirit, and according to the will and purpose of God for our salvation from sin. It has nothing to do with any of us, in our own flesh, trying to be good enough to earn or to deserve our own salvation. But it is us, in the power of God, according to his will and purpose for our lives, walking in the salvation which he provided and which we already received, by faith, by his grace. For our salvation is something that we are to live out in our daily lives, by grace.
So, as those who are of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus, which is gifted to us by God, and which is not of our own doing, we die with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, and now we walk (in practice) in obedience to his commands. And this does not make us perfect people, but if sin is our practice, and not righteousness, and not walks of surrender to God in obedience to his commands, then we have believed in vain, for we will not have salvation from sin, and we won’t have eternal life with God.
But if we are of genuine biblical faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, a faith which is persuaded of God as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die to sin and to obey God and his commands, then we will be those who die to sin, in practice, and who obey God, in practice, and for whom sin is no longer our practice. And in the power of God, under his guidance, we will be steadfast in faith, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, having a faith which is not in vain.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Walk With Me
By Al Langdon and P.J. Zondervan
Walk with me, walk with me,
Lest mine eyes no longer see
All the glory, all the story of Your love;
Talk to me, talk to me,
Like You spoke so tenderly,
When You talked there,
When You walked there by the sea.
Talk to me, talk to me,
Lest mine ears no longer hear
All the wonder, all the beauty of Your grace;
Walk with me, walk with me,
As You walked so lovingly,
When You walked there,
When You talked there by the sea.
Let me follow in the footsteps
That trod the shore of Galilee,
Let me learn to pray like He did
In the Garden of Gethsemane;
Take my hand, take my hand,
Teach me Lord to understand,
All the duty, all the beauty of Your love.
Caution: This link may contain ads
Abounding in The Work of The Lord
An Original Work / April 14, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
At the beginning of this chapter Paul talked about the gospel of our salvation which he preached to the people, by which we are saved if we hold fast the word which he preached, unless we believed in vain. And the gospel he preached includes all he taught, as recorded in all his writings. And so the Lord had me write on that subject earlier this morning in a writing titled, “Unless You Believe in Vain.” So I am not going to go into all of that again. But I will give a synopsis of it, for it fits with this last verse in this chapter.
Paul spent the majority of this chapter 15 proving that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead, for there were many people with whom he was speaking who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. He said, “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’ Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.” (1 Corinthians 15:32-34 NASB’95) That fits with this:
By God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands. Thus, sin is to no longer be granted by us to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God.
That is a summary of Romans 6:1-23, which was also penned by Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And it is a summary of the gospel message that Paul taught, too, and that Jesus taught, and that the other New Testament apostles taught, as well. For the faith to believe in Jesus comes from God, and it is not of our own doing, not of human flesh. So, by faith, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but as servants of God.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58 NASB’95)
Jesus Christ taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if we deny self, daily putting sin to death by the Spirit, and we now walk (in conduct, in practice, with purpose) according to the Spirit in walks of obedience to our Lord, in the power of God, then we have the hope of salvation and the assurance of eternal life with God in his heavenly kingdom.
And this is not “works salvation.” All this is of God, by the Spirit, and according to the will and purpose of God for our salvation from sin. It has nothing to do with any of us, in our own flesh, trying to be good enough to earn or to deserve our own salvation. But it is us, in the power of God, according to his will and purpose for our lives, walking in the salvation which he provided and which we already received, by faith, by his grace. For our salvation is something that we are to live out in our daily lives, by grace.
So, as those who are of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus, which is gifted to us by God, and which is not of our own doing, we die with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, and now we walk (in practice) in obedience to his commands. And this does not make us perfect people, but if sin is our practice, and not righteousness, and not walks of surrender to God in obedience to his commands, then we have believed in vain, for we will not have salvation from sin, and we won’t have eternal life with God.
But if we are of genuine biblical faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, a faith which is persuaded of God as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die to sin and to obey God and his commands, then we will be those who die to sin, in practice, and who obey God, in practice, and for whom sin is no longer our practice. And in the power of God, under his guidance, we will be steadfast in faith, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, having a faith which is not in vain.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Walk With Me
By Al Langdon and P.J. Zondervan
Walk with me, walk with me,
Lest mine eyes no longer see
All the glory, all the story of Your love;
Talk to me, talk to me,
Like You spoke so tenderly,
When You talked there,
When You walked there by the sea.
Talk to me, talk to me,
Lest mine ears no longer hear
All the wonder, all the beauty of Your grace;
Walk with me, walk with me,
As You walked so lovingly,
When You walked there,
When You talked there by the sea.
Let me follow in the footsteps
That trod the shore of Galilee,
Let me learn to pray like He did
In the Garden of Gethsemane;
Take my hand, take my hand,
Teach me Lord to understand,
All the duty, all the beauty of Your love.
Caution: This link may contain ads
Abounding in The Work of The Lord
An Original Work / April 14, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
