HOLD FAST THE WORD OF LIFE (7)

“By which also you are saved, if you HOLD FAST THAT WORD which I preached to you – unless you believed in vain” – 1 Corinthians 15:2

The Truth of the Resurrection of Jesus warranted Paul’s counsel to the Corinthians to HOLD FAST the WORD of LIFE: “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you RECEIVED and in which you STAND, by which also you are SAVED, if you HOLD FAST THAT WORD which I preached to you – unless you BELIEVED in vain” (1Cor.15:1-2). Paul affirmed the Truth of Christ’s Resurrection as an undeniable proof of Faith’s Reality!

Though some in the Corinthian church were beginning to doubt and deny Christ’s resurrection, it is clear from the passage that the Apostle Paul was sure about their position as believers: They had “received” and “believed” the Gospel that he preached to them; they were to now “stand” in that gospel, having been justified positionally – “you were justified” (1Cor.6:11). However, the idea of “you are saved, if you hold fast that word” implies being delivered from their sinful tendencies. These believers had a myriad of sin issues from which they needed deliverance or salvation. In essence: Paul preached the gospel, the Corinthians received it, and stood in it. What was left was to experience that salvation in an on-going sense. He was not referring to final salvation from hell, or else, he would have said, “you will be saved, if…”!

To HOLD FAST THAT WORD – the Gospel – is the condition for experiencing on-going deliverance from sin in the believer's life! This is not an assumed accomplishment or a hypothetical condition, but a real one. The verb for "hold fast" (katecho) is used in the New Testament in relation to the Christian's sanctification experience: “Test all things; HOLD FAST what is GOOD” (1The.5:21); “Let us HOLD FAST the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Heb.10:23). It’s the same word used in Luke 8:15, “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the WORD with aa noble and good heart, KEEP it and bear fruit with patience.” Paul was exhorting the Corinthians to continue in the truth that they learned from the gospel in order to experience its sanctifying effects.

Believers who refuse to persevere or hold fast to the truth will STRAY from the truth: “And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have STRAYED concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some” (2Tim.2:17-18). Such believers are sliding on dangerous ground and can definitely not experience God’s best in life: “In humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may KNOW the TRUTH, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will” (2Tim.2:25-26). Paul wrote concerning Demas: “For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica…” (2Tim.4:10).

Demas chose the corrupt value system of the unsaved world over what heaven values. The tragedy of Demas is still being lived out today by those who choose the temporary glitz and glitter of this world over eternal riches in Christ; who decide that what Satan has to offer in this life is better than what God has to offer eternally. There are those who receive the Word but then “the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful” (Mt.13:22). Praise God! It appears that Demas was later restored (Col.4:14; Phil.1:24).

God calls us to hold fast the WORD of LIFE that has been preached to us, and never stray from the Truth. We must hold fast that Word of Hope that encourages us; that Word of Peace that settles all of anxieties; that Word of Power that heals our brokenness and delivers from demons and diseases; that Word of Faith by which we overcome the world; and that quickening Word of Revival and Restoration! Hold Fast!