1 Corinthians 15:2 BSB

1 Corinthians 15:2

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain.

KJV

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

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Commentary

4 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

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.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Ye are saved, if ye hold fast - Your salvation is begun, and will be perfected, if ye continue in the faith. Unless ye have believed in vain - Unless indeed your faith was only a delusion.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Note, The doctrine of Christ's death and resurrection is at the foundation of Christianity. Remove this foundation, and the whole fabric falls, all our hopes for eternity sink at once. And it is by holding this truth firmly that Christians are made to stand in a day of trial, and kept faithful to God.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Translate in that case, "if ye hold it fast." I prefer arranging as English Version, "By which ye are saved, if ye hold fast (in memory and personal appropriation) with what speech I preached it unto you." unless--which is impossible, your faith is vain, in resting on Christ's resurrection as an objective reality.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

15 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
δι᾽	di᾽	through	G1223 →
οὗ	hou	which	G3739 →
καὶ	kai	also	G2532 →
σῴζεσθε,	sōzesthe	you are being saved,	G4982 →
τίνι	tini	to the	G5101 →
λόγῳ	logō	word	G3056 →
εὐηγγελισάμην	euēngelisamēn	I evangelised	G2097 →
ὑμῖν	humin	to you	G4771 →
εἰ	ei	if	G1487 →
κατέχετε,	katechete	you hold fast,	G2722 →
ἐκτὸς	ektos	unless	G1622 →
εἰ	ei	only	G1487 →
μὴ	mē	except	G3361 →
εἰκῇ	eikēa	in vain	G1500 →
ἐπιστεύσατε.	episteusate	you have believed.	G4100 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,
leads to
- Romans 3:22–26
  And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction,
- Ephesians 2:5
  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!
- Romans 4:16
  Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who…
- John 1:12–13
  But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—
- Romans 10:17
  Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Through
2 Timothy 1:9
He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.
leads to
- Ephesians 2:8–9
  For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,
- Titus 3:4–5
  But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,
Through
Hebrews 2:1
We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
leads to
- Luke 8:15
  But the seeds on good soil are those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, cling to it, and by persevering produce a crop.