"Have You Believed In Vain?”

I Corinthians 15:1-4

1) Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

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

3) For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4) And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

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his might seem to be a "tough" question, but in light of life after salvation (including our problems, and the mishandling of them and the resulting discouragement) we need to ask this of ourselves. What is your answer to: "Has this all been for naught?" It is unlikely to seem that salvation was your best decision if you are still struggling and still have the same problems.

Part of the problem is that man comes to salvation with the wrong information. If one talks to anyone before getting saved, he acquires all sorts of "knowledge" from truth, to fantasy, to opinion. Though it is possible that well-meaning, well-taught and spiritual individuals have fed us some of the information before we are saved, we have not the means to understand it, anyway.

All too often, we will come to salvation, yet handle our saved life the same as does unredeemed man. Though this always leads to our disappointment, we seem reluctant and/or unable, to modify (change) our behavior to (accommodate) the Lord. Even after choosing our own path and making our own decisions, we usually see the problem not as ours, but that we have believed on God in vain.

So, what is the problem? Reality is that the Lord can only resolve those situations that we give to Him. The reason why “things happen: to us is so that we will realize that Jesus remains the only solution to every problem.”

As one moves by the direction of the Spirit, he realizes that he cannot do as he wants to do. The more we try our own way, the more we are to realize that our solutions are "fruitless." Some of us are so "set" in our own way that we rarely, if ever, see that the only way to success in the Lord is a spiritual "lobotomy"—that is a "stripping away" of all that is not spiritual and the substitution of all that is opposite.

In many ways, some of them unexpected, those with much experience with the world are at a disadvantage. Apart from having all the more from which to be forgiven, there is a particular "mind-set" emanating from the World which is often hard to dismiss upon salvation. This is perhaps, the chief reason that the Lord calls, for the...renewing of our minds.

The Lord is altogether wonderful because His benefits are available to all who will do one simple thing: believe. He does not require that we be educated to be blessed; he does not require that we have a certain amount of money; He does not ask that our skin be of a certain hue. A believer in God is allowed successful by Him simply by believing Him.

As opposed to "robbing" us of fun and freedom, the purpose of salvation is to prepare servants for the kingdom of God. Everyone who has ever spent his life on himself has been disappointed, but the man who has given his all to God has been and will always be blessed.

There is an absolute way to go in this life of salvation and that is God's way. If a man would live, he must follow God's plan and God's Word. The life lived according to the Law of God is a blessed life, for the Lord "equalizes" all so that no ones natural life is an advantage over anyone's spiritual life. The saved refuse collector has the same "chance," with God as would a saved millionaire. None need ever give one's life to the Saviour, and then bemoan his natural station in life. The Lord sees all unredeemed men the same—as men who need a Saviour. After salvation, all are identified by their sacrifices and willingness to serve.

It is high time for those who have received God's best to let Him know that we appreciate Him. We waste valuable time "mourning" that which we've lost and too little time celebrating what we have. Most things in which we involve ourselves are unworthy of a child of God.

It is possible to "believe" in the Lord in vain. But, only if what you believe is that nothing in your life has changed since you became a "believer." If you can say that "I operate by what God says, thinks, and does" the answer to the question "Have you believe in vain?" is "No!"—and always will be.