1 Corinthians 15:2

Contextual Overview

¹ Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember the Good News I told you. You received that Good News message, and you continue to base your life on it. ¹ Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, ¹ Brethren as pertayninge to the gospell which I preached vnto you which ye have also accepted and in the which ye continue ¹ Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, ¹ Now I'm making known to you, brothers, the gospel that I proclaimed to you, which you accepted, on which you have taken your stand,Romans 5:2; Galatians 1:11;">[xr] ¹ Now I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand, ¹ Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember the Good News I brought to you. You received this Good News and continue strong in it. ¹ Now I make known to you brothers, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, wherein also you stand, ¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also ye have received, and in which ye stand; ¹ Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

ye are: 1 Corinthians 1:18, 1 Corinthians 1:21, Acts 2:47,*Gr: Romans 1:16, 2 Corinthians 2:15, Ephesians 2:8, 2 Timothy 1:9

keep in memory: or, hold fast, 1 Corinthians 15:11, 1 Corinthians 15:12, Proverbs 3:1, Proverbs 4:13, Proverbs 6:20-23, Proverbs 23:23, Colossians 1:23, 2 Thessalonians 2:15, Hebrews 2:1, Hebrews 3:6, Hebrews 3:14, Hebrews 4:14, Hebrews 10:23

what I preached: Gr. by what speech I preached

unless: 1 Corinthians 15:14, Psalms 106:12, Psalms 106:13, Luke 8:13, John 8:31, John 8:32, Acts 8:13, 2 Corinthians 6:1, Galatians 3:4, James 2:14, James 2:17, James 2:26

Reciprocal: Matthew 15:9 - in Romans 11:22 - if thou 1 Corinthians 11:2 - that 1 Corinthians 15:10 - his grace 1 Corinthians 15:17 - your 1 Corinthians 16:13 - stand Galatians 2:21 - Christ 1 Thessalonians 2:1 - in vain James 1:21 - which James 1:26 - this

Cross-References

Genesis 15:1
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great."

Genesis 15:1
After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, Don't be afraid, Abram: I am your shield, [and] your exceeding great reward.

Genesis 15:1
After these things happened, the Lord spoke his word to Abram in a vision: "Abram, don't be afraid. I will defend you, and I will give you a great reward."

Genesis 15:1
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram! I am your shield and the one who will reward you in great abundance."

Genesis 15:1
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I [am] thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward.

Genesis 15:1
After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Don't be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."

Genesis 15:1
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; Your reward [for obedience] shall be very great."

Genesis 15:1
And so whanne these thingis weren don, the word of the Lord was maad to Abram bi a visioun, and seide, Abram, nyle thou drede, Y am thi defender, and thi meede is ful greet.

Genesis 15:1
After these things hath the word of Jehovah been unto Abram in a vision, saying, `Fear not, Abram, I [am] a shield to thee, thy reward [is] exceeding great.'

Genesis 15:1
After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

By which also ye are saved,.... It was the means of their salvation, and had been made the power of God unto salvation to them. Salvation is inseparably connected with true faith in Christ as a Saviour, and with a hearty belief of his resurrection from the dead, which is the earnest and pledge of the resurrection of the saints; and because of the certainty of it in the promise of God, through the obedience and death of Christ, and in the faith and hope of believers, which are sure and certain things, they are said to be saved already. To which the apostle puts in the following provisos and exceptions; the one is,

if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you; or rather, "if ye hold fast, or retain"; that is, by faith, the doctrine preached to you, and received by you, particularly the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead; for the salvation that is connected with it does not depend upon the strength of the memory, but upon the truth and steadfastness of faith: it is the man that perseveres in the faith and doctrine of Christ that shall be saved; and everyone that has truly believed in Christ, and cordially embraced his Gospel, shall hold on, and out to the end; though the faith of nominal believers may be overthrown by such men, as Hymenaeus and Philetus, who asserted, that the resurrection was past already; but so shall not the faith of real believers, because the foundation on which they are built stands sure, and the Lord has perfect knowledge of them, and will keep and save them. The other exception is,

unless ye have believed in vain: not that true faith can be in vain; for that is the faith of God's elect, the gift of his grace, the operation of his Spirit; Christ is the author and finisher of it, and will never suffer it to fail; it will certainly issue in everlasting salvation: but then as the word may be heard in vain, as it is by such who are compared to the wayside, and to the thorny and rocky ground; and as the Gospel of the grace of God may be received in vain; so a mere historical faith may be in vain; this a man may have, and not the grace of God, and so be nothing; with this he may believe for a while, and then drop it: and since each of these might possibly be the case of some in this church, the apostle puts in these exceptions, in order to awaken the attention of them all to this important doctrine he was reminding them of.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

By which also ye are saved - On which your salvation depends; the belief of which is indispensable to your salvation; see the note on Mark 16:16. The apostle thus shows the “importance” of the doctrine. In every respect it demanded their attention. It was that which was first preached among them; that which they had solemnly professed; that by which they had been built up; and that which was connected with their salvation. It does not mean simply that by this they were brought into a salvable state (Clarke, Macknight, Whitby, Bloomfield, etc.), but it means that their hopes of eternal life rested on this; and by this they were then “in fact” saved from the condemnation of sin, and were in the possession of the hope of eternal life.

If ye keep in memory - Margin, as in the Greek, “if ye hold fast.” The idea is, that they were saved by this, or would be, if they faithfully retained or held the doctrine as he delivered it; if they observed it, and still believed it, notwithstanding all the efforts of their enemies, and all the arts of false teaching to wrest it from them. There is a doubt delicately suggested here, whether they did in fact still adhere to his doctrine, or whether they had not abandoned it in part for the opposite.

Unless ye have believed in vain - You will be saved by it, if you adhere to it, unless it shall turn out that it was vain to believe, and that the doctrine was false. That it was “not” false, he proceeds to demonstrate. Unless all your trials, discouragements, and hopes were to no purpose, and all have been the result of imposture; and unless all your profession is false and hollow, you will be saved by this great doctrine which I first preached to you.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Corinthians 15:2. By which also ye are saved — That is, ye are now in a salvable state; and are saved from your Gentilism, and from your former sins.

If ye keep in memory — Your future salvation, or being brought finally to glory, will now depend on your faithfulness to the grace that ye have received.