1Cor 15:17 if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins  19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable

IV. On What is the Christian Hope based?  The Resurrection of Christ

1Cor 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,

2  by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you——unless you believed in vain.

A. God always Works according to His Word

A1. Substitionary Atonement  3 I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures

Isa 53: 6  All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

1Pe 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God… death in the flesh…alive by the Spirit,  

Rom 3:26  to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

A2. Reasoned Resurrection 4  and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Ps 16:10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol/grave/Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. (cf end of Isa 53)

Heb 11:19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death. NIV

A3. Righteous Judgment according to the Word of God (cf Jn 12:43-48)

2Pt 3:3…scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts/desires…5  For this they willfully forget: that by the Word of God the heavens…earth (were made Ps 33:6) 6  by which the world that then existed perished…7…now preserved by the same Word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.  17…beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18  but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

B. God Works through the Work of those who authenticate the Word

B1. We draw on God’s grace to share experienced Truth

1Cor 15:5  and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6  After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7  After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

8  Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. 9  For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

B2. We respond to objections so others don’t have a futile faith

11  Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. 12  Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13  But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 14  And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

C. Our Faith in God’s Word can be Futile or Fruitful

C1. Characteristics of a Futile Faith

Doubts rather than Does Js 1:6  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7  For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8  he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 22  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 25  But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

Babbles vs Blesses Js 1:26 anyone thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless

Heap big smoke no fire Js 2:14  What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

Majors on the Minors Titus 3:9  avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.

Tradition>Truth 1Pe 1:18 knowing that you were…redeemed… from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers

C2. Characteristics of a Fruitful Faith

Jn 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Rm 6:22 now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life

Col 1:10  that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God

1Co5 15:58…be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

                                                                              Col 1:23

Questions for Reflection/Discussion/Response:

1. Why does God always act according to His Word/promises? Is doubt healthy? At what point can it become toxic?

2. What aspect of “saved” (justification, sanctification/deliverance, glorification) is dependent upon our “standing fast”? What if we falter?

3. Why is it important to have experiential knowledge of the Truth? Do folks tend to error more on the proclamation or authentication side?

4. What fruit do you have from your faith? Is a fruitless faith dead? What’s the corrective?

5. How can you increase the fruitfulness/profitability of your faith this week? What do you have to share with others?