Be Steadfast (1 Cor. 15:58)

Be Steadfast

1 Corinthians 15:58(ESV)
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers , be steadfast, immovable , always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

After reading the previous verses Paul then says something like this: (Therefore) so then my brothers be steadfast… Paul commends them for their immovable and steadfastness, therefore exhorting them to continue. Don’t ‘waver’ is implied as one without a purpose. Instead Paul encourages them that they “do” have a purpose and to be at it. We need to anchor ourselves in God’s Word so we will stand without fluctuating between possibilities. We know the outcome of the world we live in to be our temporary home.

“…always abounding in the work of the Lord,” The word ‘abounding’ would have a meaning of being full, jammed, packed, stuffed, overflowing, teeming & etc. The same Greek word is used in these two scriptures: Matthew 13:12 (ESV): For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Romans 3:7 (ESV) But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?

What will one be ‘abounding’ in? It states that it would be “in the work of the Lord” – Therefore, what is that work? 1 Corinthians 16:10(ESV) – When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. What was Paul and Timothy doing? They were busy preaching and teaching the gospel of Christ. We would be loving our neighbor as our self. Note: Leviticus 19:18(ESV) You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. This was the law and Jesus confirms in Matthew 22:37–39 (ESV) – 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Along with doing (activity) it requires an earnest desire to keep God’s commandments. To have an attitude of gratitude for our salvation provided through his Son. Christ extends to us a ‘love’ without measure and thus we selfishly act toward Him in such manner. Hebrews 6:10 (ESV) – For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.

Our labor is not in vain as the scriptures bare out: Matthew 19:29(ESV) – 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold£ and will inherit eternal life.

A quote by Alexander Maclaren: “The only way by which we can grow nearer and nearer to our Lord is by steadfastly keeping beside Him. You cannot get the spirit of a landscape unless you sit down and gaze, and let it soak into you. The cheap tripper sees the lake. You cannot get to know a man until you summer and winter with him. No subject worth studying opens itself out to the hasty glance. Was it not Sir Isaac Newton who used to say, ‘I have no genius, but I keep a subject before me’?”

Here is a good example of the value of the Christian body to working together. If we can place ourselves as a member of a flock of ‘Canadian geese’ seeing out their working together allows them to cover great distances as they fly south. One might think of: Hebrews 10:24 (ESV) – And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

Have you ever wondered why the Canadian geese fly only in the V formation? For years specialists in aerodynamics wondered the same thing. Two engineers calibrated in a wind tunnel what happens in such a V formation. Each goose, in flapping his wings, creates an upward lift for the goose that follows. When all the geese do their part in the V formation, the whole flock has a 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew alone. Each depends upon the other to get to its destination. Something else—When a goose begins to lag behind, the others “honk” it back into place. Now, let us learn from God’s animal creation. The church needs to fly in a spiritual V formation, “honking” one another into steadfastness. And it must be at least 71 percent easier to live the faithful Christian life flying with the flock as opposed to going it alone. “Let us consider one another, to provoke unto love and to good works” (Heb. 10:24).