1 Corinthians 15:2
in 1 Corinthians 15By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
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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This verse in 1 Corinthians 15
Commentary
12 notes on this verseBy 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.
This site's exposition
I want to remind you
on 1 Corinthians 15:1-2
The chapter opens with gnorizo: Paul reminds them of the gospel they received and in which they stand firm. The denial of verse 12 struck the very ground their faith stood on.
This site's exposition
By this gospel you are saved
The verb for saved stands in the present tense in Greek, a salvation already at work in those who keep hold of the message. Believing in vain describes a faith resting on nothing. Verse 14 names that very outcome if Christ was never raised.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"I make known unto you, brethren," saith he, "the gospel which I preached unto you." Seest thou with what modesty he commences? Seest thou how from the beginning he points out that he is bringing in no new nor strange thing? For he who "maketh known" that which was already known but afterwards had fallen into oblivion, "maketh known" by recalling it into memory. And when he called them "brethren," even from hence he laid the foundation of no mean part of the proof of his assertions. For by no other cause became we "brethren," but by the dispensation of Christ according to the flesh. And this is just the reason why he thus called them, at the same time soothing and courting them, and likewise reminding them of their innumerable blessings. And what comes next again is demonstrative of the same. What then is this? "The gospel." For the sum of the gospels hath its original hence, from God having become man and having been crucified and having risen again. This gospel also Gabriel preached to the Virgin, this also the prophets to the world, this also the apostles all of them. "Which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand. By which also ye are saved, in what word I preached unto you; if ye hold it fast, except ye believed in vain." Seest thou how he calls themselves to be witnesses of the things spoken? And he saith not, "which ye heard," but, "which ye received," demanding it of them as a kind of deposit, and showing that not in word only, but also by deeds and signs and wonders they received it, and that they should hold it safe. Next, because he was speaking of the things long past, he referred also to the present time, saying, "wherein also ye stand," taking the vantage ground of them that disavowal might be out of their power, though they wished it never so much. […]
The Medieval Church2 voices
Although they wavered, he nevertheless says that they stood firm in it: he deliberately presents himself as unknowing, and forewarns them so that they cannot deny it, even if they very much wished to. What then is the benefit of standing firm in it? That …
892. – Fourthly, as to usefulness, because the New Law alone leads to the end of salvation, but not the Old Law: "The law brought no one to perfection" (Heb 7:19). And therefore he says: by which you are saved. Here already from the certitude …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
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.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
), for there is no salvation in any other name; no name given under heaven by which we may be saved, but by the name of Christ. And there is no salvation in his name, but upon supposition of his death and resurrection. These are the saving truths of our holy religion.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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.
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
By which also ye are saved - On which your salvation depends; the belief of which is indispensable to your salvation; see the note on Mar 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.
The words behind it
15 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| δι᾽ | di᾽ | through | G1223 → | 664 times |
| οὗ | hou | which | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| καὶ | kai | also | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| σῴζεσθε, | sozesthe | you are being saved, | G4982 → | 105 times |
| τίνι | tini | to the | G5101 → | 563 times |
| λόγῳ | logo | word | G3056 → | 329 times |
| εὐηγγελισάμην | euengelisamen | I evangelised | G2097 → | 54 times |
| ὑμῖν | humin | to you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| εἰ | ei | if | G1487 → | 508 times |
| κατέχετε, | katechete | you hold fast, | G2722 → | 17 times |
| ἐκτὸς | ektos | unless | G1622 → | 8 times |
| εἰ | ei | only | G1487 → | 508 times |
| μὴ | me | except | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| εἰκῇ | eikea | in vain | G1500 → | |
| ἐπιστεύσατε. | episteusate | you have believed. | G4100 → | 237 times |
δι᾽through
di᾽G1223 →664 times
οὗwhich
houG3739 →1405 times
καὶalso
kaiG2532 →9120 times
σῴζεσθε,you are being saved,
sozestheG4982 →105 times
τίνιto the
tiniG5101 →563 times
λόγῳword
logoG3056 →329 times
εὐηγγελισάμηνI evangelised
euengelisamenG2097 →54 times
ὑμῖνto you
huminG4771 →2973 times
εἰif
eiG1487 →508 times
κατέχετε,you hold fast,
katecheteG2722 →17 times
ἐκτὸςunless
ektosG1622 →8 times
εἰonly
eiG1487 →508 times
μὴexcept
meG3361 →1066 times
εἰκῇin vain
eikeaG1500 →
ἐπιστεύσατε.you have believed.
episteusateG4100 →237 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ephesians 2:8For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,
it 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.
- Romans 3:22–26
Through
2 Timothy 1:9He 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.
it 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,
- Ephesians 2:8–9
Through
Hebrews 2:1We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
it 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.
- Luke 8:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies34
On this chapter
- The Seven Brothers and Their Mother
- Adam
- Adam to Noah
- Afterlife Vocabulary
- The Numbers of Scripture
- The Edenic Covenant
Show the next 6 titles
- Eve: The Mother of All Living
- The Hebrew Feasts
- Firstfruits
- The Great White Throne
- Hebel: the word the Berean text renders futility
- Hell and the Final State of the Lost
Show the next 6 titles
About 1 Corinthians
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 38; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.