How Strong is Your Faith?

I Corinthians 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

How Strong is Your Faith?

How strong is your faith this morning? How could you answer that question definitively? Would you say, “I’ve got a 5.6 faith on a scale of 1-10,”or “I have a 9.0 faith on a scale of 1-10”? How do you answer a question regarding the strength of your faith?

I Corinthians 15 gives us a clue about how to gauge the strength of our faith. Paul was talking about the power of the gospel, that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. In verse 2 he says, “By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.” That conditional word “unless” is a little unnerving. It is almost as if Paul says, “Oh, good news? Christ died for our sin, was buried, and rose again. You can be saved—unless you have believed in vain.”

Is it possible to believe in Jesus in vain? The honest answer is “only theoretically.” Verse 14 sums it up this way, “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” If Jesus is dead, faith is too. If Jesus is dead, faith is empty. If the tomb is full, our faith is empty. 

Verse 17 says, “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” Verse 19 takes it a step further, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” Now I know sometimes we say that even if Jesus were dead and Christianity is a fraud, living the Christian life would be the best life there is. I can appreciate the sentiment, but that is simply not true. If Jesus is dead, we are miserable. Our faith is vain. Our preaching is empty.

In verse 20 Paul turns the conditional “if” into a definitive “is.” He says, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” Sometimes we talk about “easy believism,” and I understand the concern people who use that term may have, but either you are believing in Jesus or you are not. Easy believism is an unfortunate choice of words because its counterpart would necessarily be “hard-believism” which would be works, and I can’t save myself by my works. I am saved because of Jesus’ work, and when I depend upon Him completely, that faith is the power of God to save my soul.

Here is the point: it is a powerful faith that rests in a living Christ. I don’t know your need, but I do know that if your faith is in Jesus then you have reason for hope, power, and victory because Jesus Christ lives.