"...you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you" (1 Corinthians 15:2 NASB)
There are several creative ways that OSAS makes these plain words go away and not mean what they plainly say.
One “creative way” anti-OSAS so often “makes the plan words go away” (in their minds) is the frequent and highly specific use of ellipses (...) or even the omission of them when necessary to complete a verse/sentence. You didn't quote the entire verse 2 nor the entire sentence of Paul's (verse1-2)
Let's look into what's in theses particular ellipses of yours here (and there one on the front end and the trailing end of Paul’s point:
1. From your first … what do we find? (
Now I make known to you, …
Paul’s switching subjects (moving on from the gifts and orderly worship topic of Chapter 14) to a ‘new’ topic (a
now topic) within his letter to them. I say ‘new’ in scare quotes because his new topic is that he’s reminding the church of the Gospel that he
preached to them earlier. (not that the topic switch means OSAS = yes or no). But the other portion of the first ellipses is important. Very important. Paul’s speaking to saved “Brethren” unless they are not saved in the first place. And some there were NOT saved in the first place.
2. From your second … (which you failed to even include the ellipses as if you were quoting a complete ending to verse 2) what do we find? (
brethren, …
UNLESS YOU BLIEVED IN VAIN.
Paul knows full well that there are people in this church that had “
believed in vain”. How do we know this? Read on:
Verses 3-11 is said by scholars to be one of the earliest Christian Creeds. The “
first importance” Creed that Paul himself received from others. It is one of the very definitions of what it takes to become a Christian. Unless you believe this Creed, you ain’t a saved Christian! And some there didn't believe it.
How do we know that there were people there that were never saved in the first place? See V34…
for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame and Paul even tells us so in another … verse that you omit from this passage’s proper understanding:
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?
Good question. Answer is they “
believed in vain” and had a worthless faith. Obviously and were therefore never
holding fast to his Creed in the first place. You don't understand Paul's logical flow of his sentence (verse 1-2) or either you do and just don't care about it.
You cannot believe in the resurrection of Christ, if you don’t believe in any resurrection of the dead, was his point!
if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless;
What else is obvious from the …’s in/around your partial verse quotation (that you so plainly quote so often)? The very definition of what it takes to have a non-vain belief, in the first place:
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain. ...
so also in Christ all will be made alive.
Paul’s telling them that just as sure as “
all will be made alive”, God given grace will
not prove vain. Why? Because it leads to God given faith, to include belief in the death/resurrection of the Lord (Rom 10:9), that leads to their salvation. UNLESS that didn’t have this grace, this faith, this salvation in the first place that is. (see how God saved Saul for an example of how this works)
Plus, these are just some of the points that have been presented to you concerning your error on what this passage teaches in it’s ellipses in the past, which you continue to ignore : (
http://christianforums.net/Fellowsh...reason-you-cant-lose-your-salvation-is.54780/)
1. “they would not have had salvation without acknowledging Christ's Resurrection (
Rom 10:9)”
2. “If the Corinthian Christians had believed from the beginning that there was no Resurrection [as some of the non-Christians there did not believe in any ressurection, Paul says so in verse 12], then they were not saved in the first place - because salvation depends upon Christ's Resurrection.”
3. “3
For I passed on to you as of first importance[a] what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised up on the third day according to the scriptures” [Obviously if they didn’t believe in any resurrection, then they didn’t believe one of Paul’s “first importance” salvation Creedal points.]
4. “Where does the text say that every person in the Corinth church was saved? It doesn’t. Anywhere. Anti-OSAS assumes the entire Corithin church was saved to begin with even after OSAS points out “
But if Christ has not been raised, your faith is empty; you are still in your sins and your faith is in vain.”
5. “1 Cor 15 does not tell us how to become un-saved. It tells unsaved people how to become saved. “
unless you believed in vain” does not say ‘unless you once believed and were saved and then later develop a vain belief, you become de-saved’. But that’s how the poster interprets this passage.”
6. “Some in Corinth said there was no resurrection from the dead (1Cor 15:12). If there is no resurrection, then they “
believed in vain”. Those who denied a resurrection did not "hold fast the word which" Paul "preached." They believed only part of the Gospel, and ignored the rest.”
Sorry for the length of this post. But there’s so much evidence against your view of 1 Cor 15, that it’s hard to keep it short.
