In this daily Bible reading Paul said to the Corinthian Church that he was making known to them, “The Gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.” By Paul’s words we see that our salvation is conditional. It is not guaranteed. We must hold fast to the Word of God and what God commands of us. If our belief is sincere and genuine, then we will be motivated to persevere in walking rightly before God. If our belief is not sincere, then we will have believed in vain. That belief will not sustain us for the duration.
Many churches teach that our salvation is assured once we profess belief in Jesus Christ. This is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says that we must ‘persevere to the end to be saved.’ The Bible also says that ‘it is difficult to be saved’ and that we must ‘work out our salvation with fear and trembling.’ It is a difficult path to follow, but is well worth it.
Jesus will help us along the way if we are sincere. Our sincere trust in Jesus will be evidenced by our obedience to the Word of God, the Bible. The Bible must become for us our ‘daily bread,’ our ‘spiritual food.’ It will guide us and it will sustain us for the duration. By our faithful walk we will enter Heaven and live there for all eternity.
