The Four Corners...Faith
June 22, 2003
I Corinthians 15:1-2

INTRODUCTION

The photo on the cover of the card we created for this series really says it all. I would guess that it's a house damaged by an earthquake. After the Northridge earthquake we saw houses like this. They had slipped off their foundations. While we suffered the loss of a great deal of personal property in that earthquake, our house had no structural damage because of its solid foundation.

In life we need a solid foundation. In the construction of a building, once you have your strong base any number of structures can be built on it – a house, a school, a market. So in life, once the proper foundation is established, you can do a lot of things with it. Essentially, it is the same strong foundation a good homemaker's life is built on that a good teacher's life is built on. Or, whether you are a student or engineer or a self-employed inventor – still, everyone needs a strong, firm foundation.

Over the next four weeks we are going to look at what the four corners of that foundation would be. They are faith, love, hope (by which I specifically mean a good attitude), and diligence. To put it another way, if we can shun unbelief, apathy, hopelessness, and laziness we have a good chance of succeeding at whatever we put our hand to.

It seems to me that all four corners are necessary, so I hope you'll take the time to "tune in" to each one. To change the metaphor, suppose you took away one table leg from your dining room table. It would still stand. But I don't think you'd set a full pitcher of lemonade on that corner or seat a special guest there. Remove one table leg and you're just asking for trouble.

So let's begin with the first corner, which is in fact the cornerstone – faith. Our Scripture for today is in I Corinthians.

(Read I Cor. 15:1-2)

Paul here warns about vain faith. It is empty, futile, or useless. People today might say that one faith is as good as the next. Faith is faith is faith. But Paul erupts in this letter to the Corinthians as he warns them against useless faith. What is useless faith? There are two specific dangers to avoid that are alluded to in these verses.

FAITH WRONGLY PLACED

Paul writes here, "By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you." And he tells us exactly what this gospel is.

(Read 15:3-8)

He names four points of the gospel message: Christ died for our sins; he was buried; he rose again on the third day; and he made many appearances. He is only summarizing the gospel, and certainly there are other ways it could be summarized. His reason for putting it this way becomes clear, I think, as we will see.

Basically, he is saying that salvation comes down to the correct belief system. By no means do I think that this belief system is purely intellectual or theoretical. It is never divorced from action. But the key is the belief, not the action. Otherwise we would say that we believe in salvation by good works. No, we believe in justification by faith, but only if that faith is in Christ alone.

This does not sit well with our culture. Faith-wise, we are kind of a twelve-step culture. People reach out to a higher power and, generally, they feel that whatever works for you is good for you. So if your faith is in Buddha, or Muhammad, or Krishna, or your own self-conceived religion, it's no different from faith in Christ. But Paul would never have said that. He insists that we believe in the Christ of the Scriptures.

Suppose I were to write out a check to you for $100. You would assume that it was written on an active account which has a balance of at least $100, and you would assume that I would not run down to Wells Fargo and close it tomorrow morning. But the truth is you wouldn't know for sure. If I gave you two checks – one on an open account and one on a closed account – you couldn't tell the difference by looking at them. A check is only as good as the bank account it is written on. It's the same with faith. It is useless if wrongly placed.

Most of us are not in danger of faith wrongly placed, but there is a second danger which may pose a bigger problem for you.

FAITH LOOSELY HELD

Let's look again at the first few verses and put together what he is saying.

(Read 15:1,2)

"You received" the gospel. Upon it "you have taken your stand." However, only "if you hold firmly to it" will it be effective? It sounds like they are in danger of holding it too loosely. And this is indeed the case. Notice verse 12,

"But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?"

Obviously, among those who had received the gospel and had taken their stand upon it were those who did not hold firmly to it and were in danger of slipping away.

Why is it so necessary to hold the faith firmly?

For one thing, if you don't, it can't inform your choices and guide your actions. The science of aeronautics is way more complex than most of us can grasp. Yet we exercise faith in it all when we board a multi-ton aircraft and begin rumbling down the runway in the hope of flying. That would not be possible if we only loosely held to the whole concept of air travel, but in fact didn't believe crucial aspects of it

Our faith is extremely practical and colors all of life, yet it is useless to us if we hold it too loosely.

There is a second reason why it is necessary to hold it firmly. If you don't, the circumstances of life will cause you to lose it. Running backs in football are taught to hold the ball tightly because everyone on the defense will be trying to strip it away. In the same way, your faith will be attacked by financial setbacks and personal losses. And if you don't hold it firmly, you'll lose it.

CONCLUSION

Look again at the house in the picture. Maybe it's not a poor foundation that's the problem but rather a structure poorly secured on it. How is it with you?