After
the amen, the minister announced that many people had “stepped over the line.”
“Whoo-hoo!” he shouted.
We
have a great gospel to proclaim. Those who receive it are saved unto eternal
life. But the Apostle Paul raises a very disturbing question about our faith: Now
I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also
you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold
fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain (1
Corinthians 15:1-2, my emphasis).
How
is it possible to believe “in vain?”
If
faith is man-centered belief and not the true gospel, it is in vain. Faith in
human response, like a special prayer or raising a hand or walking an aisle,
rather than in the saving merit of Jesus’ death and resurrection, is in vain.
The
minister at the funeral never mentioned who Jesus is, the utter hopelessness of
people without Him, the infinite value of His substitutionary death, His triumphant resurrection, or the
need to repent and believe in Him alone. He only told us to “step across the
line.”
May
God protect us from trying to make the gospel easier or more palatable. May the
Lord save us from trusting our ability to provoke a response instead of
trusting the Spirit of God to work a miracle.
God help us to preach the simple gospel, to proclaim Christ and Him crucified (1
Corinthians 2:2). And may the faith of those who hear not rest in the wisdom of
men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:5). Believing in the real Jesus of the Bible, trusting in Him alone, will never be in vain. Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame (Romans 10:11, NIV).
